My father began teaching me about managing time when I was about 5 years old.  He was very much from the old school of work hard, earn your keep and keep your mouth shut.  I vividly remember him stopping me in mid stride and asking, “Where are you going?”  I replied, “I’m going outside to play.”  He said, “Well, take something with you when you go.  Don’t ever go anywhere without thinking about what you could take with you to save a trip or what you should get done before you go.  Always be thinking two steps in front of where you are.  If you do that, you’ll never waste time or energy”.

I thought he was crazy!  I heard him say that same basic phrase at least a thousand times over the next 10 years and I still thought he was crazy.

It wasn’t until I went to work for him as a laborer that I really started to understand the importance of “keeping two steps ahead”.  He had me carry wall framing materials from the drop site onto the sub floor where the carpenters were going to build the outside walls of the house.  He took a red marker and drew lines on the floor and told me, “I want the wall studs right here and the plates right here. Put the sheathing right here and don’t let any of the lumber get outside these lines or I’ll make you do it again.  When you carry lumber in, stack it like I told you and when you go out for more, don’t go empty handed.  Grab some trash or debris and throw it in the dumpster.  You’ll note it’s right next to the lumber pile out there.”

I thought he was crazy!  All I was doing was stockpiling lumber for the carpenters.  What difference did it make if I stayed within his lines?

The next day, when the carpenters showed up, I got to help build those walls.  The foreman started laying them out and we started building them.  As we were working, it came to me that the subfloor was cleaned off so we weren’t stumbling over a bunch of junk that would slow us down. I also noticed my lumber pile wasn’t in the way of building any of the walls.  There was room to swing a hammer, raise them up and brace them off.  Not one stick of lumber had to be handled twice!

Maybe he wasn’t so crazy after all.

You see, his business depended on how well he managed his own time and how well the carpenters he employed managed their time.  He taught his men never to go anywhere empty handed and to make sure that every step they took was thought out far enough in advance that they wouldn’t work their way into a corner.  He would say to them, “Think first.  Think about the big picture, then think about the steps you need to get there.  If you do that, it will be right the first time, every time and you won’t have to work so hard.”

That is time management the old school way.

Tom Life In General, remodeling building, jobsite management, remodeling, time management

In previous posts about basement finishes we’ve talked about the challenges of egress and moisture.  There is one more design challenge - headroom.  If you live in an older home you are already aware of low basement ceilings and HVAC ductwork or bearing beams that are potential head bumpers.  The floor structure at the bottom of your stairs is another place you may have to duck or you wind up with a knot on the top of your head!

To maximize headroom and minimize the expense we at Riggs Construction & Design start a finished basement design by determining if we can give our clients the room they need and still build as much wall as possible directly underneath the bearing beams.  This not only covers the beam and columns but allows us to rout all the HVAC trunk lines on the unfinished side of the basement.

Other items such as electrical lines, A/C refrigerant lines and gas pipes can be covered by firing the joists down with a 2 x 2 before we hang drywall.  This will lower your ceiling by 2” but it is higher than a suspended ceiling and gives the room a much more finished look.  Remember that all electrical junction boxes and shutoff valves have to be left accessible so with a drywall ceiling and walls, you will have to put removable plates over the electric junctions and an access panel for shut off valves, meters, plumbing cleanouts or other items that need to be accessed.  Fortunately, these access panels are readily available at any supply house, are low profile and can be painted the same color as your walls or ceilings.

Basement stairs can be a bit of a challenge in older homes depending on how they are configured and what is above the bottom of the stairs.  The stair opening can be made longer thereby increasing the headroom and still not affect the floor above with some creative structural design.  In fact, the existing stair opening structure can be supported with new piers under the concrete floor so that the structural integrity is not compromised and it even furthers your options.  If you are lucky enough to have a closet on the first floor that is directly in line with the stair opening, that closet floor can be raised enough to allow you to build a new staircase with the proper tread depth and riser height and still leave you with enough headroom to meet codes.  No matter how nice your finished basement is, if it starts with a steep staircase where you have to duck to get down them, it will take away from the pleasure of using your new space.

