Ccon jul aug 13lr

Settled on metal

Fire sprinklers for houses

page 14

page 34

page 46

Backyard building

Steel roofing

Here they come

ARE YOU being

ONLINE?

July/August 2013 Publications Mail Agreement #40069240

How to respond to negative website reviews

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TARGETED

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5/30/13 3:33 PM 13-07-08 2:12 PM

contENTS

contents

features All Hands on Deck 14 …and gazebo and pergola and… A chat with outdoor structure specialist Rosario Ungaro

Illustration: Matt Daley/www.threeinabox.com

Being Targeted Online? 18 Your ‘webutation’ matters.

How to respond to negative online reviews Settled on Metal 34 Steve Maxwell’s roofing and side wall installation basics

ARE YOU being

18

TARGETED ONLINE?

Decks,

gazebos,

pergolas

departments Online 6 The HouseMaster home inspection option; The College of Trades reaches across Canada; Ontario Reno Summits in November Editorials 8 Rob wants legislation to control online reviews of contractor’s work.

Steve says that’s crazy

Voices 10 Maxwell on how governments spiral out of control.

Site Notes 12 Ontario College of Trades hires its first “enforcers”

14 Larry Arnal Photography

CONTENTS JULcorr.indd 3

www.canadiancontractor.ca

July/August 2013

3

13-07-08 2:16 PM

Just another case of window envy.

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CONTENTS JULcorr.indd 4

13-07-08 2:11 PM

contENTS

steel

contents

roofs 34

departments

creative eye 27

The Creative Eye 27 Inside the renovated home of Toronto architect Valerie Farrell Training 38 Why do contractors get tickets while university grads get degrees?

Contractor U 42 Financing Growth: Part 1 If you want to build a real business, it will need investment.

Mike Draper reports.

Mechanical Room 46 What you need to know about residential fire sprinkler systems What Did They Pay? 50 Guess the cheque written for this glass railing

www.canadiancontractor.ca

July/August 2013

5

Larry Arnal Photography

CONTENTS JULcorr.indd 5

13-07-09 1:22 PM

online @

@

Head to the Web for more exclusive stories and videos… canadian

ONLINE

contractor Build | grow | profit

.ca

Join the conversation 10,000 contractors are having online

VIDEO

HouseMaster home inspections franchise option Aubrey Leblanc explains why most of their franchise owners across Canada come from the renovation industry.

VIDEO

How the Ontario College of Trades has become a national money grab An Alberta electrician explains how Ontario’s latest tax grab has reached across the country to get into his pocket.

CONTRACTOR U

Make more money by wasting less time Contractor Coach Mike Draper provides tips on how to turn wasted time into money-making profitable time.

RENO SUMMIT

canadian

Here’s the page where you can register for Canadian Contractor’s one-day business seminars for renovators Nov 5 Whitby, ON; Nov 6 Toronto; Nov 8 London, ON.

contractor.ca Build | grow | profit

Volume 14, Number 4 July/August 2013 canadiancontractor.ca | Tel: 416 442 5600 |

Editor: Steve Payne spayne@canadiancontractor.ca

Fax: 416 510 5140 80 Valleybrook Drive, North York, ON, M3B 2S9

Contributing Editors: Steve Maxwell, David Godkin Don Douloff, Mike Draper

Canadian Contractor, established in 2000, is published 6 times a year by BIG Magazines LP, a division of Glacier BIG Holdings Company Ltd.

Art Director: Mary Peligra mpeligra@bizinfogroup.ca

ISSN 1498-8941 (Print) ISSN 1929-6495 (Online)

Business Information Group

ONLINE JULY.indd 6

Associate Publisher: Rob Koci rkoci@bizinfogroup.ca Production Manager: Jessica Jubb jjubb@bizinfogroup.ca Circulation Manager: Beata Olechnowicz bolechnowicz@bizinfogroup.ca

BIG Magazines LP Corinne Lynds, Editorial Director Tim Dimopoulos, Executive Publisher Alex Papanou, Vice-President of Canadian Publishing Bruce Creighton, President of Business Information Group

Fax: 416-442-2191 Email: privacyofficer@ businessinformationgroup.ca Mail: Privacy Office, 80 Valleybrook Drive, North York, ON, M3B 2S9.

Subscriber Services: To subscribe, renew your subscription or to change your address or information contact us at 416 442 5600 x3547 Subscription Rates: Canada $45.95 per year, Outside Canada $83.95US per year, Single Copy Canada $9.95.

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Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities.

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2013-05-31 13-07-08 2:13 2:20 PM PM

EDITORIALs

Voices

ONLINE REVIEWS

CAN KILL YOU...

By Rob Koci

I

t’s one thing to review restaurants and hotels online, it’s entirely another to review renovation

contractors. Why? The price point, mostly. Restaurants and hotels derive their income from thousands of individual sales. Most renovators can count the number of clients they have in a year in the tens.

Some have fewer than five. If it is true that a good review will win you ten customers while a bad one will drive away 1,000, a bad review might cause a dip in sales for a restaurant but bankrupt a renovator.

Thankfully, consumers are getting more sophisticated. They are more skeptical than ever of online information and will triangulate it with other sources for a more accurate picture. They know positive reviews can be paid for, and negative But bad reviews force you to get involved online

You should have the authority to have a bad review taken down. You don’t.

“

“

reviews can be the work of a competitor. and fork over money to listing providers for the privilege of protecting your reputation. Working on this issue’s cover story we learned listing sites won’t take down bad reviews but they will coach you on what to do when one pops up on their site (a listing you never asked for or wanted) and will even—lucky you—accept a monthly fee to improve your listing with a link to your website, a nice picture of your work and other enhancements.

You should have the right and the authority to

Rob Koci

Associate Publisher rkoci@bizinfogroup.ca

demand that a listing site take your listing down if you don’t want it there. You should have the authority to have a bad review taken down. Right now you don’t.

That’s not right. You won’t hear me say this often but… there ought to be a law.

8

July/August 2013

voices jul.indd 8

www.canadiancontractor.ca

13-07-08 2:14 PM

EDITORIALS

Voices

. . . BUT THEY CAN

MAKE YOU, TOO

By Steve Payne

F

“

Bad reviews are an opportunity to respond professionally, calmly and honestly.

Steve Payne Editor

spayne@canadiancontractor.ca

www.canadiancontractor.ca

voices jul.indd 9

“

irst thing I want to say is, Rob is cracking up. He wants a law that says contractors should have the right to control what is written about them on online review sites.

Well, Rob has his reasons. He’s had good friends who are contractors absolutely slammed on line by customers that were almost psychotically unreasonable. He has some entertaining war stories from his own 20 years as a contractor about really awful clients. But a law?

No law is going to protect contractors, or any other business, from bad online reviews. You can take the most noble and reputable company in the world, and you can Google it and find naysayers, critics, even viciously hostile haters. Event saints get slammed. Google Mother Teresa and read what her critics say about her.

But just as readers are fully entitled to say Canadian Contractor, er… sucks (feel free, just spell our name correctly, please) online, the world is free to go online and say that your contracting firm doesn’t cut it, either.

What you don’t need is the right to have that review taken down.

What you do need is a few basic pointers in how to respond, publicly, to the complaint.

These we give you in this month’s cover story, starting on page 18.

Rick Silver, the founder of GoPro.ca, who I first met a decade ago when he was beginning to buy up domain names in the home improvement business, puts it best: We are heading towards a “Reputation Economy.”

What people say about you online is important.

But addressing complaints online in a professional and forthright manner can set you apart from the competition and make your look like a real star.

