• new materials for kitchen and bath

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    While most of these lend themselves more to a modern kitchen or bath, it's certainly possible to take advantage of advances in materials science in a more traditional remodel as well. For example, I've seen several new Craftsman kitchens using pre-cast and cast-on-site concrete for countertops, and what looks industrial in a modern setting can look warm and complementary in a classic wooden kitchen. Further, now that dyes and inclusions can be added to concrete to give it a bit more character, it's a much more flexible product than it was when it first became popular as a countertop material several years ago.

    Recycled glass and wood, blocks of pressed fibers, resins and other manufactured materials and even more arcane products are being repurposed as countertop, tile, flooring and more. Take a look at a few products and manufacturers I've discovered in the last few months:

    tile / glass / stone

    • Una Terra sells interesting, unique tiles made all over the world – from Italian specialty glass mosaics to American-made stone, they've got some really neat stuff (as well as high-resolution PDFs so you can see the tile up close, something I wish more vendors offered).
    • Marazzi sells porcelain, glass, ceramic and metal-glaz tiles in a small range of basic shades and tones.
    • Bisazza is the American vendor for a large Italian glass and porcelain mosaic tilemaker.
    • Hakatai are my favorite American tilemakers & sellers. Based in Oregon, they produce hundreds of mosaic tiles in glass and other materials for pools, walls, counters, floors, murals and any other flat surface you can imagine. Well, almost.
    • Sonoma Cast Stone sells concrete, kitchen and bath surrounds, tiles & pavers and other items and materials in a wide array of colors.
    • Concrete Network is not a seller, but rather a sourcing site for folks looking for a concrete contractor. The website also includes a big gallery of photos of concrete in use – as countertops, fireplace surrounds, flooring, furniture, sinks and more.
    • IceStone is made from recycled glass and concrete, and comes in a 24-standard color palette with an infinite number of custom options.

    wood

    • Ebony & Co sell hardwood, antique / salvaged, old-growth pine and bespoke wooden parquetry floors in a huge range of woods and finishes. They are also one of the few wood floring vendors who sell specific grades to be used in conjunction with underfloor heating installations.
    • Bamboo Hardwoods has sold sheets of pressed bamboo lumber for flooring, furniture and other products since 1995. They also have a line of custom bamboo cabinetry for kitchen & bath.
    • Teragren sells bamboo flooring, panels designed for cabinetry and furniture, and veneers.
    • Windfall Lumber sells "sustainably harvested wood products," including flooring, mouldings, countertops, decking and whole timbers.
    • New York City's Habitus sells tile, stone, cement, Japanese stucco, porcelain and more, but what they are known for are their cork products: mosaic tiles, floor and wall panels, fabrics, and more. High resolution PDFs are available for download.
    • Treefrog makes and sells exotic wood laminates in interesting patterns and textures
    • Plyboo is a flexible plywood made from bamboo, and is often used for cabinetry and furnituremaking.

    other stuff

    • Yemm & Hart makes decorative polyethylene sheeting and flooring made from recycled tires, just like the stuff that was under the monkey bars when you were a kid – but colorful, stronger, and it won't break up and track all over the place.
    • Lumicor seems all over the news lately. The product is essentially a type of architectural resin which is strong enough to be used as structural material and interesting enough to be decorative. It can be cast thick or thin, and is sometimes used for countertop and tabletop material. It is often cast with various types of fibers embedded, and can be made in an enormous range of colors, textures and opacities. Their portfolio shows several dozen different uses – in homes, retail settings, office space and elsewhere.
    • Paperstone is what it sounds like: a solid surface material, great for countertops, made from recycled paper that has been transformed under enormous pressure.
    • Richlite is another popular product made from a paper fiber-based composite. It was originally distributed as a surface for commercial kitchens and baths in the 1950s, but is enjoying a resurgence as a domestic surface. It is also used for skateboard parks, of all things! It's generally considered a green alternative to Corian and manufactured granite, as it can very closely resemble those materials.
    • Brooklyn's Bettencourt Green Building Supplies sells many of these items, including Richlite, Paperstone, Plyboo bamboo butcherblock, Durapalm coconut flooring, cork, Kirei board, wheatboard and lots more.

