Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

By Dan Bawden, Legal Eagle Contractors

Photo: Courtesy Of Legal Eagle Contractors

Legal Eagle Contractors completed this modern kitchen project.

Legal Eagle Contractors completed this modern kitchen project.

GHBA Remodelers Council: Kitchen remodel will likely cost more than you expect

Ah, the joys of celebrating in your shiny, new kitchen. The spectacular granite-topped island is beckoning your friends and family to gather to share the love with a good cabernet in hand. Your kitchen is now a warm, well-lit oasis of comfort and pleasure, the new beating heart of your home.

I have been remodeling kitchens for clients for 35 years, and have lived through the experience in my own home a couple of times. I'll give you it to you straight about kitchen remodeling.

Whether you are doing a "partial" remodel, a midrange "gut to the walls" job, or and kitchen expansion into other rooms, it is going to cost more than you want. You can spend less with good planning of course but the naked truth is, most people don't realize what kitchen renovation work really costs, especially when using a good contractor using a high quality construction team.

From a construction standpoint, kitchens are one of the most complex projects to plan and execute. They involve the most expensive elements in a home: new custom cabinetry, stone counters, tile on floors and backsplashes, lighting plumbing, expensive appliances and fixtures, to name a few. Add in removing walls to create that coveted "open look", relocating the kitchen sink, raising ceilings and expanding the footprint, and the price soars. Remember that changes to the project add cost, interrupt the rhythmic schedule of a job, and extend the completion time.

Top tips for success

When working with a professional remodeler:

1. Do your internet homework. Good contractors have lots of good reviews on Google, Houzz.com, Angie's List, etc. If you are having trouble finding any reviews for a candidate, pass him by. That is a big red flag.

2. Check the company's listing on the Better Business Bureau website. Call your local Builders Association for a list of reputable remodelers and builders in your area. I suggest limiting your candidates to those that have construction certifications from the National Association of Homebuilders.

3. Do a good phone interview before inviting the remodeler out. Find out if he mainly works in your part of town. How long he has been in business? Is kitchen remodeling a mainstay project for him or an occasional sideline? Will he let you come see a kitchen remodel in progress?

4. Get, and call references. Ask them what the experience was like having that crew in the house? How neat was the house kept during the work? Did you get a weekly schedule? How well was the day-to-day communication and job management done? Could you get someone on the phone quickly if there was a problem? Did you feel you got a good value for the money you paid? These are excellent questions check out a contractor - before anyone comes out to look at the job.

This article was provided by a member of the Remodelers Council of the Greater Houston Builders Association. For information on this article, please contact Lorraine Hart at lorraine@idealconsulting.net.

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GHBA Remodelers Council: Kitchen remodel will likely cost more than you expect - mySanAntonio.com

By noon, close to 2,000 people had visited the home and garden show, according to Robert Mellion, president of the Bristol County Chamber of Commerce.

FALL RIVER Frigid outdoor temperatures and gale force winds belied the fact that spring is just around the corner but inside Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School on Saturday, crowds wandered from table to table at the seventh annual Bristol County Home and Garden Show, bringing together the public and home and garden service or goods providers to be at the ready when the warmer weather arrives.

The annual event is sponsored by The Herald News, The Taunton Daily Gazette, the Bristol County Chamber of Commerce and Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School.

We are always happy to sponsor this event to get us to start to think about spring and we get to meet a lot of our readers, said Lynne Sullivan, editor in chief of The Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette.

By noon, close to 2,000 people had visited the home and garden show, according to Robert Mellion, president of the Bristol County Chamber of Commerce.

This is a way of connecting local contractors with clients, and in our seventh year of doing this its been a great benefit. We listen to and get great feedback from all of the vendors, said Mellion. The thing they like about this is its a one-day event. They make a connection and they're all getting leads to get new clients.

It wasnt all about new flooring, kitchen remodeling or new roofing the home and garden show was kid- and family-friendly too.

Manning the table for the Childrens Museum of Greater Fall River was Executive Director Jo-Anne Sbrega, who offered some fun arts and crafts for the kids.