Bad reviews are an opportunity to respond professionally, calmly and honestly. Like someone you yourself would want to do business with.

July/August 2013

9

13-07-09 6:29 AM

VOICES

Voices

“

The Ontario College of Trades and a hundred other layers of regulation and over-sight are leaving the producers of this country over-burdened, over-governed and over-regulated.

“

Steve Maxwell How government spreads

Government + Time = Regulation.

How, exactly, will the construction business be better off with another layer of watchdogs on duty?

As necessary as government and bureaucracy are, there’s a flaw at the heart of both. The imposition of the Ontario College of Trades is a case in point. To understand why, you need to stop and think about things from the other side.

Imagine you’re a government bureaucrat. You’ve just been promoted to a new job with better pay, more responsibilities and a corner office. The work isn’t too difficult, so you have time to think about how you might leave your mark. Perhaps there’s something new that could be added to your role. Maybe there’s some previously-unnoticed regulatory function that could be filled. Then there’s always the temptation to create the perception of a need, then rush in like a hero to fill it.

10

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voices jul.indd 10

All this is the dynamic behind the process that makes government spread and expand its regulatory influence over time. Government + Time = Regulation. Do we need regulations? Yes, absolutely. Does government have a vested interest in creating regulation beyond genuine need? Yes, the temptation exists, and it’s one reason why Canada has been in a long-term downtrend for decades.

In 2010, Statistics Canada reported the median annual income for people between 20 and 24 was $13,800. Back in 1976, this same age group enjoyed an income of $23,400 adjusted for inflation – nearly 10-grand more. Even Canadians up to their mid40s are measurably poorer today than they were decades ago, as measured in real dollars. Why has this happened? I doubt anyone has the complete answer, but one thing’s for sure. Regulation is the opposite of productivity. The more regulation you have in a society, the slower, poorer and more falteringly the economic engine runs.

What Canada really needs is a government that kicks into action when no other method of making things happen exists – and not a moment before.

This sort of idea is not popular, I know, but sometimes good medicine is bitter. The last thing any country needs is a ruling class populated by people pursuing power, wealth and a cushy professional life in a low-expectation arena. The extent to which a critical mass of people can resist the impulse for selfishness in the government arena is the extent to which Canada will succeed.

Free market activities are subject to the guiding hand of supply and demand, but what governs government? In a democracy it’s supposed to be the informed will of an involved voting population. But where are the democratic limitations on government when the most far-reaching decisions are created and handed down by non-elected bureaucrats or judges? What do you call a democracy where democratic guidance runs only as deep as the paper-thin, 1/64”-thick birch veneer on a sheet of cabinet-grade plywood? The Ontario College of Trades and a

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VOICES

Voices

hundred other layers of regulation and over-sight are leaving the producers of this country overburdened, over-governed and over-regulated.

There’s an old saying that’s worth remembering: “When you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Paraphrased a little, this wisdom applies just as much to good-old, over-regulated Canada: “When you’re a government, everything looks like it needs a guard rail.”

Will things change? I have my doubts. But at least let’s be fully aware of the source of the added hardship that’s about to fall on the men and women who build, renovate and create if the philosophy behind the Ontario College of Trades spreads. We might even work up the courage to do more than complain over coffee.

Steve Maxwell is a frequent contributor to Canadian Contractor.

Training the next generation of contractors and renovators Conestoga College gets it right

I

am writing in response to Steve Maxwell’s article, “The real reason we can’t get enough kids into the trades” (March/April). I am the president of Schnarr Craftsmen Inc. in Waterloo, ON and chair of the program advisory committee at Conestoga College for the Renovation Technician Program. I am also involved with the Waterloo Region Homebuilders Association’s Renovation Council. These two bodies work very well together in trying to attract young people into the trades.

My company and a few of my competitors immediately saw the value of what the college is doing to train people for a career in renovations. As the ones who live locally come out of the program, they contact us looking for employment. Through our renovation council, we work very hard to professionalize our industry. The public needs to know that there are many excellent firms who provide written quotes, have insurance and WSIB coverage, and provide a written warranty. A lot of the shoddy work is because they were looking instead for the lowest price and didn’t check references. The contractors working in the underground economy or truck and ladder companies can price a lot lower, but even more so in residential renovations. In the end, you get what you pay for.

I would encourage your readers to contact Conestoga College to get more information on the training they do.

Greg Schnarr, President, Schnarr Craftsmen Inc. Creative Renovation Solutions, Waterloo, ON

SITE NOTES

Ontario College of Trades hires its first enforcers

By Steve Payne

T

wenty on the payroll, 130 more to be hired. The Ontario College of Trades (OCOT), the newlyestablished organization that says it will regulate and promote the skilled trades in the province, has hired its first “enforcement officers.”

If you’ve received one of the College’s $120 invoices in the mail, requiring you to join the OCOT whether you like it or not, at least you know that these 20 enforcers will be hard at work, eliminating your unlicensed competitors 12

July/August 2013

voices jul.indd 12

and attacking the underground economy. Yes, this tiny group of newly-hired personnel have 157 categories of trades to police in a province that is much bigger than most European countries, but checking for legitimate contractor credentials is a good thing, right?

That has always been the official sales pitch of the College, which is headquartered on Bay Street in downtown Toronto. It has consistently argued that one of its main roles will be to weed out underground contractors. Yet, in actual fact, the Ontario Ministry of Labour (MoL) has had over 400 inspectors on its payroll for years – a significant number of them assigned to doing safety and credentials checks on construction

www.canadiancontractor.ca

13-07-08 2:14 PM

SITE NOTES

sites. Now, following regulations passed in April, the MoL will soon stop asking to see contractors’ certificates of qualification after a “transitional” period of one year.

The College of Trades will take over that job. They plan, eventually, to have 120 enforcement officers hired.

If you feel like flipping any of these OCOT enforcers the bird, should you see one step onto your jobsite, think again. The College has made it clear that some of the enforcement officers have police backgrounds. And they also have trades backgrounds: they are Red Seal carpenters, sheet metal workers, even hair stylists. That’s right, hair stylists.

Should you charge a fee for estimates?

The theory goes, if you charge a fee for a “preliminary design and budget proposal,” say $500, you will weed out the tire-kickers and have fewer customers waste your time.

On our website (canadiancontractor.ca) we asked

contractors to tell us if they were comfortable with that idea.

Ottawa-based carpenter and design-builder Paul Denys posted this: “We started working this way in the early 1990s and we have not looked back. The average free estimate takes 10 to15 hours including two to three site visits because the client always changes their mind.

Once you realize that your time is valuable ($60 to $90 per hour) are you willing to give $600 to $1,350 to a complete stranger in the hope they might hire you to do work? If so, I have some e-mails in my junk folder you might be interested in. A fee for an on-site assessment of a stranger’s renovation is simply fair to both parties.

Anything else is just abuse.”

Stan Dymzak, a fire and restoration contractor in the Niagara peninsula, Ontario, said: “We charge estimate fees, but we give a quality estimate and provide drawings. We offer a credit for same amount if we get the job – it separates the serious buyers and does weed out tthe tire-kickers looking for free advice.”

a

aw

Ott

www.canadiancontractor.ca

voices jul.indd 13

July/August 2013

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13-07-09 1:23 PM

DECKS

All hands on

DECK

14

July/August, 2013

DECKS 14/16.indd 14

By Don Douloff

T

ime was, a backyard deck was a simple affair, a square or rectangular platform, made of wood, onto which would be plopped a few deck chairs and a Hibachi grill. Add steaks, cold beer and a portable stereo and the setting would be complete.

