OUR BLOG
OUR BLOG
Check out what’s happening with Myers Constructs as well as the latest news and trends in home renovation.
Dueling Dishwashers
We like these dishwashers because they are water and energy efficient. There is only one moving part to fix if it breaks, and that's the size of a tennis ball. Maggie likes tennis balls!
Thanks to Elfant Wissahikon Realtors!
Thanks to Elfant Wissahickon Realtors! We are happy to announce a new website cross-linking relationship with Elfant Wissahickon Realty . You can find us on their site under the tabs “home buying” and “related resources.” We really appreciate this endorsement from a company we know well and respect. We have bought and sold many properties with them, and our experience has always been wonderful. Thanks, again, to Elfant Wissahickon for their endorsement of Myers Constructs.
How Do You Know It’s Time? Part 3
Last week, we got a call from a woman who said her house felt too small now that her son had become a teen, and she was also dissatisfied with the outside of her home, but she wasn’t sure how to fix those problems. A quick Zillow search told us that this woman’s neighbors all had 4-bedroom homes with 2-3 bathrooms, while she was living in a 3-bedroom, 1-bath house. The “bird’s eye” view of her neighborhood told us that most of her neighbors had put additions on their homes to increase their size, and their homes were now worth 1/3 more than her house, even in this time of conservative appraisals. We find that this is a common problem facing homeowners: […]
Unforeseen Conditions
Many a customer will ask us what “unforeseen conditions” means. They ask because “unforeseen conditions” are explained in our contracts as something that can cause a “change order extra” to take place -- and no one wants to spend money on something they don’t understand. On this project, our plumbers encountered a cracked bend in the soil line. Here are some snaps of the problem: You can see the old rusted pipes are in the basement ready to go to the scrapper. The new pipe is on site waiting for the change order extra to be approved. One snap shows the cracked bend where the toilet sits. The bend is in the bathroom floor under your toilet. You can see the large ugly hole in the living room wall the plumbers had to make to get at the pipe. The last image is from the bathroom looking down[...]
Blogging and the Brand Connection
Our company has recently been exploring cross-blogging opportunities, and we’ve had some success doing so. In fact, just this morning, we sent off a draft of a blog we will be sharing with a local landscape designer for her e-newsletter. Throughout this process, some issues have arisen -- mostly relating to protecting and enhancing our brand strength/recognition. There were times, for instance, when we passed on an opportunity to participate in another company’s blog because the inviting party did not understand our message/brand. Some of those sites were just collecting other bloggers in the field of remodeling, and they didn't have any real connection to what we do. One example was a "Do It Yourself" website that helps homeowners do their own home remodeling. That's just not our message. It's not what we sell. Another example was a blogger who wanted to post what we felt was a sexist message.[...]
EPA Busts RRP Illegal Contractor
Under the EPA/RRP regulations, all contractors MUST inform their customers of the risks for lead exposure. Contractors must also maintain on file records showing that their customers and tenants have been informed. Here is what happens if they do not follow the regs. The story here
What Can You Learn From a Brick?
The brick is an iconic building element to those of us who live on the East Coast, where old cities are built from millions and millions of red bricks. Therefore, a brick seems like a good place to start when considering what it costs the environment to build a house. In fact, readers may remember an article previously posted on our fake Rolex website, entitled “New Construction Pollutes!” In that post, we asked folks to speculate about the size of the carbon footprint made by the bricks used to build an average-sized Philadelphia rowhome. We explained that to make just one brick, 1.4 pounds of carbon is burned and released into the atmosphere. […]
Now THAT’S A Cappuccino!
Tam got this beautiful cup of coffee at "1Shot" on Liberties Walk. Yeah, that's Cher on the cover of Architectural Digest!
Some Photos: Main Line Food and Jazz Fest
Here are some photos from the Main Line Food and Jazz Fest where we had a booth this past Saturday. It was a hot day so we put out some water and doggie cookies for the many pets at the event. The folks in the bright yellow t shirts were walking from Philly to Pittsburgh to raise awareness and dollars for returning veterans and their medical needs and expenses. They made it to Wayne by 1 or 2 o'clock so they were making great time on their walk! The lovely brown loaves are from George Perrier's booth. He is the owner of Le Bec Fin in center city, and he has another restaurant on the Main Line George's. Tamara took a lot of photos of this bread so you know what she was thinking about that Saturday! You can see Stormy, who came out to help us, and[...]
Chaka Fattah and NASA Chief Technologist Visit West Philly Hybrid X Team
Our company has been very excited to watch the incredible successes of the West Philadelphia High School "X Team" as they take on other competitors with very deep pockets and many years experience for the coveted "X Prize" for high efficiency vehicles. In fact high end Tesla Autos recently dropped out of the competition, perhaps because they couldn't compete against the West Philly High School team! We are excited to see our local congressional representative Chaka Fattah also supports these kids. We would like to see Philadelphia as a city get behind these kids and others in our city who are also passionate about learning. City kids get a bad rap when it comes to their performance in school. The West Philly High "X Team" is proof that urban kids want to learn. The are smart, hard working, successful people. And our company supports the notion that "learning with your[...]
