Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

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NEW YORK (WABC) -- After first saying there is no mold problem, the Department of Education later found the contamination is widespread, infecting seven classrooms at a school in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

You can imagine the concern parents have after learning that these classrooms have been shut down because of mold.

"I was shocked because I feel the school should have been closed down until everything was completed," said Tracy Grillo, parent.

This sudden move comes after school officials say test results revealed, "Seven classrooms on the fifth floor contained spores of a type of mold (stacybogtrys chartarum) that requires remediation."

"Mold is present in classrooms. There have been ongoing water infiltration issues," said Lincoln Restler, district leader.

Sharing those seriously concerns, Tracy Grillo and other parents rallied outside the school but before they learned of the latest test results and the contaminated classrooms.

"This week 20% of our students have been taken out of school because of fear for their safety," Restler said.

Grillo has kept her daughter and son out of the school.

"With the asthma he won't be able to breathe right, and he's been coming home with a lot of headaches. So I don't want them in school because I feel the problem might get worse," Grillo said.

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Mold contamination found in 7 classrooms

30-03-2012 10:02 In this video you will see a selection of front porch designs. We hope they will give you some inspiration. Visit our website to see more -

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A Selection of Front Porch Designs - Video

By Nara Schoenberg Print Article

(MCT)In theory, containers overflowing with flowers, herbs, grasses and vegetables can transform balconies and porches into green and leafy garden retreats.

In reality, the effect is often closer to Patio dotted with random plants.

We asked Fern Richardson, author of the new book, Small-Space Container Gardens: Transform Your Balcony, Porch or Patio With Fruits, Flowers, Foliage & Herbs (Timber Press), how to bridge the gap. Her book offers suggestions ranging from upcycling and plant repetitions to spray-painting mismatched containers.

It seems like it would be hard or it would look tacky, but spray paint and a stencil kit is a really cool way to add continuity, Richardson says.

Among your other options:

Try plant patterns. Add unity to your collection by putting the same plant in a series of pots.

It doesnt even have to be one of the main plants, Richardson says. It can just be one of the small annuals that you change out every season. Putting the same little violas through the whole grouping can make them look like they belong together and you planned it even if you didnt.

Zinnias would also work for this purpose, or marigolds.

Upcycle. Ransack the recycling bin, garage and kitchen for cool containers that will add interest and novelty to your collection. Richardsons book includes a charming mini-barbecue project, but she also sees potential in red wagons, colanders, birdbaths and soda cans especially if the barbecue has been used, you probably want to clean it pretty thoroughly. There could be charcoal glued on, she says. But you know, a lot of times metal is a pretty nonreactive material as far as leaching stuff into the soil. If youre worried about it, you can always put in a plastic nursery pot and hide it down in the soil and plant all your plants directly in the nursery pot, so that way you get the fun look of upcycling something without the concern of What the heck is in this thing?

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Container Gardens Done Right: Make Your Garden Look Polished and Planned

HOUSTON - Spring is in the air (along with the pollen) and for the home decorator, thoughts are turning to how to bring the feel of spring into your home.

Houston design blogger Beth Delozier paid a visit to interior design store Kuhl-Linscomb to find out what's "in" this spring.

According to interior architect Renee Galang, you need to think "orange" this spring. Galang says many people are afraid of the color because it is so bright but if you work in splashes of orange, it is a great way to brighten up any room or piece of furniture.

Kuhl-Linscomb's Mollie Oshman told Delozier that spring is all about bringing the outdoors inside. There are many ways of doing that, from dinnerware that looks like flowers to tiny boxwood trees that adorn a tabletop.

Galang says that if orange is a bit too much for you, think about using coral instead. It's a more muted version of orange that still brightens up your interior space.

For more information on Kuhl-Linscomb, check out: http://www.kuhl-linscomb.com/

To read Beth Delozier's blog go to: http://www.treschicorganizing.blogspot.com/

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Spring Your Space

If you were wondering why you couldnt check out books at the Johnson City Public Library this week, theres a good reason.

From the outside looking in, the librarys staff resembled a team of worker bees, working to finish lengthy renovation projects in their workplace hive. Shutting down the library from Monday until Sunday was a necessity, Bob Swanay, the director of the library, said as crews installed new carpet, moved furniture and refinished hardwood floors on the first and second floors.

There were a few other things that we wanted to get done, that we knew we needed to get done, that we just kind of (have) taken advantage of this whole project, Swanay said.

