New Thoughts | Fine Construction

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Jan 06

GAF Virtual Home Remodeler and Roof Wizard

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Here’s something fun to play with before you get started on your next remodel. Great for changing up roof design, exterior siding, stone options and more. Click on the image and visit GAF Virtual Home Remodeler, choose the model home closest to your homes look and style… and change it up! Great for getting new ideas and inspiration. Let us know if we can head up your next remodel or new build. Fine Construction – Your Seattle area premier builder for over 20 years.

GAF - Quality you can trust from America’s largest roofing manufacturer. Also, try out GAF’s Roof Wizard

Dec 15

We Support USA Made Providing Work for Americans

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We are proud to say that Fine Construction is implementing USA made products for most all renovation and new construction materials. If we do our part to buy USA made parts, we will help put other Americans to work. We would like to encourage all of you to buy and use American made products and services.

This video is truly inspiring! Builders are challenged to construct a home with all US building materials, every screw, nail, board, everything! and they did it…take a look.

Contact Fine Construction today for your home improvement and building needs. 206.938.2300

Nov 11

Roof Maintenace and Gutter Cleaning – Keep It Up!

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It is important to periodically monitor the overall condition of a home. Wear and tear as a result of weather and age occurs in every home, and it is wise to take care of problems before they lead to extensive and costly repairs. Routine maintenance should be done to ensure that everything is well in all parts of the home. This should especially be the case as far as the exterior of the home is concerned because it is the exterior of the home that is most subjected to wear and tear.

Maintain Your Gutters
One of the best tips that can be given for the proper maintenance of the exterior of the home is by maintaining the gutters. The gutter is the trough fixed under or along the eaves for draining rainwater from a roof. Gutters in general are also are called eaves spouts, eaves trough, rain spouts and spouting. Because they are located at the exterior of the home their proper maintenance has a direct impact upon the overall appearance of the home. Maintaining gutters is an easy task. One only has to think about the serviceability they are able to offer once they are rid of everything that they need to be rid of. Clogged gutters can cause landscaping, lawn and shrubbery, walls, foundation, basement, crawl spaces and existing gutter system great damage. This is the reason why these channels should be kept clean at all times.

Gutter Maintenance Tips
In maintaining gutters, it is important for one to make sure that he has all the materials needed before starting work. It is not advisable for him to stop in the middle of a task to hunt for a tool. The first step is to clean the gutters with a narrow stiff-bristled brush. A wallpaper brush can be used to sweep out debris when the gutters are dry. It is also not advisable to clean the gutters by flushing them with a garden hose. This might cause the downspout to clog. Gutters should be cleaned when they are dry, and the hose should be used to flush out any remaining debris.

- Clean any leaves, twigs or other debris off the roof
- Walking on the roof and using an old broom or a leaf blower, pitch all debris down into the yard
- Once the roof is clean of debris, start on the gutters themselves
- Using a narrow trowel or putty knife, gently lift any debris in the gutters out and pitch it down to the yard
- For safety purposes, it is a must to check all the supports when the gutters themselves are clean enough
- Hose the gutters down
- Use the hose to test the gutters ability to rapidly redirect water

Gutter Tips
It is not advisable to lean ladders against the gutter. Installing a plastic support piece to the gutter to support the weight of the ladder is what should be done. The support piece in question provides a permanent access point to the roof and is fastened to the wood underneath the roof using galvanized deck screws. It can also be mounted directly to the gutter. Purchasing a ladder stabilizer for added ladder safety is also a must as the ladder stabilizer locks onto the rungs of the extension ladder, preventing the ladder from shifting side to side.

Prevention Is Better Than Cure – Gutter Guards
Those who want nice-looking, serviceable gutters for their homes are advised to consider installing gutter guards, screens that prevent debris from entering the gutter. These devices also direct the flow of water away from the house and into the ground. This way, one will have gutters that will prove to be more of a blessing than a curse. Proper maintenance of these devices will cause them to be extremely useful while adding a touch of style to the exterior of the home which they form part of.

