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...
We anticipate discovery while dismantling things in the early stages of a remodeling project. You never know what we will find in the nooks and crannies, from old glass jars to vintage beer cans, newspapers from the 1940s, pornographic magazines, hidden safes, and...
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...
The name of this home comes from the B52's song of the same name that was on the radio at just the right time. Flipping is an art form, now that the acquisition is done. Evaluating our current conditions and developing a plan for success was the first order of...
Every Fall/Winter during the slower time of year, we at Levco like to spread our wings and remodel a home for ourselves. This is accomplished by buying a home fixing it up and reselling it in the spring. Call it hibernation or tool sharpening what have you. This year...
I have been confused for years about just what the term R-value means. You would think that if you have 16" of insulation it should correlate to an R-Value. That is all well and good, as long as you are talking about the exact same insulation. What an R-Value is, as...
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...