A few months ago, we talked a little about buying a “used house.” This was the case for a couple in Norfolk recently. The previous owner had been a do-it-yourselfer, and his skills left a bit to be desired. His addition off the master bedroom at the back of the house had some serious issues, the worst being a persistent roof leak. The ceiling was also lower here than in the other rooms, which made it cramped and dark.
Our first goal was to address the leak. Because the addition had a flat roof that had been tied in improperly, and because the tiled roof was showing its age, we knew a total replacement was in order. By dealing with the roof first, we were able to reframe the roof of the addition and create a cathedral ceiling in what would become the new master bathroom.
We installed CertainTeed Landmark Architectural shingles in Moire Black. These shingles carry a limited lifetime warranty, and are rated for wind speeds up to 110 mph. The gable ends of the new roof were finished with tan siding and trim that complemented the brick.
After a few conversations about what the homeowners envisioned for the interior, we got to work inside, creating a new master suite.
The bedroom received fresh paint and new Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) flooring. Between the bedroom and the new master bath, we installed a barn door with obscured glass. This door style is great for rooms where there isn’t enough space for a traditional door to swing open. The obscured glass still allowed the light to shine through, while giving privacy to the adjoining bathroom.
The bathroom is a true showplace that represents the homeowner’s style. Starting at the top, the new cathedral ceiling makes the room feel much larger. Windows, along with specialty and accent lighting reflected in the double mirrors, keep the space bright. The homeowner found a vanity and two vessel sinks she loved. We added a Fantasy Brown granite countertop, and the same material was used for the bench and threshold in the shower.
We love the new shower! Several sizes and styles of tile were used to create a unique look. A niche was built for shampoo and soaps, and the space was finished with a custom glass enclosure.
A lighter shade of LVP was installed on the bathroom floor, in the new water closet, and in the walk-in clothes closet. Pale blue walls and bright white trim completed the makeover.
Our clients said, “The master suite is still as gorgeous as the day it was finished. It has become the topic of conversation with all visitors.”
We hope this space will continue to be a relaxing retreat for many years!
Remember how excited you were when you first bought your new house? Everything was all shiny and new. Best of all – it was yours! Ready and waiting to fill with family and memories.
Fast forward 10, 15, even 20 years. You love your neighborhood and (most of) your neighbors. You’ve put down roots in your community: church, your kids’ schools, volunteering in your community. Life is good, but the house… well, it’s not so shiny and new anymore.
This was the case for Rik and Michele. They loved their home, but they felt it really needed a makeover, starting with the roof. There were no leaks, but the roof was nearing the end of its life. We replaced the old roof with CertainTeed Landmark Architectural shingles in Driftwood. These shingles carry a lifetime limited warranty and are rated for winds up to 110 mph.
Next, we turned our attention to the siding. The existing two-tone beige was okay, but the homeowners were ready for a bold new color and style. They selected Mastic Ovations Dutch lap siding in Wedgewood. The fronts of the living room “bump out” and dormers were accented with Mastic Cedar Shake siding in the same Wedgewood. White gutters and downspouts, trim wrap, and corners completed the look.
Doors, doors, doors! We replaced the front door with a new ThermaTru model featuring 4 windows at the top and a 5-panel site lite. Michele painted the door a beautiful yellow shade that looks great with the new siding and trim. We reframed the garage doors to eliminate the clipped corners and installed new white roll-up doors that complement the style of the new front door. Around back, we replaced the old sliding patio door with a new energy-efficient one.
The real stunner is the entry! Michele told us she’d always wanted a stone entry and our team was able to make that dream a reality. Stacked ledgestone was hand-applied one at a time around the door and on the wall. We also used a rain chain here in place of the traditional gutter downspout.
We received this note from Rik and Michele a few weeks after the job was completed:
“We are thrilled with (the makeover) and find ourselves sitting outside almost daily just to take it all in!”
Each week I go out to Joust Windmills! and by that I mean, meet with homeowners that have called and requested a free estimate for Home Improvements. We are making a better world, one home at a time!
Don Quixote by Picasso
Hopefully, the homeowners I meet will see us as the best value for their hard earned money, select our firm to perform these services and in them we acquire a client, a raving fan, and a new friend!
Sometimes my efforts are rewarded, sometimes I refer them to another firm that can serve them better, sometimes I get used and abused. No matter; I still go. I am reminded of what Don Quixote sang:
“And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star”
Foundation Repairs Needed in Hampton
Monday I went to Hampton to meet with an 88 year old gentleman that was concerned about major cracks going on in his ceilings and walls in his home. I asked him when the home was built he thought it was built in the 1930’s. I guessed 1968 when I checked Zillow later I saw that I had been built in 1969. He was very concerned about the structural stability of the home. I saw that this was probably a job for the good guys at FSI: Foundation Systems Incorporated. I called them on the phone and told them about what I was seeing and set up a time for them to come out and see the gentleman to evaluate his situation and give an estimate. He was concerned about the cost and if insurance would cover foundation issues. I told him I didn’t know about insurance but I answered all his questions about foundations and framing and how it would affect the cracks in the walls and ceilings. Nice guy, I hope everything works out for him. I know I left him in good hands with FSI!