Give Fine Construction a call for all your home remodeling and building needs. 206.938.2300

Aug 10

Summer Brings Pesky Bees and Wasps – Exterminating

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In summertime wasps are often a common problem for all kinds of homeowners all across the country because of their heightened activity during the mild and nicer weather months. So seeking out and finding wasp nests is something that needs to be done in order to combat this problem before it gets out of control.

You can either seek to do this yourself, if you are feeling brave and confident in your abilities, or you can look to call in a seasoned pest control expert who can deal with the problem for you. These seasoned professionals specialize in dealing with wasp extermination and yellow jacket extermination so that you really don’t have to worry about dealing with the problem yourself.

If you have children, the problem can be especially dangerous. Wasp or yellow jacket nests can be quite a concern as they are quite a liability to young ones and you just never know when they might strike. The problem can be much worse if the children suffer from allergic reactions to wasp stings which can cause horrendous problems if they are stung.

So if you are looking to combat the problem of wasps or yellow jackets on your property then it is best to try and find the nest quite quickly and eliminate the problem. If you are going to try and tackle a wasp or a yellow jacket nest without professional assistance then you need to know what to do and the best way to tackle them.

The first thing to do is to make a plan before you jump in and start demolishing it. It is not such a great idea to tackle a wasp or yellow jacket nest during the day time as they are most active during this time and you are more susceptible to being stung. The best time to tackle a wasp or yellow jacket nest is during the night time, as this is when they are asleep and are not wary of attack in this way. Take a look at this step by step process for at home exterminating. and…BEE CAREFUL!!!!

Jul 27

Outdoor Lighting – Create Ambiance and Safety

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As many already know, adequate lighting is a critical part of keeping your home safe. Even though lighting is very important to home safety, a lot of homeowners don’t look at their lighting as being an integral aspect of safety. No matter where you may live, you should always make sure that there is plenty of lighting in place and that the lights are out of reach for those without a ladder.

The lighting that is around the doors of your home is very important, as most burglars like to focus on doors before anything else. When it comes to the doors of your home, any lighting at all is better than no lighting. If a burglar sees lights around your home, chances are he’ll move on. If the lights are off however, the burglar will more than likely proceed as planned.

If you own a garage, you should always use an automatic garage opener. Once they have been activated, most will automatically turn on the lights. Your carport is also important to safety. If you are going to be away from home, you should always make sure that the leave the light on your carport on. You can also use motion detected lights as well. When these lights detect any type of movement, they will automatically turn on – which could easily startle a burglar.

For the exterior of your home, motion detected lights are the way to go. If you have a large backyard, you should always make sure that you use motion detected lights. To be on the safe side, you can always connect an alarm to the lights. This way if someone was to move through your yard, the lights would sound the alarm. Burglars don’t like alarms and they will normally flee the instant they hear an alarm sound.

If you are planning to use motion sensors in your front yard, you should make sure that you have planned the locations carefully. People walking by the sensor or kids playing nearby can easily trigger it. When you set the motion sensors up you should always make sure that you hook lights up to them as well. This way, those in your family will know where the motion detectors are and they can easily avoid them.

Having the right amount of lighting around your home will go a long way in keeping your family safe, Fine Construction is about family and keeping your loved ones safe. Burglars don’t like to be around light, which is why it is so very important. If you don’t have a lot of lights around your home, you should do something about it. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy – all you need is enough lighting to make sure that a burglar thinks twice about breaking into your home.

Jun 15

Sunday Night with Friends – Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt at Ste. Michelle Winery

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Tonight was not the typical Sunday night, our good friend Ruth and John picked Peggy (my wife) and I up at 4pm and we headed towards Ste. Michelle Winery to see John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett. Once we parked we made our way to the Vineyards Hotel to wet our whistle.

We made our way to the event and the two performers, Lyle and John, had just started playing as we walked in. What an incredible pair, both are acoustic masters with the guitar. John wrapped up the evening playing “Have a Little Faith”.

Ste. Michelle Winery is such a wonderful place to see musicians, for an outdoor venue it’s great! AND…of course the wine was excellent!
I would recommend if you get a chance to see these two, go!