Tom basement remodeling, remodeling finished basements, finished lower levels, remodeling

Moisture infiltration is the enemy of a finished basement.  If you plan to remodel your basement, the absolute first step is waterproofing your foundation.  It doesn’t matter where in the St. Louis area you are, but it seems like Kirkwood, Webster and the surrounding areas are the worst for old leaky basements.  A lot has to do with the age of the house and its foundation.  The old stone foundations are the toughest to waterproof but there are many concrete ones that are just as bad.

St. Louis is known for its elastic soil and that is where the problems start.  The soil has a heavy concentration of clay that absorbs moisture and swells then dries out and shrinks throughout the year.  Usually, in the winter and spring it swells tight against the foundation walls and in the summer and early fall it dries out and pulls away.  This same process is what causes your patios and sidewalks to rise and fall with the seasons.  Once the clay has absorbed all it can, the remaining water will push through the cracks that have formed in your foundation due to the tremendous force of the swollen clay.  In the summer, when things normally dry up and the clay is moved away from the foundation, the moisture can run right down the foundation wall and find its way into those same cracks much easier than it can be absorbed by the clay!  It’s a loose, loose situation!

Foundation cracks can be sealed using epoxy injection and there are number of qualified companies that specialize in that area.  Unfortunately, moisture will find another way in.  It can enter through the seam between the footing and foundation and work its way through the joint at the floor or is will travel to the first available crack in the concrete floor itself.  If that doesn’t work, it will form new foundation cracks to find a way in.

It sounds like I’m equating moisture with some evil alien that is bound and determined to invade your home!  That is how you should feel, because once water has infiltrated your finished basement there are a number of serious consequences.  First and foremost is ruined carpet and personal property but what goes on behind the walls is far worse.  Moisture is absorbed by the wood framing, insulation and drywall and that can mean an expensive repair.  Drywall has to come off, insulation has to be replaced and many times, the wood is rotten and has to be replaced.  With all of that, the mold and mildew can be the biggest headache.  Although easy to eradicate with a double dosing of half bleach, half water, the smell of a wet basement due to mold and mildew can be hard to get rid of.  It’s important to go much further each side of a leak than you would imagine because the water will travel a long distance along the inside of the wall before it shows up on the outside.  Most homeowners and many remodeling contractors may not realize just how far it can travel and they repair just the immediate area.  Two weeks later, the smell is still there and no one can figure out why!

There is a solution to this challenge and it’s expensive but worth every dollar spent.  An interior drain tile system with a sump pump will solve all moisture infiltration in your finished basement.  The better new home builders are putting them in before the basement floor is poured and that’s a plus.  Older homes don’t have them which means breaking out the floor and digging down to the bottom of the footing, about 18” from the wall, around the entire perimeter of the basement.  A layer of rock is then put in the trench followed by a sleeved, perforated drain tile then more rock.  The drain tile is terminated at both ends into a sump basket that is set in a large hole and rocked in place even with the top of the basement floor.  Then concrete is poured into the trench and around the basket and finished at the same level as the old floor.  Then a sump pump is placed in the basket and piped to the exterior of the home.  Along with the drain tile, there is a product called cove base that goes between the floor and the wall that allows any moisture running down the wall to go into the drain tile instead of on to the floor.   We at Riggs Construction & Design recommend a dedicated circuit for the pump and a battery backup just in case the electricity goes out during a storm; when you might need that sump pump more than ever!

With a properly installed drain tile system and epoxy injection of existing foundation cracks, you can be 99% sure that moisture will not ruin your newly remodeled basement.  Just remember that uninvited water in your home is the evil alien that can destroy your most cherished possession, your home.

