Home remodeling projects are complex endeavors that require the coordination of various construction fields to achieve a seamless and successful transformation. Home remodeling contractors act as the orchestrators of these projects, bringing together different specialists to ensure every aspect is executed with precision and care. From initial planning to final execution, home remodeling contractors play a pivotal role in coordinating multiple construction fields to deliver stunning and functional results.

1. Architecture and Design

Initial planning is the foundation of any home remodeling project. Home remodeling contractors work closely with architects and designers to understand the client’s vision and translate it into actionable plans. By effectively coordinating architecture and design, home remodeling contractors create a roadmap for the entire project, allowing each construction field to bring the vision to life.

2. Structural and Civil Engineering

Home remodeling contractors work hand in hand with structural and civil engineers to evaluate the feasibility of proposed changes and ensure they meet building codes and safety standards. Coordinating with structural and civil engineers allows contractors to identify any potential structural issues that may arise. Addressing concerns proactively, allows contractors to prevent delays and budget overruns, ensuring that the project progresses smoothly.

3. Plumbing and Electrical

Remodeling projects often involve modifications to plumbing and electrical systems. Working with skilled plumbers and electricians, home remodeling contractors ensure that new fixtures, outlets, and appliances are properly integrated into the existing systems. Home remodelers oversee the installation of plumbing and electrical components, ensuring that everything is up to code and functions optimally.

4. Carpentry and Millwork

From custom cabinetry to intricate trim work, home remodeling contractors collaborate with skilled carpenters and millworkers to bring the design vision to life. Overseeing carpentry and millwork ensures that every detail is executed with precision and craftsmanship. Home contractors work closely with these experts to guarantee that the materials used are of the highest quality and that the finished elements complement the overall design.

5. Flooring and Tiling

Remodeling contractors collaborate with flooring specialists and tilers to select appropriate materials, patterns, and textures that match the design theme and meet the functional requirements. With oversight, home remodeling contractors ensure that the flooring and tiling work is carried out meticulously, leaving no room for errors. This results in flawless finishes that enhance the overall aesthetics of the remodeled space.

When your home remodeler is a licensed general contractor, you have the peace of mind that the entire project is being managed through a single point of contact, eliminating the need for scheduling multiple meetings with different field contractors. For a busy homeowner, this can make or break a complicated construction project, in addition to eliminating the stress of coordinating and scheduling the different phases of the job. 

By effectively coordinating architecture and design, structural and civil engineering, plumbing and electrical, carpentry and millwork, and flooring and tiling, home remodelers orchestrate every aspect of the project to achieve remarkable results. Their collaborative efforts not only ensure that the project stays on track and within budget but also deliver a home that reflects the client’s vision and exceeds their expectations.

Mares & Dow

Contact your local skylight contractors at Mares & Dow Construction and Skylights today to transform your home. We have over 37 years of installation and consulting experience.

The water appeared out of nowhere. Small puddles began to form on the windowsill, and then you noticed moisture accumulating on the floor under one of the windows. It seems the water has leaked from a faulty window frame, which begs the question, “Should I call home remodeling contractors if a window frame leaks?” The short answer is yes, you should call a team of home remodeling contractors to repair a faulty window frame.

Is the Window Under Warranty?

Windows typically include a warranty that covers repairs for a faulty product that lasts between three and 15 years. If your faulty window remains covered under a warranty, call the home remodeling contractors that installed the window to repair it. Sometimes, the manufacturer of a window issues a warranty, and if that is the case for your faulty window, call the manufacturer to assign a window installation specialist who holds the right certification for repairing your brand of window.

If the faulty window no longer is covered by a warranty, contact a home remodeling contractor that has established a proven record of experience and received a large number of positive customer reviews.

What Are the Signs of a Leaky Window Frame?

Like the other features of a house, windows sustain wear and tear over time. From the addition of a room to extreme weather such as powerful thunderstorms, a window sustains enough damage to compromise the structural integrity of the frame.

The key to fixing a leaky window frame is to detect the signs of damage before it becomes difficult, if not impossible to repair.

Water Accumulation

The most obvious sign of a leaky window frame is the accumulation of water, whether water appears on a windowsill or the floor. However, you have to be careful not to overreact because maybe someone left a window open by accident during a storm. If you come across a closed window where water has started to accumulate, you probably face the home improvement dilemma called a leaky frame.