Nine-year-old Joseph Leger planted a green bean seed in a damp paper towel inside a plastic baggie. Sbrega explained that if he kept the paper damp and in the sunshine, he could grow a seedling.

Cindy Coroa of Swansea was selling some tasty offerings from the product line of Tastefully Simple and offering samples of beer bread.

Boxes of Girl Scout cookies were pretty popular, sold by Tiara and Tay-Lin Gomes and Asaya Mayers from Troop 1076 with troop leader Kristen Mayers.

Asya Mayers said sales are really good.

The Thin Mints are the most popular, she said.

There were some fun offerings for adults at Nellies Phototainment, where visitors were treated to a free photobooth shoot.

Chamber Vice President Kimberly Moniz and City Councilor Richard Cabeceiras stepped into the booth and had their pictures taken dressed in costume.

Excerpt from:
Springing forward at Bristol County Home and Garden Show - Taunton Daily Gazette

A federal office building on Sparks Street in downtown Ottawa has been evacuated after blasting from a nearby condominiumproject in January caused extensive damage, according toPublic Services and Procurement Canada.

On Saturday, trucks lined up at 107 Sparks Street, known as the Birks Building andhome to the deputy minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada, as movers brought out several floors worth of furniture, the final stage in the building's evacuation.

"Following blasting work on a construction site across the street on Jan. 16, 2017, damage was observed in PSPC's building at 107 Sparks St. In the interest of putting health and safety first, occupants were immediately evacuated," said PSPCspokespersonJean-FranoisLtourneauin a statement Saturday.

Moving trucks lined up as movers took all the furniture from several floors of the Birks Building at 170 Sparks Street. (CBC/Amanda Pfeffer)

"Structural engineers were brought in to inspect the building the same day and determine its condition. They identified structural issues."

The Birk Building at 170 Sparks Street housed the offices of the Deputy Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada. (CBC/Amanda Pfeffer)

The statement goes on to say structural engineers decided the building was "not suitable for occupancy," and PSPC has been moving staff to new office space downtown.

"Immediate measures were taken to install temporary shoring, and work is proceeding to reinforce the building's structure on a longer-term basis...Further study will be undertaken for medium- to long-term planning for 107 Sparks," concluded the statement.

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Construction blasting forces workers out of federal office building - CBC.ca

Office space vacancy rates have risen in the wake of the oil and gas slowdown that began in 2014, with more than 22 million square feet of space available across the Greater Houston area, and industry experts say recovery is not around the corner.

Just as job growth goes to zero and population growth slowed down, we decided to deliver 22 million square feet of office space inventory, said Bill Gilmer, director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houstons Bauer College of Business.

The Greater Houston Partnership estimates at least three to five years are needed for the market to recover.

The office market tends to be cyclical, said Patrick Jankowski, vice president of research at Greater Houston Partnership. We go through periods where we overbuild and then recover. The big story right now is sublease space.

About 12 million square feet of the available space in the Greater Houston area is sublease office space, which is leased by the tenant. That figure should be closer to 3 million square feet, Jankowski said.

Gilmer said the problem is not weak demand for office space but an overabundance created in response to a booming economy that slackened in the oil and gas sector.

In areas of Spring and Klein such as the FM 1960 corridor, a mix of smaller businesses not dependent on the oil and gas industry has allowed the office space leasing market to weather the storm better than Houstons I-10 energy corridor.

In general, we didnt take as hard of a hit with the oil and gas market declining, said Sam Carrion, a leasing representative for Houston-based Boxer Properties, which leases properties in Spring and Klein. We did take some minor drops in some tenants that were in oil and gas businesses that ended up closing their doors.

Tax services, law offices and insurance agencies have helped make up the losses in the oil and gas sectors, he said.

Big companies have not been moving into Spring and Klein aside from the Springwoods Village community near the Grand Parkway and I-45, said Todd Edmonds, a principal at The Woodlands-based real estate company Colliers International.

The lack of an incorporated area has been one of the hardest things to overcome because theres no one single voice or brand, Edwards said.

Recovery in the upstream oil businesswhich includes white collar office jobswill translate to recovery in the office-space market, because other sectors of the economy, including retail and medical office space, continue to thrive, Gilmer said.