Tom basement remodeling, remodeling basement remodeling, finished basements, moisture problems

When I was a young man, I spent many weekends and nights working on side jobs to supplement my income as an apprentice carpenter.  Starting pay for a 1st term apprentice in 1968 was about $3.75 an hour and with time missed because of inclement weather or lack of work, I needed it!

One of my favorite projects was finishing a basement for my friends and neighbors.  I learned how to do a little bit of every trade.  Plumbing, electric, drywall taping, HVAC; you name it.  Finished basements included all of it.  It was warm in the winter and cool in the summer so working conditions were ideal.

With today’s new ordinances and codes, finished basements aren’t so easy anymore. In fact, most would be almost impossible for me to accomplish on a “weekends only” schedule.  The biggest challenge is egress, or means of escape, from the basement in case of an emergency such as fire.  It’s a very good change in the codes but often a costly one.  An egress other than the basement stairs can be a life saver.  If there is a bedroom or bathroom in the basement, a second egress is required by code.  In a full basement that means you have to dig out an area outside your foundation big enough to put in a window no more than 42” off the floor and big enough to allow a firefighter in full gear to get in or someone on the inside to get out.  Once that area is established the 8” thick concrete wall has to be cut away to install this window and the opening above has to be reinforced to carry the load of the floor, wall and roof.

Now that the opening is in and properly engineered you wind up with a big hole in the ground alongside your foundation!  Fortunately there are a number of products made just for that hole.  Our pick here at Riggs Construction & Design is “Scapewel” (www.scapewel.com) made by Bilco Corporation.  It is designed to secure against the foundation, provide the required steps to climb out of the unit and even comes with an optional cover that can be unlatched from inside or out.  The recommended installation includes digging the hole much bigger than the unit and placing clean rock under and around it and a drain pipe out the bottom to allow for drainage.  The challenge to the drainpipe is how far it may have to go before it comes out in a lower spot than the bottom of the well or into an exterior drain tile at the foundation’s footing.  On many properties there is no such low area or drain tile and it’s against the rules to pipe it into a waste or floor drain inside the house (Often called a “French Drain”).

The only solution then is a sump pump system that will pump the water out of the well and onto the ground where is slopes away from the house.  If it’s in the well, you have to run a waterproof, G.F.C.I. outlet on a separate circuit that has to come from within the house in conduit, through the concrete wall and attached to the Scapewel or foundation wall.  Of course, a battery backup is highly recommended because the one time the sump pump is needed most is during that huge rain storm the knocks out electric in your neighborhood!  Even an exterior sump pump is not a perfect solution.  The winter around here can be severe and water will freeze solid and expand enough to burst pipes and/or pumps.  Timing is everything when it comes to pulling out and putting in your pump so it lasts for more than one season.  If you pull it too early you can get an early winter rain that fills your well and if you put it in too late in the spring, it will flood then as well.

The final solution is to run the drain inside your house into an interior sump pump system that then pumps it back outside.  This method is the best but even it has its problems.  The penetration of the foundation for the pipe has to be sealed very well or you’ll have leaks on the inside of the basement and if the pump malfunctions the chances are you’ll have water all over the floor!  This method means breaking out the concrete floor and setting up the sump basket with gravel all around it and then patching in the concrete.  An outlet still has to be run for the pump and it really should be on a separate circuit.

We started installing egress windows in basements using “Scapewel” some years back and it takes a lot of expertise, time and hard labor.  It’s expensive but it will be worth the investment if a fire blocks the stairs to the main level of the house.

Next up is why we absolutely, positively won’t finish a basement without installing a full drain tile and sump system along the interior perimeter of the foundation.

