Have you been thinking about "flipping"?

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

There is a lot of discussion and activity in the construction and real estate market about "flipping" houses. It's something we have done a lot of, I think we did six in 2013 alone. It's a rewarding process if you pick the right one, take the "ugly duckling" so to speak, on the block and turn it into a clean, attractive and safe home that can be used for many years without a lot of attention. I would say from a construction standpoint, finding one with good "bones" is really important. I mean that the home needs to have good structural integrity, foundation and general lay-out. Many homes suffer from a lack of regular maintenance, paint, caulking, good roof, clean gutters etc. These maintenance issues can really affect the integrity of a home, but they are not deal killers if you know what to look for. Any honest and experienced contractor should be able to take an hour and tell you the "general" condition of the home. Bottom line, buying a "basket case" on the down low and then putting money into it to either keep and live in, or sell and move on can be a very rewarding process. And either way, sell or keep, you can now that you improved the quality of someones life and helped bring up the value of neighboring properties.

Deck design and function

Maybe you've been thinking about a deck to enjoy the seasons more fully. Coming up with something that is functional and affordable may be simpler than you think if you follow a few simple guidelines.
1) How will the deck be used? Is this a private deck off the back of the house to enjoy a view w/ a friend and a cup of your favorite coffee OR are you going to be using this for entertainment and you need extra outlets, gas supply for the big barbecue etc.
2) How would you like it to add functionality to the overall space of the home and yard? This answers the question of shape and levels, how many stairs and access points you would like etc. It also encompasses the issue of handrail/guardrails. In most city/county ordinances there is a stipulation that if a deck is over a certain height (30" isn't uncommon)there must be protection against falling off. Check with the authorities for your location.
3) Maintenance vs. cost? Most of us like low maintenance, not everyone can afford it. Redwood is gorgeous, in fact it's hard to match in shear beauty if you enjoy wood grain but it requires attention. By that I mean you should plan on power washing and then re-treating the wood every 1-3 yrs depending on weather in your area and the type of stain/sealer you use. Many different types of hardwood are available now as well if you want natural wood that requires less upkeep than Redwood. Ipe, Tigerwood and Garapa are just some of the many choices that are available today. Composite decking material is evolving and getting better all the time for those that want the least amount of attention needed. And it's not just whats under your feet that you should think about when considering maintenance vs. cost issues. What about the material of the hand railing. Wood, metal, composite, PVC all have different costs and characteristics that should be thought through before investing your hard earned money into that dream deck you've been thinking about.
Finally remember that the height and square footage of your deck will directly affect the cost of your deck. So, if you're on a tight budget consider smaller as a possible option so that you can get out there and enjoy the seasons more completely.

A "How To" on minor repairs to your home

It was discovered in a "Home Inspection" that this homes chimney had been improperly sided resulting in water damage to the structure. We would like to provide a brief overview of the steps taken to properly repair this problem.

NOTE - this overview is not intended to provide a complete description or contain all the details needed, but rather give an idea of how the project is undertaken.

The FIRST STEP in the actual project was the removal of spark arrester, chimney cap and rotten siding. Care should be taken when working in high places and around old nails and rotten wood.

After the old material was removed an assessment of the structure revealed dry rotted framing members. STEP TWO was the removal and replacement of all rotten wood. You can "click" on the first picture to get a bigger view. You will notice that two of the vertical studs have been replaced. Also several of the "bottom plates" or 2X4's that are at the base have been replaced. The new flashing covers a lot of this wood.

Once the structure is in place the next phase, STEP THREE is dealing with water shed. This means providing the proper flashing (the shiny galvanized metal you see at the bottom of the chimney) and then wrapped with an appropriate moisture barrier. The flashing should be installed with only enough nails to properly secure it, and typically, driving the nail into and through the side rather than the top of the flashing. The goal is to keep water out! The moisture barrier, or "house wrap" in this case, should go on AFTER and OVER, the flashing. Think of it as if rain were pouring down and you wanted to make sure it ran from the top all the way down to the roof without ever being given a chance to get into the structure of the building.

STEP FOUR is installing the siding. There are many different types and qualities of siding, and each has it's unique features and installation guidelines. The siding used for this job was T & G (tongue and groove)1X6 Cedar. Cut the boards to come to the end of the framing and assemble from the bottom up, making sure the tongue is facing up. Care should be taken so that the horizontal grooves between each piece line up on all four sides. This means that with the pitch of the roof, special considerations and cuts need to be made on the first few boards at the bottom.

