Addition | Fine Construction

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Oct 07

Fine Construction’s Newest Project – Design Build for a 1950’s Home

Fine Construction, Inc. was hired for a Design/Build project for this 50’s style home located North of Burien, WA nestled on a hilltop with an incredible view of the Puget Sound.

The house was in need of refreshing and we accomplished that. Fine Construction partnered with Kathy Banak of Authentic Home to work with the clients for the material selection and color choices. Kathy also worked with the owners for the furniture selection.

The owners had great ideas and we all collaborated to make this a successful project. The family actually occupied the lower level while Fine renovated the main floor. Upon completion of the main floor the owners moved upstairs and Fine moved to the lower level to complete that portion of the project. Timing worked well, while the owners made arrangements for several long trips and a couple of long weekends, making floor finishing and other dust producing tasks, a non event for the owners and a less stressful event for Fine Construction and its subs.

New interior doors are Fir. We applied a clear coat to see the nice wood grains in the doors. New mill work throughout was installed.

The scope of work consisted of removing a main wall between the living room, kitchen and dining room. The North wall had many windows to take advantage of the view of the Sound. Fine designed the removal of the windows and installed a large sliding glass door to open up the living space to the outdoor deck.

The outdoor deck was not structurally sound and rot was found hidden between boards. New stainless steel railings where installed with new waterproof decking membrane applied with a pattern to the new decking. Lights are installed in the railing to provide accent lighting at night. Powered screens were installed to help reduce the sun light heat gain, in addition to the new powered awning to provide a relief from the blazing Seattle sunlight.

The interior walls were realigned to provide a good flow throughout the house. New French doors were installed in the hall leading to a garden patio. A large 4′ wide fir door was installed to provide separation from the living room to the master suite. Both bathrooms were modernized. We added a new Frame-less shower door in the master bath to give it a new fresh modern look adding a more open and larger look and feel to the bath.

On the exterior, Fine installed a custom front door with an integral weatherization system. Fine also installed new fences to keep the owners important little house guests, their dogs, close to home and so they don’t leave their wonderful new palace grounds. Also added to the exterior; lighting on the house and low voltage lighting for the driveway. Finally the exterior of the house was cleaned and painted, bringing this home back to life for many years to come.

Come to the open house on October 15 and 16th. Contact Fine Construction for any information regarding renovations to your home.

Aug 31

Kitchen Remodel / Renovation In Seattle by FINE Construction

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This is one of my favorite projects of late…being a father of 2, I could relate to this families need for a master bedroom suite addition, they were expecting twins! The poor Mommy-To-Be had all the Fine Construction workers under foot and all over her home while she was trying to stay de-stressed and rest up for a timely baby delivery.

Well that all went really well…and they were very pleased, so they asked us back! I wish I had a before photo to show you, BUT the after, as you can see, was a great success! This is a craftsman style home and they had the typical dated 1970’s kitchen, that needed renovating very badly. We are so proud of this one, it came out really, really nice and we came in right on budget and under schedule even with added work.

Aug 17

Fine Construction Performs a Glascock Pool Lift

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A day in the life of Fine Construction! As a remodeler some have it easy, they just remodel homes, others, like Fine Construction, Inc. tackle some pretty interesting and challenging projects, that by the way, most remodelers/contractors wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole or even know where to start on some of these projects that we do quite often.

Today we completed another interesting project, we used a crane to move a prefabricated swim spa from the front driveway to the back of the house for a new additional area leisure area to house the swim spa and hot tub.
The delivery driver of the pool supplier showed us a video of a crane accident that happened a week ago when a crane crushed into a house trying to lift a pool into place, this only gave me more anxiety about the porject, AH! But, today all went well and the pool was placed, all the straps held the pool, and no damage was done, Yeah!

Check out our fun little slide show that shows the process of the assembled and coordinated lifting and placement for the 18′ (Long) x 8′ (Wide) x 6′ (deep) pool. The pool is manufactured by Endless Pools. Fine Construction built an enclosed spa room with colored concrete and southern windows to allow the sun to naturally light the pool/spa room. The owners are thrilled with their new outdoor recreation area. WHEW!

