Sep 02

Our Beautiful Mountains and Gorgeous Hood Canal and a Busy Week

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Pops and the Girls at the Market

We had the pleasure of using a friends cab this past week at Hood Canal.  What a beautiful place this is, I am blown away at the beauty. I looked up to the fading snow capped Olympic Mountains and I see the massive green hills covered with evergreens.  As i turn to the water and I see  a multitude of starfish and oysters. It’s unbelievable that the water is so clear and all this beauty is in front of my eyes.  It’s so quiet and no cars, hardly any boats, birds flying by, not any bird but an eagle being chased by some birds. It’s mammoth wingspan, is this a documentary?

Hood Canal

Hood Canal is over 70 miles long and some of the canal is used by the Navy for testing submarines.  We stayed in a log cabin built by the owners. It’s a wonderful place about 3,500 sq ft.  The large deck looks to the NW towards the Olympic mountain range, looking across the canal.  At nighttime I looked up tot he sky to see no city lights and just stars and peace and tranquility.

After a great nights sleep, we all got up and made breakfast, Maggie wanted to go into the hot tub before eating, I had to bribe her to wait until after breakfast.  If I would have let her she would have sleep in the hot tub.  The hot tub is on the deck overlooking the canal.  Maggie talked me into going into the hot tub with her, while Kate could not wait to get down to the boats and see about getting on the water. There is a aluminum boat but it was not water capable, but we found some windsurf boards behind the shed. So I tethered them together and the two girls wen up stream a little ways and had a blast.  Peggy laid down on the shore and rested.

At Hood Canal looking to West

After a couple of days we left and headed to Bellingham to see my Dad. We headed North to Port Townsend. We got into Port Townsend around 3pm and we stopped at the Ferry booth to see about getting on the next boat.  Well that’s when we meet Debbie Downer that manned the ferry booth at Port Townsend. Oh so you want to go on the Ferry to Keystone, Well it’s running an hour late and if you were going to get on the 2:30, which you’re not, because it’s running an hour late and since you didn’t get reservations that mean you’ll have to wait for the 4:45 which is running an hour late and that would be 5:45 and since you don’t have reservations for the 2;30 or the 4:45 you won’t be getting on the 5:45, so you’ll have to wait for the 7:45 and you might make that one, but since there was a lot of people waiting you may or may not make that one.  Well we got in line and the fumes where coming out of my ears!  I am not going to wait and wait and wait! I say lets drive south to Kingston-Edmond’s ferry and then drive north from Edmond’s to Bellingham, now that’s a lot of driving, but not knowing if we are going to get on a ferry and being stuck in Port Townsend for a night without a room? The girls wanted to wait and see if we made the first ferry.  I turned the car around and started back the same way came from and 4 hours latter we arrived in Bellingham glad to get to a place we could relax.

Saturday Market a Fun Time and Great Pretzel Sticks

The next morning we had bagels and lox and off we went for a walk in the woods. The walk was hard on my neck and back and couldn’t wait t finish the walk, but is was a nice walk along Lake Whatcom. It was an abandon old railroad track, with the tracks removed and turned into a park.  It was amazing how many new homes are being built around the lake, were are they getting financing? My girls, including my wife Peg love old movies and so does my dad and he loves it when we come up and they all watch an oldie.  I got his new flat screen working in his den and the girls and Pops hung out in the morning and watched a great oldie.  After that we headed to the Saturday market and it was a beautiful day for going to the market.

Pops and the Girls at the Market

We had a nice visit with Pop’s and then we needed to get home for a dinner party with Ruth and John and their family, what a whirlwind week.  I truly need a vacation from our vacation.

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Aug 17

Fine Construction Becomes a Pella Certified Contractor

Remodeles 1 Comment »

Good news in Seattle!….Pella Windows is adding us to their sales and installation team. In today’s market, it is important to maximize energy efficiency in your home. Energy efficiency is increased with the installation of new windows….whether retrofit (fits in existing jamb space) window or a new replacement window.

Pella Window Company’s History:

Pella was established in 1925 (celebrating 85 years in existence!). The company was named Rolscreen, producing unique roll-up windows. They moved to Pella, Iowa in 1926.

