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Stay-At-Homes

A change in attitudes is leading
to a remodeling boom.

ALAN ABRAMS

Special to the Jewish News

or 25 years, renovation has
been Bob Stern's business. His
West Bloomfield-based Bob
Stern Building Company has a reputa-
tion in Oakland County for upscale
home remodeling, more often than not
in the $100,000 to $300,000 range.
Now Stern is renovating his own
business as he passes the mantle to his
son, Ron.
The decision may have been prompt-
ed by a third generation waiting in the
wings. Ron's wife, Marla, gave birth to
triplets in July, joining their 4-year-old
daughter. Now their grandfather says,
"That's three boys to take over the
business. However, I want to make it
clear that I'm not out of the picture at
age 70."
Although Ron, 33, grew up around
the company, he only recently joined
his father after working in retail.
"When I was a kid," Ron recalls, "I
used to go with my dad to jobs all the
time. Because the company office was
in our home, I was always part of it.
"But I never grew up thinking I want
to do this for a living. I thought I
wanted to be an attorney or maybe a
hockey player."
Ron attended Ohio State University
for two years, and lived in the football
dorm. He returned and graduated from
Wayne State University in Detroit in
the early 1990s, and later worked full-
time for 3 1/2 years at the Gramophone
in Birmingham, selling and installing
high-end home movie theaters, flat-
panel televisions and audio equipment.
"Being in that business, I was able to
meet the same type of clientele as we
have at the building company, people
with upper-middle-class income and in
the professions. I got my feet wet there.
It was a good place to start," says Ron,
who then joined the family business
full-time..
"Everything we do," says Bob, "is
within a 20-minute radius of our office
in West Bloomfield — Birmingham,
Bloomfield, Franklin, Beverly Hills and
Bloomfield Township."
When he started in the building and
renovation business in 1965, he was
mentored by several of the top interior

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2005

36

designers of the day. "I was very fortu-
nate to pick up on them. That's what
got me into that Birmingham and
Bloomfield circle."
Although the company does only 15
to 20 jobs a year because the projects
are so large, the company's annual gross
is in the $2 million range.
"We do everything from $30,000
jobs to $400,000 jobs. It depends upon
so many factors," says Bob.
Bob and Ron are the company's only
two employees. Their crews of carpen-
ters, electricians and other skilled
tradesmen, many of whom have been
with Bob since the 1960s, are subcon-
tracted. The company is an active
member of the Building Industry
Association of Southeast Michigan
Remodelers Council.
According to industry statistics,
remodeling nationally surpasses new-
home construction in dollar volume.
Projections indicate the industry will
continue to grow each year as more
homes built after World War II and
into the 1950s age.
"Kitchens are always No. 1 as candi-
dates for remodeling," explains - Bob.
"That's because they are the nerve cen-
ter of the house. They're always being
updated because the old stuff wears out
so quickly because of all the use it gets.
"These days, we're making the aver-
age kitchen cupboard higher. Their
average height used to be 30 inches;
now we're making them 42 inches.
That's because we've eliminated the
drywall soffits above the cabinets.
"People need that extra space because
they have so much more stuff, especial-
ly if they're Jewish and keep kosher,"
says Bob.
One of the innovations the Sterns are
introducing into many remodeled
homes is the world's first kosher dish-
washer, made by Fisher and Paykel. A
two-drawer dishwasher, it can be used
side-by-side or one on top of the other.
Both Sterns say granite is a big item
for kitchen counters. They are also
being asked to install counters made
from poured cement.
However, says Bob, there's a mainte-
nance pitfall because the surfaces need
to be taken care of and sealed every few
years.
"People are also bored with their

Ron and Bob Stern at a job site.

master bedrooms," says Bob. "People
want a luxurious suite. The bedroom
becomes more of a place to relax.
"They want larger bathrooms. They
want whirlpools. Hot tubs are not for
the interior of houses, unless there's a
special hot-tub room. Usually, people
want hot tubs on decks.
"But more clients are asking for jet
tubs, which is an improvement in
whirlpools, making them more like
what people encounter at health clubs."
He warns customers not to put in a
health-club-like whirlpool that drains
into the floor in their home bathroom.
Clients frequently ask Stern to
remodel breakfast rooms. "Their aver-
age size used to be 8 feet by 9 feet, but
today, people are putting TVs and sofas
in them. People are just spending more
time at home."
Both Sterns stress that remodeling is
vastly different from new-home con-
struction.
"When you are doing remodeling,
you are going into people's homes.
They're in the house, and we're walking
all around them. We mingle with peo-
ple all day long in the house. Months
and months go into working with these
people, and the comfort factor is every-
thing, especially when they're spending
that kind of money. That's why 98 per-
cent of our business is referrals," bob

says.
"My trunk is loaded up with stuffed
animals and toys that I always have
with me to give to their kids. Kids are
the basis of our business, and our cus-
tomers have lots of kids," he says.
The Sterns believe their business has
increased over the years because as peo-
ple are getting older, they're not selling
their large homes.
"Years ago, the rule of thumb was
that people stayed in the same house
for seven years," says Bob. "Using
myself as an example, I built my house
and I'm still living in it after 25 years.
My wife, Francine, and I are renovating
and putting in a new kitchen, but we're
staying. Otherwise, the' next step is a
$400,000 home.
"If you already own a nice home
that's worth $500,000, anything you
move to is going to cost you $1 mil-
lion.
"So we wind up doing a lot of big
stuff, like major master suites with an
upscale bathroom and a massive walk-
in closet, or major first-floor additions
like making kitchens and breakfast
rooms larger.
"First floors are bigger and more
open. You even see that in new con-
struction now Plus people are going

STAY—AT—HOMES on page 38