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 03

Need A New Deck This Year – Azek Decking, A Wood Alternative

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Tired of spending your summer staining your deck again? Azek Building Products, in business since the mid 1980’s, began offering Azek decking in 2007. If you need to remodel your rotten deck, create an add-on to your current deck, or even design and create a new one, Fine Construction can help you discover if Azek decking is the best product for you.

Azek decking is made from cellular PVC, a type of plastic, and has many upsides compared to wood and wood composites. Unlike wood, Azek decking is mold and mildew resistant. This is great for Northwest weather! Stain and scratch resistant products like Azek take into account your lifestyle — you aren’t just going to look at the deck, you’re going to use it! Azek eliminates problems like pet damage, grease, food, and drink stains as well as upkeep. Why spend every summer sanding, staining, or painting your deck when you could spend your free time in better ways?

Azek Building Products also commits to sustainability from the corporate offices to the very products they create. Azek decks will last over twenty five years and can even be recycled at the end of their usefulness. Fine Construction is proud to use Azek deck products to continue their twenty-year history of green building.

Sep 25

Remodel Home Tour, October 16 & 17, Fine Construction Shows West Seattle Remodel

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The MBA’s (Master Builders Association) Remodel Home Tour is once a year and features 19 remodeled homes throughout King and Snohomish counties. We at Fine Construction, Inc. have participated in the Remodel Home Tours and the Remodel Kitchen and Bath Tour. This is a chance for contractors to show the public the craftsmanship and great materials used to renovate these homes.

Metal Stair System with Stainless Steel Cables

This is a chance for you to meet and talk with contractors like myself and see, touch and feel the finishes. We have a project in West Seattle. This home was just recently renovated, we added a third story addition

This project consists of renovations to multiple areas of the house. The project was developed by the Fine Construction Design Team and the Homeowners. Our design meetings are simple, we meet to discuss the clients needs and requirements, then we discuss their dreams and wish-list. From this we start off in the right direction, instead of us just designing something to see if the clients like it. We designed the addition to the clients desires.

For these clients they had 3 bedrooms and needed 4 bedrooms. So it made sense to add a new suite for the parents with a new bathroom. The home sits on top of a hill with views to the south and southwest.

It made sense to do an addition to the house by adding a third floor for the new master suite. The position of the addition is great providing incredible views from the bedroom and bathroom. Of course we put a window int he shower and at the soaking tub. As you walk from the main floor to the master suite the stair treads are Tigerwood hardwood flooring, rich colors come out from the wood flooring and the Tigerwood runs through the master suite and into the master closet. The handrail is a black powder coated metal handrail with stainless steel cables running horizontally. For the new windows we applied a mirrored glazing on the exterior to minimize the heat gain, minimizing the heat that comes into t e rooms.

The master bathroom has oval tiles running down the wall, giving the faux look of water running down the wall to the floor with more oval tiles. On the west wall there is a window (obscure glass of course) in the shower, it’s great that they can stand in the shower and open the window and enjoy the incredible views. What a great way to start your day! The bathroom floor is comfortable during the cold mornings with the heated floor under your feet. There are two vanities, with one vanity that has a sink and faucet and the other is setup for makeup. It’s nice that there is plenty of storage with both. On the mirrors are strip fluorescent light fixtures.

The entry is a open space with room to great guest, family and friends. The front door is a Fir, 5 panel door with opaque glass and a custom door lever with a remote entry lock. You can be in your car and unlock the front door. Also at the front door is a video camera and on each floor inside the house are video monitors. For the main floor we added Tech lighting and 7.1 surround sound system for the enjoyment of the living room music system and large flat screen TV. It’s nice having the music going while relaxing in the living room. Tech lighting is a favorite of the owners and we installed several new Tech fixtures throughout the house.

The new concrete walkway to the front door had a dark gray color added tot he concrete and large pavers where placed in a random pattern. A curved retaining wall was built and we installed LED walkway lights in the wall.

