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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

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

Here is what the school and some of the students have to say about their new Science Lab;

“Thanks to a great deal of effort and generosity by many people, OLG has a brand new science lab!  The new room has impressed Mr. Franck and has definitely added a science “feel.”  The new room features brand new cabinets and 24” wide granite countertops in the back of the room, six stainless steel sinks, electrical outlets throughout the perimeter of the room, drop-down outlets for microscopes, 36” high lab tables and new stools.  The sleek design has been an inspiration to the students.  The room design allows students to stand or sit and increases the workspace, which has improved the organization and work flow of the lab.  Eighth grader, Katie French, had this to say about the new lab, “Overall, the new science lab is an awesome place to be.  I can’t wait to do science now!”  Mr. Franck and his students are extremely grateful for all the hard work that went into generating the funds for the lab last year and creating the new space over the summer.  There is an open invitation to come by and check it out.  Special thanks to Tom Fine for coordinating the effort and to Brian Flack for his electrical expertise.”

Fine Construction is a builder / remodeler for all kinds of diverse buildings and projects.

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.

Wood Deck

Need a new deck? Building a deck? There are a lot of choices; wood, cedar, and the top of the line products for PVC (Azek).

Wood decking is the lowest cost and the highest maintenance.  The costs can really start adding up when you get going on your decking project; adding railings, stairs, benches and planter boxes when using items such as composite decking, Trex, or TimberTech can really get costly. Both companies offer a broad line of decking materials from composite (wood and plastic) to PVC materials for decks and materials. In the long run though, these materials will last and last and are very low maintenance for the homeowner.

Azek Deck

A wood polymer composite deck material, made from reclaimed plastic and wood fiber, are relatively maintenance free. Trex takes recylced plastics and utilizes them in the decking boards.  Composite and PVC decking materials have been used extensively over the years in playgrounds, city parks, residential and commercial property decks.  The decking materials today, such as the composite or PVC products are highly resistant to moisture, which stops the decks from decaying and maximizes the life of the deck.

Below is a simple chart to provide pricing from wood products to PVC products

Decking Options
- – - – - -   2×6 Pine #1, Treated       5/4×6 Cedar        5/4×6 Composite      Azek PVC

10′x8′                $210                              $285                          $560                      $670
12′x8′                $265                              $460                          $655                      $770

Summing up what products to use? I personally like the PVC and Composite materials.  As a builder and developer, I love wood, though used in the right area, wood can look beautiful and be used where there is less maintenance needed.  The added costs for the composite and PVC products really do pay off and it doesn’t take that long once you consider all the work an  costs for a maintaining a wood deck. Pay now or pay later.

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.

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!

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!!!!

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.