OUR BLOG
OUR BLOG
Check out what’s happening with Myers Constructs as well as the latest news and trends in home renovation.
Water Damage Woes & A Pro Tip On How to Avoid Them
I got a call this week from a man whose home was flooded by a pipe that burst while he was away on a family trip. The water totally destroyed the first-floor finished flooring, as well as the walls in the kitchen, paneling in the halls, and all of the partition walls and ceilings in the basement. I have a feeling we may also have to add HVAC and electrical damage to the list. Once water gets into electrical fixtures, they need to be replaced. The culprit in this case was the water line to a first-floor powder room toilet. That's only a 3/8-inch pipe, but it caused hundreds of gallons of water to pump through the first floor into the basement and probably out the basement walls as the system continually kept flowing to refill itself. This is the second call like this I have taken recently. In the[...]
Adaptive Reuse and the Legacy of Zaha Hadid
It was with great sadness that we learned last week of the passing of Dame Zaha Hadid, the Iraqi-born British architect and the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, the Nobel of the architectural community. Her elegant work and uncompromising spirit inspired so many in the art, design, architecture, engineering, and creative spheres, and she served as a fine example of overcoming the glass ceiling for women in architecture and design. The underlining parabolic curved design that Hadid came to be known for was innovative and groundbreaking, and her legacy includes new approaches to the world of the built environment. Hadid's groundbreaking work was introduced to many outside of the architectural community with her curvilinear Aquatic Centre built for the recent London Olympics. While visiting London in 2013, I had the chance to visit one of the smaller but important projects that her firm did — the renovation and[...]
One Great Project Ends; Another Begins
Over the next couple of weeks, we will be winding down an extended multi-phase whole-house renovation in a historic twin home in Philadelphia's Fairmount neighborhood. While the last of the subcontractors are scheduling their trim outs, the painters just finished up inside. We expect the exterior paint, gutters, and roof details to happen soon now that the temperature has warmed up. The deck is complete (see Facebook for photos ) and ready for the homeowners to put plants in the beautiful custom planters. We have our punch list items to complete and are ticking off our list. Meanwhile, the homeowners have scheduled their cleaners and movers and are thrilled to be able to move into their newly renovated historic home. As that project comes to a close, a new whole-home renovation at a pied-à-terre across town is picking up steam! Before the demolition phase, we applied for and were granted[...]
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.