Not anymore. Inspired by the decks featured in lifestyle and home-renovation television shows and glossy ‘shelter’ magazines, customers are, with their

Larry Arnal Photography

The opportunities are endless for creative-minded contractors, like Rosario Ungaro, who find personal satisfaction and a healthy bottom line building one-of-akind backyard structures.

www.canadiancontractor.ca

13-07-08 2:17 PM

decks

contractors, creating decks that have become elaborate structures that reflect the creativity and personalities of their owners. The simple and straightforward decks of yesteryear just won’t cut it.

“People want to create getaway retreats in their backyard, an area where they can come home to decompress and relax,” says Rosario Ungaro, president of Benchmark Building Services, in Toronto. Ungaro founded Benchmark Building Services in 1981 as a full-service general contractor, but says the company’s specialty (and his passion) lies in decks.

And consumers’ desire for backyard retreats is driving all

manner of intriguing trends in the world of decks.

For instance, his customers’ tastes have ventured far beyond the square and rectangular. Circular shapes are big right now. “Rounds are definitely trendy, but they are budgetdriven,” he notes. Indeed, the cost to bend a PVC board into a round, or S-shape, can run $500 to $700 each, including materials and labor, he says.

Also on his customers’ wish lists are arched pergolas. However, they are “very expensive” and require sophisticated engineering, he notes.

Pergolas, he says, can also feature retractable canopies, operated either manually or by remote control, with shade provided by umbrella-type materials available in a wide variety of colors.

And while customers still request platform-style decks, multi-level configurations are all the rage.

Ungaro says decks typically feature two to three levels — one for eating; one for reading/sitting; and perhaps a nook with a pergola overtop.

What’s more, decks combining old-school rectangular/square shapes, with new-school multi-levels, “can be made to look elegant, if designed right,” he says,

especially if benches or nooks are added.

But things really get elaborate when it comes to the deck amenities trending right now.

Spas, for instance. Ungaro says a spa could feature a Jacuzzistyle hot tub; a tubing system, encircling the perimeter and emitting a cooling mist; and louvered roofs, with remote-control panels, to protect against rain.

Deck kitchens, often rivaling anything found inside a home, are on the radar in a big way, he says. They’re typically focused around a barbecue — some as large as six- or sevenburner units, with warming trays and cooktops — often with overhead exhaust fans that could feature such bells and whistles as customized copper hoods.

Lighting, too, “is a huge trend,” says Ungaro, who’s seeing plenty of integrated lighting systems incorporated into deck designs. Uplights, for instance, can be mounted in rock gardens or behind screens, while downlights can be mounted on fence, railing or pergola posts, or walls.

Firepits, too, are finding their way onto decks. Typically centered in tables (coffee tables, for example), the gas-fired pits, besides bringing yet another savvy design element into the mix, have the added advantage

www.canadiancontractor.ca

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July/August, 2013

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13-07-08 2:17 PM

decks

Rosario Ungaro (left) founded Benchmark Building Services in 1981.

His son Antonio (right) has now joined the business.

Photos: Benchmark Building Services

Recent work by Benchmark Building Services

16

July/August, 2013

DECKS 14/16.indd 16

— with their absence of sparks and embers — of being a much easier sell for municipalities’ permit and by-law approvals, says Ungaro.

And which materials are “in”? In a word, composites, says Ungaro, who notes that they’ve come a long way since the first generation of materials and now include PVCs and capped composites.

His three go-to materials are two PVC products, Azek and TimberTech, and Trex capped composite. Each are available in two to three price points and eight to 14 colors and each, too, are about the same in terms of durability, with all three manufacturers offering 20- to 25-year warranties on splitting, rotting and scratching, he says.

The distinguishing features, he notes, come down to “coloration and texture.”

Not surprisingly, composites’ ease of maintenance accounts for their huge popularity. “People just want something they can wash easily, so they can enjoy their backyard,” says Ungaro.

Yet wood, especially exotics, and particularly South American Ipe, still have their place, he says. Ungaro priz-

es Ipe for its durability (“it can last 50 years,” he says), its rich, brown-goldreddish color and its imperviousness to termites and rot.

Another exotic, Tigerwood, from South America and Africa, is also a favorite.

On a more traditional note, there’s cedar, pressure-treated jack pine, and exterior mahogany and rosewood.

Also, thermally modified southern yellow pine, which, since it’s baked under pressure, is termite-resistant and is, he says, “the only wood on the market offering a 30-year warranty.”

Finally, Ungaro stresses that collaboration is key when building a deck.

His mission is to educate clients on new and alternative materials that are lowmaintenance.

“We give clients the full information on materials, and they make their decision based on their needs and budgets.”

And judging by the sophistication of what’s on the market today, those budgets are delivering decks that put those humdrum Hibachi contraptions to shame. cc

www.canadiancontractor.ca

13-07-08 2:17 PM

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13-07-08 2:17 PM

COVER STORY

ARE YOU being

TARGETED ONLINE?

Illustrations: Matt Daley/www.threeinabox.com

Renovator Paddy Cooper got slammed on a contractor review site by a customer he thought was reasonably happy with his work. The review score was 0 out of 10.

What should Paddy do?

18

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COVERSTORY.indd 18

www.canadiancontractor.ca

13-07-09 1:24 PM

COVER STORY

By Kim Laudrum and Steve Payne

W

hat would you do if a customer you knocked your socks off to please gave you a big fat zero on a customer-driven website that rates you on a scale of one to ten among your competitors?

If it’s happened to you, take heart. You are not alone. That’s the scenario several general contractors we caught up with faced recently with at least one such online homeowner-rated site.

Paddy Cooper (not his real name) says his jaw dropped when a friend googled his company and a review of his contracting services popped up on HomeStars.com, one of the leading contractor review sites in North America.

Paddy hadn’t actually heard of the site before but he knew what a “zero stars” review meant to his reputation.

Cooper, a general contractor for 29 years in the Toronto area, has 15 loyal sub-contractors who have worked with him for ten to 20 years, is registered with WSIB, BBB, Metro licensing and the Ministry of Consumer Services – and has a pretty solid reputation in his community. Most of his work is from referrals or repeat business.

The client who posted the review, in fact, was a repeat customer. Cooper had done some work for him a while back. There were some issues, but they had all been resolved by the end of the project, he said. The client thanked him and paid him in full. Presumably, he was satisfied.

Cooper didn’t give it another thought until his friend pointed out the review and the big fat zero.

Why manage your online rep?

Just how important is it to manage a tarnished reputation online?

Extremely important, it turns out. These days a whopping 86 per cent of Canadians are searching for services online, according to Carrie Shaw, marketing director of Outrank by Rogers, a website services provider that helps contractors to appear higher in search rankings. Not only do all contractors need some kind of online presence, they need to be monitoring what customers are saying about them on line. www.canadiancontractor.ca

COVERSTORY.indd 19

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6

COVER STORY

tips for handling negative online reviews 1. Stay calm. Chances are you won’t be able to take the comment down. Think about drafting a response that will put the customer at ease and make you look better.

2. Apologize. Don’t take the bait to battle. Even if you are tempted to smear that customer in return, don’t do it. It will only make you look bad in front of possibly thousands of potential customers who will review your profile.

Instead, acknowledge the customer’s concern because you really do care.

3. Be empathetic. Try to understand where the customer is coming from. What exactly is the issue?

4. Talk up your work. Let them know you take great pride in what you do. This will help restore your reputation in the eyes of others. “You seem decent enough,” they will think.

5. Offer to rectify the situation. Suggest you connect to work it out. Isn’t that what anyone with a complaint would want?

