Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

By Kathryn Weber Originally published December 19, 2013 at midnight, updated December 19, 2013 at midnight

In winter, the temperature a room that always seems chilly can dip 10 degrees or more below the rest of the house. And if the room is used often, cranking up the thermostat can make the rest of the house feel steamy. Thankfully, it doesn't take a major rework of your heating system or a risky space heater to make a cold room both toasty and attractive.

Cold floors

Some rooms suffer more from cold floors than simply cold air. These are typically bathrooms and kitchens with stone or tile floors. An easy remedy is to add toe-kick heaters. These are small heating units that fit neatly in the space under a cabinet, where they're nearly invisible. If you're handy, you might be able to install the heaters yourself. Such units run about $150, excluding wiring and installation. They're controlled by a small thermostat on the wall.

Room-size heating

Under-carpet heating is another handy option. CarpetHeat by SpeedHeating is a product that goes between the carpet and padding. Using thin wires, the unit heats the room from the ground up. A separate thermostat attached to the wall controls the temperature. Around $600 and up (plus another $200 for a thermostat), these units are not inexpensive but offer an efficient way to heat a room unobtrusively.

Wall-mounted fireplaces

Another heating option that's attractive and stylish while also lending a romantic touch is an electric fireplace. The Touchstone Onyx 50-inch fireplace is black and rectangular, making a great visual statement on the wall whether it's glowing or not. The embers look realistic ($349). Many wall-mounted electric units are plug-in ready and come with timers and remote controls, so you can boost the temperature at the touch of a button.

Freestanding fireplaces

No room on the wall? Choose from a wide variety of freestanding fireplaces and stoves. Designed to fit with almost any decor, electric fireplaces are available in everything from a traditional stove look to units with mantelpieces and faux stonework. Some generate actual flames using a gel fuel or faux electric flames. Gel fireplaces are a better option for looks than warmth. To banish a chill, an electric fireplace does a better job.

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Living Space: Stop shivering in that pesky cold room of your house

When cooler temperatures hit closer to home, medics at Harris County Emergency Corps (HCEC) have a heightened awareness of the potential for patients with carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide poisoning mimics other illnesses and can sometimes be difficult to diagnose. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 400 Americans die from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning.

Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas that can cause sudden illness and/or death. The most common symptoms are dizziness, headache, weakness, nausea, vomiting, confusion and chest pain. Leakages in heating systems, gas ranges, portable heaters, burning charcoal or wood, engines, stoves, lanterns and fumes produced by cars and trucks produce carbon monoxide. When enclosed in a confined space such as a house or garage, carbon monoxide can become lethal for people and animals.

According to the CDC, carbon monoxide poisoning can be prevented by taking several steps:

Heating systems, water heaters and any other gas, oil, or coal burning appliances should be serviced by a qualified technician every year.

Do not use portable flameless chemical heaters indoors. Although these heaters dont have a flame, they burn gas and can cause carbon monoxide to build up inside homes, cabins or campers.

If you smell an odor from your gas refrigerators cooling unit have an expert service it. An odor from the cooling unit of your gas refrigerator can mean you have a defect in the cooling unit and could be releasing carbon monoxide.

When purchasing gas equipment, buy only equipment carrying the seal of a national testing agency, such as the CSA Group.

Install a battery-operated or battery back-up carbon monoxide detector in your home and check or replace the battery when you change the time on your clocks each spring and fall.

Have a mechanic check the exhaust system of your car every year. A small leak in your cars exhaust system can lead to a buildup of carbon monoxide inside the car.

Never run a car or truck inside the garage with the garage door shut. Carbon monoxide can build up quickly while your car or truck is running in a closed garage.

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Stay safe and prevent carbon monoxide poisoning

Remodeling your kitchen in Greensboro, NC - (336) 553-7083
http://tannerbuilthomes.com/kitchen-remodel/ Kitchen remodel in Greensboro, High Point, Winston Salem, Burlington and surrounding NC areas is done with passi...

