Thoughts From Kaufman Homes

Kaufman Homes is in the final stages of this extensive remodel in Laurel Springs.  Our schedule indicates we will be done close to the middle of March which means we will have done phases two, three and four in two and one half months (read about phase one here).  I am pleased with the time frame, considering this remodel was an extensive project including all of the main living floor area ;  kitchen, dining, living, utility and down ½ bath as well as a completely new master bath cabinet, counter, sinks and new faucets.  The ability to move the family’s entire kitchen function to the basement mechanical room as well as have available a large family room off of the temporary kitchen providing  reasonable accommodations.  This family was a joy to work with as they allowed us the privilege of coming into their home, disrupting their normal lifestyle and being appreciative of the work my company and our workers were doing.

Moving right along in the process

In the proper and deliberate progression of any remodel or construction project, proper and logical order makes the job go smoother, faster as well as provides for better interaction for the family still living in the home.  Our full time, highly skilled job manager has done a great job of coordinating the different trade contractors as well as doing much of the work himself.  His goal is to always work with the customer to keep them informed of all stages of the project and to be considerate of the family’s daily function.

We have finally installed the last of the kitchen and family room cabinets and put the finishing wood touches to the cabinets and ceiling areas in each room with 3 ½” crown molding with all cherry crown in the kitchen and painted crown in all the non-cabinet ceiling areas in the family room.

In the progression of things we now were ready to remove the old support beam for the original small opening and put in a larger and longer beam to carry the larger opening and its roof load. To remove the old beam we had to support the ceiling/floor joist carrying the upper floor and the main roof load by building temporary support walls on each side of the beam. To get the old beam out we had to jack up both temporary walls to take off the roof load pressure so we could remove the old beam and then install the longer new beam.  It was unbelievable how much more open the home felt with this larger opening from the kitchen to the family room.

On January 2, 2012 we resumed the remodel job in Laurel Springs.  The holidays were over and the kids were back in school.  Phase two entails a complete remodel of the kitchen, creating a larger opening between the family room and the kitchen, exchanging the swinging door into the utility room with a space saving pocket door, adding hardwood floor to the dining and living room, and removing wallpaper in the dining, living room and entry.

As in any remodel, Kaufman Homes schedules the job for maximum time efficiency and always considers the Customers disrupted lifestyle.  Our highly skilled workers have the ability to do almost any job in a remodel except electrical plumbing and heating and they are very good at being polite and considerate of the Customer.  It is always our priority to finish the remodel as quick as possible to get the family’s life back to normal.  Kaufman Homes knows that if we take to long to do a remodel we quickly wear out our welcome.

In 2011, Kaufman Homes began working with a customer in Laurel Springs to determine what would be the best way to satisfy their changing housing needs and desires.  They discussed with us about selling their current home and building new but when they considered the deflated amount their home would probably sell for, in this economy and when we explained how the cost of new construction continues to rise due to increasing material costs, new government regulations and added energy code requirements. It has become increasingly more difficult to finance a new home as pre-construction appraisals, of proposed new homes, are evaluated  with sales of comparable,  depressed value, existing homes, thus the amount they will loan is less than most people will need to build the new home.

This helped the client make the decision to begin the remodeling and redecorating process also allowing them to stay in the neighborhood they have always loved. The client expressed the desire to create a more open home plan, to modify a heating system that is inadequate, change a family room wood burning fireplace to a more convenient gas burning fireplace with a raised hearth, to modify and update the master and guest baths, add a covered deck with an outside gas fireplace, add more hardwood floor on the main floor, completely re-do the kitchen and paint all of the inside and outside of the home.