Putting The Shoe On The Other Foot Every house has a born-on date, that day when it was shiny and new, fresh off the builder's hands. Think of the old beer-can dating campaigns; houses have the same thing, they just don't print it anywhere. During a century of life, a...
I was recently asked to assist a PhD student preparing her dissertation on reclaimed building materials. Somewhere in the middle of our conversation, something clicked — I realized that the art of building deconstruction and the act of harvesting organs for donation...
For the past 110 years, we have been in a rush to make sure the hurdle of the new housing stock is built safer, stronger, and more energy efficient than the last code cycle because people dying in tragic collapses and fires is not a good thing, nor is wasting our...
I was just going about my normal morning routine when I noticed that my wife had left some dried house plant leaves floating in the toilet. This got me thinking, what should not be flushed, and why? I recalled taking this toilet off a few years ago because water was...
Master Suite AdditionThe Challenge They came up with a plan drawn by others with several significant errors. One was the size of the addition, and the other was the angle of the trusses. The clients who work remotely turned out to be excellent communicators and...
Dining Room Addition and Kitchen RemodelThe Challenge The home had an odd entry room with a coat closet and partition wall in the way. This room was pretty useless and annoying to the client. Then, the kitchen was blocked from the activity in the living room, and the...
Primary Suite Remodel & DeckThe Challenge Inaccurate plans were provided that had to get updated over the course of the project. The project is on a creek so lots of precautions were needed to keep erosion out of it. The Idea Create a primary suite that is...
Whole House RemodelThe Challenge The home was in the hillside district and in the WUI which means that the home has some extra requirements as far as firesafe and extra structural requirements. There had been an addition done to the house years prior that was not...