After a few hits and misses concerning the carpet, the goose chase was over and the new carpet from Mohawk Industries Inc. in Calhoun, Ga., arrived ready to be installed.

Swanay said the carpet problem delayed a lot of their renovation completion plans dating back to last fall.

Our expectation was to reopen the area in early October ... but we just never were able to do it because of the carpet, he said. Until we had carpet down, we couldnt do the furniture or the computers or the shelving.

Swanay said Mohawk Group, wanting to fix the mistakes, gave the library a more expensive, better quality carpet at no additional cost, and also donated additional carpet for the library to redo the meeting room, the elevators and the front walkways.

With the carpet squared away, library staff helped put together shelves and move items around to their new home.

The second floor is where the major action has happened. Thats where youll see the brand new computer center, Swanay said. Weve always had computers for the public in the library, but in the previous layout the computers were kind of scattered around the reference desk on the second floor and we had computer carrel furniture.

Saying goodbye to the carrels, the PC computers available for the public will now be in a designated location, facing a newly built wall with a SmartBoard attached.

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Library work nears final chapter

Architects responded with nearly 50 designs when a Green Tree developer asked for ideas for replacing a Downtown parking lot with an 18-story tower overlooking the Monongahela River.

Now developer Burns & Scalo hopes the top candidates among those firms will help lure a big-name tenant or two to the proposed $60 million project.

"We are ideally looking for a major corporation to have a signature headquarters location with eyebrow signage," said CEO Jim Burns, who mentioned U.S. Steel and GNC as possibilities. GNC declined comment, and U.S. Steel said it was "exploring alternatives" for when its lease in its signature tower ends in 2017.

"I believe we will see a major gas and oil company set up its headquarters Downtown," Scalo said, a well-known local developer whose current projects include converting the former Goodwill headquarters on the South Side to a $20 million apartment-retail complex, and two new office buildings in Southpointe II in Cecil Township.

His firm this week announced three finalists from its competition to design the skyscraper to fit onto a 27,000-square-foot lot on Fort Pitt Boulevard, near One Smithfield Street, which Burns & Scalo also owns. Construction would begin when one or more tenants agree to occupy at least 50 percent of its planned 300,000 square feet of space.

The firm did not make finding tenants a requirement, but bringing one in would increase its chances of being chosen to design the building.

The three finalists are Desmone & Associates of Lawrenceville, Downtown-based IKM Architects, and GBBN Architects, based in Cincinnati with an office in Moon, which is teaming with Celli-Flynn Brennan Architects and Planners, Downtown.

Joel Bernard, principal and partner at IKM, said developers normally secure both the site and a tenant before selecting an architect. But he and the other finalists said they would pass along names to Burns & Scalo.

"It's good business to help the developer obtain a tenant, although architects are not as familiar with the real estate market as are commercial real estate firms," said Luke Desmone.

"Although assisting the developer obtain a tenant was never part of the design challenge, we certainly would help the developer with that information," said Steven T. Kenat, a principal and director of community development with GBBN.

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Architects competing to design Downtown skyscraper

WEST WINDSOR A retail makeover is in store for Princeton MarketFair mall, which is adding four new restaurants and a high-end furniture store, while shuffling a few existing tenants to put them into different slots on the floor plan.

One of the biggest changes will be the relocation of the Barnes & Noble anchor store on the malls south end to a spot formerly occupied by Restoration Hardware.

Barnes & Noble, which has launched into the electronic book market and also is selling more games, toys and gift items these days, aims to open a state-of-the-art book store in the new 28,000-square-foot space. A September 2013 opening is planned. The existing store will remain open during the entire construction period.

The string of new eateries will include Seasons 52, a wine and grill restaurant; Bahama Breeze, offering Caribbean cuisine; Qdoba, a Mexican grill; and Bobby Flays Burger Palace.

The new furniture and housewares retailer is West Elm, a purveyor of uncomplicated, modern designs, which has been operating a store at Nassau Park Boulevard. West Elm and the four new restaurants have all signed leases and will be opening new stores over the next two years, mall officials said in a release.

MarketFair has close to 50 stores. It is operated by Madison Marquette, a Washington, D.C.-based company, under contract from mall owners TIAA-CREF, an investment group.

Other changes are under way.

A week ago, a Banana Republic clothing store relocated from Palmer Square in Princeton Borough to a MarketFair location. The Princeton shop will be converted into a Brooks Brothers clothing store, beginning in June or July, said David Newton of Palmer Square Management.