6. Keep your online response short and to the point. Beamlocal, a website services provider, developed a template contractors and tradespeople can use to post responses to negative reviews.

It’s worth a look: “Chris, I’m sorry to hear you were unhappy with the job I recently completed for you. Refinishing floors is something I really take a lot of care doing, and have been doing for a number of years.

Something must have gone wrong, and I’d love to find a way to make it right. Please give me a call and we can work something out.”

You can see how a response like that would be perceived compared to something like: “Chris, you never paid me to install additional subfloor, I told you the floor would end up crooked. This isn’t my fault, it’s yours for not reading your estimate.”

Canadians access contractor reviews through a number of channels. In addition to generic services like Google reviews and Yelp, our industry is served by contractor-specialist sites like HomeStars.com, EIEIHome.com, HandyCanadian.com and GoPro.ca, among others. Think of their services as word of mouth marketing amplified a thousand times.

How many contractors pick up significant business online? Lots of them. Two-million general contractors throughout North America are listed online, according to Brian Sharwood, president of HomeStars.com. Listings of companies with reviews number in the high tens of thousands, he said. In Canada, the majority of listings are in major urban markets in Canada, including Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax.

20

July/August, 2013

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Why list?

“If I wasn’t online my company wouldn’t be as big as it is,” John Oborne, president of Oborne Contracting Inc. told Canadian Contractor. In the past five years his revenue has soared from $1 million per year to more than $4 million. “About 80 per cent of it is driven by Homestars.com,” he said.

Oborne Contracting Inc. scores a solid 9.8 out of 10-stars rating on the site. “Getting reviews is difficult,” Oborne said, but his company has at least 122 of them.

Despite the sterling reputation, Oborne said the company has received at least one bad review.

His advice to other contractors is that you have to respond to it, quickly, on the site.

“Responding to it can actually make things

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COVER STORY

much better,” he said. It’s your opportunity to show that you’re a decent contractor. “Just the response alone could generate interest in your company,” he said.

Once the review is online anyone searching for a good contractor can see it. Posting a response to a negative review isn’t necessarily just to show that one customer that you’re a good person. It’s so that thousands of other potential clients viewing your profile can see it.

“People will think, ‘at least he’s not trying to hide from it,’” said Oborne.

You’re on your own An online response from the contractor is necessary because most host sites won’t remove what is deemed to be fair comment. After all, that’s what gives contractor review sites their credibility: trying to replicate word-of-mouth marketing.

But contractors are not online reputation experts and may not know how to respond. And, as in Cooper’s case, they may not even know a negative review has been posted at all.

“I just wish that HomeStars had contacted me to let me know about the client review before it went up and given me some notice,” Cooper said.

That’s something HomeStars is working on, said Sharwood. “By the end of this year we hope to be able to respond within 24 hours when a contractor has received any review,” but at the moment they are flooded, Sharwood said.

Cooper does have options, though.

Sharwood told Canadian Contractor that Cooper can respond to the comment on the site.

And, no, the contractor doesn’t have to pay to do so, even though HomeStars generates its revenue through contractor listings. HomeStars does some due diligence to make sure only verifiable customers post comments. Customers must provide evidence through either a copy of the contract or invoice. Only the contractor named can post on the site as well.

What to say in your response Once you find out about a negative review online, what should you actually post in response? Well, there are a few simple rules for that, says Rick Silver, founder and CEO of GoPro.ca.

“First, you don’t want to start an inflammatory conversation,” says Silver. “Take the high road. And don’t be too specific about the complaints online.

Say something like, ‘Customer satisfaction is very important to us and we want to make sure you are happy.’” Then ask them to contact you by phone or email, to get the “dispute” out of the public eye.

And when the issues are solved – if they are solvable – don’t forget the final step. “We recommend contractors ask the customer to go back online and report that the problem has been solved,” says Marika Asikainen, content manager at EIEIHome.com. “Because what is online is there forever, so you want the resolution up there, too.”

Even the greatest firms get slammed No matter how good you are, a few negative reviews are inevitable. Hanna Taylor is the director of Hotwire Electric-All Inc., a HomeStars.com-listed company for six years now with 370 reviews and a 9.9 average rating.

But even this company can’t hit a perfect 10.0.

“We haven’t gotten anything really negative. Just small stuff like ‘You didn’t clean the wires’ or ‘you scratched my hardware floor,’” Taylor said. “I just write a comment back, ‘Obviously, we apologize.

Is there anything we can do to rectify it?’ ” Taylor, who spends two hours a day managing Hotwire’s social media reputation, said she thinks it’s imperative to respond to comments – both positive and negative – quickly and on the site.

“I think it’s important to be part of a conversation.

I don’t think it should be a one-way street. Even if you don’t agree with the customer, you should say so, professionally, of course,” Taylor said.

“You should still have your voice heard. Others will soon figure out that maybe it’s not the contrac-

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coVERSTORY

tor; maybe it’s the client’s over-expectations that are the problem,” she said.

As for clients who write positive reviews, Taylor said she’s glad to thank them online. “We also offer them a discount on repeat business,” which helps attract even new customers who have viewed Hotwire’s profile.

Customer-centric service Both Taylor and Oborne commented on how much the way they do business now has changed since joining the homeowner-ranked sites. “Communication with the client was always important to us, but we’re much more detailed now,” Oborne said. “Our clients are much more demanding, too.”

“We’re much more focused now on customer service. Things like cleanliness, punctuality and politeness matter much more now if we want to achieve a review with a 10-star rating,” said Taylor.

“We’ve become much more detailed in our estimates and timelines,” Oborne said. “We make sure to communicate, communicate, communicate all details and change orders,” so the client knows exactly what’s going on all of the time.

“If you don’t say it to them – what the changes are and what they mean – and put it in writing, they won’t accept it,” Oborne said. “You want to avoid clients who are upset,” and, especially, ones that will post their dissatisfaction online.

Detecting fake reviews In a world where ‘webutation’ can be affected by one or two customers who post negative reviews, companies of all sizes can be tempted to manipulate reviews. Or create them out of thin air.

“I’ve seen contractors online on different sites

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with 5,000 reviews, and they’ve been in business for six months,” said Rene DeSantis, president of EIEI Home.com. “Yet I have one contractor who’s been in business for 20 years, and they don’t have 500 reviews.” As DeSantis suggests, fake reviews can be created in volume and it’s a problem for the contractor review site industry. So EIEIHome, like other sites, goes to great lengths to weed out fake reviews.

Rick Silver at GoPro.ca says that multiple reviews from the same computer IP address are a sign of obvious fakes and his firm eliminates them when it detects them. “You get a lot of contractors who review themselves and then review their competitors,” he said.

“We have seen reviews posted by disgruntled ex-employees, ex-wives and girlfriends but they only account for a small percentage of the reviews we reject,” says Max Sheppard of HandyCanadian. com. “We reject over 30 per cent of the reviews we receive and the majority of those are posted by the contractors themselves, their friends, family members or marketing/SEO companies trying to boost their clients online reputation.”

Sheppard says that HandyCanadian “has our own algorithm that that was created based on work published by Cornell University whose students developed an algorithm back in 2011 to detect fraudulent reviews submitted for online hotel review sites that claim 90 percent accuracy. We tweaked their work to look for commonalities with reviews posted for contractors.”

The science of sniffing out fraudulent online reviews is sophisticated, indeed. For contractors, online as on the jobsite, honesty is the best policy. cc Kim Laudrum is a Toronto-based freelance writer and frequent contributor to Canadian Contractor.

