(SkyNewswire.com) --- USI Remodeling won a total of 2 honors recognizing areas of unique achievement in both custom building and renovation at the 2010 Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas Awards. The Coppell kitchen remodeling and Colleyville, Springtown bath remodeling projects are of 3 early 1990's residential homes involving the total gutting of 2 master baths and the cosmetic updating of a kitchen, resulting in finalist spots in the categories of, Best Kitchen remodel under $30,000, Best Bathroom remodel between $20,000 & $35,000, and Best Bathroom remodel between $35,000 & $55,000, capturing 2 winning spots.

(SkyNewswire.com) --- The Painting Company, a full-service Atlanta painting firm, has entered into an new marketing agreement with 680 The Fan, the Atlanta sports radio station. The campaign will include radio and online advertising, as well as an endorsement from former Atlanta Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone.

The Atlanta painters selected 680 The Fan as their media partner due to their compatible brand image and the connection with their listeners. There is a large presence of sports fans in the Atlanta area; 680 The Fan reaches approximately 350,000 listeners on a weekly basis. The typical sports radio listener is a young or middle-aged male, more likely than the average American to hold a college degree and to be a home-owner, qualities that make this audience a primary target demographic for The Company's Atlanta house painting services.

(SkyNewswire.com) --- Choosing the right contractor is probably the most important decision a homeowner makes during a home construction project. Therefore, homeowners should select a contractor they can trust with your most valuable asset.

Marlene Perez is vice president of Dream Builders General Contractors, a San Francisco Bay peninsula designer and builder that has been serving Bay Area clients for 19 years. She suggests that those looking to undertake a home improvement project ask the following questions before selecting a contractor:
1. Does the contractor have a permanent business location and a solid reputation?
2. How long have they been in operation?
3. How much experience do they bring to the job?
4. Are they in good standing with professional trade associations?
5. What do their references say about them? Would they hire them again?
6. Can they arrange a visit to a job site in progress and one that is completed?
7. Do they have proof of worker’s compensation and general liability insurance?
8. Is the contract complete and clear?
9. What warranties are available?
10. What exactly does the bid include?
11. Will the contractor obtain proper permits?
12. And most importantly, does the contractor communicate openly?

(SkyNewswire.com) --- Home Slicker® Plus Typar® is a cost-effective, labor-saving, moisture-eliminating rainscreen-weather resistant barrier. Each roll contains the patented Home Slicker three-dimensional matrix bonded to Typar, a premium residential and commercial grade housewrap. This simple design allows users to install the combination rainscreen-weather resistant barrier in half the time and promotes best practice for managing moisture sidewall applications. Each roll of Home Slicker Plus Typar is 39 in. wide x 61 ½ ft. long and covers 200 square feet.

(SkyNewswire.com) --- Expertise - the do-it-yourself project will never turn out (a) the way you want it or (b) look professionally done. Woodworking and carpentry are skills not to be taken lightly and without some level of experience or training executing even the most mundane tasks, such as hanging sheet rock, will be extremely difficult. On top of that, plumbing, heating, and electrical still stand in your way. With electrical accidents being very common often among professionals, I think it's safe to say you should avoid your own wiring systems unless you hold a degree in electrical engineering.

Value - By renovating a space in your home, or the entire home itself, you dramatically increase the value of your property. Adding a fireplace, finishing a basement, or even constructing a game room are all perfect examples of smart home remodeling; smart for your home's value and more importantly, smart for your family.

(SkyNewswire.com) --- Some of the main outlets for plumbing supplies scoffed 7 years ago at the idea of offering the old style cast iron radiator to the public, yet today almost every plumbing supplier is selling them. Paladin Radiators, a family run company, based in Lincolnshire, has become a leading specialist and supplier offering an extensive range of cast iron radiators ( paladinradiators.com ) and related accessories. The secret has been Paladin's affordability and service as well as a beautifully stunning product line.

Architects, Interior Designers, Building Contractors along with the general public have all begun to favour the cast iron radiator as opposed to its rival the "paint it and hide it" modern steel radiator, for both modern and period refurbishments. With the advent of popular TV programmes such as Grand Designs and Changing Rooms etc the public have learned to be more adventurous with interior design and barn/church/warehouse conversions have become fashionable, all helping to promote the choice of the cast iron ( paladinradiators.com ) radiator. Paladin also offer a wide range of finishes including antique paint effects and hand polishing to give that extra touch of excellence and individuality to the finished product.