    Additionally, Green Home Guide, which can usually be counted on for good and unbiased advice on building materials, has a guide to choosing countertop material; they also have a buyers' guide to green flooring materials, which should give you some general budget information.

    Finally, don't discount the reliable standbys: Corian kitchen worktops are affordable, last forever, quick to fab and install, and look absolutely fantastic. Many contractors are happy to use something tried and true, rather than playing with new materials they've never encountered before. In the UK, we strongly recommend Unique Fabrications in Milton Keynes, who can take on any job, from complex industrial and commercial spaces to residential kitchens and baths.

    cc-licensed image by sierravalleygirl

  • Greentea Design: spectacular custom kitchens

    Toronto-based Greentea Design has a special place in my heart: not only do they design, build and sell some of the most beautiful kitchen cabinetry available anywhere – in beautiful Japanese-influenced styles that are a perfect match for any Mission or Craftsman home – but they also carry a range of both antique and contemporary reclaimed-wood furniture, some in historic Craftsman and Japanese designs and others in more contemporary shapes. And the prices, even including the (very professional and speedy) shipping from Canada are surprisingly low, making them competitive with any of the larger semi-custom cabinet makers out there, even while using better materials like a clear coat for kitchen cabinets and sturdier building techniques..

    While many of their signature pieces – step tansu and other room-defining wood furniture items – are gorgeous, it's that line of kitchen cabinets that I keep coming back to. Sold as custom kitchen sets or as individual stock pieces, the grain of the wood, beautiful (and exclusive to Greentea) hand-forged hardware and trim detail is both Asian and Craftsman at the same time, with enough character to be beautiful and enough attention to design to be eminently useful. Their Loft Kitchen custom design, above, is a combination of the various Mizuya cabinets, including an island and a full range of wall cabinets and accessories; other past custom kitchens have included the simplified Asian Bistro, minimalist Zen Modern, and Chalet Chic, which was tailored for a more open, airy space. Of course, each piece is available by itself as well – all the islands, hutches, wall and base cabinets and pantries you could possibly need are available piecemeal should you wish to design your own kitchen, amd all can be installed in a fixed position or left free-standing (for a movable island, for example). The custom design services offered are impressive – Greentea's staff of furniture and room designers are more than happy to assist with your own custom project or do the work for you; their staff worked extensively with Kim Johnson, owner of a 100-year-old home in Ottawa, on her recent remodel, and the results were very impressive; Kim blogged the entire process on her website, Design to Inspire.

    I'm very happy to have a piece of theirs up in my own modern Craftsman kitchen, and I hope to have a few photographs of it soon; a smaller version of the Dana cabinet (pictured above; mine is a similar to what sits above the glass cabinets on the right and left of this unit) completes the rear wall of that recently-remodeled room in my 1925 Mission Revival bungalow in Sacramento, California, and it's a perfect complement for the bamboo floors, stone countertops and glass tile backsplash that round out the project. Some day, I'd like to own one of their step tansus, which I have always maintained are the perfect bridge between an austere Asian design style and the earthy workmanship of the Craftsman aesthetic. And they're running a special "Stepping Into Summer" promotion right now, with 20% discounts on these unique pieces, including the Elm Burl step tansu, shown below.

    Owner Dale Storer has worked hard to make sure that Greentea's products complement a wide range of architectural styles, though, and much of their more contemporary designs would look at home whether in a traditional Japanese home, a Craftsman bungalow, or a modern high-tech apartment. The Lattice TV Stand, pictured below, hides components behind a latticed sliding door that still allows remote controls to function, and is just as good a match for an urban loft as it is for a 90-year-old brown-shingle Craftsman bungalow. Every one of these pieces is made from reclaimed wood, and all come in a variety of finishes with different types of hardware available as well. Mike Ramsey writes that the reclaimed wood usually comes from "aging rural structures that are being taken down to make way for Asia's rapidly expanding urban centers. The Maru tables are the best example since they're turned into tables directly from being reclaimed. The original supports are cut into legs who have correspondingly sized holes cut in the base of the slabs of floor."

