Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Maple Stained Tub Panels


TUB & SHOWER - AFTER
A Solid Piece Of Granite Around The Tub Created A Beautiful Seamless Shower Seat Inside The Frameless Shower Glass.
(Professional Photos To Follow - Please Check Back Soon) 
 
Maple Cabinet Panels Were Added Over The Unfinished Maple. 
These Match The New His & Her Vanities Not-Shown. 
(Please Check Back Soon For Those Photos Also)
 
Unfinished Maple Was Applied To Rough Framing.
Flooring Covered & Protected As Standard Procedure.
 
The Rough Framing For The New Drop In Tub Also Created A Shower Bench.
A Beautiful New Picture Window Took The Place Of These Small Windows. 
(Please Check Back Soon For Professional Photos)
 
TUB & SHOWER - BEFORE

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Remodeling Professionals MUST Be Resourceful!

Remodeling is very much like performing surgery on a house.  You can’t just tear into it and hope for the best.  Often times you’re trying to match materials that may or may not be available.  Sometimes you have to get creative to tie the elements together.  Sometimes you just get lucky.  Either way, as a Remodeling Professional, you have to be resourceful and you have to put forth the effort to find the matching components whenever necessary.  This resourcefulness doesn’t take decades to develop, but it does take effort. 
 



As you can see in the photo above, the family dog took issue with this beautiful wood casement window.  We could replace the entire unit (very expensive) or attempt to repair the existing window (with no guarantee we could find the matching trim).  So we set out to find the matching trim in order to make the necessary repairs.



Photos of the existing trim were e-mailed to our various suppliers.  None were positive they had a match, so the next step was to visit a few showrooms.  An older window sample in a Kolbe showroom yielded a match.  However, they no longer made that profile.  Luckily there is a Kolbe warehouse in Dallas which gave us some hope.  In the back, hidden behind the newer style trim, was the match we were looking for!  Comparing it to the new 1x4 wood (bottom right photo), you can really see the old trim had been sitting (yellowed) for quite some time.





 
Just Like New Without The Added Expense! 

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Cover & Protect Procedures

 
We are all too happy to work around the larger items that a Homeowner may not have room to relocate.  In this event we'll completely encapsulate the items with plastic to protect them from dust.  The floors will be completely covered, as usual, and the A/C vents taped off.  This makes cleanup a snap and assures the Homeowner that their belongings will be protected.
 
 

Monday, September 10, 2012

Meet The Contractor (Video)


Getting Creative To Save The Homeowner Money

This 1960’s constructed shower pan failed (as many do) causing a lot of perimeter water damage.  In particular it damaged the exterior wall sheathing.  Commonly used in that era was exterior gypsum (think drywall); when that stuff gets wet it crumbles. 

Fortunately for the Homeowner only the lower portion got wet.  So in this particular case, it wasn't very practical to remove & reinstall a full masonry brick exterior wall just to replace fewer than 20 square feet of sheathing.  So we had to get creative.

We installed treated 1x2 blocking and wedged the new treated sheathing behind it.  The new sheathing has a small finger sized hole we drilled into it.  This gave us a way to hold the sheathing in place so it could be attached to the 1x2 blocking.  We had to work in small sections, but this approach was very effective and it saved the Homeowner a lot of money.
  
Also of interest, the exterior brick wall was tied to the existing wall framing so we couldn't remove it or risk damaging the brick.  So the newly installed treated wall studs were attached to the old ones so as to transfer the load of the brick ties over onto the new wall framing.
  

SHOWER SIDE
 
BEDROOM SIDE


VIDEO