ProCraft's Remodeling Blog

Finished basements are really nice to have. Every parent has dreamed of a sound proof “play room” where the kids could be safely sequestered behind padlocked door until dinner time. A place where little Johnny and his sister Amy can rip each others hair out and the screams, shouts, and incessant crying won’t interrupt a moment of “Days of Our Lives” unfolding upstairs. Yes, basements can be a wonderful feature of any home.

 Of course, if you practiced tough love, Johnny and Amy could be rolling around in the dirt and dampness of an old farm cellar, locked away with the spiders, centipedes and that big, creepy furnace. Who would care? Get dirty kids, eat a few bugs, dinner in an hour.

But unlike the days of old, parenting doesn’t involve such drastic measures anymore. No, today it’s fluffy, plushy, cozy and dry. It’s painted murals of dancing vegetables on the walls and decent lighting for young eyes. It’s high tech games and gadgets with more computing power than were used to put men on the moon. It’s air hockey and Guitar Hero and movies on the big screen. If kids only knew what the old days were like!

So, what if you’re not the cool parents with the killer basement? I know, it’s tough to have a sleep-over on cold concrete. Amy and here friends just aren’t going to go for that. Instead, they’ll truck it on down to Sally’s house – her Mom’s so cool and they have a popcorn machine downstairs too! Wow, how does that make you feel. Like a parental loser, I bet. Damn Sally’s mom anyway. But, you can do something about it. Finish that wonderful space below your feet and become a hero to Amy. But, before you run in search of a coping saw and miter square, consider these three key basement design principles:

First, don’t finish the whole damn thing. You need to think in terms of finished space vs. unfinished space. Finishing every square inch of the lower level isn’t a great idea. Why? How about this – where are you going to store all your crap? Sure it sounds harsh, but you’ve got a ton of stuff that won’t look pretty stacked in the corner of the new theater room. Plus, do you really want your sons pals thumbing through your old yearbooks. The same yearbooks your stupid high school friends thought would be hilarious filling with nasty drawings. You get the point. Save space for storage.

Next, keep the design simple and clean. That means don’t wrap the walls and soffits around every obstruction like a latex glove. You don’t want to see box-outs and bump-outs and walls or soffits that change direction every two feet. You don’t see that upstairs, do you? A smart, well designed plan will work around structural obstacles and hide them without looking like they’re being hidden. That might mean you lose a few inches behind a wall or have an overhead soffit a bit wider than in needs to be, but the end result is worth a little lost space. Plus, the fewer corners, the less chance Johnny has to run into one while high on sugar.

Last, let there be light. The more, the better. Nothing gives a basement a bad name more than darkness. Most basements don’t have the advantage of natural light (the rat trapping window wells don’t really count). You’ve got to make up for that with a well designed lighting plan. A typical recessed lighting fixture with a flood bulb at about eight feet up will cast a circle of light on the floor of about eight feet. You need enough of them to cover the room with adequate “circles of light”. Hence “the plan”. With light, comes the need for control, as in dimmers. Sometimes, a dimly lit lower level is just what Bilbo and Frodo need to make the magic of the ring come to life. Well controlled illumination in just the right places. Now the party can begin.

That’s it for basements. But wait, I’ve been thinking. If little Johnny and Amy spent too much time locked in a dark, dank, bug infested cellar, they would probably grow up with some serious psychological issues. So maybe, despite the obvious attractiveness of the idea, you shouldn’t go there. Finish it fluffy. Besides, how could you ever face Sally’s Mom at a PTA meeting if you didn’t?

Mark Lewis,   ProCraft Contracting, Inc.

Can a failure to remodel actually cause psychological damage? Can it affect unborn children or lead to early senility? Can it alter our view of the world and of ourselves? Yes, deep questions. The type of questions that lead us to ponder the very origins of the universe. Questions that lead us on a journey, a journey feeble minds should not take, to a place where the very essence of unanswerable questions doth live – who came first, the chicken or the egg? But I stray from point at hand. Simply put, does that space in your home, that space you know should have been retired years ago, cause you harm?