    Their antiques stock, some of which is on hand at their Toronto showroom, is also worth checking out; I'm partial to the large selection of all sorts of Japanese tansu, but they also carry plenty of Chinese and Korean pieces as well.

    I'm not so used to giving such praise to a business – as regular readers know, I'm pretty stingy with compliments and generous with criticism, which is certainly a fault. However, after dealing with this company myself and going gaga over their website, I just wanted to make sure you were all as familiar with them as I've become. After seeing so many (primarily) Japanese antiques blend so well with the large shingled Craftsman homes of California, but noticing the absence of same elsewhere in the country, I thought perhaps most people didn't realize that the two styles matched so well.

    If you're in or near Toronto, definitely check out the Greentea showroom; otherwise, spend a few minutes browsing their website, or call them at 1.866.426.7286 to talk with someone about your kitchen design or furniture needs.

    I've made a small Flickr album for photos of their work; I'll soon add a good shot of the Dana cabinet in my own kitchen; those of you who already have Greentea cabinets, please do send me your photos, and I'll add them as well!

  • remodeling: getting the most for your dollar

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    Reader and regular contributor Joel McDonald – a real estate
    professional who frequently writes on issues important to those
    considering buying, remodeling or restoring an older home – submits the
    following:

    Most people, faced with the prospect of having to spruce up their
    home before selling it, have to face down the nagging thought of "Why
    didn’t we do this for ourselves?" It’s with a bit of regret that a
    homeowner will realize that work is needed, but you can’t go back and
    change the past. Starting from where you are, the question becomes,
    "How can we get the most return from the investment of repairs and
    remodeling?" There isn’t an exact formula, of course, but you’ll be
    spending money trying to make prospective buyers, rather than yourself,
    happy – at least happy enough that they will want to pay you more than
    you have to spend on the work. The satisfaction that you will get from
    turning over a home in top condition counts for a good part of the
    bargain as well. 

    Be Careful in Deciding What Needs to Be Done

    Just because you never liked that mirror over the guest bathroom sink,
    it doesn’t mean that now is the time to replace it. It may be the
    someone else’s favorite kind. We’re talking here about the kinds of
    things you have gotten used to over the years, and might not even see
    any more — broken shingles, worn carpet, the window that sticks,
    cabinets that need refacing. Some of these are things that, like seeing
    a child grow, change so slowly we don’t realize it day-to-day. In other
    cases something breaks and "I’ll get it fixed later" never happens and
    you adapt, work around it, and forget about it. In order to present an
    inviting and pleasant appearance you have to look at your home with
    studied, focused attention. Make a list.

    Get the Best Prices on Things You Have to Buy for the Project

    This one’s a no-brainer, but it’s so obvious that many people overlook
    it. Don’t just enter into a fog of "It’s a big project and it will cost
    a lot." To maximize your return, do some careful shopping for the the
    best prices you can find. If you are able, even in a stretch, to do
    some of the work yourself, do it. Depending on what needs to be done,
    if you take your time and shop carefully you can take advantage of good
    sales and discounts at home improvement stores and local suppliers.
    Look for discontinued and going-out-of-season items to find deals on
    things that will have appeal from a buyer’s perspective and still be
    inexpensive.

    Carpet It

    If you have old, worn carpeting, that gives a bad impression. New
    carpets can add significant appeal and value to your home. We’re not
    talking here about the possibility of finding beautiful wood flooring
    hidden under the carpet – that can happen, and it’s a different set of
    choices with a different set of economic payback possibilities. Just on
    the subject of what to do about old carpet, though, it can be more than
    just a shopping chore, and more rewarding with a little effort. To
    really go on the low-cost end of doing the upgrade, you can get
    remnants and end pieces from an outlet store, and piece them together
    at installation. If you can do a proper installation yourself, that’s
    all to the good, but it takes skill and experience to do a good job. If
    you get a professional carpet installer to install it, you can expect
    the seams to be invisible and the result will look as good as any other
    new carpet. 

