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Masters Touch ranked #249 on the prestigious list of the nation’s top contracting companies.  Qualified Remodeler bases the rankings upon third party verification of significant success in several categories: installed remodeling dollar volume; total years in business; industry association memberships; certifications and awards; customer satisfaction and community service.

“It is an honor to be recognized amongst the best companies in the nation,” said Doug Masters, President of Masters Touch. “This ranking is validation that our emphasis on quality and service has set us apart.”

The Top 500 Contractors List was published in the August 2008 edition of Qualified
Remodeler magazine, and may be viewed on the magazine’s website at qualifiedremodeler.com.

                                                                                                      
The Masters Touch
Masters Touch is a full service design/build and remodeling contractor.  With a team of more than 50, including architects, interior designers and project managers all working together, Masters Touch can handle all of a client’s home building or improvement projects and provide expert guidance to DIY folks.

Masters Touch was founded by Doug Masters in 1997.  From high-end design and build projects; kitchen and bath renovations; exterior painting, roofing and siding projects to flooring, interior painting and decorating projects, Masters Touch caters to homeowners throughout the Metrowest area. 

Masters Touch is a Showcase Priority Dealer for Hunter Douglas and offers professional design and installation service.  The one-stop interior design and home improvement shop also offers Marvin and Harvey WINDOWS; six lines of custom and semi-custom cabinetry; over 150 types of granite and Corian countertops; paint; carpet; hardwood and tile flooring; home theater design and installation and much more.

The company offers written warrantees on all their work.  Masters Touch is located on Route 109 in Medfield, MA.  For more information contact 508-359-5900, e-mail info@masterstouchweb.com or visit www.masterstouchweb.com.

Steve Dubin
http://www.articlesbase.com/small-business-articles/masters-touch-of-medfield-named-in-top-500-contractors-list-in-qualified-remodeler-magazine-575106.html

“What is the difference between Somfy and Lutron?”

This is a question that many motorized shading customers ask us every day. However, after many years in this industry, I have never been able to provide a simple, two or three sentence response to this query. The fact is that there are many differences, some glaring and some more nuanced. This series of articles will (finally) provide a complete answer to this common question. The first article will offer a simple overview of the primary difference between the two companies; subsequent articles will go into much greater depth and detail.

Lutron and Somfy are the two dominant players in the motorized window shade industry. Broadly speaking, each falls into the category of motorized shades and both sell their products through a vast network of dealers/installers. However, a defining, fundamental difference lies in the fact that Pennsylvania-based Lutron manufactures motorized shades (shades + motors) as well as controls and does not sell its motors separately. Somfy, a French company, manufactures only motors and controls and does not sell shades of any kind.

It cannot be overstated that in both cases, the end customer’s experience will depend on how well the product is installed and the service and professionalism of the motorized shade provider. Installation quality can vary more than any product differences and this will always be the defining success (or failure) of any job. Installers must be trained properly and held to high quality and service standards. Both Somfy and Lutron provide frequent training sessions for their products, but in the end, the dealer must make the commitment to ongoing education for all staff persons. There are important feature differences between the two systems, which subsequent articles will cover, but few customers will care about these issues if the installation was shoddy, shades did not fit or wiring mistakes were made.

As stated above, Lutron delivers a fully motorized shade with controls. In doing so, Lutron reaches down the value chain further than Somfy. Therefore, in terms of total system appearance and matching, Lutron’s shades, being all from a single source have little room for variance. All the components are designed to fit together. Along with product seamlessness, the single source model provides a high degree of manufacturer accountability. Not surprisingly, all of this comes with a price, and is one of the reasons that Lutron shading systems are more expensive than a Somfy solution.

Somfy systems involve purchasing different parts from different sources which allows any type or style of window shade from any fabricator to be motorized. This offers more choice but also opens system appearance and matching to more variance. To avoid an unfinished appearance, the dealer must ensure that the best quality, matching components (brackets, fascia, enclosures, screws etc) are used. Also, Somfy motors can be fitted into specialty shades like Hunter Douglas Silhouettes or Duettes which some clients prefer. Somfy offers more flexibility.

In summary, the primary difference is that Lutron provides a total solution with minimal system variance and Somfy offers a critical piece of the solution, with more flexibility but greater system variance. It is also true that a Lutron system costs more than a Somfy solution. However, pricing is also a function of product features and whether a project is new construction or retrofit, as well as other control systems (home automation) that may be factors. This series of articles will address all of these additional considerations.

