September 7th, 2009
This is a new deck that we recently completed in Excelsior. We removed the existing deck and expanded it and changed the layout. The new deck has a full set of stairs. We used ironwood (ipe) decking and a cedar rail. The trellis is all cedar also. We wrapped all of the columns in Hardi siding with Azek trim boards. The curved front was a great addition to the deck and really brought everything together.




Tags: Cedar Trellis, Ironwood decking, New Deck, New Decking, New Stairs
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September 7th, 2009
We recently remodeled a laundry room in Chanhassen. We removed the existing cabinets and stand alone sink, moved the plumbing and heating and dryer vent to allow for a stacked washer and dryer. This freed up a lot of space along that wall for new cabinets. The new cabinets have shelves that slide out to make the maximum use of the space. We installed a new granite counter top to make it feel more like the rest of the home. The new stainless steel under mount sink with new faucet finished off the space. They now have a laundry/back entry that is much more functional and feels much more open.


Tags: countertops, granite, Laundry, Plumbing, stainless steel sink, washer.dryer
Posted in Laundry Remodel | No Comments »
July 27th, 2009
We just finished up updating a deck in Chanhassen. The structure was in great shape, but the cedar decking had seen better days. We removed the cedar decking and the entire set of stairs. The stairs were a little bouncy and they were not wide enough to accommodate the new Trex rail which was mounted inside of the stringers for added strength and great looks. The upper deck used two colors of decking. Trexx Accents Saddle was the main portion of the deck, with a picture frame around the perimeter of 2 rows of Trex Accents Madeira with a row of Trex Accents Saddle sandwiched between them. The end result was a great looking deck that will last for many years to come.

Tags: Deck, Decking, New Deck, New Decking, Trex Accents Decking, Trex Deck, Trex decking, Trex Update
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July 1st, 2009
This is a deck in Chanhassen that we will be removing the existing cedar decking and rail and entire set of stairs to replace with new maintenance free decking. The decking will be Trex decking. The railing will be a combination of Trex and decorator aluminum maintenance free spindles. The stairs had to be removed because they were unstable and the new Trex decking requires more stringers to support it.


Tags: Maintenance free deck, maintenance free deck rail, maintenance free decking, maintenance free rail
Posted in Deck Construction | No Comments »
July 1st, 2009
This is a deck that we removed the existing deck and built a new maintenance free deck with a new set of stairs. It has Choice Deck decking and a maintenance free vinyl rail.

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July 1st, 2009
We are converting a living room in a fourth floor St Louis Park condo into a bedroom. The space is now just part of the living area and not closed off at all.

This is a before photo of the area that we will be converting into a bedroom. It now has just a short section of wall that is defining the space from the hallway and kitchen/great room. We will be framing in this area and installing a new set of doors, a new pantry in the hallway, and a new closet inside the bedroom.

This is the framing for the new closet inside the bedroom and the pantry that will be accessed form the hallway. We had to move some electrical switches, but with the open framing, it made that job fairly straightforward. The building has a sprinkler system so we had to plan for that when we layed out the new walls. The hallway side has a shelf above the pantry to allow the existing sprinkler head to remain in its current location.



The new set of doors that leads to the new bedroom is a set of three french doors. The door on the left is the one that operates as a normal entry door. The 2 doors on the right operate as a bifold door to allow the space to be opened up from the great room/kitchen to maintain the open feeling of the condo.
Tags: condo renovation, move electrical, New bedroom, new doors, new interior walls, paint, sprinkler system
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April 29th, 2009
We are just getting started on converting a 3rd story attic in a beautiful 100 year old house in St. Paul into a great new master bedroom and master bath combination. We will keep you updated as the project moves along.

This is a photo of the existing area before we started. It had 1×8 decking that we removed to expose the joists and electrical. Most of the house had already had the electrical wiring updated. After removing the existing decking, we cleaned out the entire area so we could start with a clean slate with the new construction.

We added a new master bath to the third story master bedroom area. It was a bit of a challenge to get the plumbing from the bath to the basement, but it worked out very well. The new master bath will have a pedestal sink, and a custom tiled walk in shower. New custom cabinets will also be added to the new bathroom.

We have started on the new framing. We had to straiten out the existing framing before we could start. 100 years had taken its toll on the lumber and we wanted the new project to look perfect.


We removed all of the existing fiberglass insulation to make room for closed cell sprayed in insulation. This allowed us to greatly improve the ability to heat and cool the new third story master bedroom and bathroom to save energy and reduce the utility bills.

We have installed the wiring for the electric in floor heat which is going beneath the tile in the master bathroom floor. After having the wiring inspected, we will pour a self leveling floor over the top of it. Using a self leveling floor over the wiring us a great surface to install the custom tile floor over. There will be a control for the electric heat in the wall beside the door which will allow the homeowners to keep the floor at the temperature that is best for them.

We have installed the sheet rock and started taping. The ceiling ended up being a very cut up area to sheet rock, but it worked out great.

We had to remove a window from the lower gable area because it ended up in the way of the area that the bed would end up being placed. Instead of just installing shakes and blending in the area, we decided to install some new trim boards and turn it into a new feature for the front of the home. The window that you can see will be above the bed to allow as much natural light as possible from that direction while still leaving the wall space open. There was a new egress window added on the other side of the home per code for the bedroom space and also a new window added to the bathroom area that is clear on the top and beaded on the bottom half to allow for privacy.
More photos to come as this project is nearly complete.


Here are two photos of the finished area. The new master bathroom has really changed from the original dusty unfinished space. The tile has in floor electric heat and the shower is tiled on the floor, walls, and ceiling. We will be placing more photos of the space on here asap.
Tags: Attic renovation, closed cell insulation, Energy efficient, Master Bathroom, Master Bedroom, Minnesota Construction, Minnesota Remodel, New windows, Plumbing, Spray foam insulation, St. Paul Remodel
Posted in Engelmann Attic Renovation | No Comments »
February 21st, 2009



To view more photos of our Bridle Creek Custom Home, please see our custom home gallery in the design/build portfolio.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »