Chevy celebrates its 100 year anniversary and fittingly touts the Silverado as the longest-lasting, most dependable full-size pickup on the road.  An ad that debuted during the past Super Bowl, shows the Silverado navigating devastation and destruction  at the end of the world.   A group of friends, who are Silverado owners, makes its way to the designated meeting spot but notice one of their buddies is missing.  The missing friend, unfortunately, drives another manufacturer’s truck and doesn’t appear to have made it to the meeting point.  Watch it here.

Aah… a nice size, smooth riding but extremely capable truck that we enjoyed driving around the Metroplex and at the Truck Rodeo.

The 2012  Nissan Frontier PRO-4X finished first place at the Texas Truck Rodeo due to its extraordinary power and off-road athleticism.  You may have seen on a commercial during the past NFL season.   If you missed it, check it out here.   It features the Nissan Frontier traveling down a large snow covered mountain in a manner similar to a snowboarder run to illustrate these capabilities.   Frontier continues to offer an exceptional level of on- and off-road performance with the use of a 4.0-liter DOHC V6 engine rated at 261 horsepower and 281 lb-ft of torque. A 152-horsepower 2.5-liter inline 4-cylinder engine is also available (King Cab only). With its strong performance, combined with good fuel mileage (17 city, 21 highway, King Cab 2WD), the Frontier is a fitting truck for work or play.

No more feeling left behind or overwhelmed in our high-tech, digital, ever-changing crazy world.  No more watching others reach your goals before you do!  It’s never too late to start over or reinvent yourself!

Let’s get SMART together.  Join us for a new discussion group.

Check out the Building SAVVY Bookstore for some of the books we will be discussing.

We invite attendees to read, apply and share results.  It’s about awareness, enlightenment and personal growth.

Join us on LEAP YEAR.–Wednesday, February 29 for a Dutch Treat lunch at Pappadeux, 2121 Airport Freeway in Bedford 11:30-1pm for our preliminary discussion about the ART of SALES & MARKETING.  We will take an inventory of what we have done in the past that still works, what no longer works and the potential we haven’t yet tapped.  Then we’ll give you some reading homework to do to prepare you for our next meeting and discussion.

Register Now so we can get a head count.

Upcoming topics will help of master the ART of:

SOCIAL MEDIA–where are you now?  where do you want to be?

SELLING ME–personal branding

SAILING MORE (OR SKIING MORE…SURFING MORE…SLEEPING MORE–whatever floats your boat!)–learn to earn passive income, work smart

SAVING MORE.. (or SPENDING MORE–if you’re a miser) Let’s talk about balance and breaking old habits that are holding you back.

SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT–let’s get organized!

The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) announced the 151 Regional CotY (Contractor of the Year)^TM Winners in the 2012 competition, of which, 6 winners and one honoree are members of the NARI Greater Dallas chapter representing the Dallas metroplex. Judging for the regional projects took place at NARI’s national headquarters inDes Plaines,Illinois, in the second week of January. Regional CotY Winners will now advance as finalists at the national level.

Contractors from seven regions around the country vie for CotY Awards on an annual basis, and all regional winners will now be eligible for National CotY Awards and will be honored at NARI’s Evening of Excellence^SM on Saturday, April 21, 2012 at the Gaylord Texan Hotel andConferenceCenter, located in Grapevine (Dallas),Texas.

NARI Greater Dallas Regional CotY Award Winners are:

Graf Developments – Residential Kitchen $80,001 to $120,000

Traver Construction, Inc. – ResidentialBath$30,000 to $60,000

Key Residential, Ltd. – Residential Addition over $250,000

Southwest Fence & Deck – Residential Exterior under $100,000

R.H. Residential Renovations, Ltd. – Residential Exterior Specialty

Provenance Builders – Residential Historical Renovation/Restoration

Euro Design/Build/Remodel – Universal Design Project Honoree

MSN Money lists the TOP TEN tax breaks that a  lot of taxpayers don’t know about or overlook.   They can save thousands of dollars!