Tom remodeling basement finish, basement remodeling

I’ve always thought that the busier I was the more important I must be and that I must truly be needed if my calendar was full.  It doesn’t matter what the endeavor, I’ve allowed it to consume me to the exclusion of just about everything else.  When I’m at work, it’s for 10/12 hours at a time and not once do I stop to take a deep breath. If it’s a volunteer project, I usually wind up running the whole show and I use up all my energy, favors and time being the very best volunteer.  There’s no “piddling” around the house for me.  I can make the simplest home project into a full day of butt busting work.  I’ve always had to give it my all; go the extra mile; make it perfect.

It’s hard to take stock of yourself when you’re in your mid – well, late fifties and discover there might be a better way to approach life.  I can see all that I’ve missed while crashing through life proving to the world how wonderful I was.  I’ve missed the beauty of the moment, the value of a relationship, my children growing up.

Fortunately, I still have time.  My commitment to myself is to recognize the moment and not be looking beyond it.  My promise to my wife is to value her as she is and hear her when she speaks with her voice or her soul.  My kids are still around me everyday as are my three grandsons so my promise to them is to stop and listen; to stop and really pay attention, so they become the most important people in the world.

You may think I’m in trouble with my wife or kids but I’m not (at least I don’t think I am!).  It’s 4:00 PM on Tuesday and I have accomplished all my tasks for the day.  That made me nervous because I must not be important or needed if I’m caught up.  I thought about writing a blog and this is what came out.

I don’t think my blogs always have to be about remodeling.  In fact, if just one person reads this and it makes them think about their life, it will be the most important blog I’ve ever written.

Tom Life In General

Downsizing one’s home is becoming a very popular trend with the Baby Boomer generation.  Multiple bedrooms, bathrooms and larger living spaces just aren’t as necessary as they once were when the house was full of kids.  Of course, there are the grandkids but that’s planned as a short stay during vacations or overnight visits.  Energy costs and general maintenance and cleaning are much easier with a smaller home, so downsizing makes sense.

But there is an interesting phenomena taking place with the downsizing of this generation.  Whether it’s buying an existing smaller home and remodeling it to fit their lifestyle or building a new home, this generation is not doing things halfway.  There might only be two baths and one kitchen but they are magnificent rooms with all the accommodations one could imagine.  Counter tops are marble, granite or other high dollar products while appliances are top of the line, energy efficient, designer units that will do practically everything.   Flooring, plumbing, electrical fixtures, paint, roofing and other owner selected products are being researched on the internet and chosen based on their reputation, good looks, desire and the effect they have on the environment much more than by what they cost.

The overall result is that the downsizing taking place might be smaller in size but is turning out to be as much, or more, of an overall investment.  Baby boomers still feel that the best investment they can make is in their home.  They plan to truly live there and they want to be comfortable with low monthly expenditures on utilities and maintenance.  They are thinking about their own comfort and feel that they have worked long and hard to get to a place where they can spend some of those earnings on themselves and what makes them happy.  Retirement is right around the corner for this generation and they have been saving and doing without for the benefit of the family and with the hope of living out their “best years” in style and comfort.

Even with most 401K and IRA accounts in the dumps because of the economic recession, their hopes & dreams remain alive.  This generation has lived through tough times in the past and has seen the market come back even greater than before.  They believe in the system and are banking their future on not only their own ability to pull through but on the younger generations that follow.

Tom Uncategorized downsizing, luxury amenities, remodeling

Understanding your attic space options and limitations is essential to maximizing its living space. The most important factor in designing attic space is determining the exact dimensions of the existing interior space and being able to calculate the finish dimensions after floor buildup and ceiling build down. As you look at your attic space and dream of its potential, there are a few things to consider:

Ø Windows. Skylights can bring in much needed light without the expense of dormers, or pop-out windows.

Ø Exit. Incorporating egress, or an emergency exit, is highly recommended for the space, even if you don’t plan to use the attic as a bedroom. Any time spent in the attic space without egress is “borrowed time.”