The exterior front of the house has a trellis made of clear cedar which is the left of the garage doors. The garage doors are black aluminum with opaque glass panels. The Trellis is made of clear cedar and large timber. In addition to the front of the house, all new siding was installed due tot he installation of plywood to the framing, (the house had no plywood or and shear walls, the siding was nailed right to the siding) we used Hardie Plank siding. With the building of the third floor master suite, this made part of the the deck on the second floor covered for a good portion of it. Now they can cook on the grill and even eat outside under the covered deck and enjoy eating outside. The new deck has Trex decking that was installed with hidden fasteners and a aluminum railing with glass panels, so this doesn’t block any of the view and also cuts down some of the wind.

We thoroughly enjoyed working with these clients, the kids liked having our carpenters see them off to school and their activities. The design provides a nice flow through the house and the addition looks like it was originally part of the house. They will have a great place to entertain and relax. If you would like to discuss your dreams an ideas, contact Fine Construction today to begin making your dreams come to reality.

Sep 22

Seattle Home Show 2

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Come and see us at the Seattle Home Show 2 coming up starting October 8, Friday thru Sunday the 10th. We are excited being back at the Qwest Field Event Center.

Fine Construction participated for years with the Home Show,take a look at our first Home Show Booth, from 2003. It’s great seeing the progression in booths. I bought a trade show display booth off eBay and I posted pictures on the display, I used a sink and for people that signed up to discuss their project had a chance in wining a gift certificate. The item that made my booth stick out was the robot from Lost in Space. My brother was into Lost in Space so i borrowed it for the show. It was interesting the group of visitors that where really interested in the robot. Some of the guys, their eye’s lite up and a smile came on their face and all they wanted to talk about was the robot. It worked! It brought people into my booth to talk about the robot and what they wanted to remodel.

The next Seattle Home Show was the 2004 and I hooked up with Windsor One who offers a great line of high quality millwork for the interior and exterior for your home. We received materials and we put together a great booth.

We used this booth for 4 years and ti was great that visitors to the Seattle Home Show can actually see the finished product, they could come up close to touch and feel the millwork and joinery. Brian Kemly of Kemly Electric provided the lighting consulting and recess light installation for the booth.

Not only did we get the brothers and father involved with the Home Show’s but Kathryn, (Tom’s Oldest Daughter) is featured in a video about a project completed on the Fine house. Kate’s love for acting show’s in the video. Sit back and enjoy the Fine Construction Thanksgiving 2006 Video

Click on this link to see Kathryn Fine showing a bathroom remodel MVI_1029_xvid

I look forward to seeing you at the Seattle Home Show 2

The MBA Remodel Homes Tour is coming October 16th & 17th, come and see our renovated project located in West Seattle.

Aug 11

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

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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.

Beautiful 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 the 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.

A great place to relax and get reinvigorated

The Soaking tub in this master is just what the homeowners were looking for when we designed this master bath. The added benefit is the window, 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, Custom Glass Panel on the Right Wall

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.

Feb 22

Beacon Hill Project Gets Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) for 2nd Floor Addition–a Green Process

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The structural engineer set forth requirements to accept the SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) on this Beacon Hill project. The existing frame had to be able to handle the additional load of the second floor. This is normal whether you have SIPs or standard framing methods (2×6’s)

SIP being lowered in place

This photo illustrates what a typical SIP looks like as it is lowered into place. On Wednesday morning, a truck will arrive at the Beacon Hill site and a forklift will take the panels from the flatbed truck on the street, up a narrow street, to a crane that has been setup and waiting for the panels. Then the crane will set the panels in place to the Fine Constructions awaiting framing crew.

GG brings donuts to the roof crew

I explained to GG (my daughter) that yes, donuts are great treat for the guys on the jobsite, the sugar gives the guys energy. Then she asked why she could only have one.

The great thing about this location, and Beacon Hill, is the transit system. The new light rail has been installed, and I hope that they continue to make progress on expanding the light rail system.