Foul-Smelling Odor

Not every faulty window frame leads to the accumulation of water. When moisture penetrates a home and stays there for a prolonged period, the materials impacted eventually develop a distinct odor that means the growth of mold and mildew. If you smell a foul odor coming from the area surrounding a window, it usually means the frame has started to leak.

Discoloration

Although you might not see accumulated water around a window, you can still see the damaging effects of a faulty window frame. You might detect discoloration, such as a faded brown or yellow at first. As moisture continues to find its way inside your home, the fading colors can transform into much darker colors. Painting over the discolored areas near a window represents a temporary solution to a problem that requires a team of home remodeling contractors to address.

Visible Wall Damage

The damage caused by a leaky window frame often extends to an adjacent wall, especially if you do not detect the problem. Bubbling paint and/or wallpaper indicates damaged adhesive materials. When the damaged adhesive materials begin to dry, paint and/or wallpaper bubbles. Saturated drywall eventually sags to the point that it collapses. If you notice visible wall damage, you should act with a sense of urgency by calling a team of residential general contractors.

Mares & Dow

Contact your local skylight contractors at Mares & Dow Construction and Skylights today to transform your home. We have over 37 years of installation and consulting experience.

Whether your family is about to grow or you simply need more space to entertain and store things, adding one or more rooms represents a great way to meet your goals, without you and your family having to move. You also benefit from an increase in the value of your property. However, adding one or more rooms represents one of the most complex home improvement projects.

With that in mind, let’s review four popular tips from home remodeling contractors about room additions.

Start Deep Into the Ground

Every home addition requires the stability of a strong foundation to support the new addition, which means you must match the floor and roof lines to establish foundational stability. The foundation should go deep enough to penetrate the frost depth established in your area. What should you do with the displaced soil?

The answer is to spread it over your property and build one or more retaining walls to hold the additional soil in place. A team of properly credentialed retaining wall contractors can help you build one or more retaining walls.

Match the Exterior and Interior Finishes

The new room addition should match the exterior and interior designs of your home. If your room requires an extension of the roof, make sure the room matches the roofline in terms of pitch, eave depth, and rafter size. Then, ensure the new room exterior matches the design of the siding and other types of exterior finishes. Finally, the design of doors, walls, and windows should match the interior of every other room in your house.

Establish the Budget

The cost of most improvement projects can be high, especially when it comes to adding a room. You can expect the cost of a room addition to be at least 10 percent of your home’s value. After you create a preliminary budget that you share with the general contractor, you must determine how you plan to fund the home remodeling project. Do you want to take out a second home mortgage? Do you have enough money saved to at least finance a part of the project? Do you need to apply for a loan to fund a substantial portion of the new room addition?

You can save money by completing a few do-it-yourself projects, but make sure not to risk compromising the structural integrity of your house.

Hire the Right Contractor

The key to hiring the right contractor for your new room addition is to ensure the contractor has built a positive reputation. Ask for professional references from past clients, as well as read the review left by former clients on sites like Yelp and Google. You should finalize the budget with the right general contractor, but leave a little wriggle room to account for unexpected costs such as those associated with project delays. Set up a way to communicate deadlines and schedules, and make sure you put the work schedules in writing to hold the general contractor accountable for completing the home remodeling project on time.

The right general contractor explains the permits and licenses you need to acquire for each phase of the project. You also should understand how to make your project comply with local building codes, as well as any restrictions placed on your property by the homeowner’s association.

Mares & Dow

Contact your local skylight contractors at Mares & Dow Construction and Skylights today to transform your home. We have over 37 years of installation and consulting experience.

You have spent a considerable amount of time planning for your home remodeling project. One issue that presents an obstacle for your home remodeling project involves deciding how to retain the charm of your house. Hiring a team of experienced and highly-rated home remodeling contractors should help you achieve your remodeling goals, while retaining the charm of your home.

Charm is one of several characteristics that define curb appeal, which is how neighbors and visitors to the neighborhood view the outside décor of your house. Charm also is an integral characteristic of the interior décor. If you have watched a house-buying show on HGTV, you understand the importance of retaining the charm during a remodeling project because of the value that charm adds to the price of your house.

How to Retain Your Home’s Charm

Before you start the home remodeling project, write down a list of everything that you love about your house. You also should ask for input from friends and family members to discover which features deliver the charm required to attract the interest of potential home buyers. Do you love the original woodwork that exudes a rustic ambiance? Does the hardwood flooring generate a sophisticated feeling? Is cedar siding that has been installed by siding contractors a strong selling point that delivers the charm factor? Other features that might be worth retaining during a remodel include pocket doors, crown molding, and original hardware.