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jlkljI

STUFF WE LIKE

2. DOW

INSULATING FOAM

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Excel, an all-in-one residential building envelope structural panel, to the Ontario market. Excel’s uniqueness consists of a perfect combination between a structural wood fibre panel and an air barrier membrane that blocks wind and rain. This membrane is factory-adhered directly to the wood fibre panel, allowing builders to save time and money by eliminating one installation step. Having to install only one structural panel combining air, and acoustic insulation is a huge plus for contractors. Excel will maintain the structural insulation intact until the cladding is installed, and also provide a firm base on which to fasten the cladding, without requiring any additional bracing, strutting or lateral support.

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INSULATED SUBFLOOR

Amdry is a one-step insulated subfloor system with a moisture-resistant protective surface film. It provides a healthy, comfortable, warm basement flooring by significantly reducing slab surface moisture and temperature fluctuations that may lead to mold and mildew problems.

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STUFF WE LIKE

5. RAMUC 4. WOOSTER DUST EATER

The Wooster Dust Eater features a specially treated yarn to attract and hold drywall dust, cobwebs and other light debris. It has a unique triangular shape and a 360-degree pivot to quickly cover large surfaces and reach effectively into corners.

No clouds, no mess. Great for baseboards and floors as well as walls.

POOL PAINTS For more than 70 years, Ramuc has been formulating the finest pool paints advanced technology can offer. Whether you are painting a homeowner’s backyard swimming pool or a commercial water attraction, make sure you go with Ramuc’s line of pool paints to get the job done right.

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woosterbrush.com

6. IRWIN

HIGH-IMPACT CHISELS

For the most rigorous and demanding jobs, Irwin’s new High-Impact Chisels feature a fully-forged core for unbeatable durability and strength with high-quality cutting performance. The extra-large steel strike cap withstands hammer pounding. And the split-proof acetate handle provides added toughness.

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7. MILWAUKEE UTILITY KNIFE

Milwaukee Tool’s original Fastback Utility Knife was an award-winner, and now they’ve added some cool new features to their Fastback II model. This incredible tool features magnetic blade storage and the blade can be activated three times faster than conventional methods.

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www.canadiancontractor.ca

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13-07-08 2:19 PM

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5/13/13 1:43 PM 13-07-08 2:20 PM

THE CREATIVE EYE

A RECLAIM RENO

All Photos: Larry Arnal Photography

Architect-contractor Valerie Farrell’s semidetached home in the Beaches area of Toronto is a statement of both her design and her ecological principles. Valerie’s reno, now some five years old but looking like it was done yesterday, involved opening up the vertical space from ground floor to vaulted ceiling. Guess what happened to the 2x10 hemlock joists that were taken out to create that second storey mezzanine view? Well, they were built into those stairs you see in the inset.

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THE CREATIVE EYE

CUSTOM GLASS RAILING, CARBONIZED BAMBOO If you like the look of that glass railing up in the mezzanine area, you can’t just go out and buy it. Wanting something unique, Valerie got the glass custom-cut and drilled, sourced her own fittings and then designed an appropriate anchoring system to attach it to the floor joists.

The flooring, which matches up pretty well with the hemlock-joistreclaim stairs, is a carbonized version of the Nandina species of bamboo.

Carbonizing involves steaming or smoking bamboo to caramelize the sugars inside the wood. The golden glow of this particular bamboo looks a lot more elegant than the more common “leopard spot” bamboo.

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All Photos: Larry Arnal Photography

THE CREATIVE EYE

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THE CREATIVE EYE

BEACHES STYLE Valerie Farrell’s Hammersmith Avenue home, maybe 200 metres from Lake Ontario, is quintessentially “Beach” from the outside.

Similar columns and balconies can be seen all over this lakeside community and they’re timeless and, as shown here, are quite elegant.

These four-plexes were once almost all rental units. At the back of the house, Valerie built a deck on top of the three-car garage.

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All Photos: Larry Arnal Photography

THE CREATIVE EYE

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ROOFS

Settled on Metal roofing and side wall installation basics

By Steve Maxwell

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D

espite the fact that most Canadian homes are capped with asphalt shingles, metal roofs are growing in popularity for two reasons. While it’s true that metal is roughly double the cost of asphalt, a steady stream of homeowners are willing to pony-up for the long working life that metal delivers. Modern metal options held down with today’s neoprene anchoring screws certainly deliver enduring performance. All this is wise economics, but metal also wins in speed of installation, too. Speed matters most on jobs involving large utility buildings, but more and more high-end

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ROOFS

residential projects are roofed in metal these days, too. Taken together the triple virtues of durability, installation speed and good looks means you’ll be winning more jobs installing metal. Knowing how to put this stuff up efficiently is good business.

Metal installation tricks Roofing metal is made in plain and fancy profiles, with factory-finished colours or no finish at all. You’ll find it in steel versions and alloys. Either way, you order sheets custom-cut to length for each specific roof measured from peak to eaves, with a preformed ridge cap fastened on top and a contoured gasket along the eaves to prevent critters from making their home under the raised profile.

Handling, cutting and fastening These are the three universal operations that go into most building projects, but as with everything else in the contracting world there are tricks that let the job go more smoothly and efficiently. One simple option involves predrilling holes in the pile of roofing sheets as they come off the truck to make it easier to drive screws. Just take the time to measure and space holes evenly, ensuring they line up with the space between horizontal runs of strapping if you’re working over any.

A small pair of vise grip locking pliers offers a safe option for pulling long sheets of metal roofing up one at a time for installation. I’ve used this method myself and it works great. Adjust the jaws so they grip the thickness of one sheet firmly, with a length of cord tied to one end of the pliers. Have a worker on the ground clip the pliers to one sheet, then lift the end up to the eaves. The guy at the top can pull the sheet up single-handedly with the cord, locking it down with a few screws on top before the rest of the sheet gets anchored permanently in every predrilled screw hole except those in the area that’ll overlap neighbouring sheets.

Cutting sheets On anything more than a basic roof you’ll have to cut sheets, and you’ve got three options to make this happen. Manual snips are only practical for small cuts, but a cordless circular saw with a carbide blade works surprisingly well for long, straight cuts, though it’s extremely loud. A cordless metal nibbler works well too, especially when curved cuts are required. They’re like fastaction, short-stroke shears in a cordless configuration.

One unique feature of metal is the option it offers for leveling old roofs that have grown wavy over the years. By shimming wood strapping more www.canadiancontractor.ca

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ROOFS

A pocket-sized, screw-driving powerhouse

G

unning down a wide swath of metal that stretches from eaves to peak is what makes a metal roof go down fast, but roof screw installation remains a limiting factor for some contractors. This is especially true for those wrestling with a full-size cordless drill to drive roof screws. Your average 18-volt model is way heavier than necessary for the job.

Your arm is more tired at the end of the day, and you can’t just drop a full-size drill into your pouch easily when you need two hands.

Solving these difficulties is why sub-compact 12-volt impact drivers make an excellent metal roofing screw gun, particularly the new brushless designs.

Generally speaking, impact drivers deliver more screw-driving power for a given voltage than a comparable drill, and they also offer more precise control over how tightly those screws get driven. This matters with metal roof installations because the difference between too-loose screws and too-tight ones is measured in 1/32” or less.

These days the most efficient and powerful cordless tools have brushless motors. It’s only a matter of time before brushless is all there is. Watch my performance test of 18 volt drills to see why at http://stevemaxwell.ca/ brushless-drill-video/ The difference that brushless delivers is at least as significant with the 12-volt category. Right now Milwaukee’s M12 impact driver is the only brushless 12-volt impact on the market, making it ideal for installing metal roof and wall panels. The ability to do serious work all day long, while still small enough to drop into your tool pouch (alongside a spare battery), makes it the ideal combination for metal roof work and a lot of other jobs.