Everything else has been working just fine, he said. The U.S. economy has been growing, and that is what has saved us from serious downturn.

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Office building vacancies on the rise throughout Houston - Community Impact Newspaper

Tressler & Associates, PLLC and Tressler Title have leased a 1,713-square-foot retail space for the firms' new Murfreesboro offices on the ground floor of One Fountain Plaza, the recently completed 105,500-square-foot office building at Fountains at Gateway, announced developer Scott Graby, president of Hearthstone Properties.

Tressler & Associates, PLLC has served clients since 2009 in many areas of the law, including estate planning, business law, civil and criminal litigation, and real estate. Tressler Title is a full-service real estate closing company offering concierge-level service to the real estate industry.

With shared offices in Lebanon, Mt. Juliet and Nashville, the Tressler Team is expanding its physical presence into Murfreesboro. The firms have established a temporary office at Heritage Executive Suites in Murfreesboro until their new offices at Fountains are completed this summer.

"We're very excited to be a part of the growth in Murfreesboro," said Todd Tressler, owner and founder. "Scott Graby and his team have done a great job assembling an impressive list of brands at Fountains at Gateway. Fountains offers everything we are looking for - a gorgeous space both inside and out that is easily accessible for clients."

Fountains at Gateway is a 31-acre, Class A mixed-use development located at 1500 Medical Center Parkway in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The $80 million development will include 400,000 square feet of office space in three office buildings, 70,000 square feet of retail in three free-standing buildings and street-level retail space in the office buildings, as well as a 100-unit apartment community and a mid-size business hotel.

Phase one of the development includes a four-story, 105,500-square-foot office building and two retail buildings totaling 33,200 square feet. Office building construction is now complete and site work is nearing completion. The first retail building, with 11,200-square-feet of space, is under construction and will be completed in spring 2017.

Tressler Title joins Burger Republic, Tom+Chee, Fuzzy's Taco Shop, Board & Brush and Nothing Bundt Cakes in leasing retail space at Fountains at Gateway.

While the Tressler Team has been an active part of the vibrant business scene in Murfreesboro for several years, we're looking forward to serving new and existing clients from the heart of the Gateway business district for years to come."

"Tressler & Associates and Tressler Title and have an excellent reputation in Middle Tennessee, and we're delighted to welcome them to Fountains at Gateway," said Graby. "As Murfreesboro continues its rapid growth, Tressler & Associates and Tressler Title will help fill the ever-growing need for residential and commercial real estate legal and transaction services in Rutherford County."

Tressler & Associates is a boutique law firm serving the Middle Tennessee area. The attorneys of Tressler & Associates, PLLC have dedicated themselves to Securing Peace of Mind for their clients through the practice of many areas of the law, including estate planning, business law, civil and criminal litigation, and real estate. They believe strongly that the practice of law should return to the "old school ideal of law" as that of a civic service, protecting the interests of friends and neighbors.

Tressler Title is a premier real estate closing company with offices in Lebanon, Mt. Juliet, Murfreesboro, and Nashville. The Tressler Title team is committed to creating concierge-level service to realtors, lenders and consumers throughout every real estate transaction by offering attorney document review, flexible closing schedule - including mobile closings, an on-staff courier, and more to ensure every real estate transaction exceeds expectations.

For more information on Tressler & Associates and Tressler Title call 615-444-2345.

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Tressler & Associates, Tressler Title expands to Murfreesboro - Wilson Post

After nearly an entire years preparation, the 55th annual Topeka Home Show continues this weekend.

About 225 exhibitors have their wares on display through Sunday afternoon at the Kansas Expocentre, 1 Expocentre Drive.

Hours are from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $7, with no charge for children 12 and younger.

Topeka Home Builders Association president and CEO Ivan Weichert recently talked about this years show, whats different in home improvement ideas and what proven favorites are back for people to enjoy.

Q: The home show is a yearly staple for Topeka. How many years has it been at the Kansas Expocentre?

Weichert: This is the 55th annual show and the 30th year it will be held at the Expocentre. An interesting fact: This was the very first event held in the newly constructed Exhibition Hall in 1987, and weve been there every year since.

