Second Floor Remodel

This project emcompassed manipulating content, tearing up old carpet and particle board sub floor, installing new pre finished hand scraped maple flooring and painting.  We also added ceiling light fixtures, repaired the textured ceiling, reset the rooms and dusted everything as final touch!

This took place while the homeowners were on vacation.  We emailed photos to keep them up to date with the progress.  Below is Sue's response to seeing photos of completed work:

Thanks for sending the pictures ....    It looks just amazing . . .  I can't wait to see it in person!  It will make coming home from vacation a lot easier. . .  :-)  

I can't thank you enough for all the work you've done while we are away!

And when they came home and saw it in person:

Hi Ray -

We are home and the floors look amazing and with the painting everything looks fresh and new.  Thanks so much . . . everything looks great . . . I love it!

Handrail Project

We were contracted to add a graspable handrail to the existing one that did not meet code for a school building.  After install we stained and polyurethened it to match

Before Install

After Install

Bottom Return

Top Return

October 3-9 is National Fire Prevention Week

From the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) website: 

Fire Prevention Week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire, the tragic 1871 conflagration that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres. The fire began on October 8, but continued into and did most of its damage on October 9, 1871.

Some Facts provided by the NFPA:

• Cooking is the #1 cause of home fires and injuries.
• Smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths.
• Heating is the second leading cause of home fires, fire deaths and fire injuries.
• Electrical failures or malfunctions are factors in roughly 50,000 reported fires each year.
• Roughly 30, 000 intentionally set home structure fires are reported each year.

Learn More by going here:  NFPA - About Fire Prevention Week

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Never is there a wrong time, but given this is National Fire Protection Week you should take the time to:

• Check the batteries in your smoke detectors (test them and replace non working detectors)
• Plan a family escape route (and where to meet once outside)
• Check fire extinguishers for expiration and have them re certified (Remember only try to put out small fires)
• Keep important documents and irreplaceable family memories (photos, etc) in a fireproof safe or near the evacuation route out of your house

It's About Using Less Resources...

About 28 seconds into this clip titled, "The Decade of Energy Efficiency" Peter Darbee Chairman, CEO and President of PG & E Corporation gives an interesting view on energy efficiency.  Normally, people think of energy efficiency as giving up something - ie, lowering the heat (giving up a warm home), buying a fuel efficient car (giving up luxury) or unplugging electronics and turning off computers when not in use (giving up time).  

What if giving up dollars today to be more energy efficient meant more dollars in your checking account later and actually added to your standard of living?  Say like, replacing your water heater for an on demand, tankless system.  Would you consider that giving up something (your money)?  Initially, you would be spending more for the tankless system instead of just having a another tank style water heater installed.  But, the investment into a tankless system would save you money down the line as the water would only be heated when called for (use less energy).  This as opposed to keeping a 40 gallon tank heated to proper temperature when you are at work, school and on vacation.  Think about what you are giving up in this scenario (money and energy).  Furthermore, are you giving up luxury or gaining luxury?  Think about endless hot water as opposed to running out of hot water in the middle of your shower.

What do you think of Mr. Darbee's comments?