Create A Spa Environment in Your Bathroom
Are you considering a design-remodel for your home? Don’t forget to show some love to one of the most-used rooms in your home- the bathroom. These days, homeowners want their house to be a welcoming haven where they can relax and unwind after a hectic day. The trend in bathroom design is moving towards creating a spa-like atmosphere, with luxurious touches like large soaking tubs, beautifully finished showers in tile or stone, unique and visually striking sinks, plumbing fixtures, and lighting, and even seating and dressing areas.
Take a look at some of the beautiful baths we’ve created here at Schloegel Design Remodel, and contact us today to help transform your home into the serene haven you’ve been waiting for.
Tile, stone, and a beautiful soaking tub combine to create a relaxing atmosphere.
Unique sinks and plumbing fixtures create an environment that expresses your personal style.
Marble, slate, and tile combine for a beautiful, light ambiance.
What Are My Options for Removing Leveling Compound?
Jake Schloegel, CR, President and Founder
Jake,
We uncovered pine flooring in our 1859 built house it was covered with carpet and ply wood which we removed to find leveling compound. Is there any way to remove the compound short of just scraping with putty knife?
- Tom
Tom,
I don’t know of any other way of removing leveling compound other than with a chisel and a hammer. It can be pretty hard to get this stuff removed. You might want to have the compound checked for asbestos if you feel that it was installed before 1978. There is a chance it might contain asbestos.
Good luck on your remodeling project.
- Jake
Ask Jake: Working Around Load Bearing Walls
Jake Schloegel, CR, President and Founder
Jake,
I want to make a large opening between my kitchen & dining room. I do not want to tear down the whole wall. Does it matter if this is a load bearing wall? I’m also worried about electrical wires. My husband is a good handyman, but do you think he should tackle this job?
-Hilda
Hilda,
Yes, it does make a big difference if the wall is a load bearing wall. If the wall is perpendicular to the floor joists below and the overhead joists, then there is a good chance the wall is load bearing. If the wall is parallel to the joists, then it most likely is not a bearing wall. If in doubt, consult a licensed contractor or structural engineer. If it is load bearing, a new “header” or beam must be sized to properly carry the load.
When removing a wall, there is chance you might expose wiring, piping or duct work. If you have access below or above the wall, a visual inspection might tell you what you can expect. Again, a contractor or engineer might be able to give you an idea of what you might find.
You asked if your husband should tackle this job. I can’t answer that based upon the unknowns at this time. He could at least remove the wall covering, either drywall or plaster, and expose what is behind the wall covering. Then you can make the determination whether he should continue. Good luck and be careful.
Jake
Schloegel hosts Serbians
Schloegel Design Remodel recently participated in the Community Connections Program of the United States Agency for International Development and World Learning, in which we hosted 10 visitors from Serbia. The Community Connections Program is administered locally by the International Visitors Council of Greater Kansas City (KCIVC).
The goal of the KCIVC is to promote citizen diplomacy by person-to-person contacts to help shape United States foreign relations, which is why the ten participants stayed in the homes of local community citizens for 22 nights.
Jake Schloegel is shown with the visiting Serbians as they tour SDR’s shop area
The purpose of their visit to SDR was to hear how a small company like Schloegel Design Remodel responds to the call of corporate social responsibility. Serbia, having been under Soviet rule for many years, is new to the free market system and the social responsibilities that come with it. While at Schloegel they viewed a PowerPoint presentation of the various community service projects that Schloegel participates in on a regular basis and heard how Schloegel deals with ethical business issues.
For more information on the Community Connections Program visit the International Visitors Council of Greater Kansas City web site.
Join SDR For Our Scariest Kitchen & Bath Contest
Do you have a kitchen or bath that’s absolutely scary? If so, be sure to enter your kitchen or bath into our Scariest Kitchen & Bath Contest taking place on Wednesday, October 27, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at the Schloegel Design Remodel showroom.
By entering your kitchen or bath into the contest you will get a chance to win a $250 VISA gift card! Submit your scariest kitchen or bath photo by October 25th by e-mail to debby@sdrkc.com or mail to 311 West 80th Street, Kansas City, MO 64114.
The photos will be on display in our showroom at 7:00 p.m. Voting for the scariest kitchen and bath will take place until 7:30 p.m. Winners will be announced at 8:00 p.m. If your kitchen or bath is the lucky winner, you must be present to win.
Be sure to submit your scary kitchen and bath photos. For each scariest kitchen or bath photo entry we receive, a donation will be made to the Gillis Center.
So come out to Schloegel Design Remodel for a night of food, drinks and Halloween fun! We hope to see you!
Finger Jointed Trim
I had my doubts about finger jointed exterior trim when it became common some 20 years ago. I thought at the time that it would be troublesome. I called my millwork provider and expressed my concern. I could see the wood separating over time at the machined joints and moisture seeping in and causing the joint to fail. He assured me that it was tested and retested and found to be sound. Well here it is 20 some years later and it is failing. Finger jointed trim was often used in window trim known as “brick mold”. See the photo below of a house we are working on.
