Chico, Calif.-based online home improvement company to sell domestic and exotic hardwood flooring

May 8, 2012—The brand that simplified shopping online for plumbing, lighting, door hardware and ventilation is expanding into flooring. The Build.com Network of Stores has added FloorMall.com to its lineup.

As the second-largest online home improvement store, Build.com (No. 80 in Internet Retailer’s Top 500 List in 2011) has historically benefitted from a simplified shopping and buying process for its customers. And adding FloorMall.com to its Network of Stores represents its commitment to further understanding its customers’ unique needs.

“This expansion into home flooring represents another step in creating a complete offering for all of the customer’s home improvement needs,” said Brandon Proctor, Build.com’s VP of Marketing.

With its vast selection of home flooring options (laminate flooring, hardwood flooring, bamboo flooring, cork flooring and other materials), FloorMall.com is following the template Build.com created as a one-stop shop for home improvement.

For its expansion into the flooring category, Build.com looked to its category manager of new business, Bob Trafton. Trafton’s previous new launch (Build.com in April 2010) was the company’s most successful ever, and he embraced the idea that flooring can be one of the most important investments for an existing homeowner or someone looking to buy.

“If you walk into a home you’d like to purchase and you see horrible carpet or torn-up floors, the first thing that comes to mind is flooring,” Trafton said. “It’s the first step in a real home renovation, and something you can build around. Flooring decides wall colors, fixtures, and style for many customers.”

And by giving that customer use of various shopping tools, Build.com (through FloorMall.com) has once again simplified a complicated buying process—this time, for flooring. So, whether it’s laminate or bamboo hardwood flooring or ceramic tile flooring, the exact measurements and cost is clearly seen by the customer.

For more information on FloorMall.com, click here.

About Build.com
Based in Chico, Calif., Build.com is innovating the online home improvement retail space. Build.com creates a unique shopping experience by encouraging customers to visit a diverse range of niche stores within its network. Build.com, the second-largest online home improvement company, is among the online category leaders in plumbing, lighting, door hardware and ventilation. For more information on Build.com, visit the company’s corporate site or its Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/BuildDotCom.

Contact: Sean Murphy, Public Relations, Build.com, smurphy(at)build(dot)com and (800) 375-3403, x476.

Made In America. These are words millions of Americans look for every day when shopping for products for their home. What if you were able to shop for American-made home improvement products in one place?

Build.com introduces its selection of products Made In America.

Featuring home improvement products from plumbing and lighting to door hardware and ventilation, Build showcases the manufacturers and products that are proudly made right here in the good old U.S. of A.

PLUMBING: American Standard, Delta, Jacuzzi, and Kohler highlight the American-made plumbing fixtures. Your entire bathroom and kitchen can feature products made in America.

American-made kitchen faucets, like this one from Delta, provide a centerpiece of pride.

LIGHTING: Hubbardton Forge is definitely leads the American-made lighting selection. It’s America’s largest and oldest commercial forge, and showcases the strength, design, and ingenuity American-made products are known for.

DOOR HARDWARE: Residential and commercial door hardware crafted in America. That’s what you can shop for at Build.com. Acorn Manufacturing, Modern Objects, and Hager are the leaders in American-crafted door hardware.

Door hardware made in America from Acorn Manufacturing.

VENTILATION: Ventilation products made in America are powerful, efficient, durable, and trustworthy. And their visual appeal adds to the overall look of your kitchen. Look for brands like Broan-NuTone, Vent-a-Hood, and Air King.

American-made range hoods from Broan that are appealing, powerful and efficient? Yes, please!

Additionally, Build.com carries American-made tools and outdoor products.

Until next time, Happy Home Improving!

Hues that tip toward red on the color wheel, like Fireglow from Behr, draw the eye and evoke energy.

Once again, we bring in another heavyweight in the home improvement world. Pfister (pfmaous pfor its pfaucets) provides a guest blog post on design inspiration for the bathroom, while maintaining a budget. And taking the reins today for Pfister is design guru Lisa LaPorta.