Q: Its obviously a popular event in the capital city. What do you think has led to the shows longevity?

Weichert: Its pertinent for nearly everyone, since everyone lives in a home of some kind. We bring the local remodeling and building industry and consumers together in one place, where homeowners can see the latest innovations in products for building or remodeling, whatever their budgets may be.

Q: What tends to be the most popular products?

Weichert: Windows are always a huge attraction. Well have 10 window companies at this years show. You know, when homes were built 50, 60 or 70 years ago, windows werent given much thought. They were installed for the purpose of letting in light. Unfortunately, older windows let many other things in as well. One of the biggest markets is window replacement for older homes.

Heating bills in the winter and air-conditioning bills in the summer are some of the highest costs for homeowners. Window replacements and products for insulation, which people will also find at the show, are directly related to lowering those expenses, not to mention soundproofing their homes. And that ties in with our goal in promoting greener building codes: sustainable, efficient comfort and affordable products.

Q: Can you give us a sample of some of the other products consumers can find this weekend?

Weichert: Well have the latest in home security applications where even if youre at work, if someone rings your doorbell, you can answer as though youre simply in the kitchen. With hardware lock access apps, you could literally be in another country and lock your doors.

There will be new roofing materials on display, including a new product that looks like wood shake shingles but will last much longer and wont catch fire, so it gets a better insurance rating. There are flooring products you once saw only in high-end hotels that you can now have installed in your home.

Well have safety shelter companies there with pre-fabricated options that cause no inconvenience for homeowners. One day, its not there; the next day, its in place.

There will also be a number of products geared to help handicapped and elderly people stay in their homes, such as home elevator systems.

Q: Thats awesome! And I would imagine youll have all the popular interior remodeling ideas for people to see.

Weichert: Definitely. Well have all the other popular home improvement options, from lighting ideas and home siding to kitchen and bathroom displays. Well also have improved mud jacking products for foundation issues the list goes on and on.

Another thing we are doing this year is giving people the opportunity to register to win a Caribbean cruise.

With their registrations, we can find out what areas people are coming from and, in turn, someone will win a very nice vacation.

TOPEKA HOME SHOW

What: A three-day exposition featuring the latest in home trends; more than 120 vendors; displays on home building, remodeling and interiors; presentations on home financing and insurance; and give-aways. Concessions will be available.

When: 1 to 8 p.m. March 10; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 11; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 12

Where: Kansas Expocentre, 1 Expocentre Drive

Cost: $7; free for children 12 and younger

Information: http://www.thba.com

TOPEKA HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION

Address: 1505 S.W. Fairlawn Road

Information about membership or upcoming events: Visit http://www.thba.com; email thba@thba.com; or call (785) 273-1260.

Liz Montano is a freelance writer from Topeka. She can be reached at (785) 230-3907 or newsbizliz@gmail.com.

Liz Montano is a freelance writer from Topeka. She can be reached at (785) 230-3907 or newsbizliz@gmail.com.

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At Home: Topeka Home Show continues this weekend - Topeka Capital Journal

SUN ON OUR SIDE Fred Garbo, co-owner of Garbo-Kane LLC Integrated Solar Builders, talks about solar energy with a potential customer during the Home Energy Fair in the Naples Town Gymnasium. (De Busk Photo)

By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES Everyone who had a booth at the Home Energy Fair was ready to talk about their product.

Everyone had their spiel.

Given that the topic was conserving energy for the homeowner, people were all ears.

About 100 people attended the fair, according to an organizer at the door. He said the majority of those people stopped in during the first two hours that the fair was open.

Ecomaine Environmental Educator Katrina Venhuizen said area residents were very interested about what happens to their household trash after it is dropped off at local transfer sites. Most residents who came to the fair lived in the communities that ecomaine serves, she said.

The ecomaine booth had many examples of products made from recycled trash including a flying disc, a bowl, a baseball cap and a super soft hoodie. All of it was produced from rubbish.

Also, it was news to people that plastic wrapping and plastic bags pose problems when thrown into the recycling bins.

We can no longer take plastic bags, Venhuizen said. They get jammed in our machines.

