Updated from Bringing the Hidden Costs for Remodeling Projects into the Light, November 2020. Home Improvement Shows Make Radical Transformations on Small Budgets How do they do that? The short answer is there are often hidden costs or investments that homeowners must...
Remodeling Considerations
Quartz Countertops and Sink Install Options
There are five common types of mounting installation options for a sink into your quartz countertop: drop-in, undermount (Zero Reveal, Positive Reveal and Negative Reveal) and farmhouse sink. Sink Type and Installation Top Mount/Drop-In Sink One of the easiest and...
Why is a Design Retainer Agreement Important to You?
As stated in What is a Design Retainer Agreement?, let’s discuss why it is critical for you as well as for us. Design Retainer Agreements, otherwise known as “fees paid in advance to procure future work and services”, are a standard and important part of doing...
What is a Design Retainer Agreement?
Design retainer agreements, otherwise known as “fees paid in advance to procure future work and services”, are a standard and important part of doing business with many design/build firms, including ours. We have learned over decades of experience that they are a...
Conversation Pits/Sunken Living Rooms are making a comeback!
I just finished an article called “Sunken Treasure” and in it they wrote about the resurgence of “conversation pits”. They say that what comes around goes around and in design it's no different; trends tend to reappear. Recessed living areas known as sunken living...
Rethinking 3 Common Questions When Interviewing a Contractor
Most homeowners do their due diligence when choosing a contractor to work on their kitchen, primary suite, room addition or entire home. They talk with a handful of contractors, and it is not uncommon during our initial meeting with a prospective client to be asked...
Three Hamburgers: A Remodeling Project Fable…Revisited
This post is an updated version of a prior blog we wrote in 2019. By definition a fable is “a short story, typically with animals as characters conveying a moral.” I am choosing to use hamburgers as our main characters in my fable. Probably because as a company we...