Although I am pretty sure there haven’t been any Harvard studies on the subject, I think a case can be made. Let’s set the stage. Imagine you have a bath with a pink tub, blue wall tile, and a painted white vanity that has a missing door. Or it could be your kitchen with Formica counter tops that are delaminating and dark oak cabinets seen only in 1982 issues of Better Homes and Gardens. For both our sakes, let’s pray you are just imagining this. Now close your eyes (or for the unfortunate, open them) and picture yourself standing in one of these places.

On the most basic level, just being amongst these relics of bad design and by-gone misplaced taste creates a certain level of stress. Maybe you feel stress because your in-laws are visiting next week and they will brand you a loser. Or you feel stress because you promised your wife the kitchen would be done… six years ago. Or, it might just be that unidentified gnawing feeling in your gut that tells you there must be something better. Regardless of the source, stress can kill. And if it doesn’t kill, it can certainly cause bad diarrhea, or worse yet, gastro esophageal reflux disease. Ugly spaces cause stress – a fact, plain and simple. Stress is something you don’t need.

Take it up a notch. Those same ugly spaces play havoc with your self esteem. A stove and refrigerator placed side by side or a shower stall so small you’d be better off bathing in the kitchen sink are not merely billboards of bad design. They are assassins of self esteem, eating away at the very core of your self worth. In my humble opinion, ugly spaces might as well be radioactive – for they surely cause long term damage to your mental health. You wouldn’t keep nuclear waste in your silverware drawer, would you? Then why would you live with that gross bathroom?

Of course, we’re talking figuratively, not specifically about any particular room in your home. It could be a neighbor or a family member or a close friend’s bungalow. Regardless of where the injustice is taking place, you can now count yourself among the informed. Yes, you my friend are now up to speed on this little known, yet dangerous threat to the health of all Americans (and you thought french fries were bad). So, the next time you feel a little high strung, look around. It could be the ghost of 1982.

Mark Lewis

ProCraft Contracting, Inc.

I’m all for having a close relationship with my significant other. We spend a lot of time together. In fact, we’re together from morning till night. But, even thought we share almost everything, there are a few things we don’t. Toothbrushes come to mind. Underwear might be another. Oh, socks too – keep out of my sock drawer. We never share a sink or a toilet either. We are very fortunate to have more than one of each in our house, so I guess we have never faced a crisis requiring simultaneous use of one of those fixtures.

It seemed that sometime in the late 1960’s, or the 70’s, or for sure in the 80’s, builders decided to make vanities the length of football fields and throw in two sink bowls. Who birthed the idea of a bath vanity becoming the place where couples could spend quality time together? Or the idea that “modern” couples will have schedules so synchronized, that without two sink bowls, they would be spitting toothpaste on each other? What about those poor, lonely folks that don’t have a significant other? What was the second bowl to be used for in those cases? Maybe to plant a fern?

Well, the idea of the double sink hasn’t died in the twenty-first century. No, homeowners getting ready to remodel the bathroom cling to their two sinks like soap scum to tile. Why is this? Perhaps there is a fear of being caught with a mouthful of Listerine and nowhere to spit? Or the rationalization that everyone wants two sinks, and if I take one out, my house will be worthless? If that were the case, couldn’t a stronger argument be made for side by side toilets? I can personally say that racing for an available toilet has happened way more times than any conflicts over sink availability. And believe me, that’s a game of musical chairs you don’t want to play.

So, if we decide to risk it all and go with only one vanity bowl – what the heck do we do with all that spare room the missing bowl creates? Well, I’m not suggesting we shrink the vanity size. The storage is valuable, and the floor space a smaller vanity would open probably isn’t going to do much for you. Keep the vanity the same size. Center the vanity sink cabinet and flank it with drawer bases on either side (if you have a double bowl vanity now, you probably have the opposite – two vanity sink bases and a center drawer base or worse, one of those stupid make-up table areas). This will look great and be very functional. Plus, you now have his and her drawer bases – way cool.

But, on top is where things can really get interesting. With only one sink in the middle, consider adding two countertop hutches, one on each side. Her stuff, his stuff – don’t touch, don’t look. Throw a couple of outlets inside each hutch and you can plug in all those devices required to maintain beauty, never seeing a cord again (just make sure they are GFI protected). Add a light rail across the top and a couple of mini cans above, solid mirror on the back wall, and “whammo” – you’ve got a killer bath setup that offers a ton of storage space and guarantees relationship bliss.

