A home remodel is one of those things that can breed procrastination. Everyone wants to make the most of his or her home, but many, especially the uninitiated, put off making it happen. Perhaps, like a long-delayed trip to the dentist, this anxiety results from outdated perceptions and a lack of good information. But good things, like a bright, healthy smile, can result from overcoming fears and make us wonder why we waited so long to get started. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

Why wait for HGTV’s reality show “Takeover My Makeover” or TLC’s “While You Were Out” home remodeling surprise to call you? Now the new paradigm in home remodeling is here in the Portland/Vancouver area. It is Harvest Construction’s WOW or Week of Wonder. This system provides its clients with a complete floor-to-ceiling professional design and renovation, completed in a week or less, using any finish materials that clients might select. How do they do that, you ask? Northwest Renovation... more

Nearly half of all investigations for childhood lead poisoning in Oregon found that remodeling or repainting was the source of exposure. Common renovation and painting activities such as sanding, cutting, scraping, removal of plumbing, replacing windows and any work that disturbs painted surfaces can create and spread hazardous lead dust, which can cause lead poisoning. To protect against this risk, on April 22, 2008, EPA issued a rule requiring the use of lead-safe practices and other actions aimed... more

This issue’s musings ponders how to be sure a contractor’s competitive bid is fair, accurate, and complete. Not only is comparing apples to apples important, getting to the apple core is equally essential. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

His own nightmarish experience as a client inspired Wade Freitag to found one of Portland’s most respected design/build firms, Craftsman Design and Renovation. An architectural designer at the time in 1994, Freitag hired a general contractor to restore his 1907 dream “fixer” home but ultimately finished the job himself. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

When you want to “renovate” an old home, sometimes stuff happens, and you just have to roll with the punches. When Noel Larson’s house suffered a house fire, the first thought was to do the usual fire restoration, such as remove the charred wood and alleviate the smoke damage and smell. This would have been tough enough, on this noble 1914 French Provincial stucco home right on Alameda ridge in Portland; but things were bound to get more complicated. And then, more complicated still. This... more

In the world of “Do It Yourself,” there are the wannabes and the masters. Fred Smith is one of the masters. I have been involved in construction all my life, and have seen good jobs and not-so-good jobs. A lot of time, when people want to do part of the project themselves, I cringe, because I know that their workmanship will reflect on the overall job…and it usually isn’t very good. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

Richard and Marie* were frustrated with the building of their dream house. What should have been a nine-month project was taking 18 months and they didn’t know how to motivate their contractor. The situation was definitely complicated. Because they were building out of town and building a log home, they had limited choices when choosing a contractor. Add to that, the contractor lived four hours from the job site, which made it more difficult to manage. They didn’t know how to get the contractor... more