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Metal roofing and sidewall products come in a huge range of styles, weights and colours. All deliver fast installation and decades-long performance.

or less during installation, you can make a wonky roof appear quite flat once the metal goes on. Locate the high spots of the roof out at the gable ends, then use these a reference points for extending a string to determine the required height of strapping in between. It’s fiddly work, but worth it for clients looking to transform a sagging roof into a visibly respectable one. If the project budget doesn’t allow for custom shimming of a very wavy roof, then stay away from metal.

It needs a flat surface for proper installation.

Metal roofing for interior walls!

If you’re building a workshop, warehouse or utility building that calls for tough inside wall surfaces, consider metal roofing instead of drywall on interior walls. It goes up fast, there’s no joint finishing required, and

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Renovations to this commercial building included a new metal roof. The underside of the verandah roof is exposed strapping and metal

Angled cuts on the metal over dormers and in valleys can be made with a hand-held circular saw or sheet metal nibblers.

there’s no painting because the material is factory finished. From a client’s point of view interior metal roofing on walls is exceptionally tough and completely non-flammable. That’s why insurance companies love it, too. Metal is the ideal utility surface and it looks surprisingly good. The main thing is to build the interior wall structure so it offers anchor points for all metal edges, while also fully supporting the metal itself.

An easy mistake to make when sheathing interior walls with metal has to do with the danger of wintertime condensation within hollow walls. If the building will be heated, then you either need a complete and flaw-free vapour barrier underneath the metal, or you need to build a vapour-impermeable wall structure using SIPs or a spray-foamed stud wall.

Joints between metal sheets keep liquid water out on a roof and exterior wall situation, but they won’t stop vapour intrusion and condensation in a wall cavity.

Taped and painted drywall is actually a pretty decent vapour barrier on its own, but it’s not so automatic with metal sheets. You need to get intentional about vapour management for interior hollow-frame walls covered in metal.

Tough factory finishes, attractive new profiles and long-lasting performance ensure that metal roofing and sidewall products will be a growing part of your 21st century contracting success. cc

Today’s copper-based preservative chemicals used to pressure treat lumber are much more corrosive to metal than ordinary wood or arsenic-based PT lumber that was manufactured until December 2003. And while it’s not common that metal roofing

or sidewall installations come in contact with PT lumber, make sure it never does. The resulting chemical reaction will eat through metal roofing in just a few years, especially if the area gets wet regularly.

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!

Pressure-treated lumber alert!

July/August, 2013

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TRAINING

T E K TIC Why do

educated tradespeople get

TICKETS

while university grads get

DEGREES?

By Karen Hamilton

O

n the last weekend of September, last year, over 120,000 high school students, parents and educators crowded into the Exhibit Hall at the Metropolitan Convention Centre in downtown Toronto to attend the three-day 16th annual Ontario University Fair. Kids and parents grabbed brochures, asked questions, and shopped for a future for the young people in attendance. As far as most of these families were concerned, that future comes with a university degree.

Six months later, out by the airport in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga, organizers welcomed attendees to Apprenticeship Career Connections 2013, a one-day event for anyone interested in apprenticeships and careers in the skilled trades.

Given the ongoing publicity about Canada’s skilled

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trades shortage and the increasing awareness about those good paycheques in the trades, you’d think the place would have been packed. Yet the event, now in its fifth year and one of the biggest of its kind in Ontario, drew only 7,200 people, about the same number as in the previous two years.

Looking at the difference in attendance at these two events, it seems as if parents and their kids will turn out in droves for university-promoting expositions, but not for vocational-related information days. Why?

No respect One theory is that the skilled trades are still the

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TRAINING

Rodney Dangerfield of the career world: They get no respect. On the surface, this doesn’t make sense. At a time when a national skilled trade shortage means hundreds of thousands of job vacancies are going unfilled, young people are turning up their noses at a career in the trades. Part of the reason has to do with the stereotypes: a trade is a second class option; it’s dirty, physically demanding work; it doesn’t pay well; it’s for people who don’t get good grades in high-school; it’s a dead end with no opportunity for advancement. The list goes on and on. Forget that most of these stereotypes aren’t true; it’s still how the general public perceives things. Like it or not, the skilled trades has a major PR problem on its hands and the million-dollar question has become, how do you change the image of the trades?

go into the trades. So why not take that guy and show him as the entrepreneur he is? Why not show him sitting at the cottage he’s built because not only is he a craftsman, he makes a good enough living to afford the cottage in the first place. Show how smart he is. And show him using cutting-edge technology to do his job.”

Perez knows of which he speaks. Hammerati helps contractors tell their story and “sell the dream” to their clients through an improved online image. “Hammerati gives contractors a platform to make them look like they belong in 2013,” Perez says. “When a contractor’s online image looks like something from the turn of the century, it doesn’t help the industry as a whole. We give contractors a simple way to build and publish a professional looking website, show off their photos and credentials, and give their customers a modern, interactive experience.”

Selling the dream “The sex appeal of construction is only sold on the consumer side,” says Carlo Perez, CEO of Hammerati, a LinkedIn for the construction industry. “What about the entrepreneurial aspect, the craft, the contribution trades people make to a greater society, or the way they use technology to innovate in ways that have never been done before? We do a poor job of telling this part of the story to those considering a career in the trades.”

Because this is a country-wide problem, Perez would like to see industry and government telling that story through a mass media campaign using both traditional and social media. To be effective though, he believes they need to sell the dream, not just the reality.

“There is all sorts of information out there that says jobs in the trades are in demand but that alone doesn’t make going into the trades an appealing career choice. There needs to be a shift in how we sell it.

When I look at industry and government websites that have been designed to attract prospects to the trades, a lot of the stuff I see is pretty poor quality. Too often they feature a guy in a hardhat and tool belt working on a jobsite. Chances are slim that’s going to make a kid who grew up with flashy high-tech everything want to

The offline image problem While Perez is in the business of helping construction professionals clean up their online image, their offline presence speaks volumes as well. Last September, when Canadian Contractor’s tools editor, Steve Maxwell, penned an article in the Toronto Star musing about what it would take to end the shortage of skilled trade workers in Canada, he got an angry email from a parent who wanted their kid to do anything but go into the trades. The reason? What this parent had seen on jobsites. “Many of these people are PIGS!” the parent said in the email. “They drive their work vans like idiots, throw their cigs out the window, dump coffee cups on your lawn, piss in your yard, let wind blow garbage all over the neighbourhood, drink beer at lunch… then continue to work on your house.”

Ouch!

This irate parent summed it up neatly by concluding, “When the trades begin to set a better example of behavior, then maybe these jobs will look more attractive.” Now it’s easy to dismiss this parent as being misinformed. But who’s trying to change those perceptions?

T E K TIC

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TRAINING

Rebrand Shaun Thorson is trying, for one. Thorson is chief executive officer of Skills Canada, a national notfor-profit organization charged with promoting careers in skilled trades and technologies to young people. And he knows what he’s up against.

“Unfortunately there is a stigma,” Thorson says.

“High school students and parents don’t view trades training on the same level as university.”

Part of the problem, he suggests, is how we view trades certification. “When someone goes into the trades, we talk about them getting their papers, or ticket or certificate. People don’t recognize that piece of paper in the same way as a degree.”

One small step towards changing the public’s perception about jobs in the trades, then, could be changing what we call the piece of paper someone receives when they graduate from a training program.