You can make it on just one bowl. People have done it and lived long, happy lives. Consider it. If you really need two, I’d recommend the side by side toilets instead.

Mark Lewis

ProCraft Contracting, Inc.

Americans spent over 43 billion dollars on their pets in 2008. I know, I thought the same thing – damn, that’s a lot of dog biscuits! I hate to admit it, but is seems like my wife and I spent about 10% of that number just on our two dogs. What you have to understand, it’s not just dog biscuits. Consider special, gluten free dog food, 55 gallon drums of gourmet dog treats, fluffy, cozy beds, countless chew toys, trips to the beauty parlor, visits to the vet, doggie day-care, first class boarding complete with sheep skin “sleepy time” mats,  permits to the dog park, new fashionable collars, dog gates to keep them in or keep them out, more fluffy beds for the office, training, even more delicious treats, really long leashes ‘cause they don’t like really short leashes, Christmas presents (yes, wrapped), birthday presents, replacements for tore up fluffy beds (separation issues),  little sweaters, doggie booties – OK, you get the idea. And you understand how 43 billion can come and go pretty quick.

Believe it or not, pets have a say in remodeling too. And why shouldn’t they? Not only are they a part of many families, they occupy our time also. So, when it comes to remodeling, including Fido or Felix friendly features make a lot of sense. There are many possibilities to consider when you are thinking about a remodel. Consider these more popular options when planning a kitchen or bath remodel: canine friendly toilets, eliminating the need for Sparky’s unsightly water dish; mini feline cabinet steps which allow much easier access to counter tops for Fluffy; or the crowd pleasing kitchen island avian perch, assuring 47 year old Polly is never far from a cracker (we don’t recommend the feline steps and avian perch be installed in the same kitchen, for obvious reasons).

Now, if any of those pet friendly upgrades interest you, perhaps you need a therapist. Of course, we have never installed any of them. But, there are some options that you may want to consider, if a pet is part of your family. Access to the out-of-doors is always important, so maybe a doggie door makes sense. Thinking of pet food storage could be a consideration in a pantry, laundry room, or even the kitchen. For big dogs that like mud, we have created wash areas in a laundry or mud room, consisting of a shower base, tile walls, and a hand held sprayer. We’ve built a cat room in a basement, complete with shelves for litter boxes and ventilation to the exterior. Or we’ve built aquariums into walls that are way more awesome than any plasma television. Flooring is another consideration – big dogs have big nails. Hardwood floors can work, but the finish needs to be hard and durable (only certain finishes will do). Almost any feature that makes caring for a pet easier can be incorporated into a remodeling design. Just imagine a house that has those super cool hamster habitats running throughout – now there’s an idea.

So, when thinking about remodeling or adding space to your place, think about your furry, feathery, fluffy family members and consider their needs too! It will be good for you, and good for them.

Mark Lewis

ProCraft Contracting, Inc.

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it 17 ¾ times. You’ve thought about it too. “What’s the return on my remodeling investment going to be after my kitchen or basement or bath is done?” In other words, how much damn money will I get back when I sell this dump if it has a spiffy new kitchen or a spa-luscious master bath? On the surface, that seems like a really great question. A really smart, insightful question. A responsible question. But, the answer you are hoping will enlighten you, the answer that will quiet your fears, the answer that will make you appear intelligent to your friends just may do the opposite. It may render you a fearful idiot stumbling in the dark. Really. And here’s why…

Everyone wants ROI. Even people who don’t know what the hell ROI is want it. Figuring you return on investment for your savings account or your stock portfolio or your IRA is pretty easy. How many dollars in, how many dollars out over a given period of time. Black and white. Cut and dry. Financial advisers can do that all day long and still have time for golf.

Some folks try and apply the same simplicity to the world of remodeling. Remodeling Magazines’ Cost vs. Value Report is a prime example. It is produced every year and provides estimated returns on various types of remodeling projects, based on a number of criteria including geographic location and project “plush ness”. You find this report everywhere – it’s Tweeted ad nauseam, it’s paraded around in articles, it’s referenced and referred and pointed out and pointed at. Contractors us it, real estate agents use it, lenders use it, financial types use it. And they should, because there isn’t much else like it. Plus, people want to know what the deal is, because it isn’t black and white, cut and dry.