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When you think about redecorating or updating the rooms throughout your home—living, dining, bedroom—your mind surely wanders to the laundry list of items needed to do a design 180 on the space.

But one space in particular that takes very little to shake up aesthetically for the better is your bathroom. After all, there are no furnishings to replace or reupholster, and no tables to refinish or swap out.

All you really need is some paint, manpower, and an inspired plan that’s easy on the budget, too.

Let’s start with the paint. What shade do your bathroom walls wear right now? Taupe? White? Bust through the beige blahs and opt for something to enliven your senses, like a vibrant coral. Pick a hue that tips towards red on the color wheel (we like Fireglow from Behr, top) that evokes energy and instantly draws the eye. Red hues are even said to increase the heart rate a touch, which, let’s face it, is probably pretty necessary on the occasional slow-moving weekday morning!

Glidden's Frosted Mulberry

For the opposite effect, but no less a valiant option, a dusty, deep purple is soothing but still makes a dramatic, customized statement. There is a very ethereal, regal vibe to such a shade, as long as you choose the right variation. Try a deep yet soft purple like Glidden’s Frosted Mulberry, paired with crisp, lacquer-finished white accessories and baseboard trim to keep it clean and modern.

If you’re still too bold-color squeamish, stick with a hushed, neutral wall hue and have some fun with accessories, a shower curtain and rug, or a painted vanity (read our previous take on this for a tutorial). An unabashed use of color points the way to inspiring design, so don’t be afraid to turn up the volume.

Pfister's Virtue double-handle bathroom faucet

Top off your new, not-so-silent choice of color with a feminine, sculptural fixture like the Pfister Virtue faucet. It’s like art for your sink and the brushed nickel finish would pair wonderfully with vibrant walls.

Whether you opt to repaint your vanity, or leave it as-is, new hardware is always a nice finishing touch. Coral or eggplant walls would match up nicely with textured, yet ghostly glass handles like from Baldwin that possess an almost historic sense about them.

What color are you itching to try out in your bathroom, or have already employed to wow-worthy results? Share your inspired selects in the comments below. Better yet, show us on our Pfister Facebook fan page, or the Build.com Facebook fan page.

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Thank you, Pfister!

Art for your walls at home doesn’t have to expensive. And it can also be something you create yourself.

Build.com has come up with a couple of fun and easy ways to add some original and inexpensive to any room in your home.

This first method uses a thin slab of wood, which you cut into the shape (or shapes) you’d like your wall art to have. Add some primer, texture, and some color, and you have yourself a good old-fashioned piece of art that cost around $35 to make.

This type of wall art was also handmade by our Media team and is completely different. It incorporates a thrift store picture frame, some fabric, and a menagerie of color. The cost of this customized piece of art? Around $11.

There are hundreds of ways to adorn the walls in your home. When you’re able to do it with art you’ve created yourself, it’s fun, inexpensive, and rewarding.

Thank you for reading the Build.com home idea blog!

Build.com announced its donation to Habitat For Humanity of Butte County

Feb. 21, 2012—Habitat For Humanity is dedicated to assisting families move into their own homes, when they might not otherwise have. Build.com (No. 80 on Internet Retailer Magazine’s Top 500 List) is the second-largest online home improvement company and helps customers create the home of their dreams.

Bringing the two together creates the perfect match.

On Jan. 28, 2012, Habitat For Humanity of Butte County dedicated new homes to four eager families in Chico, Calif., and Build.com began its year of corporate giving with a $1,000 donation to its local Habitat chapter. The donation’s announcement came at a powerful home dedication ceremony, a Habitat For Humanity tradition that takes place prior to the families moving into their new homes.

“It’s a natural fit for Build.com to help Habitat For Humanity of Butte County,” said Build.com Marketing copywriter, Sean Murphy. “We strive to help people improve their existing homes, and Habitat For Humanity helps to make families’ dreams come true with a home of their very own.”

Build.com, based in Chico, Calif., asked its fans on Facebook to vote which one of five charities (including The American Red Cross and Charity: Water) would receive the donation. Habitat For Humanity was the overwhelming winner, and Build.com chose to help its local chapter.