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Remodeling your kitchen in Greensboro, NC - (336) 553-7083 - Video

Indianapolis, Indiana (PRWEB) December 19, 2013

The most important parts of a kitchen remodel would be the cabinets and the countertops. This will determine the style of the new kitchen.

Before choosing a cabinet line, it is important to determine the budget. Sharing this budget information with the cabinet designer will help them show you the appropriate cabinet vendors for that budget and save time.

How would one determine this budget? Keep in mind that 90-98% of a kitchen remodeling project is recouped if the cost is relative to the home value. A guideline is to plan a kitchen budget at approximately 15% of the homes value. Of this budget, about half of the cost should be designated to the cabinetry and countertops.

Therefore, a general example for regular retail would be - if a home value is at $250,000, 15% of that value would be at $37,500 for a kitchen remodeling project that could be expected to be recouped into the home value. Fifty percent of that budget should be tagged for cabinets and countertops. This budgeting example would be different for a member of DirectBuy of Indianapolis because of the 20-50% savings off of regular retail sale pricing. DirectBuy members are able to do more projects or higher quality products with the same amount of budget.

For any budget, now is a great time to start planning a kitchen remodeling project. One can take advantage of the year end savings that most DirectBuy of Indianapolis vendors are offering. Items can be ordered before the holidays allowing for the project to start at the beginning of the new year.

DirectBuy of Indianapolis offers several services to make it easier to meet the 15% home value budget or to give a higher quality of cabinetry for the same amount of money for the kitchen remodeling project.

One of the most valuable services that DirectBuy of Indianapolis offers is their in house kitchen designer, Holly Denihan. Holly has been with DirectBuy of Indianapolis for over seven years, helping members with kitchen designing. She has over 2,000 kitchen designs in her portfolio.

During the first meeting with Holly, a member will bring either the room dimensions or blueprints, their appliance model numbers and their budget.

Holly will give guidance in the cabinet layouts, choosing the door styles, as well as going over finish options and accessories. She will also go over the options for the countertops. Holly will then create a layout of the kitchen in the 20/20 computer software and provide a dimensional look of the new kitchen.

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In a Kitchen Remodeling Project the Cabinets and Countertop Are The Two Most Expensive Items; What If You Could Save ...

Rockville, MD (PRWEB) December 19, 2013

Past, present & prospective customers came to enjoy the good food & libations. The crowd filled the kitchen & bath showroom which is no easy task at 4000 square feet. Alyssa Ploszay one of the bath & kitchen designers said at one point, "There are over 50 people here having a blast, great food & great holiday fun!"

Chef Maria Canora & Our Live Kitchen Cabinet Design Displays The main attraction was Signature Kitchens Additions & Baths interactive and live kitchen design displays where Chef Maria L. Canora a Chef Instructor at La Cucina Tuscan Cooking held class. Chef Maria gave the crowd several cooking demonstrations and wine pairings throughout the evening. She started cooking on the Kitchen Aid Induction Cook Top a Reggiano Parmesano Stuffed Date wrapped in Bacon paired with a sparkling wine. It was delicious. This was followed with Fig and Gorgonzola stuffed Chicken Breast paired with a Pinot Noir. One of Joe Gelletich's customers from last year Brian Camp volunteered to help out. Brian said "Of course I'll help; I want to cook this dish in my new kitchen!" The Chef's demonstration ended with a batch of Christmas cookies and more wine.

According to Signature's owner Gary Case "by the time Chef Maria was done everyone was having a really good time! I think Chef Maria wanted to take home all or part of our Dura Supreme Cabinets display because she could not believe how fast the induction cook top arrived at the desired temperature in just a few minutes."

Turbo Chef Oven While Chef Maria was cooking so was Lynn Case and Ellyn Gutridge in the Medallion Cabinetry display where the Turbo Chef oven was hard at work turning out one dish after another at lightning speed. It is hard to believe that the Turbo Chef can cook an 18 pound Turkey in just about one hour and have it turn out so juicy.

Satisfied Bath & Kitchen Design & Remodeling Customers The other attraction was more intangible and was best expressed by one of Signature's past customers JD & Caroline SailerOur kitchen remodel has transformed our lives. We spend all our family time in the new space designed by Ellyn Gutridge and we are thinking of doing the bathrooms. In addition hanging out with the creative crowd at Signature is just plain fun!

