“That’s right, and we love doing it,” Cooper said Saturday from the arena floor at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center. Staff from the Wasilla office of Alaska Waste were among the dozens of vendors to pack the 30th annual Home Builders Home Show.
While the spring blockbuster has traditionally been used to kick off the construction season for area builders, do-it-yourselfers seemed to make up most of the crowd.
  
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“I told my husband not to bring me because I’d want new everything,” she said. “He’s looking for maybe a new garage, so that is in his brain, if we can get the numbers right. I’d like window treatments.”
Improving the home didn’t seem a priority for Annie, who excitedly went from booth to booth collecting free giveaways. Her favorite?
“Candy,” she said, “and then the puppy dogs (as part of a display) and the (temporary) tattoos.”
With the smell of hot barbecue wafting through the sports center, Palmer resident Jim Bryan of Guardian Security said “about half” of the inquiries he had have been from homeowners.
“We have people who are coming in here who have just bought homes and, with the economy being what it is, they’re a little scared,” he said, adding that many homeowners don’t think of security until after they’ve been victimized.
“Probably half the time that’s what happens. I’m dealing with a couple right now who had someone sneak in through their doggie door.”
As a representative from a cookware company conducted an infomercial-like demonstration in the background, Marilyn Vazquez of Eagle River was trying to find ideas for remodeling her home. She’d like to redo “the kitchen, the bathroom — you know, the basics,” she said.
“I like everything here,” Vazquez said. “It’s fun just to have a look at what’s best for us. It’s interesting to see all the (ideas) out here.”
She’s hoping this spring and summer to get “at least one home-improvement project out of the way.”
That’s the plan for Guy and Molly Lipka of Palmer. Although open to other ideas, Guy said his focus is on finishing his basement.
“Got to finish that basement,” he said, adding he would also like to build a garage in the future as well.
But not all those attending the home show are weekend construction warriors. Steve Spurlin operates a small company, Harmony Construction, in the Valley. He recently purchased a foreclosure from a bank and is looking for ideas to remodel the building.
“Oh, there are some things here that are interesting and some things that are irritating,” he said. “Like they’re selling that soybean insulation and it’s only, like, .5 percent actual soybean. They use it as an activator, but everybody’s making it out to be ‘green.”’
Events like the Home Builders Home Show, which continues today, are good places for homeowners to do some homework and comparison shopping for their projects, Spurlin said.
He was also intrigued by a waste caddy system for oil that is probably intended for commercial use, but may have other application.
“It looks to me like it would complement biodiesel,” he said. “It’s a good idea.”
Bob Ritala is actually trying to sell his home, but likes to attend the home show as a social experience.
“I like to just look around and see people I haven’t seen in months,” he said. “You see pretty much see the same stuff every year, but you can get ideas.”
Miles France was there with his family in hopes of finding anything that could help his efforts “tearing my house apart and rebuilding it. ... Right now, I’m just doing my bathroom, and I have some other specific plans.”
Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.
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