    Paint It

    When it comes to getting the biggest return for your remodeling
    investment dollar, paint is in the superstar category. Shop discount
    stores for reasonably-priced paint. As for your color choices, keep it
    clean and simple. White, the old standby, is often the best choice
    because it represents a good "default" selection for many buyers. For
    buyers who have a clear sense of their own color preferences, the white
    background is no impediment to them and they will be able to "see" the
    room in their favorite colors. One thing you can be sure of: if you
    decide to use distinctively different colors to appeal to your own
    artful sensibilities, then the buyer’s preferences will be wildly
    different. It’s a rule of nature.

    Replace or Upgrade Appliances

    If you have to replace appliances such as the refrigerator, washer,
    dryer, dishwasher and so on, look for scratch and dent bargains. There
    are always lots of appliances with minor scratches, and you can select
    the ones that have the damage on a side facing a wall or next to
    another appliance, where it won’t be a problem. The price reduction can
    be dramatic, and in many cases you can get it for even less that the
    tagged price, if you ask. These are things that store managers want off
    their property and out of sight.

    Another consideration on appliances is that if they are in working
    order they might not have to be replaced at all. Even if they are a
    little outdated, as long as they work, you don’t have to replace them
    just to sell the house. Houses are often sold without appliances, after
    all: replacing or updating appliances is an upgrade that should pay you
    back right away in the price of the house, so you have to do it at a
    pretty low cost or you can skip it. In the in-between, hard-to-decide
    zone of whether it’s worth it or not, you may consider finding
    appliances at secondhand stores.

    Remodeling Makes a Difference

    In getting a home ready for sale, what you want to achieve is an
    inviting and pleasant appearance, where buyers can imagine themselves
    living with everything in perfect order. Distractions, entering from
    the realm of broken, dirty or worn things in the home, impinge on this
    dream-home experience. That can cost you the sale. You want to create
    this experience for the buyer, though, without spending too much. The
    prices you pay won’t impress anyone, so spending more than you need to
    can be a particularly bad choice when the main reason for doing it is
    return on investment. Keep it simple, shop carefully and don’t overdo
    it. The money you make will be the result of not only careful choices
    in what needs to be done, but also of finding smart ways to do it.

    Article provided by Colorado’s Automated Homefinder – a Louisville real estate company.

    Creative Commons-licensed image by Tall Chris

  • minimizing mold in your home

    Dean Dowd runs a blog devoted solely to remodeling issues at Calfinder.com. Calfinder is probably the only one of a class of sites – those that purport to find you a handyman, contractor or skilled craftsperson near you for a particular project – that actually work well, due to the extensive screening process & database that they are continually updating and finessing.

    Thanks to Dean for having one of his staff write this article – specifically for Hewn & Hammered – on identifying, treating and preventing housemold mold:

    Whether you are planning a bathroom remodel or have just completed one, it’s important to remember that the work doesn’t stop there. Because even the most spotless home contains some degree of mold, homeowners must stay vigilant at recognizing the signs of excessive mold growth. Mold is a substance that creeps up on old and new homes alike. When mold begins to multiply indoors, the outcome can affect your health as well as the health of your home. This includes damage to building materials, household goods, and furniture. Breathing mold in or coming into physical contact with mold can result in various health symptoms, including allergies, asthma, infection, irritation, and even toxic effects.

    What is mold?

    Recognizing mold begins with an understanding of what the substance is and where it comes from. Mold is a type of fungus that floats in the air and rests upon surfaces. There is no way to avoid mold altogether, as small particles of mold are found everywhere in indoor and outdoor air.