Some other comments from the crowd Dr Steve Kishter & his wife Dr Freddie Hoffman "It was a great turnout, we enjoyed hanging out with our good friends Rob & Rebecca Foss, Your crew can just do everything very well, it boggles the mind because its kind of rare. Of course his oft repeated comment. Your tools are just a bigger version of my tools. Steve is a reconstructive oral surgeon. Signature is doing an extensive design build DC whole house remodel for the Kishters on 16th St NW and had design a bathroom in Rockville for the Foss family. Kitchen designers Joe Gelletich designed the Kishter project and Alyssa Ploszay the Foss project.

Tom & Calli Schmidt We are in the kitchen Joe designed and your incredibly capable crews remodeled for us every day. We are in the hot tub & deck they installed almost every day. Its weird to think of a company, especially in a good way, almost every day three years after you did business with them.

Kathy Whitt who had Hamid Fadakar one of Signatures bath & kitchen designers design a kitchen DC in contemporary kitchen cabinets said, I passed on my husband's company party at GOOGLE to hang out with you guys! Wow!

Signature Kitchens Additions & Baths & Signature Elevators & Accessible Design are located at 850 E Gude Dr #C Rockville, MD 20850. They can be reached at 301-251-1880, http://www.signaturekab.com, http://www.signaturekab.net & http://www.signatureelevators.com.

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Signature Kitchen Additions & Baths Holiday Party

ALLENTOWN, Pa. -

A taller Three City Center will rise early next year on the vacant lot once occupied by the Colonial movie theater along Hamilton Street in Allentown.

A seven-story version of the office building, which will cost about $50 million to build, won final approval the Allentown Planning Commission Thursday afternoon.

Three City Center initially was envisioned as being only five stories tall, but representatives of the developer -- City Center Investment Corp. often said more levels might be added.

After the plan was approved by a 3-0 vote, planning commission member Richard Button declared: I think this is really neat! This is gorgeous!

An artists rendering makes it obvious that adding two more floors will create a structure that is more imposing and less squat.

Judy Woosnam, vice president of operations for City Center, explained the building will be taller because of the amount of interest it is generating from potential commercial tenants. She said the company already is in negotiations with tenants.

Voting with Button to approve the project were Anthony Toth and Frank Facchiano.

Planning commission members Oldrich Foucek and Christian Brown abstained because they have business dealings with the developer.

James Gentile, construction manager, predicted construction of Three City Center will begin sometime during the first three months of 2014 and take up to one year to complete.

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Taller Three City Center approved by Allentown Planning Commission

The stately building slated for the former Colonial Theater site in Allentown will now stretch two stories taller and cost $13 million more due to increased demand for downtown office space.

Representatives with City Center Investment Corp. on Thursday presented plans to Allentown's Planning Commission for a seven-story office and retail building that would be the next in a growing list of projects from the company that's building the new arena, hotel and combination retail/luxury apartment complex just blocks away.

The Colonial site plans, which were first presented in July when City Center was awarded the property, call for one floor of retail and six stories of office space on the vacant lot bounded by Hamilton Street and the city's Arts Park.

That's two more floors of office space than the company originally proposed. The expansion has been driven by the high demand for City Center's other properties, said Judy Woosnam, a vice president with City Center. All 500,000 square feet of office space in One City Center and Two City Center has been leased, she said.

"So while we're building, we'll build bigger," Woosnam said, laughing.

The additional office space will bring the cost of the Colonial development to about $50 million for the 166,000-square-foot building. Originally it was proposed at $37 million.

The proposal calls for a limestone facade for the first two stories and a paneled composite product on the upper stories, said James Gentile, president of North Star Construction Management. Because the building also faces the Arts Park, the rear facade will mimic the front and have a balcony for employees to enjoy the view. Balconies with plants will occupy all four corners of the top floor.

The lower level will have room for two to four retail tenants, Gentile said. City Center is negotiating with interested tenants for both the office and retail space, Woosnam said.

