Plagiarism

Plagiarism–noun

1. The unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.
2. Something used and represented in this manner.

Thanks to dictionary.com for the definition.

The next word should be Infuriation--

I had to strip numerous pages of photos since someone that signed up with me, (that had good referances btw).

If you didn't design things you have photos of you can't claim to be the designer.

If you didn't build something you can't claim that you did.

If you are not a landscape Architect, or you don't have the right to call yourself a landscape Architect, or a Certified Landscape Designer, or Master Builder...

Don't misrepresent your credentials.

I don't claim to have an MBA from Harvard Law, (not that it is as much of a positive these days), but if I did have one, I'd be furious if someone that didn't claimed they did.

Anyhow, I just got off the phone with yet another deck company website displaying photos from our website, renamed and loaded into their site as their own project. That's what google image search is for... they are easy to find.

I am tempted to keep going on this bent and do a nice rant post about deck builders manipulating web rankings, and the same one manipulating their web counter, (listing page views as visits), and automatically giving themselves extra hits so that they can claim 4 million hits per year and sell advertisers their wonderful manipulated traffic--but I will save that for another day. I am so tired of waiting for Google to create an algo to subvert these cheats.

It has been very difficult to keep all the posts positive so lets end this dry, boring negative burst of posts with this one.

L

Trex Class Action Lawsuit 2009

Trex - Latest Class Action Lawsuit Jan 13-08
Trex Lawsuit info here
Trex Suit Information
Trex-Complaint-Filing-Jan 2009 

I have just scanned through 26 pages of very interesting information about the Trex Warranty and Marketing Materials. Really not much in it that we haven’t covered, but it is interesting that this group of lawyers doesn’t think their warranty is fair and equitable either. The suit intimates that they word their warranty in a way that people just won’t bother to fight or ask for what should be offered as remedy when your maintenance free decking falls apart or gets covered with black mold.

It basically tells the story of a home owner that bought a Trex Deck through a Contractor and when the decking fell apart and Trex tried to offer replacement Trex only, no disposal, no labor to replace… but instead demanded the home owner sign a release before getting anything from Trex.

They are looking for other people thus mistreated. Actually, Anyone that had issues with the Trex they purchased. Especially having to do with mold or anything else excluded from their warranty.

This includes anyone that had to replace his or her Trex deck if it was initially installed in 2004 or later.
(Earlier installations were covered by the previous law suit).

Now, this is early 2009, and I really want to keep this blog positive. It pains me to touch on a subject like this at the best of times, but in this case it is an ongoing wrong that just needs correcting. Trex should have corrected its issues and offering a real warranty long ago.

This Suit has not been Confirmed by a Judge yet, please get in touch with the law firm here for more information.
http://www.hbsslaw.com/

update: Trex Responds in the Press Here

They discount the suit verbally.

L

Eon Warranty Information

If you bought Eon Decking or Fencing you have no warranty. The company is in receivership.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2009/07/c5871.html




In Ontario Brite, Xtendex, CPI Plastics ( Eon ) have all folded recently. The composite decking industry seems to have some issues of late.
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The possibility of composite companies going under and not being there to honor these long term warrantee promises has to be considered when purchasing or building a composite deck.
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I'd love to say they will be missed--however it just wasn't a good composite product and we simply refused to carry it. I'll leave you with this photo of an Eon Deck built by a client, (yes, I was there to plan the replacement with real decking).


More info about our history with Eon and CPI plastics:

http://decks-fences.blogspot.com/2007/02/false-advertising-by-eon-cpi-plastics.html

L

Woodwork Art

What is Woodwork Art?

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Is it doing something different for the sake of creating something different? Is it about being a trailblazer? Is aWoodwork Artist someone that creates out of a need to feel superior?

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I’ve pitched all kinds of things and the most important thing is that it suits the client's tastes, and desires, and blends with THEIR HOME.

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Some of these "Artistes", forget who they are working for. The client.