Gavin Sword
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/lutron-vs-somfy-a-major-difference-explained-751837.html

Australia is a vast country – almost as large as the contiguous United States – and it is impossible to experience everything that the country has to offer in one visit. Some attractions should not be missed. These include both man-made and natural wonders as well as the fascinating culture and traditions of the country’s very first inhabitants.

Most visitors fly into Sydney, which has one of the most spectacular settings of any city in the world. Sydney is a vibrant, cosmopolitan city, although just visiting the city’s many beautiful beaches is a popular activity. It also boasts two of the most instantly recognizable landmarks anywhere – the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. If you have a head for heights, do not miss the opportunity to walk across the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge – it is a once in a lifetime experience.

One highlight of a visit to Australia is the chance to experience the culture of the native Aborigines. Plenty of places throughout the country have Aboriginal art and crafts for sale, especially in the country’s famous Outback. The isolated town of Alice Springs makes an excellent base for exploring Aboriginal culture; and to really immerse yourself, consider taking an Aboriginal Culture Tour – although you may be expected to eat traditional delicacies such as wasps.

No visit to Australia is complete without seeing one of the wonders of nature – the Great Barrier Reef. The reef’s statistics are staggering – it stretches for about 1,200 miles along the eastern coast of Australia, and is home to an estimated 1,500 species of fish. It’s supposedly the only living feature on earth visible from the moon. There are several ways to experience the reef – you can sail around it and fly over it; but to dive in the clearwaters is a memorable experience.

Australia’s other big natural wonder is Uluru, or Ayers Rock, which is located about 260 miles from Alice Springs. You can see the rock that is considered the world’s largest monolith by flying over it, driving around it or hiking up it. Various tours are available from both Alice Springs and the resort of Ayers Rock. If you visit this resort, make sure you see the rock at sunset – it is an unforgettable sight.

If you have the time, a three day journey by train from Sydney to Perth on the Indian Pacific is considered one of the world’s great rail journeys. It is fair to say that there are no sights along the way, other than the hypnotic spectacle of the vast emptiness of much of Australia. The trip includes the longest straight stretch of rail track anywhere, which is an almost 300-mile stretch across the Nullarbor Plain.

If you prefer to drive, a driving trip through Australia’s legendary Outback is a great way to see the country and appreciate its sheer size. You may not encounter much traffic but watch out for the so-called road trains - huge tractor-trailers up to fifty yards long; as well as Australia’s unique animals and birds. Broken Hill is a good place to soak up the atmosphere of the Outback. It is the home of the legendary Flying Doctor service, as well as a ghost town and an opal mine.

Most people imagine Australia to be dry and dusty, but the far north of the country is close to the equator and much of it consists of tropical rainforests. Townsville and Port Douglas both make good bases for exploring the tropical north, which contains some of the world’s oldest rain forests, as well as a huge variety of animal life. Take one of the many off-road guided tours that are available, or view the rainforest from the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, near Cairns.

Located in Australia’s Northern Territories is the huge Kakadu National Park, a World Heritage Sight which covers over 4 million acres. A favorite activity is simply observing the wildlife and the park boasts an estimated 75 species of reptile and over 200 species of birds. The park is also one of the few places in Australia where Aborigines live off the land and exist much as they have done for centuries.

Australian wines are considered to be some of the best in the world and you can spend an enjoyable vacation visiting vineyards and sampling wines. Many people visit the well-known Hunter Valley wine region because of its close proximity to Sydney, although the nicest region for wine tasting is arguably the Barossa region, a German-speaking area about an hour away from Adelaide.

One activity you should not miss is simply getting to know the Australian people, who are friendly and outgoing. The language is the same – although you may be puzzled by references to mysterious things such as “sheilas”, “billabongs” and the ever-popular “shrimp on the Barbie”!

Stephanie Larkin
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/top-activities-on-an-australian-vacation-727428.html

Let me start this story with a bad analogy. If you went to a car dealer and was offered the choice between a Toyota and a less expensive Toyota look-alike which would you choose? The salesman would invariably tell you that there’s no difference because they are made in the same factory. Furthermore, that because the manufacturer didn’t put the Toyota label on the car, it is 20% cheaper. How could that be? All things being equal, it stands to reason that there has to be a qualitative reason for the difference in price. If not, then the reason for the difference in cost is that the name brand stuff is marked-up way too much. So much, in fact, that the manufacturer can make the same stuff, offer it as a private label and still make a decent profit. Or, maybe the look-alike Toyota was made by a car company you’ve never heard of.