In 1934, Rolscreen introduced a Venetian blind.

In 1957, the company introduced double-glass, Twinlite windows.

In 1992, the Pella name was replaced with the Rolscreen name and the company utilized a Japanese management technique called Kaizen. At this time Pella was reorganizing to reduce the time to produce windows and doors and increasing quality control measures.

By 2000, Pella delivered 98.5 percent of its orders on time. Custom orders that formerly took five weeks to fill now took two. Pella’s improved service allowed its dealers to operate more efficiently as well.

While I was in Pella last week, I met a local couple that gave me the history of Pella, Iowa — including the Dutch influence to the area, with a population of 9,800 people. Pella Window employs 41% of the town’s people. Wow! — this company is key to this town’s survival!   Click here to read in-depth about the Pella window History

Product Line

Pella has a great line of products to choose from;  The Architect Series is a wood window that can be stained or painted on the interior with an aluminum clad exterior.  This product has an endless amount of options from exterior colors to wood species and interior finishes…and the list goes on.

The Designer Series offers the blinds between the glass that has made Pella Windows popular and unique. These blinds have a lot of options; including a variety of different types of blinds, an assortment of colors and styles, a lot of exterior color choices, and a range of interior wood choices and finishes. This is another great product line to pick from.

Included in Pella wood windows with aluminum clad exteriors are wood in the interior . There are many options for interior and exterior, including 27 exterior color choices.

The Designer Series has a clad exterior with options for blinds between the window panes. When people talk Pella, they know that their exterior finish will be exceptional.

Pella Windows and Doors are a great product for any home. Pella offers a variety of products for any home form entry level to high end windows with more options than it’s competitors.
If you would like to replace or add some windows or doors, don’t hesitate, call me to discuss your ideas.

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Aug 13

RemodelingNation Launches Site

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Neil Kristianson launches RemodelingNation

RemodelingNation has launched! Here is a friend who has launched a great site to help homeowners understand what to expect in remodeling. Topics from what to expect in remodeling, financing and how to plan a kitchen remodel. Neil Kristianson of Crimson Design and Construction in Naperville, Illinois created a site to help individuals who where looking at tips for your remodeling projects. Neil and his co-host Geoff Martin of Cedar Mill Group in Webster, New Hampshire are working together to bring a fun and interesting time on the net, discussing topics of interest to the first time and experienced homeowners looking for tips on remodeling.

Grab a cup of Seattle’s finest coffee, of course we have many choices on information about remodeling, but listening to these to guys crack jokes and give you insight on the remodeling process and what to expect in your journey of remodeling. The two of them have a lot of suggestions on remodeling and bring it in a funny and enjoyable way, making you feel you are right next to them sitting at the dining room table.

Good luck Neil on your new venture!

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Aug 11

3rd Story Addition in West Seattle, Completed and Goergous!

Fine Construction, Remodeles, projects No Comments »
What a great entryway to come home to

Brazilian Cherry landing and Stairs

This project was a great project from start to finish. The client were great to deal with and we exceeded their expectations.

The entry was very important to the clients. In the original design of the house, when you arrived at the front of the house you didn’t know where the front door was. We moved the front door towards the front of the house by 25′. The exterior has colored concrete with large slate pieces laid in the concrete walkway. In addition to the walkway, we poured a curved concrete wall with LED lights in the concrete wall.

Beatiful Fir Stained Doors and Slate Floor

The entry is so sweet! There is a lot of room in this entryway to comfortably remove your coat, shoes, hat, backpack, skies, snowshoes and roller blades. Now you are ready to stroll thru what we’ve completed. The entry has Fir doors a with clear coat. The floors are a slate 12″ x 24″ tiles. The door has a remote entry so all you do is come near the door and it unlocks. A great feature is the mail slot located outside (of course, better outside than inside) and we made a custom metal chute for the mail to slide to a convenient out of site place for the mail. Another great feature is teh video camera the front door with video monitors on each floor so the homeowners can see who is at he front door and communicate with whom ever is at the front door.

A stairway to relaxation

The railing was a great part of this project, we brought the railing design to the clients and together the team approach developed a beautiful piece of art. The top rail is Brazilian cherry mounted to black powder coated steel and stainless steel cables integrated horizontally.