Moving Walls in Williamsburg
Later that same day I met a great couple who wanted to remove some load bearing walls and make their kitchen and living room and open floor design. They had attempted quite a bit
of remodeling work themselves and were finding it just a bit more difficult then they make it seem on HGTV.
They wanted to replace all the ceilings in the downstairs with a flat untextured drywall because the previous owner had used a heavy stomped ceiling texture that made it look not unlike a Baked Alaska cake.
Heavy texture on ceiling can look like “Baked Alaska”
They also wanted to replace all the floors in the downstairs area which would include demolishing a mud set tile floor in the foyer, hardwood floors in the living room and dining room & a laminate floor in the kitchen
In the den, they had some faux beams across the ceiling that they wanted removed and new recessed lights put in, ceiling drywall repaired and then painted.
faux beams in den
Upstairs the owner had tried to do some drywall finishing work in the bathroom until he realized that the extent of his skills did not include the “artwork” that is drywall. He wanted us to redo the drywall in the master bathroom.
On the rear of the house they had a balcony coming off of the master bedroom that they had previously removed.
Rear of home where balcony has been removed
Because of the Tudor style of the house the stucco was very damaged where the balcony had previously existed. They wanted a price for re-siding the rear of the home with Hardieplank lap siding.
My estimate for all of the above: $17,532
They also had a problem with their air conditioning ducts being extremely dirty and they wanted the air conditioning ducts cleaned.
This is the inside of an AC Duct
One of the problems that we noticed with the air conditioning ducts is that there was a commercial style insulation inside the ducts so I referred them to Chuck Worley with The House Call Company.
Leaking Windows in Norfolk
This is a picture of the leak taken by the tenant. Note the water drops on the top rail of the single hung windowThe arrow and yellow line shows the area of the mullion that is allowing water to enter the window assembly
I went to Norfolk to take a look at a rental property that we had previously worked on in the past. We had found a roof leak in the past and that was due to a bullet that had lodged in the roof and created a leak. We also replaced the rear patio door that had been leaking on this home in the past. This time the leak was coming from a large window assembly and the master bedroom on the second floor. There was a large half round window that was mulled to two 3 foot wide single-hung windows beneath it. The mullion that attached the half round window to the single-hung windows was allowing water to come in during rainstorms. The permanent fix to this would be to replace the entire assembly (due to the fact we had no idea who the window manufacturer was or how to get replacement parts for the mullion). However, because of our long-standing relationship with the property owner, I was willing to try a “gamble repair” of just caulking the mullion in between the half round window and the single-hung windows on the chance that that might solve the leak. I told them it would definitely be a maintenance item and there be no warranty on it, but the cost savings would definitely be worth the gamble. They agreed.
Front Porch Addition in Hampton
I went to the Chesapeake Avenue area of Hampton to meet with a young Coast Guard man who was interested in building a front porch of his house. After discussing the different designs for the front porch, looking at what his neighbors had, talking about what he wanting to do and discussing his budget constraints, it quickly became apparent that he was not anywhere near the point where he really knew what it was exactly that he wanted. I referred him to David DiSpirito of Homesite, Inc. so that he could hire David to develop a design that he could then have priced. Otherwise, I could see us wasting a lot of time going back and forth and him never getting something that both he and his wife could agree on. He was pleased with that idea and then he asked me to come inside the house and look at some of the other remodeling ideas that he had that he wanted to do himself. We looked at the kitchen, we also looked at removing a load bearing wall in the 1940s era house and some of the opportunities and constraints that the current layout of the house had. It was a good meeting and we parted on good terms. Hopefully he pursues the design idea with David DiSpirito and we get a design in the future that we can price and get the opportunity to do some work for him
Vinyl Siding and Paint in Carrollton
I went to a siding estimate in Carrollton Virginia. A very large house that the owner’s husband had done a lot of work on. He had passed away just 18 months ago and it seemed like they were taking some of the life insurance money and doing a lot of repairs to the house. They wanted to install new vinyl siding on the house which is currently all stained cedar siding.
The owner was getting very frustrated with the carpenter bees attacking the wood trim and the siding. The bees were definitely “out in force” the day we were out there.These are what the carpenter bees looked like that day.
It was interesting to talk about her recently deceased husband having been in the Air Force and he had also worked in the career field that I had worked in in the Air Force.