Ø Rafters. Spending the time and money to even out the surface of the interior rafters is a must. Roofs are built to be even on the top of the rafters, not bottom. Hips and valleys make the bottom side very uneven. Increasing the rafter depth or building down the rafters decreases headroom and floor space, but it ensures a clean ceiling line and all the odd angles in an attic space. It’s expensive but necessary. If not done, it can result in improper attic ventilation and insulation, drywall and tape problems, and a very poor finished look.

Ø HVAC. HVAC systems must be extended or, better yet, zoned for an attic space. They will be much warmer in the summer and winter than any thermostatically controlled floor below it.

Ø Stairs. The space taken away from the floor below the attic to build a proper staircase to the attic must be considered.  If an area above the home’s existing staircase can be utilized, that is the least invasive and may remove only a closet from that floor. In some instances, however, it means an entire bedroom is taken away.

Ø Walls. From a design perspective, knowing where to stop the slope of the roof and come down with walls is quite the challenge. Closets are a good point to make this transition. But with the continuing slope of the roof, it’s important to know just how “low you can go.”  Traffic patterns and furniture placement is extremely important otherwise those valleys can be head bumpers.

Ø Floor Support. Support for the attic floor must be calculated correctly for the live-load requirement. Most ceiling joists are 2 x 6, but they are only carrying the plaster or drywall finish. Once an area becomes living space, the load calculations change completely. If the load is not supported, the ceilings below the attic will show wear and tear. Plaster will crack, and drywall will start with nail pops and eventually tape joints will crack.

Ø Collar Ties. Collar ties, or the wood that horizontally connects opposite roof rafters, are another challenge. They are typically set at two-thirds the distance from the ceiling to stiffen the roof structure. They may not be located at ceiling height, and it’s assumed they could be moved up. This two-thirds distance is the maximum height a collar tie can be placed. Above that height, the roof structure is marginalized. The only proper way around this dilemma is a heavier ridge beam to support the roof load or engineered midpoint walls that will take the place of the collar tie.

Without careful planning, both contractor and homeowner can be caught off-guard and unhappy with the results.

Tom Attic Remodeling, remodeling remodeling in st. louis

Last week, my son Bill and I attended a one day course called “Business Management for Building Professionals” at the St. Louis Home Builders Association.  It is a required course for all those seeking to become Certified Green Professionals.  Being a Certified Graduate Remodelor exempted me from having to take the course but Bill needed it for his Green designation.  I took it for the continuing education credits and because I thought I just might learn something.  The Certified Green Professional course followed the next two consecutive days.  I’m proud to say that Bill is the second CGP at Riggs Construction & Design.

There were about 25 people in attendance and only 4 considered themselves remodeling contractors.  Others were home builders, educators, real estate associates and a group from Laclede Gas.  About half were from out of town because St. Louis was as close as they could find the course.  When I took the CGP course a couple of years ago, there were about 75 people in the class and only two were from St. Louis!  Some traveled as far as Montana and Washington State to take the course.

Needless to say, I was very surprised not to see more remodeling contractors attending this course!  Green construction is not a trend or the “hot” topic that will fade with time.  It is here to stay and long overdue.  It seems that our area builders and remodelers are way behind the curve when it comes to understanding how important green building has become.  Our consumer is certainly aware of its importance because we get asked all the time about how they can incorporate green into their projects.  Although the courses are expensive and times are tough, it seems to me that becoming a CPG is an investment in the future of any construction company.

Tom Green Remodeling, remodeling Green Remodeling, remodeling in st. louis

Water pressure in some parts of Kirkwood and other older towns can be very frustrating for those trying to bathe, water their lawn or even wash their car!  In fact, some dishwashers and washing machines will not function properly due to low water pressure.  This can be a combination of many things other than just the older water mains that can’t stand any more pressure without bursting.  St. Louis water is considered “hard” water with more minerals in it than “softer” water often found in the southern states.  Those minerals build up over time throughout the pipes in your home including the main line coming into the house and the water meter itself.  Typically called calcium deposits, it’s much like the clogged arteries of someone with plaque buildup due to too much cholesterol in their system.  Those deposits eventually constrict a typically sized one-half inch water line to as small as one-eighth of an inch.  This can affect your entire plumbing system starting at the tap into the Water Department’s main line and running all the way to the faucets and hose bibs in your home.
 