(SkyNewswire.com) --- Over the past several years, New York City has received widespread publicity over several crane accidents at large construction sites that caused numerous fatalities and left many others with debilitating injuries. While the attention those tragedies received was deserved, the dangers on small construction sites - which can be just as deadly - often go unnoticed.


Spotlight on Safety
Large construction sites are understandably the objects of more attention from city building construction inspectors, politicians, media, neighborhood organizations and people who live and work nearby. The big sites often have heavy equipment such as cranes, bulldozers and excavators, cement mixers and trenchers, as well as extensive scaffolding, large electrical generators and piles of materials. Perhaps most important, these sites also typically have fencing and security personnel to keep the public away from the site's dangers. When a five-story apartment building is going up or a business is renovating its three-story headquarters, the potential dangers and risks are equal to those on large projects. However because of the lesser scale of these types of projects the developers and construction management companies are often under less scrutiny. Construction firm owners and crew chiefs can be tempted to cut costs by eliminating required, standard safety measures to the detriment of the workers. Safety equipment such as harnesses might be scarce or not even available on site, while equipment operators are pushed to work quickly without taking normal precautions.

(SkyNewswire.com) --- The coatings that have been developed aren't specified an R-value score, though their measurements are made through their emissivity power. Therefore, the ability towards reflecting high temperature as well as the warmth which is upon the outside of all the construction is its main criteria. There are 3 forms of heat (i) Ultra Violet heat (ii) light that is definitely discernible, and (iii) the infrared (IR). If superior quality of ceramic insulating coatings is applied, you can contain the three kinds of high temperature. The infrared temperature in fact builds up roughly 57 percent of the heat on the construction and can be checked through the insulated coatings.


For that reason clients should know how to differentiate the reflective coatings from the true insulating coatings. The reflective coatings can function only if it is clean and cannot block all kinds of heat. The insulative coatings however, can obstruct the entry of all types of heat.

(SkyNewswire.com) --- The Space Needle is an imposing tower that is an iconic structure located in the American city of Seattle. It holds the position of being one of the city's esteemed structures, and is recognized as one of Seattle's distinctive symbols. Situated at the Seattle Center, the Space Needle was constructed for the World's Fair in 1962; at this time almost twenty thousand people ascended the Space Needle through its elevators each day. The tower is of impressive dimensions, standing 184 meters tall and 42 m at its widest point; the structure weighs no less than 9,550 tons. At the time of its creation the Space Needle had the distinction of being the highest man-made structure west of the river Mississippi.


The revolving SkyCity restaurant is situated at 152 m; other highlights include the observation area at 160m and a souvenir/gift shop. The pinnacle of the Needle affords a sensational view of the Seattle skyline, the mountains around the region and the islands in the environs. The trip to the highest point of the tower takes 43 seconds through the special elevators which function in the structure. To this day the Space Needle remains an attraction of note, luring countless visitors each year.

(SkyNewswire.com) --- Over the last two decades, many advancements have occurred in the production of shop drawings due to advancements in computer technology. The developments in computer-aided drafting and building informational modeling (BIM) have impacted how shop drawings in structural steel, reinforcing steel and other trades are produced. Computer-based 3D modeling has impacted constructability issues and improved communication
among the major players in the overall construction process. Based on interviews conducted with a select group of fabricators, contractors and engineers, the author concludes that shop drawings produced using 2D and 3D computer software is a positive step toward improving constructability.

Just as the design, drafting, fabrication, and construction practices vary from company to company based on the size of the company, and the types of civil works they are involved in, so does the practice of production of shop drawings. Each fabricator has to develop their own 3D model from 2D drawings which is contrary to what the architects do, that is developing 2D drawings from a 3D model. Issues of risk, legality, and responsibility come into play, and seemingly easy solutions are difficult to achieve.