The owner was very interested in what I had to say about the siding and my recommendations as to how to handle certain details on the home as opposed to what others may have said about the siding. It was interesting that she didn’t want to share what the others had said but I had wonder… it was almost like I was there for an exam!
One of the issues was that on the side of the house the siding had been run on an angle and other contractors had told her that vinyl siding could not be run at an angle (which I knew was untrue…I have since located the specification from the manufacturer that will allow for this.) So that was a point of discussion.
She had gutters on the house and some of the fascia boards had been wrapped with pvc coated trim coil at the same time as the gutters were installed and there was discussion about having Carefree Gutters remove the gutters prior to our start and replace them after we were done.
She also wanted many of the doors repainted on the house.
Mr. Schaefer wanted a Wooden Multi-Level Deck for entertaining and enjoying his newly purchased home in Kingsmill, Williamsburg Virginia. Sadly, the first contractor he selected did not perform to his expectations and left the job unfinished.
This is how the unfinished deck appeared when we were first introduced to it. (Click on each picture to enlarge to full size)
Our teammates, Greg and Pat Crawford took on the job of finishing off the deck Mr. Schaefer had dreamed of. When we were finished, it looked like this!
Please don’t feel bad about not seeing me on the job site. I wasn’t there much myself. This was the first time that I used a contractor for a large (large to me) project. Overall I was very pleased. I had planned to obtain several quotes on the roof but in the end you were the only contractor I spoke with. Your use of technology as well as your qualification as a Certain Teed partner impressed me. Your quote for the basic roof installation was in line with what one of my neighbor’s was quoted earlier in the year.
I am very happy with the process and the results. There really wasn’t a lot of time to talk between when the roof was started and completed. The same with the replacement gutters with leaf covers. It did not take Jason longer to complete the aluminum wrapping however the precise bends and hand fitting took the longest. Jason’s attention to detail is appreciated and is evident in the finished product.
The roof was the first of a few projects that we need to complete in the next several years. Window’s and door’s will have to wait a year or two. We will be in touch when it is time to start the new projects.
Please thank Justin for staying on top of our job and for all of the assistance he provided. I was very happy to have someone explaining how they can go ahead and get started and that work is already finished rather than someone that provides excuses for delays. The one thing we probably need from you is some business cards for the neighbors that comment on how great the new roof looks.
These are pictures of a Family Room Addition in Seaford, Virginia that we just completed for a great couple!
The Whites needed more room for the growing family when the grandkids would come and visit. They had an existing deck that they never used so they asked us to remove the deck and build a room addition where it used to be. They had a beautiful backyard and still wanted to be able to enjoy it. To accomplish this we used large picture and double hung windows to give a full view of the trees in the backyard. The part of the project that we were most pleased with is how we matched the new hardwood floor to the existing hardwood floor in the dining room. David DiSpirito did the design, Kris Austin was the estimator, Justin Foreman was the Project Superintendent, JD Talley was the Foreman.
We received this fantastic card from the White’s that just made our day!
click on picture to enlarge
click on each picture to enlarge “Before Picture” of the deck that is to be replaced by the new family room addition A “before picture” of the rear wall of the home leading onto the deck. This wall would be opened up and the door and one of the windows would be moved to the outside wall of the addition. A “before picture” of the dining room and door onto the original deck. This wall would be opened up and the hardwood floor would be “toothed in” to a new hardwood floor in the new addition. Here is a “before picture” of the deck that would be removed from the rear of the home.
Everyone loves “Before & After” pictures, but seldom are some as dramatic as the transformation that we witnessed in Hampton on Missionary Ridge. Our clients loved their neighborhood and their home that they had raised their family in, but knew that it was long overdue for some updating. So, rather than move to a new home in a different neighborhood and leave so many wonderful memories behind, they contracted Jim Hicks Home Improvement to replace the roof, the windows, the siding, rebuild an built-in entertainment center for a new TV, replace skylights, replace garage doors, replace entry doors and porch columns, build a screen wall so they could enjoy their back porch without having to view the AC equipment and trashcans and remove a tired sunroom from the rear of the home.
We installed Certainteed Landmark Shingles, Mastic Quest Siding, Simonton Asure Windows, Thermatru and Pro Via doors, an Atrium Sliding patio door, Mid-America Shutters, Velux Skylight and Leaf Relief Gutter Protection system.
I just received the following email from the homeowner:
“Hey Jim,
I just wanted to let you know how pleased I am with the work and your workers. Justin has been here everyday and is such a great guy to work with and Greg and his brother are doing a great job am so happy with everything.”
Here are some before and after pictures (please click on each picture for full size view):
A “before picture” of the dining room and door onto the original deck. This wall would be opened up and the hardwood floor would be “toothed in” to a new hardwood floor in the new addition.