Once all the siding is secure using galvanized nails, STEP FIVE is applying the trim. 1X4 pre-primed white fur was used here. Don't nail to close to the ends, to prevent splitting. Make sure all cuts are accurate. The bottom of the trim should NOT touch the flashing. This promotes water damage as it is wicked up the grain of the trim - usually 1/4-3/8" gap is sufficient.

STEP SIX is the re-installation of the chimney cap and spark arrester. At this point all screws in the cap should be coated with a roof sealant as well as any nails used to secure the flashing. Any gaps, cracks or openings in the siding or trim should be caulked using a quality sealant.

Once the caulking is done your project is ready for priming and paint. Be careful not to spill on the roof :)

Warranty work and repairs to doors

I believe I've mentioned before that American Craftsman takes care of all the warranty, inspections and repair work for several large door and window companies. Recently we were sent to a wonderful old home that had been restored in Northern California. Along the road to restoration all of the exterior doors and windows were replaced to enhance the beauty and help keep the heating and cooling bills in check. After the installation the homeowner noticed a problem with the glass in the doors and sidelights of the unit pictured here. It seems that somehow in the manufacturing of the door unit the glass was assembled inside out - causing the coating that protects against UV damage to be on the outside rather than inside. A phone call to the manufacturer resulted in our visit to the home and within a few hours new glass inserts had been installed and cleaned for a perfect finished product.

Saving Energy, preparing for winter

This beautiful older home set on a river had great insulation in the walls and ceiling, the Achilles heal - the windows! Though they can be a sizable investment, the returns are great. The peace and quiet of a quality window is often overlooked in our awareness of energy, but none the less, it is a great benefit of a quality window. Heat loss or gain was a "major" in this home and will probably result in recouping the investment in 5-7 yrs. Although we didn't get any photos of the finished product (my bad) new windows also added tremendous beauty to this home. Gone are the days of drafts, sticky windows and flaking paint :)

The effects of moisture on structure

This home looks beautiful from the outside. The owners have lived in it for about thirty years. They have done a good job of maintaining it and obviously took pride in it. Oddly, it wasn't until satellite installer was running wire in the crawl space of their home that they really understood the condition of load bearing "floor levelers" under their house. If memory serves me right, we replaced over forty supports that were all in various stages from completely failed to seriously compromised by corrosion.
Because we had done work in this area, a neighbors reference resulted in a call to American Craftsman, and within a couple of weeks we were on the job and restoring the support system and redistributing the tremendous loads of furniture, appliances and weight of the home to where the engineers had designed them to go. The homeowner had noticed squeaking and bouncy floors and a few cracks in the drywall. Other times doors start getting sticky, it really depends on what has failed, or is failing and where. Our homes talk to us, maybe not with words, but with noises and signs that if understood can help us to maintain them for many, many years.

Exterior Finish Work

A little over a month ago we were contracted to replace the aged and rotting pillars on the front of this beautiful home. The owner wanted to pillars to be wrapped in solid wood and retain the original look. I spent a long day in the shop making the simple, but custom woodwork. Each post had 46 pieces of wood in it. After filling all our nail holes and caulking all the joints we sprayed a premium exterior white finish on to match the existing woodwork. All in all it was a great job that was a lot of fun.

Redwood deck from reclaimed lumber

So I finally had the time to take a couple of pictures of the little deck we made out of old growth Redwood. It's small and simple because we didn't have a lot of lumber to work with, but I think it adds a lot of color and warmth to the patio. There is not one knot in this deck! It was finished with two coats of Thompson's Oil based water seal and UV protector.

Reclaimed lumber

Several months back we did a project that left us with a fair amount of old Redwood 2 X 10's. I asked one of the guys to load them on the truck and when we left the job site that day they came with me and I stacked them by the shop. They were painted and had nail holes in them, but I could tell it was nice, old growth lumber. Well they sat through the fall, winter and this spring a project presented itself. I've spent the last couple of days re-sawing the wood and prepping it for the new project. Stay tuned for some pictures of a simple but beautiful deck, I don't think I've seen a knot yet.

Investors, Banks and Real Estate Agents

We have recently being seeing more and more work helping Property Preservation companies clean-up, repair and winterize buildings that have been foreclosed on. We have had zero call backs on this type of work and instead have been getting the "thumbs-up" from those who contracted our services.

If you, or someone you know needs a quick, conscientious and complete job done on a house they want to see sold, please give us a call.