    Molds thrive in areas with high moisture and humidity, such as neighborhoods in fog banks or in specific rooms of the house, such as the basement or shower. Moisture can result in a variety of ways, from faulty pipes or building leaks to poor ventilation and regular use of a humidifier. Mold spores spread via water particles and act like seeds in search of the right conditions to spread.

    To grow and multiply, mold needs 3 things:

    • moisture for growth
    • space for growth
    • nutrients for growth, such as wood or sheetrock

    When should you worry?

    Now that you know the basic character of mold, what should you do about it? If you can easily see and smell your mold, you may have an issue that needs fixing. Mold stains look fuzzy, cottony, or leathery and can appear in various colors. Since it normally appears where there’s moisture, check for mold in areas exposed to water. Mold has a pungent musty smell. The good news is that visible indoor mold can usually be cleaned off hard surfaces.

    Some forms of mold produce chemicals called mycotoxins. These can result in more serious health effects. Sampling the air for mold cannot be done visually and would require professional testing.

    What should I do about it?

    Simply cleaning mold as soon as it appears can prevent it from becoming a problem. Check for mold between bathroom tiles and even in the folds of your shower curtain. Wear rubber gloves and goggles and use a regular cleaning detergent or commercial mold remover to wash it off. Afterwards, throw away the rag or sponge you used to do the clean-up and dry the area thoroughly. Wet surfaces in the home should be dried completely within 24 hrs.

    Prevention is an important precaution to take to keep the nasty mold spores away. Some simple ways to prevent mold include the following:

    • regularly open windows to ventilate the house
    • immediately clean small and large spills
    • maintain a 30-60 percent humidity level
    • avoid carpeting in basements and carpets
    • add mold inhibitors to paint
    • replace carpets or other water-absorbent materials after soaking
    • quickly investigate and address underlying problems, such as leaks

    If you’re worried about having a mold variety with mycotoxins, hire a professional to extract a sample and test it for dangerous substances. Attempting this alone can increase your risk of exposure.

    Want more information? Here are some helpful links about mold:

    Creative Commons-licensed photo courtesy of Flickr user Angelo Juan Ramos

  • Lavello Sinks – big, beautiful, stainless – and affordable

    Stainlesssinkkitchenwide

    I’m in the process of remodeling my own kitchen, and found an enormous variety of prices for very similar items. Some sinks – European brands, mostly – were ridiculously expensive, when the exact same sink (in this case, an enormous 36" stainless steel apron-fron) was 1/2 the price or less from an American vendor. I took a closer look – the metal looked the same, it was the same weight and construction, and was probably built at the same factory by the same people!

    You really do need to shop around, and don’t let your contractor suggest an expensive item when you can find the exact same thing for a fraction of the price. I found my beautiful sink from Matt Roberts’ Lavello Sinks and really couldn’t be happier with the sink or the service. Matt is a commercial contractor and property manager who found a great source for sinks that would otherwise go for $1500; he realized that there was a huge need for affordable but good quality stainless sinks, and I’m sure that his business will thrive. His prices are far better than anything else I’ve found elsewhere, and the shipping was super-fast and very affordable. If every transaction and interaction I had to engage with over the course of this remodel was as pleasant, painless (and, again, affordable) as my interaction with Matt, it sure would make the whole process a lot easier!

    Once my kitchen is done – I’m thinking we’re about eight weeks away – I’ll post pictures of the sink installation and the finished project. Until then, if you’re looking for a pretty and modern stainless sink that works very well with an historic kitchen, check him out, and tell him I sent you!

  • Hewn & Hammered forums

    Our redesign is still a few months away, but we’re slowly introducing new features which we hope will make the site more useful and interesting to you. Chief among those changes is a new forum where you can ask questions and hopefully get advice  on a variety of old-house and design issues.

    Up at the top of this window, on the left hand side, you’ll see a small text link to the forum. Go ahead and click there and post a sample question, show off a recent project, for example, or plans for your dream house, or ask our other readers for advice or feedback. Right now the forums do not require any kind of registration, but if we’re overrun with spam we might require you to register.

