Poster: Michael Wilker I’m cheap. I admit it. Sometimes I need a tool (post hole digger, table saw, 40′ ladder) that I just don’t have.  I’ve got a few options — ignore the problem, crack open the hinge on my wallet, or borrow. I’m not one who will ignore a project for too long, and [...]

A while back I posted some tips on what to think about when choosing a contractor for your addition.  Part of a series on the many parts of a home renovation. One of the things I didn’t cover in the post was long term customer service.  In part because I didn’t do much digging on [...]

“Next year.”  That’s what we’ve said pretty much every year for the last decade or so when considering the seemingly fearsome task of replacing the original  windows in our little bundle of 1930’s Del Ray house joy.  Sure, new windows were probably the smart, greenish, sensible thing to do before that cool built-in bookcase, or stylish [...]

The stats wranglers at WordPress.com mulled over how lokalgood did in 2010, and here’s their high level summary of its overall blog health.  I’ve added a few comments in (parentheses) throughout.  All in all a fun year with this experiment.  Would be great if more folks added their own content too but as it’s turned [...]

Embarking on a paint job for your palace is fraught with peril by its very nature.  How great (or grossly off) will your color picking be?  What about the mess factor from moving all your stuff, or the invariable drips and splotches from so much new pigment flying around?  What happens when you pursue a [...]

It’s roasting like Riyadh, muggier than Manila and the rain only seems to arrive via a tropical storm wind that also has a thing for snapping trees and yanking down power lines.  Not exactly the time of the year when you’re just dying to get outside and toil on your little patch of heaven.  But [...]

So you’ve captured your must haves (postcard #1), found an architect (postcard #2) and whipped up a set of plans that would make Frank Lloyd Wright himself get a little misty.  Now you’re ready to shop your plans and dive into the really deep end of the home addition pool – picking a contractor.  Given [...]

Back to the series on the big process of adding on to your house.  In Postcard #1 I talked about nailing down a clear “must-haves” list so you can stay on course through all the slings and arrows of this typically year long process. Now on to the Architect phase.  Lots of different choices here [...]

A sure sign that middle age draws nigh? You don’t think twice about getting a professional to do a small renovation update project that just a few years ago you’d have done yourself in a Del Ray minute. That’s just what I did over the holidays and it was awesome. Sometimes finding high quality help [...]

When we were doing our addition (two story job with new kitchen and master) a while back, oh how I wished for some credible context on the blizzard of decisions we were making, the big chunks of dough we were committing, the long term relationships we were entering into. So now that we’re done and happily ensconced in [...]