Peninsula remodeler renovates home after fire – Daily Press

How does a professional remodeler renovate his own home after a damaging house fire?

"My heart goes out to anyone who has to go through a fire or disaster or anyone who is displaced and has to rebuild their homes," Peninsula remodeler and native Robert Criner said. "You work very hard to get back to where you were. I had no idea how much it wore you down and how emotionally drained you become just going through the process."

Criner, 61, said he will never forget the day of the house fire two years ago on Jan. 26 his birthday. He had just achieved one of the highest milestones of his career a couple days prior when he was sworn in as chairman of the National Association of Home Builders Remodelers for 2015.

The fire started as an electrical fire in a second-story exercise room where a treadmill malfunctioned, Criner and wife Aggie said. By the time fire crews were finished extinguishing the flames, the three-story house suffered significant smoke and water damage, too.

Criner said he spent about half a year negotiating with the insurance company and documenting the home's contents. His firm, Newport News-based Criner Remodeling, stripped the house down to its wood frame and worked torebuild the home while the Criners stayed in an apartment for less than two years.

The Criners, married nearly 34 years, had remodeled their Criner Lane home at the end of Elliott Road in Tabb in the '90s after buying the property in 1985. One silver lining to the fire was that they could customize the home to their needs now that their four sons have grown and left the four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom house.

"It's great," Aggie Criner said. "It's everything I wanted."

The exercise room was converted to give space to the master bedroom while adding a large master bathroom with soaking tub, a digitally controlled toilet with automatic lid opener and a digitally controlled shower with body sprays, rain and standard shower heads and a steam option.

Aggie Criner finally has two kitchen doors that allow easier access to the back patio and provide more lighting. The downstairs family room with the TV was darkened by trading windows for built-in backlit bookcases and the staircase was opened up. Aggie Criner said her new favorite area is the expanded front porch's gazebo-like lounge area with a large ceiling fan.

For energy efficiency, the Criners put three separate heating and air systems on each of the three floors with the ability to set different temperatures in different zones on the upper floors. They also installed a large heat pump water heater.

The custom kitchen has plenty of space for entertaining the couple's family with a large granite-topped island with a farm sink, touch-activation faucet, two dishwashers, a six-burner gas range and standard and advantium wall ovens.

What makes the house a comfortable home for Robert Criner is the "little things," such as hidden outlets under the kitchen counters or the USB plugs for charging mobile devices. A major convenience in the master bathroom is the motion-controlled LED lights under the cabinetry to help users see at night, supplemented by the toilet's night light.

The large, deep storage drawers in the kitchen pull all the way out so people don't have to reach for anything, he said. Bumping the handle for the kitchen trash cabinet opens it hands-free. A lot of the home was designed with "aging in place" features in mind, such as easy-close doors or in-shower benches.

While insurance didn't pay for the extra upgrades in the more than $500,000 remodel, Robert Criner said he wanted a place to take clients to show them various home features with the ability to give real feedback on which ones are most useful.

"It is a mini showroom," he said. "It gives me the advantage of being able to describe to people how these things work."

Criner has received plenty of accolades since founding Criner Remodeling in 1977, including being named the "Remodeler of the Year" by the National Association of Home Builders in 2012. When lifelong friend Mike Mannen of Hampton hired Criner Remodeling for his kitchen remodel, he said he knew the work was going to be done right the first time.

His attention to detail also shows in his own home renovation, Mannen said, adding he loves the front porch area with the octagonal cathedral ceiling.

"He's meticulous," Mannen said.

Anyone wanting to attend a future open house for the Criner Lane home can sign up at crinerremodeling.com.

Bozick can be reached by phone at 757-247-4741. Sign up for a free weekday business news email at TidewaterBiz.com.

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Peninsula remodeler renovates home after fire - Daily Press