City Center developer J.B. Reilly said he believes law firms will be interested in renting at the new building because it's essentially next door to the county and federal courthouses.

City Center was one of two developers that submitted proposals for the Colonial property. It beat out a plan presented by a partnership of Alvin H. Butz Inc. and Think Loud Development LLC, a York developer and fiber optic network builder backed by members of the rock band Live.

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Growing demand makes building pitched for Colonial site taller, pricier

50m office block could be biggest built in Cork

Friday, December 20, 2013

Construction cranes could be back on Cork Citys skyline next year, with plans being lodged today for a 50m eight-storey office block alongside City Hall.

By Tommy Barker Property Editor

Just last month JCD sold two completed Mahon City Gate blocks to Irish Life Assurances for 40m, and has now teamed up with BAM on whats probably the best available office site in the city centre, fronting the Elysian complex on Albert Quay.

Designed by Henry J Lyons Architects, it looks to be the single biggest office block ever built in the city. And, with large open floor areas of 30,000sq ft, it fits the IDAs call for such space in Dublin, Cork, and Galway for the arrivals of foreign companies.

The Albert Quay site currently has two separate office planning grants for large buildings: One is already owned by BAM, and theyve just bought the second Doyle Warehouses site (previously owned by Howard Holdings) from Nama via Savills for about 2m.

If theres a clear run through planning for this new unified proposal, the developers say work could begin as early as April, generating 200 construction jobs.

News of the application was welcomed by Cork Chamber of Commerce CEO Conor Healy, who said the city centre was close to running out of quality available office space for inward investment: Its very welcome news for Cork to have a project of this quality and scale proposed by developers with their reputation, in the heart of the city.

The 50m development will have twice the office space as City Quarter, across the river on Lapps Quay. Figures now being tallied are expected to show 500,000sq ft of Cork offices was accounted for in 2013 a higher take-up than in any year in the boom.

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€50m office block could be biggest built in Cork

14921 Jaslow Street CENTREVILLE, VA 20120 Presented by Paul Hunter
This property has it #39;s own dedicated website at http://nicehome.utour.me?pid=6705207. Visit the website for more photos, the virtual tour and to schedule a p...

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14921 Jaslow Street CENTREVILLE, VA 20120 Presented by Paul Hunter - Video

Published: Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at 2:01 p.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at 10:14 p.m.

PALM COAST A team of inspectors will visit the area ravaged by Saturdays tornado and record every caved-in roof, punctured siding and ripped shingle among the 180 homes that were affected by the storm.

The team will include representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as well as state and city officials. Representatives from Flagler County Emergency Management and the Flagler County Property Appraisers office also will participate.

Cindi Lane, a spokeswoman with the city of Palm Coast, said the tour will stretch across the Indian Trails neighborhood near Belle Terre Parkway, as well as damaged homes in proximity to Old Kings Road and along Colchester Lane and Cimmeron Drive, and could last for more than a day. The team will start looking at the damage about 10 a.m. Thursday, she said.

Property owners are not required to be home during the tour, but all residents are encouraged to notify the city of damage, no matter how minor, said Lane.

All of the damage gets checked by the inspection team and after it is verified, it gets added to the total. Those with severe damage will have a better chance to qualify for aid as that total cost estimate increases, Lane said.

Flagler County Public Safety Emergency Manager Kevin Guthrie said any aid from FEMA likely would come in the form of loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Such loans, which must be repaid, are designed to assist homeowners and businesses awaiting insurance relief but who are having to wait for extended periods because of backlogs.

Mayor Jon Netts declared Palm Coast a local state of emergency two days after the storm. That declaration makes the city eligible for state and federal aid.

Any municipality is eligible to have an SBA team from FEMA visit a storm site if 25 or more homes or businesses sustained damage of at least 40 percent of their replacement value, Guthrie said.

Flagler County Property Appraiser Jay Gardner said Wednesday he had visited mostly all of the areas that sustained storm damage. For training purposes, he sent about five teams from his office to look at damage and come back with assessments. For the most part, those assessments were consistent, he said.

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FEMA to inspect Palm Coast tornado damage