(SkyNewswire.com) --- To provide more options for fire-rated glazing that meets demanding aesthetic design requirements, Technical Glass Products (TGP) introduces ultraHD™ Technology – a new manufacturing process that improves the color, clarity and surface quality of its entire line of FireLite® ceramic glass products. www.fireglass.com

The ultraHD Technology improves the overall clarity of each glazed lite for enhanced viewing and creates a smoother surface by reducing slight imperfections that can result during glass production. It also reduces the visible color in transparent glass ceramic, which otherwise has an earth tone compared to the blue-green tint of typical float glass. The end result is superior glazing that meets both design and life safety requirements. “Design professionals don’t want to compromise on aesthetics like color and clarity when using glazing to meet fire-safety codes,” says Jeff Razwick, vice president, Technical Glass Products. “FireLite has been the industry standard in fire-rated glazing for many years, and with the ultraHD Technology, it ties in even better where a crystal-clear view is important.”

(SkyNewswire.com) --- RedBuilt™, as the former commercial division of Trus Joist Corp., is celebrating its golden anniversary in 2010. Founded in Boise on May 15, 1960, by wholesale lumberman Harold “Red” Thomas and inventor Art Troutner, the commercial division of Trus Joist is renowned throughout architectural, construction, and engineering circles as the inventor of what was at the time an entirely new building materials category known as engineered wood products. Last August, private equity firm Atlas Holdings LLC, in partnership with a group of former leaders of Trus Joist — including Thomas, RedBuilt president and CEO Kurt Liebich, and RedBuilt chairman Tom Denig — acquired the commercial division of Trus Joist from Weyerhaeuser Co. They moved the headquarters back to Boise, renamed the company RedBuilt — which Liebich says is “a tip of the old hard hat” to Thomas — and marked its rebirth at a press conference that included all five of the company’s former presidents.

“Trus Joist enjoyed significant growth during the housing boom when it adapted its innovations to fit the needs of residential builders, but these groundbreaking products were initially designed for commercial construction,” says Liebich, who oversaw commercial and industrial operations at Trus Joist for Weyerhaeuser before serving as the division’s chief executive. “And just like Art and Red were in
the beginning, RedBuilt is dedicated to meeting the unique and evolving needs of commercial builders and developers.”

(SkyNewswire.com)--- Graffiti removal consumes a large chunk of municipal budgets – budgets that are under increasing pressure from the current economic recession. Phoenix, AZ is estimated to spend more than $6 million annually on removal. Moreover, graffiti adversely affects city revenues by decreasing ridership on transit systems, reducing retail sales, and affecting property values. "Graffiti creates the perception of urban blight and gang violence," explained Daimer®.com spokesman Matt Baratta. "One of the best ways to discourage graffiti is immediate removal. To this end, we've designed products that quickly remove spray paint, ink, and other markings."


Daimer® offers two types of products for graffiti removal: environmentally safe cleaners, such as Eco Green® Graffiti Remover, and the line of Super Max™ industrial grade pressures washers. For eliminating gum, the company also offers a line of specially designed Gum-Exterminator® chewing gum removal steam cleaners.

(SkyNewswire.com)--- The American Institute of Architects Michigan (www.aiami.com) honored State Representative Barb Byrum (D-Onondaga) with its Legislator of the Year Award during a presentation at the Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit.


The selection of the Legislator of the Year is based upon several qualities; dedicated public service, devotion to enhancing the public’s health and safety and understanding the contribution that design professionals make toward a better quality of life. Representative Byrum played a leading role in the passage of P. A. #149 of 2009 that amended the architect’s registration act that allows graduate architects to sit for their registration exams right after college while the information is fresh in their minds. She is a strong supporter of public education and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agribusiness Management from Michigan State University. Later she earned a law degree from MSU College of Law.

(SkyNewswire.com)--- asBuilt eStorage launches a new online service to give developers and builders the ability to safely share as-built drawings and documents electronically, reducing costs for the developer and reducing the environmental impact.


With more and more developers, building owners and professionals in the construction community concerned with green building practices and the amount of waste produced by their industry, earth-friendly resources in this community are in demand. From building materials like bamboo flooring to energy-saving heating and cooling products like efficient windows - green choices are becoming profitable for businesses, and popular among consumers.


To respond to this positive trend, asBuilt eStorage launched a new website which offers professionals the ability to store and share as-built drawings easily, and without hundreds of pages of wasted paper. This is a small yet impactful way this industry can take strides towards making development more earth-friendly. With materials recycling, the use of sustainable products, and more and more consumers wanting green building practices implemented for projects, using this type of service is another step in the right direction.