arose during their experience, what they loved about their new remodel, and what they wished they had approached differently from the very beginning. Of course, no remodel is 100% predictable. When you open up the walls of any home to remodel them, you never know exactly what you may find. However, talking to others or reading about others’ experience can certainly give you some idea of how to plan for your renovation.
Recently we completed a renovation in Memorial, an area right outside the beltway in Houston. The primary goal of the project was a brand new kitchen and utility room. We enlarged the kitchen space and pushed the utility room into the patio area. We also created a more prominent 2nd entrance by the garage. We think you’ll agree, the results are remarkable!
As we mentioned before, predictability and renovation don’t often go hand in hand. There were a few challenges involved with this project that were not apparent when we started. One of the first things that the client wanted to was remove the fur downs along the kitchen celling. Fur downs were very popular in the 1970s’ and 1980’s, they are a box-out section along the celling that were often used to run AC, electrical, and plumbing through. They drop down a foot and a half to two feet from the ceiling; cabinets were usually installed up to them to create a step like effect. When a client requests that fur downs be removed, we don’t usually know what we’re going to find. We try to cut small holes in the fur down to see what could possibly be in them before we completely remove them.
As you might have guessed, when the fur downs in this case study were opened up, we found that some of the electrical lines had been run through them. We also discovered that the fur down across the middle of the kitchen hid a support beam that was carrying the weight load of the 2nd floor. This prevented us from simply taking it out. Of course, even when there are challenges, there’s a way around the challenge. In this case, we put up temporary walls on either side of the beam to support the 2nd floor. Then we installed a flush beam in the place of the drop beam, creating the seamless ceiling the clients wanted. Problem solved!
One sore spot for the homeowners was that they were working in the dark in their kitchen. Their old-school florescent drop box lighting just didn’t provide enough light, and it had to go. To create a bright well-lit atmosphere we used 6 inch can lights on the ceiling, as well as installing under counter lights under the upper cabinets to brighten the counter space. Which kitchen would you rather work in, the dimly lit room above on the left or the bright and cheery kitchen above on the right?
Poor cabinet design is one of the most common complaints homeowners have. Have you ever had one of those cabinets with the tiny dinky half shelf, or that space in the corner that was completely useless? This project was no different. A large percentage of their storage space was completely wasted due to the placement of the cabinets. We solved the issue with our new cabinet layout, built in storage, and with the cabinet pull-out built in storage you see above. Now, they can get to every inch of their storage easily.
This is one of our favorite features and another way we found to utilize kitchen space while making it more user-friendly: an appliance lift that allows heavy appliances to easily be raised to counter height while staying plugged in. Now, the appliances can easily be put away, after use, saving counter space (and back pain).
Each project has unique needs. In this case, the family wanted to change shoes when they came inside and needed a place to store their outdoor shoes, as well as the shoes that they wear inside. The shoe storage area right by the door is easy for the family to use, yet large enough to store both their outside and their inside footwear.
The final aspect of the home that the clients wanted to change was making the 2nd entry way from the exterior a little more prominent. We gabled the roof line over the entryway to give it a more distinctive look. The back door was dressed up by stepping the bricks out from the original wall, creating a brick trim, and a recessed door. We located the matching bricks from a brick yard that were removed from an older home and used them to fill in the area of the old patio gated entrance.
Remodeling your home is an adventure. When you choose a company with decades of experience, like GB General Contractors, you know that you’re in good hands, and you can sit back and enjoy the ride. And at the end of the day, like these clients, you’ll end up back at home – a new, improved home that works for you and your family in ways it never did before.]]>