Reasonable Expectations

After writing down a list of the most charming features of your home that you want to retain during a remodeling project, the next item on your to-do list should be to have reasonable expectations when determining which features should stay and which features have to go. Some charming features such as a fireplace or sliding bookcase might not be reasonable features to save for both design and budgetary reasons.

You cannot expect to keep every charming feature of your house during a remodeling project.

Think Addition, Not Subtraction

Saving the best features that help your home exude charm is not all about deciding which features you can afford to remove. You also should consider adding charming features during a remodeling project. In fact, a remodeling project represents the best opportunity for you to enhance the charm of your home. This is especially true for outdoor features, such as the installation of residential skylights and expanding the size of the garage.

Save the Light Fixtures

Certain types of light fixtures add a tremendous amount of charm and character, regardless of the change in the design of a room or a series of rooms. If you decide to complete an overhaul of a room, search for light fixtures that exemplify the era of the ambiance you want to project. Reproduction light fixtures represent charming additions to any room in your home.

Optimize the Charm of Window Treatments

Older homes include windows that have drapes or curtains that add charming panache. Your home does not have to be old for it to benefit from window treatments. Window treatments add a contemporary feel, without lessening the impact of charming windows. They also add beauty, color, and texture to a room.

Above all, be patient with a home remodeling project to ensure you do not overlook any features that should retain their charm.

Mares & Dow

Contact your local skylight contractors at Mares & Dow Construction and Skylights today to transform your home. We have over 40 years of installation and consulting experience.

The damage can be subtle or easy to detect. If you see the following signs your home has foundation damage, you need to act with a sense of urgency by scheduling an inspection with a team of licensed home remodeling contractors.

The foundation is the most important part of your house. It provides the structural support for the remaining elements of your home, protects the interior from moisture, insulates to generate heat, and resists movement to encourage structural stability. The failure of a home’s foundation can be caused by several issues, such as severe drought, plumbing leaks, and inferior condition of the soil.

Whether you are in the market for a home or plan to remodel your current house, you should understand how to notice the signs your home has foundation damage.

Cracks on the Exterior Walls

One of the easiest signs to detect a failing foundation is cracks along the exterior walls of your home. If you notice thin, small cracks forming close to the ground, you should schedule an inspection with a team of residential general contractors. Discovering large exterior cracks that move in a cross diagonal pattern might mean your home’s foundation has moved. Bricks that protrude from sections of your home require the immediate services of a highly rated team of home remodeling contractors.

Cracks on the Interior Walls

Cracks on the interior walls are much more common than cracks that develop on the outdoor walls of your house. If you notice interior wall cracks moving in cross diagonal directions, then you should hire a team of home remodeling contractors to inspect the foundation. Interior cracks that appear at the corners of door and window frames also might indicate a compromised home foundation.

Uneven Floors

Uneven floors that appear on the first floor of your home represent a common sign of foundation damage. The foundation is either settling or shifting under your house. You can test for uneven floors by rolling a marble or golf ball over the surface of a floor. Although this is not the most scientific method to determine the shape of a floor, it does give you an idea of whether your foundation has deteriorated.

Moisture in the Basement

Moisture can develop in the basement for many different reasons. Clogged pipes discharge water and the washing machine has sprung a leak, which represent the two of the most common reasons why a basement develops moisture. However, unseen cracks in the foundation are the ideal path for water to take. The damp spaces you discover in the basement might include a foul odor that indicates the moisture has been around for a considerable amount of time.

Doors and Windows Do Not Shut Properly

This is a less obvious sign of foundation damage because doors and windows can get stuck for a wide variety of reasons. Nonetheless, if you are having trouble obtaining a clean close on a few doors and windows, an unstable home foundation can warp the shape of the frames. Contacting a highly-rated team of home remodeling contractors can determine whether tough-to-close doors and windows are a sign of foundation damage.

Mares & Dow

Contact your local skylight contractors at Mares & Dow Construction and Skylights today to transform your home. We have over 40 years of installation and consulting experience.

You have thought about how to maximize the spaces inside your home. Maybe add an entertainment room in the almost empty basement or create a living space outdoors to entertain guests. You probably have missed the best opportunity to maximize a living space, and it sits just a few feet away from one of the entrances to your home.

We’re talking about the garage.

A garage has more potential to optimize the living space in your house. The question is which of the many options make the most sense. Working with one of the highly-rated home remodeling contractors in the Bay Area can help you make the best choice for your home.

