One of the major decisions in a kitchen remodel is the counter material and style. There are so many different materials, and styles that are available for renovating a kitchen countertop and backsplash. We now have the option of selecting granite, marble, butcher block, stainless steel, polished concrete and a myriad of other materials. Different styles exist to cater for differing personal tastes and kitchen environments.
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A job worth doing is worth doing well. That’s why when planning a home renovation, bring in a professional. Oh, sure, just about anyone can fix a minor hole in the wall, and maybe even fix a leaky faucet. But to redo a whole wall, build a new door frame or install a sink takes knowledge and experience.
The problem is, some weekend warriors believe they can do that, and more. So when all is said and done, the cost of the home renovation has skyrocketed; no permits were pulled, the wrong materials have been purchased. The renovation is amateurishly completed so the work must also be ripped out and started all over before the house can be sold. Creating a bigger and more complicated job than originally intended.
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The kitchen is where family memories are made. Think of the joy, laughter, tears, and life lessons that take place in this little corner of your home. You want it to be as comfortable, efficient, and charming as possible with the best kitchen remodel ideas.
Big or small, simple or sophisticated, your dream kitchen is yours to style. But where do you start?
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There may come a time when a friend, relative or family member becomes disabled, and you’re suddenly faced with the fact that your home and especially your bathrooms are not handicapped friendly. Of course, you can do a complete bathroom remodel, making it wide open and easily accessible. But that won’t work for the majority of homeowners, and you’ll need to think of practical yet cost effective measures to make a bathroom handicap accessible.
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When it comes to remodeling your home, bathroom remodeling tends to provide the biggest ROI (return on investment). It’s not too difficult to understand why bathroom remodeling trumps other projects either. When buyers are looking at homes, they often take the bathrooms into special account for several reasons.
Whether you have a small space or you are lucky enough to have a larger space, making sure your bathroom is functional is important when remodeling. Whether you dash in and out of your bathroom, or spend a lot of time in it, a room that flows easily and meets a homeowner’s needs, is a space that will stand the test of time.
Any home renovation can be a challenge. You have to consider the home’s architecture, the best use of space for your family, traffic patterns, and the interior design. Typical home renovations aren’t the same as historical home renovations. This type of renovation poses a unique set of challenges that homeowners must overcome in order to complete a successful project.
Tackling historical home renovations one step at a time is the best way to make sure you will be satisfied at the end of the project. Finding professionals you trust is also essential to project success. Select your renovation team based on their experience with historic renovations and their portfolio of work.
As always, Master’s Craft wants to be a source of new and valuable information on items related to your home.
New energy efficiency laws that took effect on Jan 1, are aimed at making lighting in your home more energy efficient. Starting in California as of January 1, 2011, the traditional 100-watt and 150-watt A19 incandescent light bulbs are no longer being sold in California. Next January 2012, these bulbs will be off the shelves nationwide.
The law also calls for the sale of 75-watt incandescent bulbs to be halted in 2013. (California will remove them from store shelves one year earlier.) And in 2014, Americans will no longer be able to purchase 60-watt and 40-watt A-shaped incandescents. Continue reading
Hello Friends!
We want to take a moment during this busy time of year to reflect and give thanks. First of all, thank you to all of you, our loyal customers, for making 2010 a successful year for Master’s Craft. While the recession has been challenging and things have not been easy, we are thankful that we are still here, and we are grateful to each and every one of you who entrusted your home to us. We are quite busy now and look forward to the projects we have scheduled for the New Year.
Brian & Cheryl Martin Family, Owners
Through the support and loyalty of our employees, clients, families, and friends, we are becoming one of the premier kitchen and bath remodeling companies in Montgomery County and Bucks County, PA. Over the last two years, approximately 70% of our business has come from repeat clients or from direct referrals of previous clients. We are very proud and yet humbled by that. We recognize that you, our friends and clients, are an integral part of our success.
We also want to give thanks for the gift of Christmas and the reason we celebrate the holiday–our Lord Jesus Christ. Without his grace, who knows where we would be.
If a new kitchen, bathroom or addition is on your wish-list this year, contact us and we’ll be honored to help you design and create the room of your dreams.
Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year from our family to yours!!!
This is a slightly updated re-post of an a e-news article originally written in June 2009 by Brian J. Martin, Owner & Founder, of Master’s Craft Construction . We felt the content was worthwhile to post on our blog as the topic of “Green” is alive and well in the building and remodeling industry these days. Stay tuned over the next week for more posts from this article.
2009 Regional Contractor of the Year
For those who don’t already know, we were very pleased to be chosen the 2009 Regional Contractor of the Year for the Best Exterior under $100,000 for the Outdoor Living Room we Designed and Built in 2008 in North Wales.
You can view our project in our gallery and also in 2009 NARI CotY Showcase
Thoughts on Sustainability
If you are an ordinary person like me, you have undoubtedly heard or seen the word “green” or some variation of it multiple times in the last week. I have always kind of wondered: “What is Green anyway?”
A couple of weeks ago I saw something humorous that caught my attention . Lake Superior State University recently released its 34th annual List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness. “The ubiquitous “Green” and all of its variables, such as “going green,” “building green,” “greening,” “green technology,” “green solutions” and more, drew the most attention from those who sent in nominations this year.” I was gratified to read that there are other people out there who agree with me!!
I’m not sure about you, but I often grow weary of buzz words and marketing trends and those that jump on the latest marketing bandwagon. The advertising industry has a way of taking a perfectly great idea and rendering it completely meaningless by using it to market nearly every conceivable product or service. Green is one of the victims of this machine. What is green anyway? The word doesn’t really tell us anything, and yet seems to be attached to nearly every product, service provider, retailer, and manufacturer trying to sell something. I really don’t like the word green simply because it is so broad and vague virtually any product or business can claim it.
A more helpful word in my estimation is “Sustainability”. Sustainability gives me something to grab hold of. Sustainability seems more measurable. I recently heard someone speaking passionately about the need for us as adults to act responsibly NOW so that our kids and grandkids have a healthy environment in which to live. Think about it. What will the earth be like in the year 2050 when I am 82 and my grandchildren are having their own children? Are there decisions that we can make today that will help ensure that the earth is healthy then? In other words, if we change nothing, are our lifestyles sustainable to the extent that we can all just keep living the way we are and expect that our children and grandchildren will be able to live the same way? Or is our lifestyle such that at some undetermined point in the future, if we continue the present course, we will be forced to make drastic changes? Kind of like General Motors . GM had been declining for years, and there were danger signals along the way that went unheeded by many who preferred instead to pretend that the good times would never end. In 2009, the once mighty automaker was forced into bankruptcy.
Will the same happen to us? Are we paying attention to the danger signals of our lifestyles?
Stay tuned for more thoughts on “Moving Toward Sustainability” as it applies to building and remodeling in our next blog post. Until then, we are Master’s Craft Construction, a Montgomery County, Bucks County Area Design Build and Remodeling firm serving the Suburban Philadelphia metro area.
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