Those include wood pellet bags, bread bags and potato chip bags. She referred people to the website plasticfilm.org to learn where to drop off the plastic materials. Actually, many grocery stores have drop-off centers for nonrecyclable plastics, she said.

She said one important message is that ecomaine offers free educational outreach programs that are ideal for school children, scouting troops and businesses. Not only does she go to the communities that ecomaine serves but also civic groups and students can tour the Portland-based facility.

Venhuizen was excited that some local teachers attended the fair and did some networking with her.

Its a great field trip idea, she said.

Hopefully, the sun is shining on that day.

Probably, the most attention-grabbing booth was the one with a giant inflatable sun behind it.

This is our first energy fair, Fred Garbo said.

Norway resident Garbo is the co-owner of Garbo-Kane LLC Integrated Solar Builders. He paired up with Shawn Kane, of Otisfield, to start the business a few years ago.

While the earths sun assists people in harnessing energy via solar panels, a computer assisted Garbo in explaining the product to fairgoers.

It has been great. Weve met some wonderful people wanting to change their lifestyle, Garbo said.

He cited some example of business owners and individuals who have successfully explored solar options.

He was particularly proud of the products sold by Garbo-Kane, particularly the dual-axis solar trackers. The trackers swivel, he said.

The trackers follow the sun like a sunflower they move with the sun, he said. They require fewer panels.

The most frequently asked question he heard from people attending the fair was about the costs, he said. The federal government offers a tax credit on 30 percent of the cost of solar panels or solar trackers, he said.

He informed people about community solar farm options if they do not have room on their property. Also, he talked about how Central Maine Power offers energy credits to customers who use solar power.

Most people had an understanding of why they wanted solar energy products, he said.

At the booth for Renewal by Andersen, a window replacement company that is an arm of Andersen Windows, sunshine is needed for the free giveaway. The Andersen representative was handing out of forget-me-not seeds. The flower seeds were attached to tiny garden stakes, which were made from 100 percent compostable plastic.

Maine home owners sometimes receive rebates for weatherizing their home. Doing so has its own payoff. Replacing windows is one form of insulation that can result in stretching heating costs for homeowners. Heat is no longer lost through poor quality or ill-fitting windows.

Another booth that addressed windows was WindowDressers, which is a nonprofit that coordinates its work with Opportunity Alliance by providing insulating window inserts to Maine residents who qualify.

The window frames are made from locally sourced pine, according to Dianne Smith.

The costs are kept to minimum by using dozens of volunteers who show up at community build days, she said. In fact, a community build is scheduled to happen in Bridgton sometime in October.

Our target is leaky windows in Maines housing stock, the oldest in the nation. Inserts offer an inexpensive alternative to window replacement, according to the websites mission statement.

People sign up to have window inserts put in. We go into the home and take measurement with a laser. Every window is custom fit, Smith said.

A window insert stops condensation, keeps heat from escaping house and cuts down on drafts, she said. Plus, window inserts protect the environment because homeowners spend less on fuel.

Smith said she engaged in some networking for upcoming community builds since she was trying to drum up a volunteer base.

Churches are great at working with us, she said.

Having a presence at the Home Energy Fair was well worth the drive from Rockland, Smith said.

Originally posted here:
Fair energizers local residents - The Bridgton News

JC Penney piloting six new home installation services Dallas Business Journal CNBC reported Thursday that later this month, J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) will expand its home services by offering bathroom remodeling, home heating and cooling systems, quick-ship and installed blinds, home water solutions, awnings and smart home ... and more »

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JC Penney piloting six new home installation services - Dallas Business Journal

Enhabit offering deal on Nest model that cuts heating and cooling costs

Want to cut your energy bills and carbon footprint?

Local nonprofit Enhabit is offering a discount for Portland-area residents interested in getting a "smart thermostat" in their home, which have been proven to cut home energy bills.

Enhabit, formerly known as Clean Energy Works, has funds to install 500 Nest smart thermostats in homes in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties for $299 each. That covers the hardware and installation, which normally retail for about $450, plus a 100-point home performance check and Home Energy Score.