Build.com will continue making $1,000 donations to worthy beneficiaries through July 2012, each being chosen through a Facebook campaign in which its fans vote. Additionally, Facebook fans can make suggestions for future organizations to be voted on.

By continuing to foster a relationship with Habitat For Humanity of Butte County, an organization dedicated to providing affordable housing for low-income families, Build.com is further strengthening its Northern California roots.

“We look at what the donor wants for their donation,” said Darlene Giampaoli, Executive Director at Habitat For Humanity of Butte County. “Generally, most donors prefer donations to stay local to benefit the community in which they live and work. But others do want to see a portion go to building globally. Both are important to us.”

Giampaoli said construction on two additional houses in Chico will begin March 2012, and that the “Build.com donation will go directly toward the construction expenses” of these new homes.

Build.com’s partnership with Habitat For Humanity extends back to 2010, during a volunteer build. It helped once again in 2011 (with the homes dedicated last month), and will maintain its support in 2012.

About Build.com 

Based in Chico, Calif., Build.com is innovating the online home improvement retail space. Build.com creates a unique shopping experience by encouraging customers to visit a diverse range of niche stores within its network. Build.com, the second-largest online home improvement company, is among the online category leaders in plumbing, lighting, door hardware and ventilation. For more information on Build.com, visit the company’s corporate site or its Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/BuildDotCom.

Contact: Sean Murphy, Public Relations, Build.com, smurphy(at)build(dot)com and (800) 375-3403, x476.

Even thorough measures can't prevent pipes from freezing during some winter days.

You know what they say about insulating your pipes in winter: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. But if you opted to skip out on the prevention part and have found yourself with frozen pipes, you might actually end up paying more than a pound if that frozen pipe actually bursts. Here’s what to do to prevent that from happening.

Locate the Frozen Pipe

First, you’ll want to find the location of the frozen pipe by turning on all of your faucets. You’ll get a good idea of its whereabouts if all water flow is operational except for one of your fixtures. This means there’s a frozen pipe between the inoperative faucet and all other pipes in your home. If none of your water fixtures work, this means that the main water line that leads to your home has frozen. If this happens, don’t mess around trying to play DIY hero—call a pro in right away.

Thaw the Frozen Pipe

Once you’ve pinpointed the location of the freeze, there are a few steps you can take to physically thaw the frozen pipe and prevent it from bursting. As long as you can access the pipe in question safely without putting yourself in jeopardy, you can try any of the following procedures:

• Expose the frozen pipe to a heat lamp or heat gun
• Wrap the pipe in warm, damp towels or rags
• Apply electric heat tape to the frozen area

What you’re trying to do is slowly, gently thaw the freeze. If you’ve got yourself a blowtorch and you’re thinking of using it to speed up the fix, do yourself a favor and put it away unless you want to make matters a heck of a lot worse real fast.

An Ounce of Prevention…

It’s critical to know where your home’s water shutoff valves are in case a frozen pipe should ever graduate to a full-blown busted pipe. As you head into the winter months, put this at the top of your to-do list, in addition to taking steps to insulate exposed plumbing to prevent any freezes from occurring in the first place.

This blog post was provided by MyMove.com, an online resource where you can find the information, products and moving deals you need to streamline and save during a move.

Progress Lighting's Torino collection is versatile enough to provide layers of lights throughout a single living space, just one of may interior lighting design trends.

We here at Build.com know a thing or two about lighting. But where does a home improvement company go when it wants to know what’s currently hot in interior lighting? We go to an authority. Today, we’re proud to feature Progress Lighting as a guest blogger.

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How we decorate our homes reflects how we live and how we want our surroundings to function and look. The fluctuating economy, updates in materials and the quest to green our environment have all impacted interior design in 2012.

These trends can be seen in lighting design, as well, as fixtures are introduced that meet the wants and needs of today’s consumer both aesthetically and functionality.

