Not sure how to use online contractor reviews? Trust? Maybe. Verify? Definitely.

A September 2011 Business Week article reported on a Texas home improvement contractor that hired a writer to post 200 positive reviews on sites like Yelp and Google. The story went on to cite other examples and estimated the percentage of fake online reviews at close to 30 percent.

Outdoor lighting is a real art, and the best result comes from planning ahead.

A beautiful custom home represents a huge investment of time, care and money. Someone who has decided to make that investment most likely wants the home to present its best face to the world. During the day, that face is the architecture and landscaping, but after dark, it's largely determined by the outdoor lighting.

Intelligent universal design fades into the background and makes everyone happier!

Today's biggest demographic trend poses a challenge and also presents an opportunity. That's because more and more working-age people are asking for a home with space to accommodate senior parents with age-related mobility or physiological issues.

The challenge is that they don't want the senior suite to look like an assisted living residence; the opportunity is that, done right, it can end up as one of the home's most appealing spaces.

The best builders are engineering their homes for health and comfort. Efficiency, health and comfort—a great new home delivers all of those. But creating that home using today's construction methods takes more knowledge than most people realize. That knowledge is one of the benefits of working with a professional builder.

We find that most homeowners like to take plenty of time researching their kitchen appliances. And, many of them also want some advice when making the final choices.