OUR BLOG
OUR BLOG
Check out what’s happening with Myers Constructs as well as the latest news and trends in home renovation.
New Projects Spring Into Action: Center City Pied-à-Terre
This week, we began an exciting new whole-house makeover for a lovely pied-à-terre in Center City Philadelphia. This charming 2-story, 2-BR, 2-BA house was recently purchased by a couple who is downsizing from their prior home on the Main Line, where we did renovations with a large addition over 10 years ago. The home was previously renovated sometime in the 1990s by its owner-occupant, an architect, who did a lot to enhance its good bones. Now, our clients want to really bring out the charm and style of this small house and make it one they can enjoy for decades to come. The project involves adding a half-bath just off the new kitchen space on the first floor, so the homeowners' aging parents can visit without having to climb stairs. We'll also renovate the existing bathroom on the second floor, reconfigure the bedroom with a walk-in closet, and transform the[...]
Basement Theater Remodel Wins NARI Award!
Most of you will remember the Mt. Airy basement renovation we recently completed for clients who wanted to transform a previously underutilized space into a beautiful theater and entertainment room. We're thrilled to announce that this project just won a NARI 2016 Regional Contractor of the Year (CotY) Award in the category of Basement $50,000 to $100,000 — Region 1/Northeast! In this national competition, regional awards are presented first, with national winners announced in April at the National Business Meeting of NARI in Austin, TX. We're really proud to be honored in this way by The National Association of the Remodeling Industry, which sets the standards for quality and professionalism in our industry. Project recap: Previously an unfinished basement, this space now has lots of different areas to relax, think, be entertained, and play music and games with family and friends — including a library with reading nook and a[...]
Adaptive Reuse: A Space Fit for a Diva
Part II in a Series on Adaptive Reuse, the basis of an upcoming presentation by Tamara Myers at the 2016 Las Vegas NKBA Kitchen and Bath Industry Show and NAHB International Builders' Show. In moving towards a more sustainable future, we already have a head start with claiming some adaptive reuse successes. Already integrated into our everyday thinking about what type of building can be turned into a home: the loft and the barn. Indeed, some of these transformations are so woven into our current vocabulary of building stock that ironically you will see elements of the form affecting new home design, including "barn-like" great rooms with exposed trusses, and new "loft" apartments with large windows and polished concrete floors. Like all buildings that were originally built for another purpose, barns and lofts often come with some missing elements that need to be remedied for a successful transformation. Of course,[...]
Sustainable Choices: Critical to Our Collective Futures
Part I in a Series on Adaptive Reuse, the basis of an upcoming presentation by Tamara Myers at the 2016 Las Vegas NKBA Kitchen and Bath Industry Show and NAHB International Builders' Show. Earlier today, I stopped by one of our job sites to admire this stack of reclaimed lumber peacefully acclimating itself to its new home, waiting to be installed as our new finish flooring. How exciting that this lumber is gaining a new life and that we can bring an older material into the renovation of this older home. Great choices that will give both the material and space a new, long life. Many of you already know about our passion for reuse and sustainable choices. We have built our business on bringing our brain trust of collective creativity and years of experience and relationships to make solutions that really create a difference in our clients' lives. Woven[...]
What’s Old Is New Again — and Better Than Ever
We have spent decades becoming experts at breathing new life into old structures throughout the Greater Philadelphia region. And now Tamara is busy preparing a presentation on this topic — adaptive reuse — that she will make at The 2016 Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 21. While this presentation is geared towards industry insiders who will earn continuing education credits for their participation, we are eager to share with you our insights on some exciting and effective approaches to sustainable adaptive reuse that can be applied not only to adaptive reuse projects but also to renovations in your own home. In the coming weeks, we'll cover the following topics: Why the choice to renovate existing structures is vital to a sustainable future; Examples of buildings and spaces already integrated into our community that illustrate adaptive re-use and what makes some of[...]
In the Works: Closing Walls and Opening the Window to 2016
Last week, we received approval from our inspectors to close up the walls in Phase II of our Fairmount whole-home renovation project (see the finished kitchen here and the restored cupola here). In this phase we are renovating all of the 3rd floor with a new walls, a new rear dormer that is adding a high ceiling and a door to a future rear deck. This Phase II work includes not only the 3rd floor renovation but also roofing the main roofs, new gutters & downspouts, a new HVAC system, some finishing trim and hardware work in other areas of the house. Here, you see the exterior walls and ceiling have been sprayed with closed cell sprayfoam insulation - our go-to insulation. It is more effective than fiberglass batts and we are able to meet and exceed the energy requirements within a shallower thickness of wall and this keeps more[...]
Myers Made™ Custom Cabinetry — Now Available A la Carte
Perhaps you are probably already familiar with our Myers Made™ private-label line of custom cabinetry. What you may not know is that, in addition to full kitchen and bathroom solutions, we now offer free-standing cabinetry options, including: kitchen islands bars bar cabinets bathroom vanities medicine cabinets These items are available in custom wood species, sizes, colors, and finishes, with specialty functions to fit your specifications, and they can be shipped anywhere in the United States. Countertops are then sourced locally, which means lower shipping costs for you! Contact us today to find out how we can create a la carte solutions to meet your cabinetry needs.
In the Works: Fall Projects
Fall is a busy time for us, both at our clients' homes and at our own. We've been busy doing repairs and maintenance at our house, replacing some undersized gutters with new 6” versions whose color more closely matches our house paint, and making repairs to a patio slider. After that, we'll order glass panels that fit into the “split” in our split-level rancher. We had our trucks rebadged last week to reflect our recent Best of Philly Award, and our yard signs are getting a little update, too. It's neat to see people in parking lots turn and point to our vehicles when they see the Myers Constructs name and logo. At Phase II of the Fairmount project, all of the rough-ins are beginning, starting with the electricians — and we have a few other projects waiting in the wings, as well: A couple of expansion additions, and a[...]
Built-In Storage: A Place for Your Stuff
"That's all you need in life, a little place for your stuff. That's all your house is — a place to keep your stuff. If you didn't have so much stuff, you wouldn't need a house. You could just walk around all the time. A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it." —George Carlin This quote always makes us laugh, but let's face it ... George was right. Our houses are filled with "stuff"; some of us are just better at organizing it than others. We often find that the houses we come across don’t have enough storage to accommodate the homeowners' belongings. People need places to stow books, coats, off-season clothing, shoes, toys, cleaning supplies, camping and sports gear, and more. To combat potential clutter issues, we like to learn about how our clients need to live, and how their homes can better serve[...]
New Images Posted
We've posted slideshows of the completed kitchen and cupola renovation work at our Fairmount neighborhood whole-house project. They're rather spectacular. Have a look: The new kitchen The restored cupola