Having your remodeling projected wrapped up with a nice little ROI bow is a comforting thought. Know what you spend, know what you’ll get back. Unfortunately, it just isn’t that simple, despite the nice charts, graphs, and analysis provided by those magazine people. The reason remodeling can’t be analyzed like a stock investment is, in fact, quite simple. A big part of the remodeling ROI is intangible. That’s right – you can’t see it, you can’t touch it, you can’t cook on it, you can’t  poop in it, you can’t have guests sleep in it.

Remodeling your home has two kinds of ROI – tangible and intangible. Tangible is the kind the Cost vs. Value report talks about – dollars in, dollars out. Tangible is what most people think about when they wonder how much they should spend on a project. Intangible is a whole bunch of stuff that isn’t made out of wood or granite or drywall. Intangible can be, and often is, more important than mere dollars in and out.  Here’s why…

This ROI saves you eight months of marketing time when selling your house, allowing you to move on with your life. This ROI creates a magical backdrop to so many family memories. It makes you feel special during a neighborhood party. It wraps you in comfort when the world gets too big. It fills you with pride, builds your esteem, lets you stand tall. This ROI really doesn’t have a price you can put your finger on. You decide what it’s worth.

When it comes to remodeling, we don’t do it because we hope to make money from it. Just as we don’t buy that car we love because we think by driving it, it will go up in value. Or that stunning diamond tennis bracelet. We buy them because of the intangible benefits we hope they will provide. You can still do business in a run down, aqua-blue, gold swirl vanity topped bathroom. But how does that make you feel? Like a big pile of emptiness (you didn’t think I would go for the obvious cliché there, did you?)?

Our lesson here today is simple – remodeling has two types of ROI. Tangible and intangible. While the tangible is important, and we don’t want to be stupid, don’t overlook the intangible. For it is there that the true rewards of a well done remodeling project will be reaped.

Mark Lewis

ProCraft Contracting, Inc.

Like most everything else in America, things just get bigger over time. Less than a half century ago, most couples were perfectly content to sleep in a full sized bed. There were no territorial issues to speak of. Over time, beds got bigger and bigger, couples grew further and further apart, until the California King literally turned lovers into strangers. And it wasn’t just beds. We’ve seen this happen with cars (Hummer anyone?), burgers (the triple patty deluxe monster-burger), and even movie screens (IMAX neck strains).

Well guess what. Your master bathtub is no exception. Some genius came up with the idea of putting a miniature plastic swimming pool in the corner of your bathroom and told you it was cool. So cool, everyone was doing it, so you needed one too. As you can imagine, back in the day, tubs were big enough to get into and splash a little water on your bod. You could stick a kid in there without a life preserver and not worry. You could fill it in less than a day and maybe even get a couple of baths from the hot water tank. Aye, the good old days.

Flash forward to hip 80’s and the me 90’s. Here’s what I often see when visiting folks thinking about a bath remodel. There, in the corner, occupying 75% of the bath floor space, is a wannabe dolphin habitat we call a bathtub. And in the other corner: a Barbie and Ken sized master shower. Let’s see, we use the darn shower everyday and the tub maybe once per year. So, as a designer, I’ll put in a gia-normous tub and a micro-shower. Brilliant.

Don’t be fooled by the slick advertising showing beautiful people relaxing in the mega-tub 2000 – burning candles, eating candy, and reading poetry. Who are those people? These days, who among us has the time to even fill the thing? Let alone a few moments of solace to actually enjoy it. Even better, no one else in the house can enjoy a hot shower or bath for hours while the water tank strains to re-heat its contents.

Here’s a radical thought (not our first). Get rid of the tub in the master bath, reconfigure the space, and add a really nice shower setup. Your real estate agent may grimace, but in reality, as long as you have a tub in another bath, the master tub isn’t quite as important. If you have the room (and the budget), perhaps replacing the mega-tub with a smaller soaker tub might not be a bad idea. But, the key is to configure the space to end up with a killer shower. That’s what will make the idea fly. And will make future buyers bite.

The summary is quite simple. Big tub out, big shower in. Can we make it any easier than that? Now, go sell the dolphins and get to work.