Another cause for low pressure is the elevation of your home compared to the water tower connected to your main.  I live on Way Avenue in Kirkwood which is one of the highest elevations in the area.  Combined with the high elevation, very old water mains and very old homes with galvanized pipes full of deposits, when some of my neighbors try and water their lawn, they have to move it six times to cover an 80’x 50’ front lawn!  Unfortunately, I’ve replaced all the galvanized pipes (including those pipes in the walls, not just the basement) with new ½-inch copper, increased my water main to 1 ¼-inch and replaced the meter, and it hasn’t helped my pressure much at all.  It makes me wonder if our local fire department has enough pressure to effectively fight a house fire on my street and others like it.

Prior to replacing all my pipes, I installed a well pump and pressure tank that greatly improved the water pressure in my home.  It worked great for showers and short bursts of water pressure.  In fact my neighbors said they could tell when I was running water because their pressure would drop due to the well pump sucking the water from the main line in the street!  The system was rather noisy and with the 40 gallon pressure tank, it wasn’t long before our pressure would drop off to a greatly reduced level.  While trying to water the lawn, the pump would run in vain trying to catch up with the pressure gauge in the tank.  Although the first few minutes of watering was very impressive, with the sprinkler arching from one end of the lawn to the other, it wasn’t long before the sprinkler would barely work back and forth due to the low pressure even with the pump working its hardest to draw water from the main and filling up the pressure tank.

There is one thing that I do at least twice yearly and more if needed.  Most of the faucets in your home have an aerator that can be unscrewed right at the spout either with your hand or with a pair of pliers while protecting the finish of your faucet with a rag.  Once you’ve taken the aerator off be careful to see how the interior parts are aligned so you can put them back in the same order.  Some of those little parts will be clogged with the mineral deposits and can severely restrict water flow.  Rinse them off (being careful not to drop them into the sink), put the aerator back together and screw it back on to the faucet.  For the shower heads and faucets without easily accessed aerators, you can remove the entire head and soak it in Lime Away or CLR (Calcium, Lime and Rust) being careful to follow the instructions so as not to damage the finish.  You might be amazed at how much better your water pressure will be at those points.

Tom Life In General, remodeling

My two oldest children are co-owners of Riggs Construction & Design.  Amie and Bill just came back from our bi-annual meeting of the Remodelers Advantage networking group.  There are about 200 companies broken up into10 or 12 members in each group.  Riggs has been a member since 1996 and now, instead of me attending the meetings, Bill and Amie go.  It’s always a great learning experience for them as it has been for me.  Each group has members from all over the country (none from the same city) so there is a diverse and experienced brain trust willing to reveal all and help all to become better business owners and better, happier people as well.  One of the great advantages is that my children hear from the best and brightest remodeling contractors in the country that the Riggs Construction & Design business model and culture is the right way to do things.

When they first started attending the meetings with me, both Amie and Bill were considered the “kids.”  Although they were treated with respect, they weren’t allowed to come without me.  Now, after attending for 5 or 6 years they are both considered peers and equals.  Their advice and opinion are valued and they can hold their own when discussing any area of the business whether it is marketing, financials, production, leadership or sales.

Now the group has asked me to stay away and give Bill and Amie the chance to grow without their father “getting in the way”!  What a compliment to both of them.  Who would have thought that they would grow into such competent business owners so quickly?  My original motive was for them to hear from other remodeling company owners the same stuff I was telling them. Advice is never as powerful coming from a parent as it is coming from someone considered an “expert” in their field even if the parent is considered an expert by those experts.  Now the “kids” are the ones being listened to.  Go figure!

Tom Life In General, remodeling