AH, SPRING. The birds sing. The flowers bloom. The home shows commence. Home shows represent great selling opportunities for plumbing companies. It's a chance to stimulate sales, acquire customers and build relationships with existing...

SOME TRUTHS NEVER change, and here's one that's never the most popular: "You've got to give to get." Consumer giveaways can come in the form of free gifts, gift certificates, drawings for weekend trips and so forth. You may have an opinion on...

I THINK THAT you all understand what "design/build" is and the risk that goes along with being the sole party responsible for an entire project. One of the chief advantages to an owner of using design/build is the lack of involvement in finger...

SELF-IMPROVEMENT professionals from weight-loss experts to exercise gurus to motivational speakers will tell you that attitude is everything. To make any type of positive change in your life, the change must first begin in your own mind...

JOE, A 79-YEAR-OLD widower, is feeling economic and tax pain. Don't feel sorry for Joe, he's generally a healthy and happy guy. Still goes to work every day (about 9:30 to an early lunch) at the successful business he started, which he transferred...

EVEN THOUGH FRIDAY'S still payday and poop still runs downhill unless an ejector pump is involved, many of the old rules of residential plumbing and HVAC design are simply too antiquated to be worth the space between your ears. The ultra...

DANN WYMAN WROTE: "I just read your page on 'The lost art of making lead joints' on www.contractormag.com. I was actually searching the Web trying to find something that I found with my metal detector today. I found a nifty piece of hard lead with...