Simplified style

Changes in the economy have challenged consumers to reconsider their lifestyles and focus on quality above quantity. As a result, recent lighting designs match the comfort of tradition with simplified design. This trend includes lighting fixtures that feature gentle curving frames, etched glass shades and handcrafted accents.

Progress Lighting's Heart collection

Transitional designs

Lighting collections today are expected to be both aesthetically pleasing and flexible in design. To address these needs, some fixtures are developed for a variety of applications—such as ceiling or wall mount options—or with adjustable frames to illuminate areas as needed.

Progress Lighting's Bingo collection

Metal finishes

The calming, cool look of metals is prevalent in current interior designs. As a result, it is common to see lighting collections available in a variety of metal finishes—the most popular in variations of polished nickel and antique bronze.

Progress Lighting's Orbitz collection

Energy-efficient options

Lighting makes up 11 percent of the energy consumption of the average American home, and LED and CFL lighting options offer the opportunity to cut this percentage in half. These energy-efficient sources are available in fixtures ranging from close-to-ceiling lights to chandeliers to meet homeowners’ function and design preferences.

Progress Lighting's Hoop collection

Layered lighting

One of the most important factors to remember when designing a home’s lighting scheme is to use layers—including ambient, task and accent lighting throughout a room—to make spaces feel warm and inviting. Dimmers are also increasing in popularity because they give inhabitants the ability to control light levels throughout their home. For a gorgeous example of layered lighting, check out this post’s main image at the top of the page.

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These five trends are just a few of the popular elements we have seen in today’s lighting options. As the preferences of the current consumer continue to evolve, we look forward to keeping Build.com’s blog readers updated on trends in interior and lighting design.

Headquartered in Greenville, S.C., Progress Lighting is committed to manufacturing award-winning energy-efficient products while educating individuals on new options available in solid-state lighting. The lighting manufacturer also responds to the ever-changing needs of the lighting industry with extensive research and development programs that ensure high standards of quality and innovation for the home. Visit www.progresslighting.com, follow on Twitter @ProgressLtg and find on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ProgressLighting.

Winter is in full swing, and there are a few easy ways to lower your heating bill.

There’s nothing like a cold winter night to remind us how lucky we are to have artificial heat. But there’s nothing quite like an end-of-the-month heating bill to ruin it all by asking for a fortune in return. Fortunately, you’re not captive to paying high heating costs. It’s not free, but that doesn’t mean you have to pay through the nose each and every month. Here are 5 tips that’ll help lower your home heating costs so you don’t have to lose sleep worrying about paying for all that comfy warmth.

1. Turn down the heat. This one’s such a no-brainer that most people overlook it. If you want your heating bill to go down, just stop running the heat as often. Sure, it’ll mean lower temperatures throughout your home—but you can counter those by bundling up instead of walking around the house in your shorts and a t-shirt in the thick of winter.
2. Ramp up your insulation. Most of the heat that your furnace generates in winter escapes through your attic if it’s not properly insulated. If you have no idea whether or not your insulation is sufficient, it’s probably not. Have a pro come out and check it for you. The money you spend on adding insulation could cut your heating bill by 20 percent.
3. Seal up your walls. Believe it or not, you might be letting cold air into your house through your walls without even realizing it. Inspect the outside of your home for small cracks and seal them up using sealants that you can buy at any hardware store.
4. Winter proof your doors and windows. You shouldn’t feel a cold draft every time you go near your windows—and seeing your curtains billow in the midst of winter when the doors and windows are firmly shut is an indication you could use some extra winter proofing. You can buy cheap, easy-to-install weather strips at your local hardware store that’ll seal up your windows and doors nice and tight.
5. Tune up your equipment. You could feasibly be hemorrhaging heat (and dollars) from your home because of old or faulty equipment. If your furnace isn’t up to snuff, it’s not going to do a very good job of producing heat and you’re only going to end up running it 24/7. Making an investment into yearly tune-ups and replacing your furnace when the time comes requires you to pay money up front, but doing so could save you tons in the long run.

This blog post was provided by MyMove.com, an online resource where you can find the information, products and moving deals you need to streamline and save during a move.