A Nest thermostat pays attention to your home heating and cooling patterns and automatically adjusts to be more efficient.

"Studies show they end up saving, on average, between 15 and 20 percent on heating and cooling costs," says Stephanie Swanson, Enhabit vice president for communications.

Ordinarily, the Nest thermostat and installation costs from $400 to $500 from a private contractor, Swanson says. The Energy Trust of Oregon provided funds to help subsidize the first 500 thermostats.

In addition, Enhabit will conduct the 100-point home performance checks, which generally take up to two hours, evaluating insulation, air seals, carbon monoxide monitors, indoor air quality, and seismic retrofits, among other items. Homeowners will get free LED light bulbs and faucet aerators, also courtesy of Energy Trust.

The home check also will result in a Home Energy Score, which will be required by the city of Portland starting in January for homes put on the market.

To sign up or get more information: https://enhabit.org/smart/

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

503-546-5139

@SteveLaw/Trib

facebook.com/portland.sustainable.life

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Get big discount on a smart thermostat - Portland Tribune

A rendering of the Tilt49 office project and the adjoining AMLI Arc apartment tower. (ZGF Architects Rendering) The Tilt49 project under construction in Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop)

Amazon has inked a lease for another new office building in Seattle, the latestsign that the online retail giant hasno intention of slowing its growth despite building out a huge new campus north of downtown.

This time around, Amazon has taken Tilt49, a 306,000-square-foot office building under construction at 1812 Boren Ave. in the Denny Triangle neighborhood, just a few blocks from the new campus. The site is also only a block from another recently-leased Amazon building, Midtown 21.

An Amazon spokesman confirmed the lease for the entire office building and said employees will move in early 2018.The $85 million office building is being developed by Touchstone, which has worked with Amazon before on the Troy Blocks project, designed by ZGF Architects and built by Mortenson.

An adjoining 390-unit apartment project, that was originally part of the Touchstone project and later sold off, is set to open this year, giving employees working out of the new building a close option for housing.

Amazons rapid expansion in its hometown comes amid unprecedented of growth for the company worldwide. Amazonlast month reported that it has surpassed 341,000 employees globally, an increase of 110,000 in just the past year, not including temporary or seasonal staff. Amazon employs 40,000 people in Washington state, including about 25,000 people at its Seattle headquarters.

Amazon is filling out a puzzle of Seattlereal estate with its latest moves. Amazon played a key role in the development of the South Lake Union neighborhood, and now it is doing the same for the Denny Triangle, a neighborhood in between South Lake Union and downtown, and one of the last places in town with an ample supply of land for developing high rises.

Just last month, Amazon filed for permits to build a 17-story office building at 2205 7thAve., the site of a former Days Inn hotel. The project would represent Amazons fifth block of space in the neighborhood. In 2015 it completed itsfirst building in the neighborhood, the 36-story Doppler Tower.

That was followed by therecently opened Day One tower, and another building across the street that is under construction now. On anotherfull-blocksite, formerly home to the Hurricane Cafe, Amazon plans to build a 23-story building and an 8-story building in the future.

By 2022, Amazon has saiditcould occupy 12 million square feet across 40 buildings in Seattle, up from 8.5 million square feet as of the middle of last year.According to a new report from the Downtown Seattle Association, Amazon is well on its way to that 12 million square feet number.

DSA reports that Amazon in 2016 added 1.7 million square feet in downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. With another 3 million square feet under construction, Amazon will have a footprint of 10 million square feet in and around downtown by 2019, according to the report. That figure leaves outthe big new Bellevue officeAmazon is setting up.

Amazon and its fellow tech giants are juicing Seattles construction industry, according to the DSA report. In downtown, nearly 12 million square feet of office space is expected to be built between now and the end of 2019. That number is equivalent to theamount of office space built in and around downtown over the last 12 years combined.

All these office workers need somewhere to live as well. More than 14,000 units have been built in downtown and surrounding neighborhoods since 2010, increasing the housing stock by about 32 percent. Another 18,000 units are expected to be completed between now and the end of 2019, according to the report.

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Amazon scoops up yet another Seattle office building as it continues ... - GeekWire