  • historic window workshop in Sacramento, CA

    Sacramento’s Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association and the Sacramento Bungalow Heritage Association are fighting a winning battle against cheap, unsightly and – in the long run – inefficient and environmentally damaging vinyl, aluminum and composite windows. Their solution? Fix your old wooden windows before switching over to something that seems like a good deal – but actually isn’t.

    This coming October 6 and 7, they’re offering two workshops on the basic repair, maintenance, weatherization and repair of historic wood windows.

    Volunteer instructors from the community will demonstrate how they worked on their own windows, preserved the character of their historic homes, and saved their pocketbooks!  Historic windows were made to be taken apart and repaired, and with basic guidance, anyone can make their windows work as they originally did – with ease of operation and weather tight – and beautiful!

    We ran a short piece about these workshops and the woman behind them two years ago; again, much thanks to Janice Calpo not only for the heads-up, but more importantly for making Sacramentans aware of the benefits of our old homes’ original windows!

  • “one beautiful bungalow” in Sacramento CA

    Gabby Hyman at RenovatorsPlace.com had the following story about Don Fox, who lives not far from me in Sacramento. Read the whole article here.

    When Don Fox took his first look at a 1910 Craftsman-style bungalow in Sacramento, CA, he knew he had found his long-sought fixer-upper. The home had "good bones," Fox said, but it was in miserable shape. A homeless man was sleeping on the porch, the windows were shattered, and there was so much grime on the kitchen walls that it "smelled like a restaurant grease trap." After gutting the home to bare studs and rafters, Fox and his wife, Amanda, completed a renovation project that won an award from the Association for the Preservation of Historic Homes.

    The remodeled kitchen, bathrooms, and living room were the true stars of what the Sacramento Bee called "One Beautiful Bungalow." An Italian-American from Brooklyn, Don has a particular fondness for the kitchen renovation, which resulted in a room where he spends a lot of his time whipping up traditional culinary faire.

    "The house felt good when I first saw it," he explains. "It was a spiritual feeling. That’s despite its having been sad, neglected, and uninhabited for years." Fox, a former journeyman carpenter, furniture-maker, and aficionado of period architecture, saw the potential to create a showpiece.

  • Rich Baumhofer & Cindy Bechtel’s Curtis Park firehouse, part II

    Yesterday, HGTV ran an episode of their reZONED program on Richard Baumhofer & Cindy Bechtel’s beautiful Curtis Park home in a remodeled and restored firehouse, which we originally wrote about this week last year. Marybeth Bizjak has more on the house in her September 2006 article in Sacramento Magazine. Later in the article, Rich notes his favorite northern California salvage yards – which happen to be mine, too – Ohmega Salvage and Urban Ore, both in Berkeley:

    Vision. Some people have it; some don’t.

    Rich Baumhofer and
    Cindy Bechtel fall squarely into the “have vision” category. When the
    couple stumbled upon a dilapidated old house in Curtis Park, they could
    see it had major potential.

    Their friends told them they were
    crazy to consider buying the structure, which had been built in 1917 as
    a fire station and later converted to a private home. But buy it they
    did, setting out to restore its “firehouse charm.”

    They
    succeeded so spectacularly that HGTV will feature their house on an
    upcoming episode of “reZONED,” a show about people who turn commercial
    spaces into one-of-a-kind homes.

    “My intention was to
    rebuild in the spirit of the original firehouse,” says Baumhofer, a
    builder and general contractor who has worked on many old houses. He
    kept the shell of the Craftsman-style building intact while gutting the
    inside to create a spacious, family-friendly home.

       

    Congratulations to both Rich and Cindy – it’s nice when the rest of the world acknowledges all your hard work. And thanks, too, for sharing your home with all of us!

  • news roundup, July 2007

    Several bits & pieces of interest to old-house aficionados, rehabbers and others interested in A&C: