Remodeling with Square One

Lake remodel comes together.

2011-09-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

What was once a great home on lake Murray, becomes a great home again! My clients loved their location, they just needed a new look, a new owners suite and bath, and a better garage with a room over and nicer laundry. You know, the regular stuff. House is coming along nicely for sure, thanks to Barry Davis Constuction in Lexington, SC. And yes that's the same house folks!

Energy Saver Home cuts your power bills.

2011-08-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

For those of you that follow my posts, I love helping people save money on their power bills. The new homes have been pretty easy, we design build them energy efficient from the start. The older ones haven't gotten the same attention. Some one needed to figure out how to apply all that "green" knowledge to the existing housing stock. Lots of guys before me have tried. The government has tried. They have developed program after program, focusing on how to measure and regulate the results. Lots of my customers really don't want to be certified under a program. They just want the lower power bills for their existing home. They just want to be comfortable in their home while enjoying lower power bills. They just want the home fixed. Now through a joint venture through me and my buddy Craig, over at Cutter's Insulation, we've figured out how to do it efficiently and cheaply. We use the concepts outlined under my 10 tips to lower power bills, and do the installation for you in the Columbia, SC area.The company is called Energy Saver Home. If your bills are too high, let us implement a series of fixes for your home. We have all of the test equipment to identify and rectify your problems. And you won't have to go in the attic or under the house yourself! Check out the new website at www.ensavr.com and call me for an appointment. You'll be glad you did.

Upgrade to a Lake Murray home

2011-06-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

These clients had it all, nice home, great view, except enough space in the right place. We went into the attic, and added a family room, theater, a kitchenette, and mini office space, without covering up the lake view. They already had the stairway and the bonus room, we added a new dormer there so the room would be more useable. Other considerations included beefing up the old ceiling joists to carry more load, and re-locating the old hvac from the attic to under the home. Turned out great thanks to contractor Theresa Lejohn's attention to detail!

Dramatically lower your power bill

2011-04-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago I built one of those new "green homes". Learned a lot about how much lower a power bill can be. Though my home was bigger by 500 sf, my bills dropped by over half. At that time most of us thought you had to build a new "green" home to save on energy bills. Fact is, since we've learned to build "green", we've learned how to use the same technology to cut power usage in older homes. Through testing, we can identify where older homes leak air and then the holes can be plugged. Existing homes can be made nearly as efficient as the new ones. Most of the solutions are things that you can actually do yourself. I have another blog called "Green building with Square One Design". Where I detail the 10 first steps to make your home up to 50% more energy efficient. If your power bills are too high these solutions actually work. Also a new website , just up on the web called Energy Savers. If you would like to know more, contact me anytime and I can help with advice and solutions to your problems.

Seeing what's not there

2010-07-14T06:44:00.000-07:00

Some of my Columbia area remodeling clients call me with a firm grasp of what they would like to do in regards to their remodel. Most do not. They know what they may need to add, or what problems they'd like to fix, but have no idea how to attach it to the existing home. That's what I'm good at, seeing the possibilities and creating the perfect space. People know what they would like to have, just not how to visualize it. They have a hard time seeing past the spaces as they are. An example of this is a client that wants to convert a garage to a playroom and build another garage next to it. When I enquire about leaving the garage alone and building the playroom behind it with a good view of the lake they say "gee, I didn't think of that." They are trying to visualize inside the spaces that they have instead of thinking outside the box. So that's my first task, to analyze the situation and find the best place for the solution. Sometimes it's on the rear, some times the front, sometimes above. You try to solve the spacial problem, keeping an eye out for enhancing the visual form of the home as you go. If the home is less attractive on the front, you can upgrade there. If it's on the rear, that might be a good start. After you've done fifty or sixty, it kind of becomes second nature I guess. Every job is a new challenge, but every project is a new opportunity. I guess that's what makes it so fun.