The KOHLER Spa Tower features a 14-foot-high minaret-like shower space that's bathed in natural light.

So, you’re ready to remodel your bathroom just in time for spring. Could you use some inspiration?

If your bathroom has space to spare, welcome to the redefinition of luxury: the KOHLER Spa Tower.

The Spa Tower redefines the very concept of luxury, and is the brainchild of designer Eric Cohler. Designed specifically for the KOHLER Design Center in Kohler, Wisc., the KOHLER Spa Tower combines Old World design elements with KOHLER’s most popular luxury shower items in a single extraordinary setting.

A waterproof shower curtain provides privacy.

Cohler looked to European architecture for inspiration and found it in some of Italy’s most popular and stirring architecture: The towers of Siena, the Pantheon in Rome, and Michelangelo’s Laurentian Library in Florence. The result is arguably the most aesthetically pleasing bathroom environment ever assembled.

Cohler lined the inside of this oval-shaped shower space with Ann Sacks linen and limestone tiles, punctuating the Italian-inspired architecture and colors. The earth tones are extremely easy on the eyes and endorse relaxation.

The Spa Tower’s focal point is easy to find. A soaring 14-foot-high minaret-like shower area creates a unique environment rarely seen or experienced in a shower. And the combination of lights, skylight, and windows bathe this area in a mostly natural and thoroughly relaxing brightness.

The bathroom and shower fixtures Cohler chose for the Spa Tower are some of KOHLER’s most popular. The bathroom area includes a comfort-height toilet and self-rimming bathroom sink from the Leighton collection (note the towel storage beneath), as well as the double handle widespread bathroom faucet from KOHLER’s Memoirs collection.

The KOHLER Spa Tower also features a comfort-height toilet and bathroom faucet, sink and exclusive lighting.

Above the sink is a framed and mirrored medicine cabinet bookended by wall sconces designed by Cohler himself. In the interest of privacy, waterproof curtains can be drawn to separate the bathroom from the shower.

The Spa Tower’s innovative shower area features two shower stations. Each station has its own KOHLER MasterShower three-way bodyspray, and is complemented by a multi-function handshower from the Forte collection and a multi-function showerhead from the Memoirs collection. KOHLER’s DTV digital interface is the Spa Tower’s final element, elevating the user’s shower experience with six presets for one-touch access to saved settings, and provides hydro-massage and temperature treatment programs.

No word on what kind of bath fan the KOHLER Spa Tower has chosen.

Now, what would you like your bathroom to feature?

Thank you for reading our home improvement blog!

Add door hardware to your front door to increase security and create an unforgettable first impression.

Today’s front door hardware is more than just handles, latches, and locks. From fashionable finishes that harmonize with the front door paint and ultra-durable door hardware parts to electronic door locks that are as good-looking as they are effective, it’s time to find out what’s offered today for:

• Handlesets
• Deadbolts
• Electronic door hardware
• Accessories

Handlesets
What is your guests’ first focus when they approach your front door? Odds are it’s your handleset. As the front door’s centerpiece, it gives you the opportunity to express your creativity, allow entry and ensure safety.

Deadbolts
Deadbolts are the perfect combination of added protection and complementary good looks. Manufacturers often provide perfectly matched handlesets and deadbolts in a set to give your front door a coordinated look.

Electronic door hardware
Ready for the future? Here it is. Electronic door hardware removes the house keys from your pocket while elevating the security level in front of your home. Electronic door hardware provides a universal contemporary look to complement virtually any theme, and is super easy to install.

You’ll never need to hide a key under the mat or behind that weird ceramic goose in front of your home again. And if you need to give the handyman or neighbor quick access to your home, you can easily change the key code once they’re finished.

Accessories
We all know little things can make a huge impact when it comes to design and functionality—the front door is no different. Hinges round out any theme at your front door, kick plates are functional complements and address numbers extend the motif onto the front of your house. And, of course, outdoor lighting can brighten your front door, increase visibility and boost curb appeal.

Door hardware gives your front door the look you want while increasing the security level for your greatest investment.

Until next time, Happy Home Improving!