Some major changes that the Texas Association of Builders has implemented in its newly updated contracts for construction and remodeling transactions, include:

• a provision addressing newly state mandated contractor payment requirements in disaster areas and federal OSHA fall protection mandates.
• a new remodeler’s short form contract for small jobs.
• new language addressing regulatory fines caused by your subcontractors in both the sales agreements and subcontractor agreements.
• updated warranty performance standards.

TAB’s contracts package subscription is available to its members for $299.99.   The two-year subscription to the package includes eight residential construction and remodeling contracts, as well as dozens of related addenda and associated agreements. The subscription includes any needed updates that may occur during the two-year cycle between Sept. 1, 2011 and Aug. 31, 2013.  It can be ordered through our local home builders associations.

In addition to making sure you are using up to date contracts with your customers, our Legal Perspective columnist, Stephen Polozola also strongly recommends that you execute subcontractor agreements with each and every member of your team.  Read the Legal Perspective column in the current issue of Building SAVVY for detailed information on Subcontract Agreements.

In the current issue of Building SAVVY*, we reported a story in our Industry News section about the intention of the Southern Pine Inspection Bureau (SPIB) to immediately implement and publish the new design values in Supplment No. 9 to the 2002 Standard Grading Rules for Southern Pine Lumber upon approval by the American Lumber Standard Committee (ALSC) Board of Review.

In response to comments from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a chorus of opposition from industry groups, the ALSC Board of Review disapproved the SPIB’s proposal to lower design values for all grades and sizes of visually inspected Southern pine.  Instead, the board approved proposed new values for only 2×4, No. 2 lumber, which was the only size and grade the SPIB had tested before submitting its proposal on Oct. 6. In a supplemental ruling issued on Jan. 12, this was expanded to include all lower grades of 2x4s.  In addition, the review board approved a recommended effective date of June 1 for the new design values for 2x4s to “allow for their orderly implementation.”

*Click on the magazine cover you see to your left and flip to page 4 to read more about the new lumber design values and how they may affect your business.  More information and additional resources  are available on a special webpage created by NAHB to address this issue.

Many suburban homes throughout the country in the early 20th century were based on the architectural style commonly known as Tudor. An architectural style with a fairly wide latitude of expression, the “Tudor” label is loosely based on the architecture of Medieval England, from the 15th through the 17th centuries.

An identifying Tudor feature is a high-pitched roof, usually side gabled and with one or more dominate, front facing cross gables. Tudor style houses often feature striking decorative timbers, fashioned after Medieval construction techniques. This decorative woodwork comes in many different designs, with stucco or patterned brick between the timbers. The roof lines of Tudor homes are almost always graced with massive chimneys, constructed of brick or stone and capped with elaborate chimney pots.

In the United States, Tudor styling takes on a variety of forms ranging from elaborate mansions to modest suburban homes with mock masonry veneers. The Tudor style was most popular in America during the 1920s and early 1930s, with somewhat of a resurgence in the 1970s under the “Neo-Tudor” classification. However, the Neo-Tudor is a somewhat modified and diluted form of the more historically correct Tudor Revival style.

1st floor (a/c): 2900 s.f.
2nd floor (a/c): 1050 s.f.
Total (a/c): 3950 s.f.

This 4 bedroom design places the master suite on the ground floor with an optional elevator leading to the secondary 3 bedrooms and baths on the 2nd floor. Note how the Master Suite splits the bathing areas from the sinks, providing ample light and sitting in both spaces. The downstairs also features a single dining area, joint Game Room and Media Room with a Wet Bar. This space can be closed off from the foyer with a large paneled sliding door. A downstairs Study is accessed from underneath the staircase. While the majority of Tudor Revival architecture uses a wide range of exterior materials, this particular design is crafted mostly with a stone veneer, with some rough cedar accents and a brick chimney. Note the deeply recessed arched entry and matching arched wood entry door, as well as the very clean and simple roof line.

This original Tudor Revival house was designed by Heritage Design Studio and is available for purchase. If you are interested in seeing this or other unique designs, please visit: www.HeritageDesignStudio.com or email Chris Hough.

Download Heritage Design Studio’s newsletter about Tudor Revival Design.