Here are a few popular ways to convert your garage in 2022:

Entertainment Center

You can convert your garage into a larger entertainment center than the one you have created inside your house. One of the greatest benefits of moving an entertainment center into the garage is you and your guests enjoy more privacy. You also limit the amount of noise, especially if you line the walls with soundproof materials.

Guest House

You can transform the garage into a stylish place that guests call home. Another idea is to build out a room for one of the members of your family who cherishes privacy. You no longer have to use blow-up mattresses on the living room floor or assign two guests to the same room. Maybe you simply want to get away from it all for a night or two. You can install skylights on the garage to let the sun create a brighter ambiance.

Fitness Center

Investing in fitness and exercise equipment typically pays off when you no longer have to pay monthly dues to remain in great physical condition. Where is the best place to set up a home gym? A spacious area such as the garage makes the ideal location for a home gym. You have more than enough room to add free weights and a weight machine, as well as aerobic equipment such as a treadmill and stationary bike.

Office

Whether you work from home or simply get ahead of the work curve in a home office, you need a place where you can work without being disturbed by the activities around you. The garage gives you the space to build out a home office, while giving you the privacy you need to optimize your productivity. Make sure you waterproof the garage to protect your investment in electronic devices.

Lounge and Bar

Move the weekly poker game out of your home and into the garage. You can convert your garage into a mini-playground the includes a poker table and arcade games to keep your guests entertained. Adding a bar with a full selection of spirits is the final touch on creating the right ambiance for the lounge.

When the time comes to convert the garage, you have to create a budget that matches your vision for the conversion. The average garage conversion costs $14,400, with the size of the garage and what you plan to convert the garage into representing the two most influential cost factors. As far as timing, you can spend anywhere from four to six weeks turning your garage into a lounge, office, or guest house.

Mares & Dow

Contact your local skylight contractors at Mares & Dow Construction and Skylights today to transform your home. We have over 40 years of installation and consulting experience.

You never get a second chance to make a positive first impression. One of the best home remodeling contractors can make the first chance count.

As a business owner or manager, the sales process goes through a few phases before you win the loyalty of a new customer. The first phase of the sales process involves attracting potential customers by making a positive first impression. You want your business to present a professional appearance that makes potential customers want to come inside to learn more about what you have to offer.

New siding can make the difference in transforming your brand from an ordinary business into one that exudes high quality. The question is not whether your business needs new siding. Instead, the question is how do you recognize the signs your business needs to hire one of the best siding contractors to make a positive first impression on customers.

Faded Color

Most manufacturers produce siding that maintains its color for as long as the duration rating given to the siding. If the color of your business siding has faded, this means the waterproofing layers have started to deteriorate. Faded color not only presents a less than ideal appearance, but it also indicates your business is vulnerable to harsh weather conditions.

Bubbles Under the Surface

The development of water bubbles demonstrates the siding protecting your business has started to deteriorate. If you notice bubbles located in a specific area of the siding, you might be able to replace the section of compromised siding. However, noticing bubbles should be a sign that you are about to tap into your structural improvement budget to replace the entire siding of your business.

Holes

Insects love to make siding home sweet home, which often leads to the pests burrowing holes that require the completion of a foundation construction project. Unlike bubbles and faded color, holes indicate significant damage to your siding that requires costly repairs and preventive treatments. Holes that appear in the siding of your business become especially troublesome as the weather warms up after an especially harsh winter.

Mold

Siding is supposed to repel moisture to prevent the development of mold. If you detect mold growth along the seams of the siding that protects your business, the time has come to replace the old siding with new siding. Mold, fungi, and mildew can cause respiratory issues for both your customers and the members of your team. When cleaning areas of mold does not make it disappear, new siding might be the only solution to prevent mold from growing.

Increase in Energy Costs

Not every sign your business needs new siding involves physical clues. Higher energy bills can indicate compromised siding that needs to be replaced immediately. Cool air can leak out of the gaps formed by older siding and warm air no longer remains trapped to keep your customers comfortable during the colder months of the year.

Siding that has diminished in quality decreases the visual appeal of your business. To make a positive first impression, spend the money necessary to make your business visually appealing to potential customers.

Mares & Dow Specializes in Siding

Contact the siding contractors at Mares & Dow Construction and Skylights today to discuss whether siding is the best fit for your home. With over 40 years of experience, we offer the best in residential and commercial siding installation.