Sweet Master Bath

The Soaking tub in this master is just what the homeowners were looking for when we designed this master bath. The added benifit is the windo, they can open the window a little and have a view of the sound and the Olympic mountains, soaking doesn’t get any better than that. Quartz counter top with under mount sink and the in-wall faucets set this bathroom apart form your typical bathroom.

Showering in Style

The shower provides an experience on it’s own with the tiles on the wall cascading down tot he floor giving the illusion of a waterfall. But look to your left and out the window and you’ll see the Puget Sound waterway and beyond that the Olympic mountains. Showering doesn’t get any better than this.

This project was a true pleasure form the design to the end and now the our clients get to enjoy these wonderful spaces with their family and friends.

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Jul 02

New! Screen that Reduces Sun Penatration

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Stop the UV Rays in

I recently found a great product that is relatively inexpensive, it is a screen for your windows and it reduces the sun’s heat gain by 80%, WOW!  I don’t know if it is truly 80% but it does cut the heat gain and reduces the visibility some.

Stop the UV Rays in

The product is made by Phifer and the product is called Suntex. They offer an exterior screen and an interior shade, so no matter your application it appears they have a solution.

Neat product, especially when the sun is beating down on some of your windows.

This is significantly less money then installing a film on the glass or changing windows/glass with new windows/glass that have mirror glazing (glass).

This item is mildew resistant

Check it, or if you need new windows, contact me. 206-938-2300 x201

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Jun 24

West Seattle Coming to the Finish Line

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The New Entry, Don't use the garage door anymore for the front door!

The hardwoods, the Tiger wood on the top floor and the Brazilian Cherry for the main floor and the stairs received the final top coat and they look sweet!

The Metal handrails were installed and the Brazilian Cherry top rail is being installed this week.

The mail slot is very cool, the mail slot is at the front door and it slides down a custom chute to a basket to collect the mail in the front closet.  We built a over-sized cubby hole for over-sized packages.

The New Entry, Don't use the garage door anymore for the front door!

In the front entry their is a beautiful Tech light with red pepper glass for the chandelier in addition to the slopped ceiling that is lite with LED soffit lighting.

With the front entry closets the lights inside come on automatically once the door to the closet is opened.

Red Hot Chilli Light Fixture

The video intercom system is a favorite for the kids, when they got installed this week the kids couldn’t stay away, they were running up and down the stairs talking and looking at the screens.  The color monitors provide a good picture of who is at the front door nice and clearly so they can decide if they are home or not?

The custom glass panel was installed this week and did not disappoint anyone.  It is very cool!

A great place to start the morning

The Master Bath has contemporary vanities with quartz counter tops. One side has the sink and opposite the sink vanity is a make-up are with a large mirror, great lighting and an adjustable double sided lighted mirror.

Fine Construction Designed and Built this great master bathroom suite, contact us to provide you construction and design services

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Jun 10

West Seattle Remodel, Great Strides, Cool Railings

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In West Seattle, home of Alki Beach, The Fne House and a cool remodel in West Seattle. The stairway railings got installed this week, though the top rail still needs to be installed. The top rail will be custom milled Brazzillian Cherry hand rail.

Jun 04

Progress is Great!

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We’ve got 4 projects going with a couple in design. The economy is picking up, at least that’s the way it feels and that is making a lot of people including myself happy.

Nice Addition to Beacon Hill

Sips for Beacon Hill

The Beacon Avenue Project is coming close to completion. This is our Sips project and it’s located near the flight path of Boeing Field, so outside and on the first floor you can hear the planes gcoming and going. But on the second floor it’s a whole new house. No airplane noise! The walls are SIP’s (Structural Insulated Panels) on each side of the walls their is OSB (Oriented Strand Boards) otherwise known as chip board) and inbetween is 5″ of insulation. This for the walls is an incredible for sound deadening and air infiltration. Then we have an R-38 insulation value in the attic, this is over 16″ of insulation. The floor system has been blown inbetween the first floor cieling and the second floor. Oh I almost forgot about the windows, these are Milgard triple pane with Low E and Argon. With all of these energy efficient products we are not only going to lower the heating bills but we ahve made major strides in reducing the noise infiltraton.

