Category — Renovation
Best HVAC installer in Minneapolis and St. Paul
I think the Stafford Home Service guys are the best HVAC installer in Minneapolis and St. Paul. They have been so helpful and patient with this crazy process. They have found very creative ways to work around the old framing and our need to pack things in tightly to maximize usable space. Many contractors would just go the direct, and easy, route and take up a lot of space. –It maximizes their profits but minimizes your usable space. [Read more →]
November 21, 2009 Comments Off on Best HVAC installer in Minneapolis and St. Paul
Minature recessed lighting
Kris from Stafford Home Services’ Minneapolis electricians suggested a miniature recessed light for the tight space above the basement landing. The unit he suggested, and has installed before, is the Gimbal Ring – HR-1137 from W.A.C Lighting. It’s a slick little unit at a mere 3″ high and 2 3/4″ wide. I also noticed that uses an easy to find MR11 bulb which even has LED options out there. Nice!
November 10, 2009 Comments Off on Minature recessed lighting
Media center
I had a great meeting today with Jesse Korsban from Stafford Home Services’ low voltage and audio/video department. We discussed the location of TV screens (can we even call them that anymore? I guess I should have said, Flat Panels), the speakers and the consolidation of the hardware. Stafford will be consolidating all of my equipment (receiver, Cable box, Sony PS3, Nintendo Wii, OPPO DVD player, DVD recorder, iPod station, and Mac Mini) to a single location under the basement stair. [Read more →]
November 6, 2009 1 Comment
Stafford Home Services
The Stafford team descended on Desonyer this week like an parachute brigade. A particularly effective and talented brigade at that. The week started with George from Stafford HVAC laying out the ducts and discussing placement of ducts as well as the placement of the new furnace and AC unit. He was very patient and helpful, offering many options and their benefits. These guys don’t just know how to do things one way, they are full of ideas and are flexible as heck. That’s a good thing in my book. [Read more →]
November 6, 2009 1 Comment
Basement bathroom addition
I decided to add a bathroom to the basement to better utilize the space. Stinson Builders of Minneapolis came in today and put in the framing. It looks fantastic. [Read more →]
November 2, 2009 Comments Off on Basement bathroom addition
Renovation decisions
In going through this process, I am amazed at the difficulty of making decisions on floorplans and architectural details based on lines on paper. I think the thing that really gets me is the finality of those decisions. Give me the digital world and I can make decisions in a heartbeat, and stick to them. Give me a choice on a placement of a physical wall and I go blank. [Read more →]
November 1, 2009 1 Comment
Concrete patching in basement
We dug up a 49′ x 2′ trench along two walls last weekend for the plumber. This weekend we patched it. It was way more work then I thought it would be. Here’s what I learned: [Read more →]
November 1, 2009 Comments Off on Concrete patching in basement
Let there be, better, light
As we did our original walkthrough, Kris, from Stafford Home Services, said that recessed lighting would make a dramatic difference in the space, especially in the bedrooms. Boy was he right. Today the Stafford Home Services Electrical guys installed the lighting in the bedrooms and hallways. What an amazing difference. The ceilings are not short but they certainly seemed lower with the old ceiling units in there. [Read more →]
October 14, 2009 Comments Off on Let there be, better, light
HVAC is gone
Stafford Home Services has come in and torn out the old HVAC system. They will be installing a new, 95% energy efficient Bryant furnace and AC unit as well as new ducts. Dan, a partner at Stafford, will be focusing on energy savings and as well as space saving designs. Stay tuned as he has some interesting ideas.
October 13, 2009 Comments Off on HVAC is gone
Roughing in windows
Stinson Builder roughed in the space in the rear addition for the three windows that will be going in next week. We have selected three energy efficient, 6′ wide Marvin Integrity windows. Each window consists of one large 5’x6′ fixed pane with two 20″x3′ awning windows on the bottom. Two will be along the left of the NW corner, with a double patio door to the left to them and one other on the adjacent corner.
October 13, 2009 Comments Off on Roughing in windows