Interesting Blog Post

A very good friend of mine, Bob Hoebeke is a high end builder in the Dallas area.  We met over 15 years ago when we participated in a Builder "20" group; a group of builders who do similar types of work from around the country. A few months ago, Andy & I traveled to Dallas, and visited Bob.  I have been following his blog, and enjoy his posts and I think you will too.  This particular one speaks volumes about the "good and the bad" in regards to contractors!

http://dallasbuilder.blogspot.com/2013/02/practice-makes-perfect.html

International Builders Show 2013 -Vegas

Bob and I spent all day Tuesday thru Thursday (Jan 23-24) looking at new products, unique products and a ton of interesting classes. We even had a little fun!  We brought back some fun things which we plan on implementing in the bext several weeks to give our customers and us a fun experience (yes more fun than we already have.) 

We were featured on Houzz.com this week in the Coca-Cola article!  Enjoy!
http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/3055670/list/American-Icons--Coca-Cola-Classic

Happy Spring to everyone!

Fire Restoration Project - North Oaks, MN

It was quite a winter we had, short and very busy!  Our phones were ringing, and we are very blessed and fortunate to have a busy spring going here!  We are currently have a couple projects going in North Oaks.  One which is a fire restoration we anticipate to be completed in August as well as a whole house remodel on Pleasant Lake to be completed sometime around New Years, 2013.  We recently completed two homes which will be part  the "early adaptors" Minnesota Green Path homes.  The homes meet certain credentials which certify their efficiency and home performance.  We will post our results when we receive them both.

Bob Michels Construction, Inc. Chalet

Andy is working on updating our website, and has recently created a Houzz.com account and has been adding photos to it.  Its a great site to view ideas and designs which other builders / remodelers have completed.  I think it can be a great resource for anyone looking at building or remodeling their homes.  Andy has uploaded many of our photos
from our past projects and will be uploading more going forward.  Our Facebook Page is being updated with photos as often as we remember.

We are looking forward to this weekend also.  The annual City of North Oaks Community Fair 2012 is this Saturday, June 02, 2012.  We have a float in the parade this year as well as a booth at the vendor section.  Stop by to see the float, compete against Andy & I in the bean bag toss! The parade is at 11:00 and the fair concludes at 3:00.

- Builder Bob

Music for the "Grooming Space"

Bob sent me a video of this from the International Builders Show in Orlando this afternoon suggesting I install one in my house. I like the concept, and it's brand new! Released Yesterday actually!

http://www.us.kohler.com/pr/pressrelease.jsp?aid=1194538323170

Another Successful Project

This morning we received new photos from a photo shoot we had last week. The project was in North Oaks. The home was essentially a whole house remodel.

We started the project on June 6th, 2011. Working in phases we began by partitioning off the lower level areas and cutting out the existing foundation to increase the room size of both the master bathroom and the 'new' lower level exercise room. We cut the concrete, and extracted the 8" thick poured concrete foundation using a Cat 315 Backhoe. Once removed, we excavated for new footings and new poured walls for the addition.

Once the foundation was out of the way and framing was underway, we put our focus on completing the lower level to allow the family to move down before we took over their main floor. The lower level had all new trim work, bar, game area, exercise room, kids playroom, and a space for a future wine cellar.

The new addition, and any opened up wall within the home received Icynene Insulation in the walls, for exterior insulation as well as for sound insulation. The home has a complete in-floor heating system throughout the main floor. The system was very inconsistent. We corrected this by zoning the system for each space. This has improved the constancy though out the home.

In the common main level areas we installed a hickory flooring above the heated floor. Typically wood floors are not a great application for heated flooring, but Hickory tends to be stable, and will not expand / contract as much as other woods.

Other main floor attractions are the completely remodeled master suite with spa like amenities. Featuring all heated flooring t

he space is not cold. The shower has 6 body sprays, a rain head as well as a hand-held and traditional shower head for the complete "Human Car-Wash" experience. The tub is an under-mount Kohler Bubble Massage for an additional spa like experience. The unique countertops are manufactured by Cambria.

