The Residential Contractor Editor’s Choice 2026 recognizes the top products that exemplify innovation, quality, performance and value for today’s residential remodelers, specialty contractors and custom home builders. Selected by the editors of Residential Contractor, these products represent practical solutions that help construction professionals build more efficiently, improve jobsite productivity, enhance craftsmanship and deliver lasting value to their clients. From the structure and building envelope to interior finishes, mechanical systems and design technology, our 2026 Editor’s Choice selections highlight products we believe deserve a place on every residential contractor’s radar. Read…
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LP Building Solutions delivers new design options
LP Building Solutions (LP), a leading manufacturer of high-performance building products, announced the expansion of its LP® SmartSide® Trim & Siding portfolio with the introduction of the new LP® SmartSide® Primed 8” Brushed Smooth Shake Lap Siding, designed to give building professionals greater flexibility in achieving refined, traditional exterior designs. Demand for shake-style accents remains strong across many housing markets, particularly for gables and architectural focal points. The new profile addresses that trend with a smaller reveal that creates a more detailed appearance than larger-format shake products. The LP® SmartSide®…
Read MoreIncoming fall design trends
While the weather still feels like summer, fall is looming around the corner. With a new season come new design trends. According to new data, homeowners are renovating for longevity, not with resale in mind. Instead, warmth and personalization are the priority as homeowners upgrade their spaces into what will become their forever home. Homeowners are gravitating towards details and materials that evoke a sense of lived-in authenticity, including aged metals, artisan plaster, handcrafted tile, natural stone and unique vintage pieces. Fall is all about warmth and patterns, and design…
Read MoreExisting home prices outpace new homes nationally
The headline may read, “Existing home prices outpace new homes nationally,” but the flip in recent years tells a different story regionally. Normally, new homes are more expensive than existing homes. However, since the pandemic, the housing market faced an unusual accumulation of headwinds: buyers who bought with prime low mortgage rates are not willing to give them up, supply chain pressures and tighter inventory. Now, new homebuilders are offering solutions such as building on smaller lots and incentives, among other solutions. Yet, this headline is only relevant to specific markets…
Read MoreMilwaukee sees biggest increase in pending home sales
As of Aug. 30, 2026, pending home sales remained essentially unchanged from the prior week, down 0.1%. The metros with the biggest year-over-year increase in pending home sales were Milwaukee at 8.8%, Virginia Beach, Va. at 3.4%, Cincinnati at 3.2%, Chicago at 2.9% and Montgomery County, Pa. at 2.8%. As of Aug. 28, touring activity was up 7% from the start of the year. This time last year, touring activity was up 22% from the start of 2025. Meanwhile, new listings of U.S. homes for sale rose 2.1% from a…
Read MoreAverage home build time falls to 8.8 months
New research from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction and analysis from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) show that the timeline from permit to completion of a new single-family home has decreased from the post-pandemic highs. Estimates in the most recent data from 2025 report that it now takes about 8.8 months on average from start to completion. While this is higher than the 2015 estimate of 7.2 months, the downward trend from the 2023 high of 10.1 months exhibits signs of cooling in supply chain holdups. The…
Read MoreRemodel of the Week: Hyperpeak Remodeling
Located in Washington, Utah, Hyperpeak Remodeling transformed this outdated home into a refreshed living space. Challenges emerged during the renovation, such as overlapping stages and delays on construction material deliveries. Removing existing cabinets, flooring and bathroom fixtures had to be done carefully to preserve the rest of the home. Despite such challenges, the company was determined to deliver the client’s vision of a modernized version of their existing home. Every room was updated with new flooring, paint, fixtures and finishes without compromising the existing home’s layout. The result is a…
Read MoreWhat It Actually Took to Scale a Remodeling Company Nationally
Most remodeling companies are organized to waste their own time. I know because mine was one of them. West Shore Home, now celebrating its 20th anniversary, started in 2006 selling replacement windows out of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. One product, one market, no outside investors, no business degree behind the operation. I had worked in the industry long enough to know that homeowners deserved better than what most remodelers were delivering and I figured if I could get it right in one product category, the rest would follow. For the first several…
Read MoreResponding to Georgia’s Evolving Buyer
Innovative Design+ Build lives up to its name Thirty years ago in Atlanta, Clark Harris worked in new home construction, specializing in carpentry and millwork. His passion for remodeling surfaced from his direct contact with clients. He realized that he enjoyed transforming old spaces into new ones that could improve his clients’ lives. Harris founded Innovative Design + Build in 2000 with that passion in mind. “After 26 years, I feel we still have the same core values and beliefs that we did when I founded the company: communication, consideration,…
Read MoreA Historic Housing Bill Became Law
How, where and when it will affect residential construction In July, Congress accomplished what many Washington observers considered nearly impossible in today’s modern political climate; 443 lawmakers across the House and Senate united behind the most ambitious legislation in decades to address the nation’s housing underproduction and affordability challenges. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act represents a rare bipartisan recognition that the country cannot solve its housing shortage without removing the regulatory, financing and administrative barriers that delay construction and increase costs. Rather than relying on a single federal…
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