OUR BLOG
OUR BLOG
Check out what’s happening with Myers Constructs as well as the latest news and trends in home renovation.
Great News: Home Renovations Resume
We are pleased to announce the news that we've all been waiting for: Governor Wolf has cleared the construction industry to resume work starting today, May 1. We are excited to move projects that have been in our design queue into construction — and to take on wonderful new projects for homeowners who have been dreaming about transforming their spaces but waiting to get started. Of course, our focus will remain on the safety of our clients and our teams going forward. In addition to the typically careful and clean work spaces we maintain, we will follow the stringent new guidelines established by the Governor and the Secretary of Health. They include standards for social distancing, cleanliness, and mask-wearing, limits on the number of people on site at any given time, the appointment of a safety officer, and more. We will also continue to hang signs on our job sites[...]
A Message of Heartfelt Gratitude and Sympathy
Dear Family and Friends of Myers Constructs, We take great pride in the curated personal service we provide our design-build clients. Our clients know our process includes listening to and reviewing options closely, together. In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), we will be monitoring the requirements and recommendations of the CDC, Governor Wolf, and Mayor Kenney, and making adjustments daily and weekly, as needed. We will continue providing our same intimate services, but limiting our communications for now to telephone, email, video sharing, and virtual conferencing. Reflecting back on some of our favorite projects over the years, we find that the best have always been the ones where we work with clients to make long-term, holistic plans for the improvements that honor the style of their home and the way they hope to live in it. We have been privileged to work on some amazing whole-house projects, additions, and multi-phase[...]
Buying a Home? We Can Help
Whether you are considering buying a home to live in or a house to invest in, purchasing real estate is a huge investment with many complicated layers. We can help you understand the property you are considering buying through the lens of the necessary fixes, upgrades, and ongoing maintenance items you will face in the future. We can join you on a property visit to gather answers to questions like: How is the home built? Looking at important systems and infrastructure features, we can tell a lot about the overall construction quality of the home. What year was it built? We're familiar with common issues and concerns associated with certain construction eras that you should look out for. What are the problems the home inspector found? By evaluating the cost of the fixes, we can help you determine which ones should be considered "deal breakers." What are the allowed uses[...]
Selling a House? We Can Help
So you’ve lived in and loved your home for a long time. You have fond memories when you look at every single thing in it. And now you've made the emotional decision to sell. The first thing you need to know is buyers don't want to buy your memories. They want to make their own memories in the home you cared for all of these years. What's more, they typically don't want to have to do a single thing when they buy your house. They want it to be perfect and “turnkey.” Some will even walk away from a house that is painted “the wrong color.” I even once met a home buyer who complained about the doorbell chime! Buyers want that charming older home you've loved so long to look like a brand new vintage house fresh off the best shelter magazine presses — but with all the charm[...]
The Wrong Hanger and Why Remodeling Is Very Different Than New Construction
We are currently working on a split-level rancher in a friendly, quiet neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia near Pennypack Park. This house was inherited by the current owner, who wants to make it more hip and fun. This will involve remodeling the kitchen and three bathrooms, installing new HVAC, and adding lots of pretty mid-century touches. In this house, the kitchen ceiling does double duty as the floor of the attic space above. The kitchen is about 20 feet long, and the ceiling was framed with 2x6’s that ran the length of the room. Because these joists are very undersized for that span, and they were overloaded with items stored in the attic, the ceiling in the kitchen had drooped quite a lot over time. To cure this sagging problem, we jacked up the droopy joists, cut them at about midway, and inserted a double-laminated beam across the span. From this,[...]
469 Happy Customers (and Counting!)
Our firm recently marked its 21st anniversary. It's a substantial milestone, and it got us thinking about the number of older houses we've improved over that span of time as well as the people we've helped to live better lives as a result. So we tallied up the numbers: to date, we have had 469 happy customers. Incorporated in 1998, Myers Constructs is now one of the oldest, most trusted design build remodelers in the region — and the only one that is women-owned. And whether the projects we do for clients are large or small, very expensive or rather modest, our goal is always to understand how our clients want to live in their homes. We listen to what clients say, what their houses say, and then we come up with a plan to exceed their expectations about what their homes can be. We help clients dream and imagine[...]
Are You Emotionally Prepared for a Home Renovation?
Being on the brink of a new home improvement project is an exciting time of life. You've spent lots of time working with your design team to lay out plans and make product selections. You're already envisioning what life will be like when the new space is finished. It's a great feeling. But before you begin, it's important to pause and do a few things to get emotionally ready for the experience. Even under the best circumstances, your life is about to get a little strained, and it's best to be prepare up front. Here are a few suggestions based on our many years of experience helping clients through the process: Get comfortable with chaos (temporarily) With any renovation, there is a certain level of stress, mess, and the unsettled feeling that comes with the disruption to your normal routines and rhythms of life. You'll need to wrap your head[...]
In the Works: Re-Loving the “Flintstone House”
Our clients affectionately call this home a "Flintstone House," and that really makes us smile. This charming and well-loved home, which features a schist stone exterior with free-form columns and bluestone front patio — both materials that are native to the Philadelphia area — is located on a quiet street in Chestnut Hill, PA, that is walkable to the quaint and lively center of town. It also has a lot of history, as the homeowners grew up in this house, and they have other family still living on the same street. While the home has been lovingly maintained over the years, it is currently in need of a new kitchen, pantry, and powder room, as well as some maintenance upgrades — which we were happy to be called in to handle. In terms of backstory, the current kitchen was installed by our clients' father decades ago, a project that was[...]
Updates From the Art Deco Homefront
Many of you will recall our ongoing project for our client's lovely 1930s-era Glenside brick Colonial. As we move through various phases of renovating this home, which the client calls his “Art Deco museum,” it continues to be a lot of fun both for us and for him. In the image above, you can see the home's newly finished library and a sampling of his vast black, white, and chrome Art Deco picture frame collection — which includes about 170 in all — filled with photos of his favorite actresses from the 1930s-40s, including Ann Sothern, Lauren Bacall, and Myrna Loy. "I started collecting the frames in the 1990s, not long after I read the book Picture Perfect by Steve Starr, who owned a store in Chicago that specialized in deco frames and other collectibles," he explains. "I bought quite a few from him and other dealers, mostly at antique[...]
New Year, New Home Resolutions
While you’re likely busy preparing for holiday celebrations, festive entertaining, and winter travel, this is also the perfect time to take a closer look at your home and plan for the repairs, maintenance, and redesign projects that need to be tackled in the coming year. We don’t know a better way to celebrate the fresh possibilities of a new year than to breathe new life into a space that you use every day. Instant quality-of-life improvement! We're grateful for the trust our clients place in us, and we make it our goal to exceed their expectations for reimagining the spaces they share with family and friends all year through. Call us today to discuss your needs. We’ll be happy to create a 2019 plan for your home.