Mark Lewis

ProCraft Contracting, Inc.

Did I just driveby a 1989 Cadillac convertible with a soft top? I spun around the block and looked again. Nope – it was a hard top. Hard like lumber, and shingles, and door panels. No really, did that garage actually fall onto the poor saps car? Did he manage to save his Bob Seger Greatest Hits tape from the dash and his Members Only jacket from the back seat before all hell broke loose? 

There’s an old adage that goes something like this: “Hard work pays off over time, but procrastinating always pays off now”. Here we see the embodiment of that time tested advice. These folks lived it to perfection. The results are truly amazing. And pretty damned funny, you have to admit (unless you happen to be their neighbor).

The more sophisticated would call this an extreme case of deferred maintenance. “Deferred” being the politically correct term for lazy procrastination (is that redundant?). But deferred maintenance is a serious problem in America today. This was just a stupid garage and an old car. But we’ve all seen “deferred” rear its ugly head in bridge collapses and wings falling off airplanes and car swallowing pot holes on our highways. It’s a big problem.

You might not be able to fix a bridge or patch a pot hole, but you can make a difference. You can make sure your own piece of the world, your house, doesn’t fall victim to the vicious, relentless tag team of mother nature and father time. But how can you, just an infant in the grand scheme of things, stand up to mom and dad? Easy. Just keep your eyes open.

Here are my six “You’ve Got Issues” list of things to look for if you want to avoid becoming a lazy household maintenance procrastinator:

• If it changes color without your artistic flair, you’ve got issues
• If it peels, pops, cracks, or flakes with no human contact,  you’ve got issues
• If it separates, sags, leans, or moves sans you, you’ve got issues
• If it drips, puddles, runs, or smells and no pets are involved, you’ve got issues
• If it rubs, strains, sticks, or no longer opens without extraordinary effort, you’ve got issues
• If it is more than 25 years old but you think it is fine (and it probably isn’t), you’ve got issues

If you think you’ve got ”issues“, check it out. Fix it, get it fixed, see a therapist, or even better, rip the whole darn thing out and remodel it the right way (we love that advice). So, in summary, keep your eyes open and your car out of a leaning garage.

Mark Lewis

ProCraft Contracting, Inc.

I was driving around the other night in a nice neighborhood. Big houses, small lots, gated community. Looked like a very nice place to live. But here’s what was very weird. No one had curtains. Or blinds. Or stained glass. Or even sheets in the windows. They were simply guppies in lighted fish bowls. I saw them eating, walking around, playing the piano, watching TV, rocking to Guitar Hero.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I had somewhere to go.  I wasn’t some creepy peeping tom just cruising the neighborhood. Really. It just struck me odd that no one in the neighborhood seemed too concerned. What if you wanted to walk around in your underwear? What if you wanted to scratch yourself in places you scratch yourself when you’re home alone and don’t think twice? In a fish bowl, that could be very inappropriate.

Case in point. We used to live a block from a school. You could see it out the back of our house. Every time I stepped into our family room wearing bloomers, my wife would scream that I could be arrested for indecent exposure. She’d implore me to think of the children. Damn, and I was just trying to get some coffee, not stigmatize youngsters. And this was during the day when you couldn’t see a thing inside the house. Imagine if I lived in one of the fishbowls. I’d be doing time by now.

So what’s the deal with these gaping holes to privacy? Maybe the homeowners like to show off. The ones I saw had nice stuff, spiffy decorating, impeccable fashion. Maybe they were too lazy to partake in the privacy ritual of closing the window treatments all over the house? Perhaps they spent all their dough on the nice stuff, spiffy decorating, and impeccable fashion and just can’t afford a simple pull down shade. Or, is it possible that most people just don’t look, making it a non-issue and making me pretty darn strange?

Here’s some rules of thumbs regarding window treatments I came up with:

• If you live in the north woods, don’t waste the money
• If you can’t see your neighbors house or the street, they are optional
• If you can watch your neighbor’s TV from your kitchen, you need them
• If you can see a school looking out any of your windows, don’t think twice
• If you think your boxers are the bomb, why bother

Mark Lewis

ProCraft Contracting, Inc.

We see a whole bunch of bathrooms and kitchens in our line of work. Many are pretty nasty, over-the-hill, deferred maintenance nightmares that should have been bulldozed a decade ago. But that’s OK. We’re nightmare removal specialists that carry a big hammer. So if you fall into that category, don’t worry. I’m certain any embarrassment you might feel about your kitchen or bath has been thoroughly numbed from years of ridicule by family, friends, neighbors and the UPS guy.

But once in a while we come across a kitchen or bath that is so hideously outdated it has rounded the curve and is coming back into fashion. Often, they are in pretty darn good condition, built like a brick $&!?-house. The poor sap owner has lived with the pink tile and blue accents since the hoola hoop was invented. And they maintained it beautifully. Now, those same saps are looking like cutting edge design-istas (not sure if that is a word), bringing retro front and center. They have managed to pimp out their bathroom or kitchen with nothing more than a stiff scrub brush, the patience of Job, and the frugality of Warren Buffet on food stamps.

So, the next time you visit grandma’s house, don’t roll your eyes at the yellow 1/2″ thick tile and the white sink basin on metal legs. She may be more hip than you think.

Mark Lewis

ProCraft Contracting, Inc.

How many times have you seen this – you visit your neighbors or your in-laws or your bosses house, and they proudly show off their new granite counter tops. You think, OK, at first glance they look good. But then you notice the vintage 1987, builder grade, cardboard and oak cabinets they stuck the new counters on. Then you notice that the kitchen design still sucks. Then you notice the silverware drawer still doesn’t close properly and the corner base cabinet requires full spelunking gear to reach the back recesses.

Starting to see the issue? Those really cool, visually stunning counter tops plopped onto really lame, visually repulsive cabinets just isn’t a good idea. In fact, it can make you look down right stupid. No one wants to look stupid, not me, not you. So, what does one do to avoid the dunce cap and still deal with the gold and blue swirl laminate counters with the metal edge? After all, granite is so in, man!

The logical answer is to simply gut the kitchen, add 10 feet to the back of the house, install everything new, and invite the entire neighborhood over to gloat once it is completed (spoken with all the self interest of a true remodeler!). But, we all know that sometimes a full kitchen remodel isn’t always the best option. Maybe you just don’t have the budget to swing it (a second job at a fast food establishment would cure this problem). Maybe you are planning on moving in a year and won’t benefit from a new kitchen all that much. In that is the case, replacement of just the counters can be a great a great idea. But, and it’s a big but… if your kitchen suffers from an idiotic layout or from cheap, builder grade, crap cabinets, don’t do granite. It isn’t worth the investment of your hard earned dollars or your reputation as the sharpest knife in the drawer.  

Here’s the problem with granite (or any higher end counter top material) – if you later get the job at BK and decide to fully remodel the kitchen, your investment in the existing granite is probably wasted (maybe parts can be re-used, but maybe not). Or, you decide to sell the house. Shiny new granite counters doesn’t equal a remodeled kitchen. If the design is bad or the cabinets are cheap, your kitchen will still need to be remodeled, new tops or not. But now, the remodeling contractor will have to carry heavy granite tops to the dumpster, and that will cost even more. Buyers therefore offer even less. 

So, if granite isn’t such a good idea in this instance, what is? Blue swirl has to go. How about new laminate. It is considerably cheaper than granite or the other upscale options, it comes in a ton of colors, and can actually look pretty darn good. It can really change the look without a huge investment. Now, if you decide to later remodel, you aren’t out a bunch of dough and you can even cut up the laminate counters and use them in the garage as a work bench. Or, you decide to sell and can now ask fair market value for your home and attract buyers who won’t have the false expectation of a dream kitchen.

You can even dress up the laminate counter tops with a nice tile backsplash. This adds visual interest to the kitchen, allows for many decorating options, and makes spaghetti sauce clean-up a breeze. One note here – if you’re thinking about a tile backsplash, forget the 4” laminate backsplash – have the counter run straight into the wall. Bring the tile right down to the counter top. Trust me, it will look great.

Even though granite is great, laminate counters have their place and sometimes make more sense than the upscale options. And they can increase your IQ – at least in the eyes of your in-laws.

Mark Lewis

ProCraft Contracting, Inc.