Jacuzzi Tubs
With spacious bathing wells, four fully adjustable PowerPro jets, one lumbar jet and two foot jets, the Capella offers a totally customized experience. Available with and without a skirt for ease of installation, the Capella is also available in a non-jetted model.
In My Own Words
"We have a series of homes where we'll include a Jacuzzi tub without jets, offering them as an upgrade. Depending on the community, we often include jetted tubs as standard. Jacuzzi has a great name for jetted tubs. Reasonably priced and available in numerous colors and options, they've been a fantastic product to offer in our standard house package. For as long as I've been in this position, we have had very few warranty complaints with Jacuzzi."
GE Appliances
GE's Profile Ovens with Trivection Technology give everyday cooks the ability to create savory, mouth-watering meals with incredible speed and ease. These versatile ovens combine thermal, convection and microwave energies with delicious results. The easy-to-use, Chef's Guide controls convert traditional recipes automatically. Consumers simply enter food type, time and temperature and the oven applies the right combination of energies to optimize cooking performance, delivering delicious results with every dish. Speed modes allow foods to cook up to five times faster. Additional modes include defrost, warm, proof, self-clean and help. The full-size oven can accommodate everything from a large turkey to multiple trays of cookies. Consumers can use the same cookware as in their traditional ovens.
In My Own Words
"GE has offered a fantastic product that's been well received by our buyers. We now offer a range of choices — the GE Profile, Monogram and Pro series. We are able to offer the Profile line in some of the lower spec-level homes and easily upgrade to the Monogram in the higher end. We then offer the option to move up to the Pro series. It's incredible. GE has been a wonderful surprise in the last year and a half."
Andersen French Doors
To give customers a wider range of choices, Andersen Windows offers several options and accessories for its best-selling 400 Series Frenchwood outswing patio doors. Customers may select a new hardware finish, a retractable insect screen for gliding patio doors and more interior wood choices for the doors.
The Andersen 400 Series also offers several interior wood choices, including oak and maple interiors in addition to the standard pine. Andersen complements these interiors with matching accessories, such as interior grilles, extension jambs and thresholds. Pre-finished white interiors also are available on white exterior-colored patio doors. Andersen Frenchwood outswing patio doors are available in three heights, including 8 feet, and can free up as much as 28 square feet of interior floor space.
In My Own Words
"We don't include a lot of French doors as standard; usually sliding glass doors are standard. But we do sell French doors as an option, and it is selected 20 percent of the time by buyers.
We tried a number of different manufacturers and had problems with the finish, warranty or overall quality. Since we've switched to Andersen Windows, those problems have gone away. Mechanically, they are excellent. If you're charging $3,000 to go to French doors, they should look like they are worth the money. Andersen Windows do."
Emtek Door Hardware, Emtek Products
A supplier of specialty hardware, Emtek assembles locksets to order. The hardware is then sold through dealers. Customers are encouraged to select knobs, levers, rosettes and side plates, with styles and finishes that complement their individual décors. ASSA ABLOY, the largest lock-manufacturing company in the world, acquired Emtek in 1999. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, ASSA ABLOY has extensive operations in Europe and North America. Joining with ASSA ABLOY provides Emtek with new resources for supplying quality door locks.
In My Own Words
"Emtek offers high-quality, reasonably priced door hardware, with a lot of options for finishes and door hardware styles. We've used other manufacturers, but we're very happy with Emtek. When we started using Emtek, installers and buyers both liked it, so I would continue using it in high end or low-end homes.
"Today, the satin nickel is the most popular finish, but we offer other choices, too. Emtek has different handles, such as twisted, round and contemporary, as well as door knobs that are egg-shaped, round or lever-handled. We try to limit our offering to four different choices and each comes in four or five different finishes. The combination of finishes and hardware styles Emtek offers gives us more than enough selection. What's more, they're all at the same price."
Tyvek HomeWrap
Tyvek HomeWrap provides a secondary defense to help manage a home's wall systems. Serving as a protective layer under a home's siding and over the sheathing, the Tyvek weatherization membrane is literally wrapped around a home — over the wood or foam sheathing, cut out around windows and doors and taped at the seams.The unique, nonwoven-fiber structure of Tyvek HomeWrap resists air infiltration and water intrusion.
In My Own Words
"Years ago, we used black paper instead of housewrap. But all of our homes in Arizona are stucco, and the Tyvek provides a much better moisture barrier. That's a hot button, especially in this market. Buyers recognize the Tyvek brand as a superior housewrap system. When our customers see the Tyvek stamp on that wrap, we get points for using the product."
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