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Some of these were decks in the quarter million range, upscale garden sheds and angel wing gates to allow foot traffic only. Some of these jobs happened, however some did not. At that time I didn't understand that shooting at an invisible budget is a wasted effort.

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When someone says we want to make a statement and we would like to commission you to create a $250,000 pergola, that gives you free reign and a budget to work within.
.Sometimes, in order to progress an artist needs to tone down their work and take baby steps towards their end goal of being able to compose what they really want to do—and get paid well in the process.

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When a client gives you "Artistic License", that means they love what you do and they trust in your judgement. That is instruction to design what you think will be best.

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A while back a Contractor-"Artiste", told me that he was absolutely sure that he was far superior an artist than I. I guess you know you are good when you can accept a comment like that and smile—thinking back to the days when you thought the same way.

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His severe criticisms rolled off my back, however I could not critique his work because I knew he could never accept it. It was his personal Achilles heel.

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Phrases like “Form Following Function”, “Proportions being nearly Impossible to teach”, “Balance being Important”, and “Wishy-washy detailing being unacceptable” all contain seeds of what every designer, architect and artist must heed to achieve critical success.
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Critical Success is when your peers look at what you do and see virtue in it.
If you want to know what makes GardenStructure.com the leaders in outdoor woodwork—it is Art.
.We have put in the 2 decades necessary to truly create "Our Own Brand" of Woodwork.
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We don't get our ideas from magazines like some of our competitors do.
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We don't just make it bigger, or use the newest untested materials, or the most expensive wood to make what we do special.
.We use our own techniques that we developed over many years that make it last longer and age more gracefully coupled with information gleened from projects studied from the ancient world.
.We share these advanced techniques with Craftsmen in our Builder Group.

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L

Happy 2009 Everyone!

2009 will be a better year for people in the Woodworking Trades.
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We saw our first annual decrease in traffic (less than 10% decrease year over year). By our analysis it looks like most of our competitors were down nearly 50% for the year.
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Prices of homes have dropped nearly 40% in the US, 10% in Canada, many homes are in dire need of repair--(banks make terrible property management companies), and values are now near the bottom. Stimulous will be coming through mid spring and infrastructure projects will be putting millions back to work.
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People will soon realize that the stock market is not likely to recover for many years to come. Double digit returns will not come from the equity markets. Even Kramer is counting down the hundred or so days that he expects the housing market to recover.
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House flipping will once again be possible and profitable. Adding inspired details like our pergolas, fences, decks or trelliswork will add value to the investment and increase the flippers profit and the speed at which the houses sell.
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Repairs put off on forclosed homes will have to be done by the new owners which means less competition for our more decorative type of woodwork.
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The glut of decorative woodwork and projects planned but never initiated will start to come back into focus.
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Here's an exerpt of an email from yesterday to our Tampa Location.
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"I don't know if you remember us or not but you came out to our house a year ago and we talked to you about building a pergola. We put our project on hold because we ended up going to China and adopting a little girl. We are ready to get it going again and wondered if you would be interested in coming back out and seeing if it would be something you would be interested in doing."
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I personally designed about 1.5 million in the Toronto area last summer that just didn't happen because of jitters due to the stock market.
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Fund Manager connections imparted that they are still sitting on cash--they estimate TRILLIONS of dollars on the sidelines waiting for something to invest in.
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Nobody knows exactly what will happen precisely in the new year, but what we do know is that the event has happened. The North American Economy is in the depths of recession.
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A new President taking power in a couple of weeks time with fresh ideas and optomism, and New Leadership on the horizon here in Canada, it looks to be positive from here.
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Empires have been built in tumultuous times like these.
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You can react in two different ways. Curl up in a ball and weap--or Pick Yourself Up and Start Looking for Opportunities.
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Personally, I am in an upbeat mood. For the first time in about 4 years we will be participating in the Spring National Home Show (Normally We Don't have Time), and we have been able to arrange joint marketing with much larger companies that will put our builders in a much stronger position starting this spring.
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Watch for many other changes, new products and new builder profiles in the coming weeks.
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We Wish You and your Families All The Best for 2009.
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L