Floor Installers, Cabinet Trim, Masonry, and Granite Countertops

At the painters request, the floating laminate floor and cabinets had to be installed BEFORE he painted.  A little odd because it required a lot more prep work on the painters part, but we complied and called in an emergency floor installation.  Utah Floor Coverings 801-671-9609, sent in a one-man crew who worked all day and into the early hours of the morning to complete the 1000+ square foot job.  It was an amazing feat! 

 His work was flawless and we would recommend using Utah Floor Coverings to anyone.

 To fit the budget, we chose to use this floating laminate floor.  It wears better than an engineered hardwood, has a 25 year guarantee, and looks amazing.  When people walk in, they remark how great it looks and think we spent a lot more than $1.99/sf.  There are some really great laminate products out now that give a great bang for the buck.

 The stair case now stained and ready for balusters.

 The crown and skins going in on all the cabinetry by New Leaf Cabinets.

The fireplace hearth being built by Bart McQueen of McQueen Construction.

With the hearth base in place, the hearth was chiseled to the right dimension and laid in place.  Then the rock began to be adhered to the fireplace facade.

The rock quickly added a rustic feel to the family room.  This will be the same rock and pattern in the adjoining kitchen cooktop range area.

 The cold weather stalled out the painters who had to come back to caulk and finish painting parts of the house that hadn't been painted yet.  Whatever you do, don't let your painters paint below 40 degrees.  It won't dry in time and when the sun goes down, you'll end up with frozen paint that shrinks and looks terrible.  Good thing Unique Custom Exteriors knew what they were doing and waited for the weather to change.

KBC Kitchen Bath Creations were ready to install the granite counter tops.  They brought in a crew of 5 guys to man-handle this huge 5'x10' island counter top made from one solid slab of granite.

 It was impressive watching them bring it up the steps into the house and lower it carefully onto the cabinet bases.

They have some really unique and affordable pieces of granite to choose from.

 They also do a really great job on the seams, which are barely noticeable.

 Enormous island in place and the finish work progressing.

Cabinet Bases, Granite Countertops, and Trim Work

The granite countertops were in fabrication at the shop being cut from templates with exactness.   KBC Kitchen Bath Creations 801-367-0331

 The cabinet bases were made by New Leaf Cabinets and were brought in as the first phase of installation.  With so many white and painted cabinets being done right now, we chose to use Knotty Cherry to add a rustic and natural element to the design.  Clear Cherry is extremely expensive currently, but Knotty Cherry is an affordable option.  The guys at New Leaf were really excited to get to work with Knotty Cherry as they have been painting everything ordered recently.  It is a gorgeous wood that will darken with age.

Rich McArthur, of McArthur Construction, did the trim work on the staircase in Knotty Alder to add to the rustic feel of this house.  It was later stained a warmer walnut finish.

The staircase before the iron balusters go in.  Rich McArthur also wrapped the beam in the upstairs flex room, which turned out to be a brilliant idea.

 Cabinet bases almost complete in the kitchen area.  Still missing the island, and no rock yet over the plywood base for a rustic accent in the kitchen.

Cozy By The Fireplace

Winter weather came just in time for Christmas.  Luckily, we caught a bit of a warm spell during the holidays and were able to get the main body painted and the lathe on in preparation to receive stone.

 Bart McQueen, of McQueen Construction (801)301-4255 is a great stone mason out of Tooele who contracted to do the stone work.  The lathe passed inspection on a bitter cold day.

 The weather warmed up enough to be able to start setting the stone the next day.  The natural stone was supplied and delivered by Stone Connections (801)485-0189.

 It's turning out great and the organic shape of the rock compliments the geometry of the siding really well.  It also creates a nice blend of colors between itself, the siding, and stucco.

 McQueen Construction is also doing the interior masonry on the fireplace and accents in the kitchen.  Because of Greenify's energy efficiency plan the residents of this home can sit cozy by this fireplace sipping hot cocoa because they want to, not because their house is so drafty they HAVE to.

More Details on the Exterior

The garage doors may be the largest opening to your home, and you may not think about insulating them.  However, insulating them helps stop the transfer of cold or hot air into your garage.  This is especially important if your garage is attached to your home.  If you use your garage as a workshop, insulating your garage doors will add to your comfort level and narrow the temperature ranges that occur in relation to the extreme temperature range outside the garage.  It's also especially important if you have a room above or a suspended garage below, which we have both in this particular house. 

 They were installed in a few hours.

 The insulated panels look great on the inside and they are stained a dark oak on the outside.  Greenify will install them with a cable instead of a chain to ensure a smooth transition from open to closed.  The insulated panels are also quieter than non-insulated ones.  Your existing garage doors can be retrofitted with insulation if you'd rather not replaced the entire door itself.

 Here they are finished.

 More tile work completed by KBC Kitchen Bath Creations 801-367-0331.

 Trim continues around the windows by Rich McArthur, 801-678-3567.

 The exterior siding began by Unique Custom Exteriors 801-837-6822.  Adam Prows was great to figure out how much siding and where to get the budget numbers where they needed to be.  Stacy coordinates the scheduling.

Hardie Siding complete, but missing trim and stain.

Still missing some facia and the rock.

 Painting to come next week.

 Grading complete and ready for the last concrete pour.  Doors to be painted next week.

 Grading done and ready for concrete.

 Racing to the finish line.