The importance of hands-on Thorson is also a big proponent of experiential opportunities. Skills Canada hosts events that give youth a hands-on experience with a trade, a kind of “try-before-you-buy”. What inevitably ends up happening is that everyone in attendance goes away with a new-found respect for the work trades people do. “People need to try it,” says Thorson. “When they do, they’re surprised at the level of complexity and competency required. A lot of people think it’s easy to work in these professions and it really isn’t.”

Thorson isn’t the only one who thinks the handson approach is critical. Barb Finan, the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) facilitator at the Halton District School Board, wants to see shop classes put back in place for grade seven and eight students. “If they don’t try it out,” she says, “chances of them doing it are slim.”

40

“We encounter kids all the time who get their degree because it’s what their parents want, then those kids come to us to do what they really want to do,” says Shalini Da Cunha, Executive Director of the Peel Halton Workforce Group, the organization responsible for the Apprenticeship Career Connections show.

There are plenty of reasons why parents don’t want their kids going into the trades; it can be the pride they get when their kids go into “glam” careers like law or medicine, the (increasingly wrong) perception that you can earn a bigger paycheque with a university degree, and the idea that having a trade limits you, making you a one-trickpony who can’t do anything else.

Even if these perceptions may be misguided, it indicates that any marketing program to promote the trades has to speak to multiple audiences – the kids who are embarking on their careers and the parents who are influencing them. Somehow we have to convince parents that there are not just jobs, but abundant opportunities. As Skills Canada’s Thorson points out, “people need to look at skilled trades careers as a stepping stone to other things. Like any other job, you start at the bottom of the chain and you progress.”

No such thing as bad publicity

The parent trap

The skilled trade shortage has become a media darling lately, which, in turn, has increased awareness about the job possibilities offered by the trades. Coming at a time when the Canadian unemployment rate remains at a stubborn 7 per cent, the trades are looking more attractive than they might have pre-recession. If government, industry and trades organizations can put their money where their mouth is and develop a modern-day marketing campaign to leverage this newfound interest, the trades might just stand a chance of getting some respect after all. cc

Part of the problem with the way careers in the skilled trades are promoted is that the focus is placed on young people but often the ones we really need to reach are their parents.

Karen Hamilton is a freelance writer in Toronto and a frequent contributor to Canadian Contractor and canadiancontractor.ca.

July/August, 2013

U

K a e i

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6/25/12 4:37 PM 13-07-08 2:24 PM

CONTRACTOR U

Financing

growth: PART I

Investment is the foundation on which to build your business.

By Mike Draper

In this two-part article, contractor coach Mike Draper looks at the most common dilemma faced by professional renovators: If you don’t add people and build a proper company, you will forever remain a one-man show with an income that will soon hit a ceiling.

That’s okay for some. But if you want to build something bigger, you’re going to have to plan for it, and pay for it — at least in the short term.

H

as your business been stuck at the same level? No matter what you try, no matter how hard you work, you can’t seem to get your business to break through. If so, these next two articles just might provide the answer you have been looking for.

In this two-part series on Financing Growth, we

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are going to explore different ways that you can grow your company. In this issue I will suggest how to look at your business with fresh eyes and why there are good arguments for you to finance the growth of your business – if you want to grow beyond the one-man-show tradesman model and build a company. In the next issue, Part 2, we will

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CONTRACTOR U

talk about specific ways to finance that growth.

Why have you hit a plateau?

Regardless of the level of a business, most will eventually hit a plateau because it is impossible to continue to grow forever doing the same things with the same people. Businesses have to be nimble and ready to make changes. Things that you might not have today may be needed in the future.

If you are the only person in your company and working 50 hours per week, you can’t double your revenue doing the same things as you are doing now by working 100 hours per week, week in and week out. It’s not sustainable. Working more hours is not the answer. It’s true you can grow to certain level by working harder, but you will still hit a ceiling if you don’t change how you do things. I haven’t seen a single renovation contractor who works ridiculous hours and makes much more money. In fact, long hours worked by the owner, without proper staffing and resources, leads to poor performance, meager profits and less money.

There are many different ways to grow, but the one thing that all growing businesses have in common is a plan. You have to have a crystal clear vision of where you want to get to and a plan of how to get there. If you don’t know where you want to go, it is impossible to know how to get there. If you don’t have a vision and a plan, you are already there…that is, nowhere.

Do you have a vision and a plan?

Write down where you want your business to be three years from now. Three years is a good timeframe as it is close enough that it is motivating and you can clearly see what is realistic. It is also far enough out that you have time to reach your vision. Once this goal has been established, it is time to look at what it will take to get there. If you can’t plan for it on paper, there is no way you will figure it out as you go.

Your vision statement has to answer some basic, but very important questions:

• What customers do we serve? Who is our target market? Hint: the narrower your target market the better. You can’t be all things to all people.

• What do we do for those customers?

• How do we serve those customers? What technology, systems and processes do we use that ensure customer satisfaction?

• What makes us unique? This is a tough question for most renovation contractors. Everybody says things like: good quality workmanship, good service, trustworthy, has been in business for many years, is family owned, etc. Those things are all great, but we are looking for what sets you apart here. What really makes you different from other contractors?

Who would you have to hire to grow?

Spend some time looking at what you would have to do to take on the amount of work you need to reach your target. Would you have to add more crews to handle more work? Would you have to hire a lead carpenter, site supervisor or project manager to look after your projects? Would you need to hire a sales person or an estimator to win the projects? Would you need to hire a bookkeeper and/or administrative person to help with all of the invoicing, bill payments, and looking after the paperwork?

When you finish planning what your company needs to look like three years from now in order to reach your vision, you have completed the first part of your business plan, which is a critical step in your success. You have now worked out how you can get there. Now look at your finances. How are you going to fund all those new people, systems and resources that you need to do all of the work?

Next to a lack of vision, the lack of a financial plan is a major stumping block for most contractors.

Without the financial capability in place, the company can’t achieve the vision.

Let’s look at the numbers Let’s use the example of a renovation contractor www.canadiancontractor.ca

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CONTRACTOR U

who is doing $600,000 in sales and is trying to break the $1 million mark. He is most likely working very long hours on the job site as the site supervisor, running to visit new leads, doing estimates for prospects, closing projects and then spending his evenings doing paperwork. He is already working 12 to 14 hour days and can’t work any harder. He most likely wants to work fewer hours.

How does this contractor get from $600,000 to a $1,000,000 without hiring more people? He can’t.

He has to hire someone or multiple people to handle some of the workload if he has any hope of getting to $1,000,000 in sales. The problem that most contractors face is that there typically is not enough profit at $600,000 to hire another person. The decision of when to hire more staff and how to pay for them is difficult. The lack of a vision and both operational and financial plans are the primary reasons why most small contractors can’t decide to invest in their businesses and stay small.

The next dilemma for this contractor is that he knows that if he gets his business to $1,000,000, he may not be able to pay for the extra help. But unfortunately, he won’t get there if he doesn’t hire staff because he wouldn’t have the capacity to do the work without them.

This doesn’t mean that expansion can’t happen.

It means that it must be carefully planned. Planning how to fund your growth is critical at this point.

Here is what I am getting at. Most growth requires an investment. If you aren’t willing to invest in your future, then you are already in your future. Not investing in what it takes to grow means you will stay the same.

Accepting risk for the short term The hard fact is, the only way to grow is to accept some risk for the short term. Your investment in your future will mean that you do not have as much money now as you would if you didn’t invest. You have to realize that in the short term it will look

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like you are going backwards. However, when you follow your plan you know that you will come out ahead. It is like building a home. In order to build up, you first have to dig down. You have to dig down in order to put in the footings, which are ultimately the foundation of the house. The building can now be built up. Your business is no different.