To continue my argument on the first point, that being there’s a quality difference between the two. I wonder what the quality difference is between a no-label window blind and a well-known brand like Hunter Douglas, or Levolor. Do they use cheaper mechanisms and materials? That seems unlikely because it would cost them money to run two separate production lines to produce approximately the same blind or shade. I was shopping online for new vertical blinds and noticed a fairly significant price difference between what looked to be identical blinds – the brand name and the no-name. So I called their toll free number to inquire who made their signature line, I was told that it was a company called Springs. I have never heard of Springs unlike the Hunter Douglas brand which I have heard of. Few people could name more then two brands of blinds and shades at least I couldn’t until I started shopping for them. But, odds are, Hunter Douglas and Levolor are brands people know. They are huge companies and make all kinds of WINDOW TREATMENTS and fashions.

The plot thickens. It turns out that most, as far as I know, of the well-known blind manufacturers don’t sell a private label variety. They are more interested in preserving their brand integrity. So it would seem that the validity of my initial hypothesis has suffered some erosion. But all I really did was come full circle and back to my original question. Is there a quality difference between a well-known brand and a private label? If not, then the cost savings is probably not worth it. That is unless they come with the same warranty. For the most part they do.

I started reading the customer reviews to find out if there was a noticeable difference between ratings of the brand name blinds versus the private label blinds. Interestingly, and somewhat ironically, I noticed that the average rating was slightly lower for the Hunter Douglas blinds as opposed to the signature (private label) blinds. Maybe this was a case of increased expectations. People know Hunter Douglas, spent the big bucks and had correspondingly high expectations. Kind of like if you bought a Mercedes and the doors rattled or they used a cheap plastic for the climate control buttons.

In the end, I figured that between the high customer ratings, the cost savings and the similar warranties the private label blinds would do just find for me. I went ahead and purchased some vertical blinds and so far have been happy. I may be a tough customer but you know what they say, Caveat Emptor – Let the buyer beware.

David Brooks
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/brand-name-blinds-vs-private-label-blinds-221318.html

We all know that man’s inquisitive nature has led us to where we are today. Throughout history, we have constantly evolved and sought after ways of improving life. It is because of this urge that we now have electricity in our homes. These are homes that are no longer built from simple clay and wood interwoven together, but homes that are built at today’s standards from concrete, steel or other modern materials. Standards these days have risen to such a level where the least of comfort is available for anybody. The same can be said when it comes to window blinds.

To prove this point, let’s talk about a simple thing that has greatly improved the way we live in our modern homes; that thing is the sheer horizontal blind developed by the well-known company Hunter Douglas Inc. Hunter Douglas appeared in the late 1940s when two men, who wanted to improve the standards of living in those days, decided to unite and develop a completely new way of both dimming the amount of light that entered ones home and also find a way to protect the WINDOWS from nature’s ravages. These two men were an, American Joe Hunter, and Dutchman Henry Sonnenberg. Thanks to their innovation a new trend was about to sweep the U.S. and the world abroad. They began in a simple barn in America working hard by night time and selling their creations by day time. Thus, Hunter Douglas was born.

Because of their versatility and also because of their ingenuous design that stands for beauty and sophistication, sheer horizontal blinds became a trend setting example in the last few years. The sheer horizontal blinds are probably the most popular Hunter Douglas product today. These blinds combine modern day ingenuity and style to best suit the needs of customers. People working at Hunter Douglas have come up with the ingenious idea of putting a different type of material vanes in between two layers of soft knitted fabrics, thus creating a whole new structure that combines the design of a blind, shade and curtain in one.

Even today, Hunter Douglas is the world leader in producing and selling sheer horizontal blinds. This is again to the fact that Hunter Douglas is the always striving for innovation. Hunter Douglas Inc. is the window covering industry’s trend setter, always leading with new styles that follow the ever changing world wide trend. Functionality and style comes up in every ones mind when the name Hunter Douglas is mentioned.

Thanks to the ingenuous way they are made, the sheer horizontal blinds manufactured by Hunter Douglas can please any type of taste and functionality when it comes to decoration of an interior but in the same time protection from the light outside. Because they are so malleable, they can please any taste in interior design ranging from contemporary to formal, traditional to modern.

The facts speak for themselves, sheer horizontal blinds manufactured by Hunter Douglas Inc. are both the next best thing in interior design and also very reliable and functional when it comes to protection against UV light or just the amount of light that one may choose to let in.

For more information about hunter douglas blinds or even about sheer hrizontal blinds please review this website http://www.aceofshadeswc.com

Groshan Fabiola
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/how-hunter-douglas-sheer-horizontal-blinds-improve-homes-109282.html