Seasons 52 and Bahama Breeze will join Eastern Mountain Sports in backfilling the location currently occupied by Barnes & Noble, mall officials said. Seasons 52 will occupy 9,300 square feet with a planned opening in late 2013. Adjacent to Seasons, Bahama Breeze will occupy 8,500 square feet with an anticipated opening in early 2014.

The food court inside MarketFair will close April 22 while the space is redeveloped for the 7,400-square-foot West Elm, which is owned by Williams-Sonoma Stores.

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West Windsor mall rearranges its floor plan to add four eateries, furniture and apparel stores

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The Fall house at 801 Rio Grande St. came close to becoming a parking lot, according to its owner.

A.B. Fall's other El Paso home is getting new life because of the restoration efforts of a local attorney.

Work at the 120-year-old home at 801 Rio Grande St. is under way after the home came perilously close in the past decade to being bulldozed for a parking lot, said its owner, Terry W. Hammond.

"This is one of the only houses of its kind in El Paso," Hammond said Friday as he led a tour of the 2,200-square-foot house, which was built in the Victorian style downstairs and in Dutch Colonial upstairs.

As Hammond pointed out, many other historic buildings along that stretch just south of El Paso High School have disappeared and boxy, ugly structures have taken their place.

Making way for parking appears to have been the plan

It would have been a shame, Hammond said.

"This was the silk-stocking district of El Paso," Hammond said. "This was the heart of the city, and we want to keep it that way."

He would not say how much the restoration will cost.

Continued here:
A.B. Fall's other El Paso home gets new life

30-03-2012 07:58 Some of the biggest changes in this project occurred in the laundry room and converted golf cart garage. We raised the floor of each of these rooms and reconfigured the walls to create a third bedroom and a nice, spacious laundry room/half bath.

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Dexter Builders Chelsea Remodeling Project- Laundry

Jacksonville, FL (PRWEB) March 30, 2012

The cost of roofing can be daunting in the best of times, but during an unsettling period of economic uncertainty, consumers are eager to reduce roofing costs without sacrificing appearance and quality. So Excel Roofing Contractors has created the single largest collection of roofing resources in North Florida through its residential and commercial roofing discounts. These Jacksonville coupons are designed to lower roofing prices while simultaneously increasing quality in roof materials and roofing services throughout the First Coast.

The offering consists of free printable coupons for residential and commercial roofing consumers that address roof replacement, repair and service on metal roofing, shingle roofs and flat roof systems. The coupons and a military cash rebate cover commonly requested roof services such as wind mitigation, inspections, consultations, estimates, material upgrades, insulation and waterproofing.

Scott Sorensen, the CEO of Excel Roofing Contractors feels his companys book of roofing coupons addresses a growing problem of rising roof prices across the First Coast of Florida. He states that at least once per month, he is officially notified of price hikes in the cost of roofing supplies. These increases trickle down to the consumer who is being challenged on all fronts with rising maintenance costs while property values often plummet.

With the Excel Roofing collection of Jacksonville roofing coupons, CEO Sorensen states there is no trickery as is often found with other residential and commercial roofing contractors offering printed or online coupons. In example he explains, When a roofing coupon contains a statement that forces the customer to present the coupon before the roofing estimates are quoted them, this means the roofing company normally increases their roof prices before deducting the coupon savings. This is a deceptive business practice because the coupon is just used as bait to lure the customer into contacting the roofer and no savings is being passed to the consumer.

Customers can request their Jacksonville roofing estimates be delivered quickly via satellite calculations or by on-site assessment. Regardless of the cost estimation method, it is not necessary for the customer to choose a coupon before receiving their custom roof quote. In fact, Sorensen goes on to say, every customer is encouraged to select the roof coupon that best serves their individual needs. When in doubt, an Excel Roofing representative will suggest the coupon he or she feels would be of greatest service.

In example, the below rebates and coupons represent different roofing materials:

Coupons for Metal Roofing include: Roof insulation, water proof underlayment and skylights with installation.

Coupons for Shingle Roofs include: Upgrades in roof shingles from 25 year to 30 year architectural, extended warranties, upgrade from roof felt to peel & seal underlayment, free wind mitigation reports and tubular skylights with installation.

Coupons for Flat Roofing include: Free upgrades from 2 ply to 3 ply built up roof system, an NDL (No Dollar Limit) commercial CertainTeed warranty for qualified re-roofs or roof replacement systems and a skylight with flat roof installation.

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Printable Coupons Reduce Jacksonville Roofing Costs in Residential and Commercial Roofing