House for my Parents

[CurlyDave]

Eddie:

When we went through cabinet selection for rebuilding our burned down house in CA about 2 years ago we ended up with KraftMaid cabinets from Home Depot. We liked them a lot and so do the new owners.

For bathroom vanities, go right back to the same store and get KraftMaid vanities. We did just about what you are describing, a larger separate vanity for the woman's uses and a smaller one for the man. We were pleased with the result.

 

[Dr Dave]

Good point CurlyDave, I don't know why the box stores don't promote the bathroom cabinets, that are available from there kitchen cabinet dealers? All our local store's carry are cheap looking, overpriced junk. My home was built in the early70's and the cabinets are the same brand in the bath and the kitchen.

I prefer the 36" tall bathroom vanities, 30" is too low for me.

Dave

 

[Dr Dave]

Good point CurlyDave, I don't know why the box stores don't promote the bathroom cabinets, that are available from there kitchen cabinet dealers? All our local store's carry are cheap looking, overpriced junk. My home was built in the early70's and the cabinets are the same brand in the bath and the kitchen.

I prefer the 36" tall bathroom vanities, 30" is too low for me.

Dave

 

[EddieWalker]

Sheetrock is coming along nicely.









Eddie

 

[MarkV]

Looking good Eddie!

MarkV

 

[s219]

Looking good! So how are you going to trim out the exposed beams? We're about to tackle them on our home, and I am thinking of using rough sawn pine that is stained a light gray (like a weathered barn wood color) to box in the beams.

 

[jk96]

Hey Eddie,

maybe I missed it but I didn't see what brand of windows you installed and why? We're just starting the bid process on windows, trying to compare cost vs benefits, vinyl vs clad, etc etc.

Jeremy

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm planning on matching the wood for the beams and mantle to the kitchen cabinets. Right now, I know they are maple, so I'll take a door with me to Sherwin Williams and have them match the stain. They are pretty good at that, so it shouldn't be too hard. I'm planning on making the beams simple boxes and rounding the edges with the sander to give it a kind of older look. I'm not going to distress them, but I like to have some character in them.

The windows are :: ATRIUM WINDOWS AND DOORS :: from McCoys. They are aluminum and cost about $160 each for a 3ft x 4ft window. Since we didn't want grids, they had to be ordered, which didn't change the price, but it took two weeks to get them. I use these windows with clients and have only had one problem. One window developed a leak a few years after installing it and they where very quick about sending a guy out to measure it, then a week later, they replaced it.

I don't care for vinyl windows. They don't open or close very easily and the overall look of them isn't as nice as metal.

Eddie

 

[IslandTractor]

I don't care for vinyl windows. They don't open or close very easily and the overall look of them isn't as nice as metal.

Eddie

Some of us still prefer unclad wood! We still have the original single pane windows with antique glass that were installed in our house 130 years ago. Still in fine condition. When a good quality storm window is added outside, they are almost as weather tight as modern windows and have much more character. I am torn about a remodel we are about to do as the contractors really don't want to reuse the old windows because it is much harder to remove and reinstall them than to pop in a factory made replacment.

 

[pacerron]

Some of us still prefer unclad wood! We still have the original single pane windows with antique glass that were installed in our house 130 years ago. Still in fine condition. When a good quality storm window is added outside, they are almost as weather tight as modern windows and have much more character. I am torn about a remodel we are about to do as the contractors really don't want to reuse the old windows because it is much harder to remove and reinstall them than to pop in a factory made replacment.

Stick with your old ones. A bunch of different looking windows on the outside ruins the character and style of a home.
Be a good chance to fix any broken weight ropes.
Aluminum windows in your climate would likely sweat down the frames and make a mess. My mother had aluminum windows in her house with marble sills because of the sweat problem but it still messed up the sides.
I have a newer house, with white aluminum clad outside, stained and lacquered wood inside, double hung windows with pane divider inserts. They look and work fine on this house but the white finish on the aluminum clad is affected by weather and when cleaning the outside glass the chalk gets all over the glass, taking forever and many rags to get them clean.
There's no perfect solution to anything, just new marketing to sell new products every few years and contractors that are not craftsmen anymore.