September 2010 Newsletter
This month we are celebrating winning two STAR Awards. The STAR Awards competition was founded by the Raleigh-Wake County Remodelers Council as a way to recognize and promote excellence in the remodeling industry in the Triangle area and is open to its members. This year was the 17th year of the competition and brought well over 100 entries. We won the Best Room Addition $70K - $125K and the Best Deck/Gazebo/Porch $75K-$100K. Both of our clients gave us a perfect score on the Homeowner Satisfaction Survey which makes up 15% of the total score with the remaining 85% based on a panel of three judges' scores. Judging is done by professionals in the construction industry that come from other areas of North Carolina and surrounding states.
We so appreciate Mrs. Collins and Mr. and Mrs. Witzig for allowing us to enter their projects in the competition and feel privileged to be a part of making their dreams for their home a reality.
Mrs. Collins came to us because she wanted to update her 1969 kitchen. After meeting with her and discovering some of her struggles with her kitchen's existing layout, we made several different design proposals. She decided to not only update her kitchen, but to add on more space including a gathering room. The larger design provided space for an island, a small pantry and a laundry room which was previously in the basement. Adding the gathering room also provided additional basement space below that can be finished in the future. Energy efficient windows and skylights were added to bring in more natural light. With the new layout and increased space, the function of the kitchen improved dramatically. One of her favorite new features is all of the light that now pours into the new kitchen and gathering room. In addition, she decided to replace all of her floors with wood laminate and repaint the whole house inside and out so the whole house would feel new.
The Witzig's wanted to enlarge their open porch on the rear of their home and screen it in. Although they had only lived in their home for a year, they had been planning renovations from the day they purchased the home. During the design process, we provided them with options for a full screened porch, a smaller screened porch with a sunroom and some interior alterations. Several different design options and roof configurations were considered, and they decided on the screened porch option with round support columns and a hip roof. They chose Ipe flooring and cypress tongue and groove ceiling which really look fantastic! Another nice feature is the unique way the screening was installed to make the porch look open from the outside. Rather than use the standard lattice for skirting, a more attractive skirting was installed to compliment the porch's character.
Working with Mrs. Collins and Mr. and Mrs. Witzig was a true pleasure, and the recognition was just icing on the cake.