In our Seattle climate, lots of rain and cloudy days, this project should not need much heat to warm this new addition.

May 28

Fine Construction, Inc. EPA RRP Lead Certified

Fine Construction No Comments »

The EPA has enacted a new ruling regarding lead paint.The new EPA Lead Paint RRP ruling enacted by the EPA takes effect as of April 22, 2010. Any contractor working on a home prior that is built prior to 1978 must test the paint for lead, in the areas effected by the renovation. Failure to due so may be liable for a fine of $37,500, Ouch!

The ruling is detailed in EPA RRP (Renovation, Repair and Painting) Lead Paint, website. A brief summary of this ruling is:

On April 22, 2008, the EPA issued a rule requiring the use of lead-safe practices and other actions aimed at preventing lead poisoning. Under the rule, beginning in April 2010, contractors performing renovation, repair and painting projects for compensation that disturb lead-based paint in homes, child care facilities, and schools built before 1978 must be certified and must follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination.

Failure to do so by an organization is susceptible to a fine of $37,500 for a first time offense, OUCH!

This ruling is a good rule to a certain respect. It is trying to make any disturbance of lead paint in a home built prior to 1978 be dealt with in a cautious and protective manner to not introduce contaminants into the air for others to become in contact with these airborne particles that would be floating in the air while the lead paint would be removed.

The health effects of lead paint as described in the following link: EPA, Basic Information or Lead Paint, Dust and Soil,

The agency estimates that 87% of homes built before 1940 and 24% of homes built between 1960 and 1978 have some lead-based paint.

A big concern of reputable contractors are that the homeowners may choose to avoid following the rules and will go with a contractor that will be will to take a chance on getting fined or not testing? As a business person that follows all the regulations of the local and federal government, of course this makes it tougher to do business, but we don’t have a choice! Do it right and follow the regulations or get out of business.

Next is the contractors that won’t spend the money to train their employees as Fine Construction has already done so and have completed and filed with the EPA to become a registered company per their requirements.

I am glad that the EPA is trying to protect all of us, from lead paint, too bad they are not protecting the ocean, wildlife and us from oil companies spewing millions of gallons of oil into the ocean.

Oh well its easier going after the small businesses than4 big (oil companies) business?

I look at it as a father and an owner of a 1921 home, my kids are growing and so far i haven’t seen my kids chewing on the paint on the window sills. I plan on testing for lead, but will i remove it? I don’t think so unless I’ll be remodeling.

This is an interesting and a big topic. This is just the beginning of the Lead paint RRP, if you are interested in remodeling and doing it right give me a buzz.

Thomas Fine, CGR, CGP and GMB

(Certified Graduate Remodeler, Certified Green Professional, Graduate Master Builder)

EPA Lead Certification Class

May 28

A Fine Fence made from Azek

projects No Comments »

Fine Construction has designed and produced a beautiful fence that keep’s the children safe and the dog from wondering off, looking to find new friends. The fence is made out of Azek material which is made of plastic. One of the great benefits of this product is that their is no need for painting, just think of that, not having to ever paint your fence again.

True Art

A Fine Fence True Art

We were introduced to this material on a new house that we built on Three Tree Point. The house at Three Tree Point is located adjacent to Puget Sound and south of Seattle. The salt water takes it toll on building products.

The benefits of Azek is it is easy to use, it’s life span is very long, it requires very low maintenance and should last forever.

Back to the fence, the panels are T & G (tongue and groove) bead board and the fence is made up of multiple layers to provide more depth perception. We used, 5/4 boards, 1x boards, T & G the list goes on. Presently the front yard is complete and now we are working on the back gate that is an automatic gate for the driveway. The back gate will match the front fence and the owners will be able to pull up and the gate automatically opens, so sweet!

Scallop Gate

Scallop Gate

As any project the first step is design. Finding out what the clients needs are, so we are not over building. That’s why it is critical that every project reflect the owners personal style and the project has a sense of personality. Whether it’s a fence or a kitchen or a remodel, taking the time to find the clients style, and bring their feeling into the project, with the material, color and the finishes. Fine Construction serves Seattle metro area and the Eastside. Design to last

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