You will most likely see profit go down as you fund growth but the investment is the foundation on which to build your business.

Investing in resources to help you build your business is a fundamental element in your success and it all starts with a well thought out financial plan. This is a good time to mention how important cash flow is when expanding. Understanding the cash needs of your business is critical. If you would like us to send you a cash flow forecast sheet, send an email to mike.draper@renovantage.com. The cash flow forecast sheet will help you plan what your cash needs will be as your business expands.

It will show you how much cash you will need to inject into your business. The key is to make the investment as low as possible, to know how much is needed, when you will need extra money and when you can expect a return on your investment.

In Part 2, we will talk about ways to manage cash flow and sources of funds to finance your growth.

Get going: Take action!

Armed with a vision of where you want your business to be, how you will get there and a financial plan, you are well on your way. Now it is all about execution. Should you find yourself deviating from your plan, get back on track as quickly as possible. Lastly, you must have confidence and stay focused.

In the next issue of Canadian Contractor (Sept/ Oct 2013), we will explore different options for financing your growth. Having looked at the pros and cons of each, you will then need to decide which way is best for your business. cc

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13-07-08 2:25 PM

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MECHANICAL ROOM

F

eatures and benefits versus cost — these are the primary decision points for just about everything that homeowners include in their construction or renovation projects.

Are they looking to improve the aesthetics of their home, increase functionality and usability, add safety or increase the perception of value and worth? Sometimes there are code requirements that must be met and the decision point for these items often becomes cost driven. When the client makes cost-based decisions, it may limit the opportunity to “sell” the best solution. Product choices become limited to low-cost or budget items, overlooking big-picture improvements.

Unless homeowners are working with the few truly forward-thinking builders and renovators, they are likely not considering a residential fire sprinkler system as part of their construction project. However, in a growing number of communities, they might have to consider fire sprinklers to meet code requirements. This is an opportunity for contractors to set themselves apart from their competition by educating the client on the types of systems, the benefits of each, and how to incorporate the requirements into an overall upgrade. This education is the key to overcoming cost-based decisions. Typically, when presented with the facts, homeowners will understand the reasons they are required to install fire sprinklers. These requirements

What you need to know about residential

FIRE SPRINKLERS

By Eric Skare, CFPS

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MECHANICAL ROOM

might impact decisions on some design aspects and the scope of their renovation or construction, but when they understand the benefits of a residential fire sprinkler system most will embrace the concept.

Consider the Canadian Contractor cover story from last August, “Renovating for Accessibility,” and the progress that has been made incorporating design features targeted for disabled and elderly homeowners. Fire sprinklers are ideally suited for this type of construction and renovation. These residents are particularly vulnerable in residential structure fires, and renovation updates that incorporate residential fire

Sprinkler located within a PEX loop sprinkler systems can significantly improve the quality of life and peace of mind for homeowners with physical challenges. Clients with growing families and pets are also ideal candidates for a residential fire sprinkler system. There are overwhelming statistics as well as many published articles highlighting the benefits of residential fire sprinklers. Using this data to educate clients can move the conversation away from a cost decision to a discussion of features and benefits.

Get familiar with the standards Informed contractors will be able to describe various types of sprinklers and their operation, materials and maintenance associated with the types of sprinkler systems available. Familiarity with NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) 13D, Standard for Installation of Sprinkler Systems in One- and Two-Family Dwellings and Manufactured Homes, will allow contractors to effectively educate clients about the requirements of residential fire sprinklers and help them select the best system for their project.

Residential fire sprinkler systems are typically installed as either a multipurpose or a standalone system. Multipurpose systems are integrated with the home’s cold-water plumbing and are often installed by specially trained plumbing contractors. Standalone systems are dedicated fire sprinkler systems and are typically installed by traditional fire sprinkler contractors.

As defined in NFPA 13D, multipurpose systems are piping systems intended to serve both fire sprinkler and domestic needs. They are usually installed as a looped, or flow-through, system where the sprinkler pipe feeds most sprinklers from two paths. This is a common design approach when using crosslinked polyethylene (PEX) pipe for multipurpose systems. In essence, all sprinklers are located within a PEX loop with water being supplied from two directions. Cold-water plumbing fixtures are then fed from this fire sprinkler loop.

Each time a plumbing fixture is used, fresh water circulates through the fire sprinkler system. The system is essentially tested every day, providing peace of mind to occupants that their sprinkler system is ready to protect them in case of a fire.

Standalone systems are defined as a piping system

Forward-thinking builders and renovators are already up-to-speed on how sprinklers – once a rare sight in single family homes – can be installed aesthetically and economically. Now, a growing number of communities are making them code.

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MECHANICAL ROOM

that supplies water only to the fire sprinklers. The most common standalone system utilizes a trunk-and-branch piping layout with most sprinklers being fed by a direct, dedicated piping line. Although PEX is allowed for standalone systems according to the 2013 Edition of NFPA 13D, these systems have historically been installed using rigid CPVC pipe. Because the piping in these systems is dedicated only to the fire sprinklers, there is usually a requirement for backflow prevention to keep the stagnant water from the fire sprinkler system from contaminating the fresh water supply. The local water purveyor may also require annual testing of the backflow device.

Multipurpose or standalone?

Determining the best system solution is many times influenced by the scope of the project. In new construction, both systems are very viable choices and the final decision will likely be based on several factors, with material preference, contractor relationships, maintenance requirements and homeowner preference being the primary factors impacting the decision. Incorporating a fire sprinkler system into a renovation project can be a more challenging proposition, but if the renovation involves opening ceilings and walls, the installation of fire sprinklers can often be similar to new construction, with similar expectations of cost. Typically, the larger the renovation project, the easier it is to include a fire sprinkler system. When projects are less intrusive, the flexibility of PEX tubing can provide significant advantages over rigid piping products; especially if the homeowners desire the continuous-testing benefit and

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minimal maintenance of a multipurpose system.

Regardless of the type of system, it is good practice to regularly inspect the system to ensure it is in good working operation. In the case of a multipurpose system, if water is available from the cold-water fixtures, there is water available for the fire sprinklers. In standalone systems, test the water supply by ensuring the main control valve is in the open position and operating a test valve. Additionally, visually inspect the sprinklers periodically to ensure they haven’t been damaged. And ensure escutcheons or cover plates are intact and properly aligned. Educating homeowners about these inspection and testing recommendations can eliminate concerns of ongoing cost and increase peace of mind regarding system reliability.

Canadian Automatic Sprinkler Association Finding qualified installers for residential sprinkler systems is becoming easier as fire sprinkler awareness increases. When fire sprinklers became a requirement in the 2009 International Residential Code (IRC), many plumbing contractors and fire sprinkler contractors began preparing for this new development in the single-family construction market. Qualified installers can be found through fire sprinkler organizations such as CASA, the Canadian Automatic Sprinkler Association, local licensing bodies or the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ), as well as manufacturers that supply products for the fire sprinkler industry. These organizations are also very good resources for fire sprinkler education, training, and marketing information.

Presenting clear facts and a thorough understanding of residential fire sprinkler systems can increase business for the contractor and ensure life safety and peace of mind for homeowners. You become an educator, not a salesperson. And when your clients view you as a knowledgeable partner, cost negotiations can become collaborative discussions focused on features and the life safety benefits of residential fire sprinklers. cc Eric Skare is the product manager of fire safety at Uponor, a leading provider of PEX-a residential fire sprinkler systems in the North American market.

www.canadiancontractor.ca

13-07-08 2:26 PM

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