Project News

Holidays, Home Construction and False Alarms

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Image: www.flickr.com/photos/redvers/ CC-BY
At our home, we are renovating the master bedroom bathroom suite.

Demolition and roughing in were completed on Friday, just before the long July 4th weekend. My weekend project task was to varnish the new, solid-core birch doors. I’d prepped for the final coating to be applied on Monday morning, so they would be dry for work to resume on Tuesday.

We’re not sure whether is was the CO from left over varnish fumes, in combination with lighting the cooktop to make morning coffee, or a puff of dust that may have blown over the CO sensor, but something triggered our smoke/CO detector alarm. This is a very exciting thing to happen at 7 AM on a vacation day morning when you are relaxing in bed with your coffee!

We deactivated the alarm after it went off, but we missed the incoming phone call from the alarm service. So our local police and fire departments visited us about 5 minutes later. We felt pretty embarrassed at having inconvenienced these guys on their holiday morning, and we’re pretty sure we woke up a few neighbors, too.

Word to the wise: Home alarm systems can be triggered by dust and CO. Your system’s wires can also accidentally be cut during construction. Always let your security service know when construction is underway at your home, and be sure to give your construction pros a code and password in case the service calls, and a telephone number for them to contact if a false alarm occurs.

I hope your holiday weekend was less eventful than mine….

Personalization: Every Home Tells a Story

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When we work with homeowners in the design phase of a home improvement project, we ask about them about how they live their lives and how they use their rooms. We inquire about their hobbies and the attributes of a home that are really important to them, and we actively listen to their answers. We do this because we want their homes to tell a special story about their lives, interests, and personalities. We then help them prioritize their product and design decisions based on what they have told us. This is, after all, the project they’ve saved for and dreamed about for years. The right choices to tell a homeowner’s story never lie in builder-grade solutions or cookie-cutter renovations that look just like their neighbors’ homes.

This photo shows a recent kitchen renovation we did for a couple in Center City. In our initial discussions for this replica watches project, we learned that the homeowners’ old kitchen was built by a handy non-pro in the 1970s, and was in very poor shape with some rusty appliances being held together with duct tape. But the couple delayed doing the work until they found someone they could trust and who would listen to their needs.

This kitchen is housed in a three-story brick building from the 1800s on a small alley-sized street, very typical of old cities on the East Coast. The house may have been a tenement or a small factory in its early years. Our assignment was to design a kitchen that fit into the old building without changing its window openings, which would also incorporate the use of a shared rear patio. We were also tasked with adding a small powder room off of the kitchen.

Through our talks, we learned that these homeowners entertain large groups of friends, so we knew that the living room, dining room and kitchen had to flow together smoothly. We also discovered that these homeowners are very active cooks, so their kitchen needed to be more than just a showplace; it had to be an actual workshop for cooking. Their interests also include music, Inuit-carved stone sculptures, and science — in fact, you can see some of their beautiful, treasured fossils incorporated into their kitchen backsplash. We absolutely love weaving personal objects like these into our renovation projects. Talk about telling a story!

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Trust: The Cornerstone of the Contractor-Homeowner Relationship

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A female homeowner recently confided in me that she is uncomfortable with allowing male contractors she doesn’t know into her house when she’s home alone or with her young children. “I personally get creeped out by it,” she explained. “Trust is everything, in that respect.”

I don’t think this is an uncommon sentiment because it is one we’ve heard many times before. After all, these contractors interact with homeowners’ families, children, pets, and personal spaces and items during a home-renovation project. People want to know that the companies they hire will treat them and their belongings with respect.

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Renovation Diaries: Roxborough Art Studio

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We’re in the middle of a really cool project for an artist couple in Roxborough: a his-and-hers art studio. When complete in Spring 2011, the interior finishes of this studio will make it feel very much like a work space. It will have plywood walls and floors, and simple heat and A/C, but lots and lots of great windows and skylights, big glazed doors, and a nice stucco exterior with a sunny yard and off-street parking. We will also retain many old features like the slate sidewalks.

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Working in Small Houses is Tough

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When we come to work on your home, we will need a lot of space to stage materials and tools. Here are a couple of photos to show you what I mean;

This is just the set up for the electricians who are in the basement installing a new electrical panel and service in this 1200 sf city home.

On the second floor,

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Wants vs. Needs: A Look at Prioritizing Home Renovations

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Our clients, Robin and James,* have lived in their large, 90-year-old stone single home for 20+ years. They are now in their 40s, and have raised two active boys. James runs daily in the neighboring wooded parkland. The kids are active in hockey, tennis, and do well in school. In fact, they are preparing to head off to college in the next few years. The college fund is paid up, and it’s time for Robin and James to plan ahead for their own needs and enjoyment.

Part of that planning includes renovating their home to maintain or enhance its value. It’s a very well built, handsome home so they want to renovate carefully.

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When It Comes to Older Homes, Small Is Not the New Big

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In the world of new construction, the mantra is “small is the new big.” This means that people who are building new homes appear to be tired of — or can simply no longer afford — the ostentatious 5,000+ square foot McMansions that were so popular during the last decade. In our business, however, where we work on older homes in and around metro Philadelphia, the opposite is true. We get a lot of calls from folks requesting additions for their homes. They simply want and need more space.

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Chestnut Hill Kitchen/Powder Room Reno

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Today, we are beginning the construction portion of a small kitchen and powder room renovation in Chestnut Hill. This cute, Tudor-style twin is home to two adults, two kids, and a senior-age dog.

The kitchen was no longer functioning well for this family. Here is their wish list:

  • Better flow/space function/circulation
  • Better/more prep area
  • New location for the fridge, which is currently in the unheated shed area out back
  • Better storage
  • Better work surfaces
  • Better kitchen efficiency
  • Open plan kitchen/dining room to engage the whole family
  • Better venting of cooking area
  • Better lighting
  • A more discreet powder room
  • Better pantry use
  • Staging area for lunch boxes, keys and things that need charging
  • Better organization of the many doors in the room that access powder room, pantry and basement

    • Stay tuned for updates on how this project is coming along!