It's a Good Day When the Greenify Truck Shows Up

For any general contractor, showing up to a job to see cars parked outside is a great feeling because it means work is going on inside and progress is being made.  It's an even greater feeling to see the Greenify trailer parked outside.  That means there's attention to the details of how the house will function efficiently.  Today, Greenify was caulking around all the base of the walls where there is a 1/2" or so of space between the drywall and the floor.  This is an area where unconditioned air seeps in from any penetrations from the outside and can be a source of energy loss in your home.

 The shower pans waterproofing were constructed by KBC Kitchen Bath Creations, 801-996-8216 and filled with water to await passing inspection.

 After inspection passed, the forms were made and filled with concrete to make the shower pans.

 Then the tile was laid on the shower floors and walls.  Their attention to detail is great and they do a perfect tiling job.  Their manager, Luis Salazar 801-367-0331, is great to work with and follows up everyday on the progress making sure that things are done correctly.

The tile is now complete and ready for grout.  Notice the mitered corners done by KBC.  These guys really do a great job.

More great work done by KBC in natural slate stone.

 The interior doors and trim work began by Rich McArthur, 801-678-3567, who is also a general contractor.  He is meticulous, hard working, and dependable.  Things are really starting to come together quickly.

 Greenify is all about going green and greenifying your wallet too.  This is a wrought iron staircase recycled from another builder's remodel of the old Kencraft Candy shop in Alpine.  No use throwing it out when we can have Iron Ornamental, 801-571-1301, come pick it up and retrofit it for the back deck.  Can't wait!

 Muddy Boys Drywall 801-224-6575, completed the smooth, barely any European texture on the walls and ceilings, and did a great job to see everything was completed to satisfaction.  The project was managed well and they came in at a great price.

 Even with the tricky ceilings upstairs, the outcome was professional and seamless.

 See the light coming through above and below that door?  Not good for energy efficiency.  Greenify came back to seal that door so that even in an unfinished area, it will keep the conditioned air in and the weather out.  If you see light coming in anywhere around your doors, give Greenify Energy a call, as usually what you CAN see is just an indicator of bigger energy inefficiencies you CAN'T see.  Greenify has solutions for every budget and can transform your drafty, inefficient home into a comfortable one that makes it easier on your wallet too.

Wouldn't It Be Nice If You HAD to Turn the Heat Down?

It's Show Time.  Time to wrap this house in an incredibly warm and fuzzy pink blanket.  It's Greenify's insulating method called "Mesh and Blow."  Because this floor plan had two bedrooms built into attic space, it took some creativity to reach the goal of R60 in the ceilings and R30 in the walls.  And remember, the radiant barrier is on the other side of the Mesh and Blow insulation.  Holes are periodically made in the mesh to allow the pink insulation to be blown inside and fill the mesh which is stapled directly to the framing.

 Here's some loose insulation that spilled out accidentally during insulation.  Easy to pick up and reuse in the walls elsewhere.

This is the finished product -- literally a thick R57 quilt encasing the roof.  It's not like R30 batts stapled to the sheathing, allowing cold or hot air to leak in between the studs.  With the vapor barrier over the top of the Mesh and Blow insulation, this ceiling is as close to sealed from the elements as can be possible.

Another insulation method is spray foam, which is great if it's installed correctly, however it adds up very quickly as it is billed by the square foot.  In order to get the R60 value in the ceiling, we would have had to spray the foam 10" thick, which would have broken our insulation budget.  We got a better, more cost-effective result with the Mesh and Blow.  However, it was worth it to have the rim joists (the part where the floor joists meet the foundation) spray foamed to seal the many gaps that let in outside air.  This is an area where most people don't consider any treatment beyond slapping an insulation batt in the rim joists. Greenify spray foamed the rim joists and then finished it off with an R30 batt.

This is how the rim joists looked after the spray foam and batts were installed.  Even before Tyvek and drywall, the house just felt warm and cozy.

Meanwhile, on the outside Tyvek and stucco paper were installed by Unique Custom Exteriors on the back of the house in preparation for the stucco brown coat.

 Another type of insulation that works great in attics and also as sound proofing, is a recycled newspaper product called cellulose.  It is also pumped into a mesh system as seen here.

We chose to use mesh and cellulose in the ceilings of parts of the basement where soundproofing would be a nicety -- like the ceiling and walls of the media room, office, and beneath the main level bedrooms.

 Once Greenify's insulation magic happened, the drywallers could come in and start making it look like a house.  We used Muddy Boys drywall company, whose bid was very competitive and they have several crews for each step of the drywall process.  The weather was starting to turn for the worse, and we had trouble getting the utility companies to come set the gas meter and electric panels.  We had to keep the mud from freezing by putting it in the pantry sealed off with plastic sheets and heated by a space heater.

 But once we had gas and electricity, we could move forward with tape and mudding which requires the temperature inside to be a steady 68 degrees Farenheit.  Because of Greenify's energy efficiency plan of radiant barrier, foaming, Mesh and Blow, mesh and cellulose, and spray foaming, when we have the thermostat set to 68 degrees, it is roasting.  I have to turn the thermostat down to 60 degrees in order to be comfortable.  How much money and energy would you save if you had to turn the heat down??  And we don't even have Tyvek and exterior finishes on the entire house yet.

On the outside, we finally had a warm day that allowed Unique Custom Exteriors to brown coat the stucco on the back of the house.  It needs 5-6 days to cure before the color coat can go on, so we are keeping our fingers crossed for another sunny warm day above 40 degrees so we can avoid the cost of tenting.  Wish it were as warm and toasty on the outside as it is on the inside.