After completing a few steel roof projects earlier this summer, Better World Builders is making its mark on the Duluth contractor scene with a new siding and roofing project on Irving Place, near the historic Granitoid Memorial Park in Duluth’s Upper Congdon neighborhood.

Hallmarks of the project include cement fiber siding with a historic look and feel  and a complete exterior house wrap with 2-inch extruded polystyrene foam (green formulation, of course).

Although the homeowners are adding new high-efficiency Anderson Windows in some locations, they are opting to have their old glass windows on the front porch restored with time-tested reglazing and repainting.

Look for the signs! Full story and pictures to come.

If you’re looking for a contractor, Duluth does no better than Better World Builders — then again I’m biased!

To be a Duluth contractor is to become familiar with a wide range of home building styles, standards and techniques. As diverse as the types of homes is the views on how to work with with your home’s history.

Some contractors and homeowners are of a “tear it down and start over” mentality. Some treat their homes as examples of living history and strive to preserve every architectural and design detail in its original state. And some take a blended approach. It’s important to choose a contractor who’s on your same wavelength when it comes to historic preservation.

Better World Builders has always had a concern for history in its work, but we haven’t been able to show you what we mean — until now.

We’re working on lining up a friend of ours, Rolf Hagberg, a commercial and fine art photographer, to do some shots of a historically sensitive  project from last year. The architect wants to nominate for a Duluth Historic Preservation award (missed the deadline for this year already, but it’s already in the hopper for next).

While we’re at it, we hope Rolf can make some beautiful images of some of our historic-minded work from this summer, plus get some shots of the buff crew out there swinging hammers, looking thoughtful over plans, etc.

We’ll be working with the property owners to secure permission to post their projects here, but meanwhile we wanted to give you a heads up.

Bug me (Tom) about it in mid-July if you haven’t seen anything.

“Better World Builders — I hear they do good work.”

We showed a friend in the web biz our recent Google search results for the term “Duluth contractor” and that’s what he said. Well, literally, he said what’s their name again? And I said Better World Builders and he said “I like that name. I hear they do good work.”

Well, literally, he wrote it in an email.

But you get my drift.

The word is out there, and the word is accurate. We do do good work. And we’re busy doing it right now. But well try to get some fresh photos up ASAP.

Film at 11.

After a few weeks of incredible outdoor building weather, we’re seeing a more typical Duluth spring — fog, a bit of rain, and clouds. Not to worry though — we roll through it all.

Speaking of spring, it’s time to start thinking about — fall building projects. Yes, that’s right. Fall building projects. Human nature being what it is, a lot of folks wait til the snow is almost gone before they start calling a contractor to get going on their spring and summer projects. They have trouble thinking about a new deck or porch or mudroom while the windchill advisories are still in the weather forecast.

But as you may have experienced with other projects, the construction schedule can get jammed in the summer. Do yourself a favor — think ahead, and book something with us for the fall. Autumns in Duluth are often dry and offer great conditions for some serious hammer-swinging.

Give us a call today at (218) 340-9930!

I heard a great interview with noted residential architect Susan Susanka today on Minnesota Public Radio. She had a practice for years in the Twin Cities area, where she made a name for herself publishing “The Not So Big House,” which espouses her philosophy of smart, human-scaled, right-sized residential design.

Minesota Public Radio “Midmorning” host Kerri Miller asked if the “gotta build my dream house” segment of the market had fallen away with the recession. Susanka responded that if it had, it might not be such a bad thing. “A lot of people are looking at how they can make the home they’re in right now their dream home, by making it work better for them,” she said, or something to that effect.

Susanka also recommended budgeting at minimum 10 percent of your remodeling project for an energy audit — more, we might add, if you want to begin addressing some of the issues an energy audit uncovers. A thorough energy audit includes not only a blower door test to pinpoint air leaks but a strategic plan to make sure air-sealing, insulating and window-replacement is done in the most bang-for-buck manner.

For one caller, who complained of a large “80’s era” addition on the back of a charming 1930s home, Susanka advocated hiring an architect to just spend an hour or so helping you refine your needs and consider some solutions beyond just tearing down and starting over. A skilled architect who can analyze your space and how your family functions can wring lots more use out of the same square footage of home.

Functional, aesthetic design is green building, when you look at it.

Let’s just assume that this is a snapshot of a wonderful new tile floor that Leon just snapped on his new smartphone. Shall we?