Onlookers peer through home accessories at Q-C show

By Todd Welvaert, Dispatch/Argus Staff writer

ROCK ISLAND -- The man held the 16-pound bowling ball an arm's length away from the pane of glass and winced as he let it go. It swung on a piece of cable and smacked the glass pane with an impressive WHUMP.

Nothing. No broken glass, not even a crack in the T.U.F. glass.

Bob Clancy of Suburban Construction smiled. The safety glass demonstration always pulls a few onlookers out of the sea of people meandering through the Quad City Homebuilders and Remodelers Show at the QCCA Expo Center in Rock Island.

``It's 400 percent stronger than ordinary glass,'' Mr. Clancy said. ``If it should break, I have a handful of it out in the truck. It breaks into tiny pieces like a car window, that won't cut you.''

He rolled his hands back and forth like he was kneading bread to illustrate the point. The doubters in the crowd came forward, hefted the ball and walked away impressed. It's all about finding out what's new and different.

Invisible fencing, spas, saunas, domes for spas, telescoping flagpoles, building and banking, geo thermal heat units, barbecue grills, fireplaces, home stereo equipment, cabinetry and upholstery. If you have a house to hang it on, you're going to be able to find it at the show.

``We are browsing, getting some ideas,'' Ryan Juras of Milan said. ``We're thinking about building a modular home in the next year or two. We are out getting an education on what's out there. Hot tubs, got to have a hot tub.''

Bob Navarre of Davenport was doing a little hot-tub shopping as well.

``We've been looking for a while, and this is a good place to see what's out there,'' Mr. Navarre said. ``We ran into one company we didn't even know was out there. It's amazing, the difference in price and the tubs. It's like shopping for a used car.

``We got into this thinking we could spend $3,000 to get one, but we are going to have to rewire the house, and there is a host of things we didn't count on. Now it's looking closer to $8,000. We live in a house that's 35 years old and if you are looking for ideas to make some changes, this is a good place to come.''

At Automated Lifestyles, Franco Fedrizzi was giving people a taste of the future. Among the products in his display was a structured wiring panel that would allow a homeowner to run all types of television, audio or computer signals through a house.

Much like existing electrical wire service, the panel allows a standardized access point for any technology made today. The device is something anyone who has ever tried to wire speakers or phone cables to different rooms in a house could appreciate.

``Here, it's more customer-driven demand, but in a lot of places, units like this are already standard,'' Mr. Fedrizzi said. ``I think you are going to see a lot of them going into newer homes, and we can put one in an older home that has an unfinished basement or hanging ceiling.''

Automated Lifestyles also carries a ``smart home'' device that opens up thousands of possibilities, such as allowing lights to sense when a door is opened.

The unit also will allow you to look at what a security camera sees from any television in the house.

``We even have an inexpensive way for you to talk to whomever is at your front door from any telephone in your home,'' Mr. Fedrizzi said. ``It's a pretty simple setup for about $200 ... Right now, a lot of this stuff seems pretty high tech, but a few years from now, we are going to wonder how we did things without it.''

The home show runs today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.