We are replacing a fair amount of the rotted trim on this 20 something year old house. Today they have much better products, such as PVC and engineered wood. James Hardie, Azek Building Products and LP Building Products all offer a great selection of PVC and engineered wood.
Do you have rotted wood on your house? Call Schloegel Design Remodel and we will replace it for you.
Schloegel Design Remodel Lends A Helping Hand
Schloegel Design Remodel’s team members believe in participating and supporting the communities we work and live in. This photo is a perfect example of the Schloegel team members getting involved.
Doug Drury, a long time Certified Lead Carpenter with us, participated in his church’s community service program. Doug’s church, through its H.O.T. (Helping our Town) project, built a wheelchair ramp for two very deserving 11 year old twin boys, Christian and Dawson. They have Cerebral Palsy and are wheel chair bound. Doug and his crew have made their lives a little bit better. Thanks Doug for sharing your very special carpenter talents.
The Importance of a Well-Organized Closet
Over the years Schloegel Design Remodel has been involved in several closet makeovers. As wardrobes expand the organization of a closet becomes critical. One needs to look no further than this photo.
To protect the privacy of the owner of these feet, she is an office manager of a local design/remodel company, I will not mention her name. I have never seen her closet but I would imagine it is in need of a makeover. She didn’t realize she had a mismatched pair of sandals on until 1:30 in the afternoon. Had she hired us to do a closet makeover, she would have noticed her wardrobe error immediately. On the positive side, she is very excited to have another pair identical to this pair. Call Schloegel Design Remodel for any of your remodeling or closet makeover needs.
Finished Basement Remodel
We have completed the basement work that we blogged about earlier this week. Here are pictures of the completed television room.
Part of our work included constructing the two areas of storage that are flanking the center television stand. The homeowners purchased the television stand and asked us to expand on it.
The homeowner has said, “We have completed two very successful home remodeling projects with Schloegel Design Remodel…Our experience has been that these are decent, honest, hardworking, talented, and creative people. They care about what they are doing and how they do it….” See below if you would like to read the entire testimonial.
We have completed two very successful home remodeling projects with Schloegel Design Remodel. Our kitchen was updated in December of 2009 and our basement was finished in September 2010.
Our experience has been that these are decent, honest, hardworking, talented, and creative people. They care about what they are doing and how they do it. This sense of personal responsibility is thread that runs throughout the organization.
When Jake Schloegel says he will stand behind the work done by and for his company, he does so with his word and by his works. I don’t know of another company that guarantees their work and our satisfaction with a 3-part pledge. First, the key parties gather at the end of a project for a final walk through. They found things at our final kitchen walk through that we didn’t even see. These were corrected immediately. Second, at the two month post-completion date, we got a phone call offering to repair anything that was not to our satisfaction. Third, at 12 months we got a call for the same purpose. This allowed us to experience all seasons and conditions to verify that everything was perfect. Thirty years in business says a lot about how these people conduct themselves.
You may have heard the maxim, “take a remodeler’s timetable and double it” to get a reasonable idea of how long a project will take. This is not the way Schloegel does business. There are no lengthy gaps, pauses, or otherwise frustrating delays. Once work begins, they deploy the necessary resources to complete the job as close to the estimated timetable as is humanly possible.
Even for seasoned remodelers, there can be surprises. It is how these surprises are handled that separate remodeling/construction businesses from one another. We particularly appreciate that information is communicated openly, honestly, and with solutions to problems (when and if they are encountered). We cannot underestimate the involvement of the entire management team in our projects. They are available 24/7 should problems arise and they answer their phones. Problems are handled professionally and quickly. Things are done right.
In Prairie Village, we have tough inspectors and they look out for us as homeowners so that we don’t experience unnecessary problems down the road. During inspections, things were reviewed and discussed with our lead carpenter. Reviews of the work were thorough but never took long. It doesn’t take inspectors long to see the quality of this work.
It is our personal feeling that every project is important to Schloegel regardless of the size of the project. This was demonstrated by weekly visits to our job sites by the owner, by weekly construction meetings with the job principals, and by attentive follow through on every aspect of the work.
Both the direct employees of this company and the sub-contractors that they use are people that we trust with the keys to our home. In both projects we were out of town for part of the time. Our home was always clean and properly secured.
We highly recommend the work of the Schloegel Design Remodel Team!
Jan and Mark Morgan
We would like to thank Jan and Mark for allowing us to help them remodel their basement and for their kind words. We really enjoyed working on their basement remodel.
A new purpose for out-of-commission cabinets
This homeowner’s friend in Chicago wanted to remodel her young kitchen. She decided to give the cabinetry and counter tops to her friend in town.
We were able to reconfigure the existing cabinetry and add some new cabinetry to make this remarkable transformation for our client. The counter tops also needed to be reworked and added to. Can you detect what was original and what was newly fabricated?
Congratulations to our client on a beautiful new kitchen!
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