Keeping it between the lines

2010-07-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

When I'm at a Columbia area remodeling site for the first time, I'm absorbing what's there. The physical building, the needs of the owner, the views and sight lines from the property, things like that. But there are some other important elements to the puzzle. A good survey is important. Usually the homeowner has a copy in with the closing papers. Now we can tell exactly where the property lines are. If there are any easements shown. Later on we will want to check with the zoning office for setback limitations on the lot, so we know exactly what we have to work with. Sometimes there are lot coverage guidelines that may come into play also. Along with subdivision restrictions, or review by an architectural review board. Knowing all of the requirements up front really will help drive the future design in a positive direction. You don't want to get all the way through design, bidding, and pricing only to have a setback problem later on. That's stressful. We want your job to be no stress. So do your homework before you design, for a better design solution.

Good remodeling: working with what you have.

2010-07-06T06:49:00.000-07:00

When I show up at a potential Columbia, SC remodeling job, I talk with the homeowners, get their list of dreams and desires and take a careful look at what we've got to work with. The layout of the current structure, the age and condition of the various areas of the home. I usually measure and record everything there. Room dimensions, door and window placement, ceiling heights are recorded. Digital photo's of elevations and details gathered now help me out later on. Visual inspection reveals a lot to the trained eye. The age location, and condition of the home give clues to the manner in which it was constructed. Things to look for are plaster walls or drywall, Standard or balloon framed, what was original to the home, and what was added later. How much insulation is in the attic and under the floor. Have any of the baths and /or kitchen been refurbished. Later on one of the goals is to produce a design that keeps the good stuff, and gets rid of the outdated or awkward stuff. No matter how good your design is, in the end no one is going to let you tear out a just remodeled bathroom just to move it somewhere else. If the kitchen is due for a makeover anyway, tearing out a wall and enlarging it usually isn't so bad. Gathering visual clues to the homes design and construction details helps you make your future alterations seamless. The ultimate goal for me is helping the homeowner with their needs, and creating a finished product that not only is aesthetically pleasing, but harmonious with the elements on site. When you finish with a good remodel, visitors should have a hard time deciphering what was original from what was added. Careful observation combined with a thoughtful design solution will accomplish this.

Am I a candidate for remodeling?

2010-07-02T06:07:00.000-07:00

I guess the first question a client needs to think about is do I want to remodel, or do I want to buy a new home. Think about where you live, do you like it? Not the house itself, the neighborhood. Close to your job, your friends, schools, shopping? You're comfortable, got a safe neighborhood, nice neighbors and nice view? Everythings ok except the house. Now make a list of what could be better, a garage, playroom, new kitchen, downstairs owner suite? Don't think about where to put it yet, just work on the list. This is called the wish list and your designer will use it to create the perfect remodel. Now think about budget. If somehow your designer could come up with a design solution that works for you, and a builder could construct it, how much have you got to spend? I want you to think about this early because it is crucial to your project. It helps you make an educated value assesment of what you're going to do. Most of my clients compare the value of their existing dwelling plus what they are going to spend on it, vs. what it would cost to sell and buy another home that they would like somewhere else. You need to do this also. Some homeowners opt to move. A whole lot of them like where they are so much that they opt to stay. That's why there is so much remodeling going on in Columbia SC.

Remodeling with Square One

2010-07-01T10:40:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my remodeling blog. My purpose is to help you determine the correct path for your remodeling project. In my 25 years of successful remodeling design I've helped make just about anything into just about anything. Almost all of my clients are first timers, and every job is different, but almost all of them need direction to get their ideas and dreams from concept to reality. Some call it the path to remodeling, I liken it to "the Quest" for the perfect home addition or alteration. Follow the steps and everything will turn out ok. In later posts we'll cover almost everything you need to know for that successful remodel. In the meantime, you can check out the remodeling section of my website www.squareoneplans.com. There is an article there to get you started called the remodeling process, the path from here to there...