The kitchen has all new appliances, countertops, flooring, and we were able to 'tone' the existing cabinetry to achieve the desired look the designer Bruce Kading of Bruce Kading Interiors was looking for.

In the end, the homeowners are beyond happy with the experience they had throughout the process.

Visit www.bmichels-const.com for more great photos of this project and many others.

- Bob

Wikipedia explanation of the HERS rating (energy efficiency of a home).

Minnesota's Green Path and other "Green Building" programs use the HERS Rating of a home to determine it energy efficiency . Click the link below to see how the HERS rating works.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_energy_rating

Air sealing a new or remodeled home.

I found this article by Allison Bailes at "Energy Vanguard Blog". Good information if you are considering a remodeling project.

Whenever I see an older home being remodeled, especially if it's an extensive renovation, I always wonder if the homeowners and the contractor know what a great opportunity they have to make the house tighter. Whether they're opening up walls or adding new ones, working in the attic, the basement, or the crawl space, air-sealing should be part of the scope of work.

Here are a bunch of reasons why:

1. Keep conditioned air inside. Air leaks waste energy. If you're spending money on air conditioning or heating your home, why would you want to make it easy for that expensive air to escape?

2. Keep unconditioned air outside. Air leakage works both ways. When a cubic foot of conditioned air goes outside, it must be replaced with a cubic foot of unconditioned air coming inside. That adds to the heating or cooling load of your home and costs you money.

3. Keep bad air out, and stay healthy. Not only is the air leaking in costing you money, it's probably not the most healthful air either - moldy air from the crawl space, carbon monoxide and gasoline fumes from the garage, dead animal parts from the attic, pollen from outdoors... You get the idea.

4. Keep moisture out of your walls. When it's hot and muggy outside, you don't want to pull that moisture into your building cavities and start biology experiments. When it's cold outside, the warm, relatively humid air inside can condense inside wall cavities and rot them out.

5. Older homes with diagonal sheathing are very leaky. For the past 60 years or so, builders have used sheet goods (plywood & oriented strand board mainly) for wall sheathing and subfloors. Before that, homes had diagonal 1-by lumber (photo at right). There's a lot more air leakage through the gaps between all those boards than newer, plywood-sheathed homes have. Same goes for floors. Seal 'em up! Once you close up those walls, you've missed your chance.

6. Window and door openings are major air leakage sites in walls. Whether you replace windows and doors or not, you may well have access to the gaps between the window or door frame and the wall framing. Use an air barrier material (not fiberglass or cellulose!) to fill those gaps.

7. Those walls, floors, and ceilings may not have been open for decades, and when you're done, they'll be closed up for decades again. Don't miss this opportunity. If you're already in there doing remodeling work, take full advantage. You'll be rewarded with a house that's more comfortable, durable, healthful, and efficient if you do it properly.

There you have it. And if you're still worried about that old myth that you shouldn't make your house too tight, well, don't. A house does NOT need to breathe; people do.

Use of color can add punch to a project

Here is a link to a great blog about the use of color for your next project.

Dura Supreme Blog - For the write up!

Bob

Minnesota's Green Path-efficient durable homes for Minnesota!

Over the last 9 months of this year, the Builders Association of the Twin Cities (BATC) has been busy building a new "de-coupled green building program" called Minnesota Green Path. This program is much different than most green building programs that require an "all or nothing" approach.

The BATC is also working on a Green Path for Remodeling program to help consumers and remodeling contractors enter and choose a place along the green building path.

In both programs, the tested and certified Green Path homes will receive an easy to understand report tracking and memorializing the HERS index and green attributes that were designed into the project.

See this link:

http://www.mngreenpath.org/

for more information on this innovative approach to green building and remodeling.