What a great way to wrap up a Weekend.

Mar 07

Will our homes still accomodate us when we are older?

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As some of us get older and we live in a home we love, we start to think about selling the house due to the stairs. I don’t know about you but we have 3 floors in our home and I love my house and neighbors. When my mother, otherwise known as “Bubbie”, she has serious arthritis, visits, she is restricted by our stairs and can only use the main floor of our home. Thinking of Bubbie and our lives as we get older, we are designing a stacked closet system on the 3 floors in our reconstruction of our home. This stacked closet system will then provide space for a new elevator system.

The elevator will provide access to all floors when we get older and we are unable to climb the stairs easily, and for now it will provide access to the whole home to our beloved Bubbie.

If you live in a home and have mobility issues or health issues that limit your access to other floors or areas of your home, contact us to discuss the options. Fine Construction

Feb 28

Ductless Heating and Air Conditioning Systems

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Here’s something new! Have you heard about Ductless heating and air conditioning systems? Now you can add heat or air conditioning, or both, to any room or multiple rooms in your home without installing ducts to move the air. If you have a room that you would like to add air conditioning to or several rooms that get a little too toasty in the summer months, this is a great system for you! No extensive installations, no unsightly window air conditioners.

BUT, here’s the best part for all you Seattle City Light customers; They will help you upgrade to a Ductless Heating and Cooling System with a $1,200 rebate. Seattle City Light is participating in this regional effort along with the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance and other regional utilities. Visit SCL’s Going Ductless site to learn more about the program and to see if a ductless heat pump is right for you.

Nov 30

Innovators in High-Tech Home Products – Lutron and Nuvo

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Fine Construction is very excited about all the new residential high-tech products coming onto the market these days; we are especially intrigued by Lutron’s RadioRA 2 wireless light control system that provides convenient and intuitive control of lights throughout your home.
When you pull up to your house you just push a button, similar to a garage door opener, and the lights automatically come on to a desired setting; entry lights, hallway lights as well as lights that relate to your normal pathway when you come into the house. You can set up the system to come on at specific times of the day in certain set-up modes. You can select an “all on” setting, or a “romantic on” setting to have the lights dimmer in some areas and off in other areas of the home, setting the mode for the evening. It installs easily, programs quickly, and operates reliably thanks to Clear Connect™ RF Technology.

Other benefits of the RadioRA 2 include; intuitive control of shades, audio-visual devices, and temperature in a single room or throughout the whole house.

Also getting our attention these days is the Nuvo whole House Audio systems, giving homeowners the ultimate in listening power with the ability to choose from six different sound sources, delivering music to up to eight different listening zones in the home.

Contact Fine Construction to learn more about how we can help make your home more efficient and state-of-the-art.

Oct 15

Remodel Home Tour a Couple Days Away

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Don’t forget to come and visit us at the Remodel Home Tour in West Seattle. 4133 – 45th Avenue SW we’ll be at the house this coming Saturday and Sunday from 10am till 5pm. It should be fun. Leo Smith AIA will be coming by as well as the interior designer Kathy Banak. We’ll be there to answer questions and to show off a nice remodel. What’s great about some of the homes we show off is they are not over the top with finishes, I believe in realistic finishes, the finishes that everyday people can have installed. Maximizing the dollars for the clients.

We just finished the Seattle Home Show2 and it was a success, I felt that the energy was good and people where looking for remodels and a couple of custom home inquiries. It was promising that the economy is going in the right direction and I am feeling positive that it will continue to grow.

It was great to be across form Craig Anderson of CB Architects, his booth was across form me and we had a good chance to discuss a variety of things form designing project, clients, potential projects and possibly working together. I talked with Craig about my vision of the Design/Build process and I feel he was in-tune more afterwords of how I work with Architects in my Design/Build process. Fine Construction’s ideal model of Design/Build incorporates Architects and designers to develop a build-able project within the reasonable budget for the project.

I look forward to this weekend, come on in and and say hello and let me know if we can build or renovation something for you.

Fine Construction’s Remodel Home Tour of King County