PB July 2005

With water infiltration identified as the leading cause of hurricane damage to homes, the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) developed this list of strategies to help keep wind-driven moisture out of houses.

"The major story going on in this country is that people are trying to find a nice place to live," says Lou Marquet, a builder bent on proving that style and craftsmanship is a competitive edge in a world of builders battling over price and square footage. A principal and executive vice president of LeylandAlliance, a building and development company in Tuxedo, N.Y.

Although Toll Brothers is known for master-planned communities in various parts of the country, Aviano is the largest project ever for the Arizona division, since Toll Brothers bought Geoffrey H. Edmunds & Associates, a privately-owned, Scottsdale-based luxury home builder in 1995. Within Aviano, Toll Brothers created seven neighborhoods, each containing a collection of different house plans.

Looking for a way to differentiate your homes from those of the big public builders? Here's a strategy that's working for Houston builder Brian Binash and figures to become more popular as energy costs continue to rise. Like many private production builders, Binash's new Houston partnership with Austin-based Wilshire Homes needed to find a niche to avoid the Giant public ...

Strange, how something you read or hear today can suddenly trigger a memory. I was paging through this Sunday's builder display ads. You know these ads, they're the ones you all hate to write many-thousand-dollar checks for, but still do because, well, everyone else does and if they do and you don't.

With the multitude of architectural, environmental and site considerations involved in home building today, the application of color is often reduced to a last minute perusal of variations on white, beige and gray. Yet, a growing number of respected builders are challenging suburban and urban monotony and using color as a powerful tool in their marketing mix.

The Stanley MaxLife tripod flashlight enables builders to work in confined areas without having to juggle a tool in one hand and a light in the other. Stanley's tripod Flashlight provides full dexterity while supplying ample lighting. This LED flashlight has an articulating head, which allows the user to focus the beam of light wherever it is needed.

Endura released the Wood Clad Ultimate Astragal. Used with French Doors this product offers many of the same features as the Ultimate Astragal, including a patented three-point seal between the active door, inactive door and sill as well as strike and deadbolt adjustability. The Wood Clad Astragal is available in Douglas fir, Oak, Mahogany and Pine.

SOKO has expanded its Manhandles Collection by offering mirrored images of the seven original Manhandle pulls as well as large entry versions. Designed by San Francisco artist Cari Jaye Sokoloff, the collection features sculptural figures in five poses. The original line and its newly released mirrored counterpart come in 6 3/8 and 11 3/4 inches.

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