In the early 1800's, solid glass blocks were used as single units to light both ship's bowels and cellars in Europe. In the early 1900's, second generation hollow glass blown blocks resembled hexagonal open ended bottles. They had condensation problems and were produced individually by artisans making them too expensive for general use. In the 1930's machine production produced more uniform shapes that were easier to work into mortar. The new units offered advantages in both thermal and noise isolation. Today's modern glass blocks for use in glass block bath designs Austin are still produced in this same way taking two molded glass halves with a hollow interior and melting the parts to fuse them together. A vacuum is formed in the block's interior to prevent condensation. This evacuated "dead air" space provides for the block's thermal and sound reducing qualities.
Using a fascinating building component composed of glass that is both fragile and sturdy with superior eye appeal allows for endless creativity and advantages. Sound reduction as mentioned above along with thermal qualities for energy minded constructiontechniques are evident due to their air tight nature. Both security and privacy is achieved by their light transmitting capabilities enhancing any bathroom transformation. This factor alone explains why glass blocks were first used in both commercial and industrial applications.
Fine bathroom upgrades can benefit from glass block shower designs used in wall surrounds, support walls beneath whirlpool tubs, exterior shower windows, and low screening walls for privacy around spas. Glass blocks can also benefit fine kitchen upgrades in many ways. They can be used in islands, as supports for peninsula eating bars, or between your wall and base cabinets to provide natural light for the countertop work surface. Other uses of glass blocks are around the entry door as transoms or sidelights, in guard rails at balconies, room partitions, or sharing light from an adjacent window lit room. Light shafts can give natural light to areas without having an outside window within the elevation.
The light diffusing capability of glass blocks allows for back lighting projects using minimal amounts of artificial sources. The glass blocks amplify a small amount of provided light to enhance a given area. Artificial light sources include rope lights, incandescent bulbs, or fluorescent fixtures. Furthermore using colored bulbs can provide any desired mood lighting creating chromotherapy results. The glass block raw edges defining the entrance to an area can either be covered in an accenting tile and glass tile caps are now available.
Modern glass blocks are available in many patterns, both transparent and opaque, as well as a variety of colors. The different sizes available allow for tremendous design opportunities while special shapes provide for curves, forty fives, and ninety degree angles. Solid glass bricks are now available to be enhanced bu LED lighting. Designs are limited only by one's imagination.
Glass Block Shower Designs Provide Warmth And Beauty
I am a building professional who has been participating in Austin commercial office remodels and tenant finishes for over 30 years. I've watched beginning business owners sign a lease and blow through their seed money purchasing costly ammenities like window walls or commercial cabinetry that could have been staged later after their initial door opening and they've logged their first dollar.
The beauty of metal stud walls below a grid ceiling is the ease of altering a given situation or floorplan. It is easier to add or remove these walls than it is the ones within your home. Electrical devices can be easily added or a lay in light fixture placed within the grid for additional lighting. That is why the systems were created since not every office configuration will work for every tenant. Even the door and window systems clip together so that they can change locations without being destroyed.
First find a trustworthy leasing agent with a good portfolio of available space for lease. If you're just starting your business find a property that you can live with for a while until your cash flow allows for office improvements. If you're established check and see if there is room for any needed expansion. Check out things like break rooms in nearby suites for future plumbing needs so that you can share a costly drain for sinks. Locate the electrical room because shorter wire runs for future circuits can save you money. Where is your space in proximity to the restrooms? Are the fire exits marked? Is the building ADA accessible? Next negotiate a multiyear deal so that your rent remains at a constant level.
Once you move in it's time to plan for the immediate future. Remember that any improvements that you make that are attached to the building must remain in place when you vacate. Be smart and be sure any alterations you perform will enhance the way the space fits your needs. Think it through and who knows, you just might become a permanent tenant at your new address.
Just One of Many Commercial Offices by T-Square Company in Austin, Texas
Know that a kitchen remodel is not a DIY situation and that you will need to consult with a residential remodeling professional at some point. Be sure to choose a local qualified kitchen remodeling contractor whose personality and qualifications are agreeable with you personally. Check out the reviews on the company to find out how clients have responded to their experiences. You are about to undertake a very important short term relationship in your life with someone you may know by reputation only. The relationship needs to be comfortable and free flowing thus enabling the contractor's creativity level to be at it's highest during your remodeling project. Look at it as a partnership between your needs and the remodeling contractor's abilities. The use of many finishes must be accommodated for. His professional remodeling experience will include the capacity to identify many construction limitations and hazards. These variables underlie the major pitfalls that can be possibly avoided while enabling a remodeling design to come to reality. Don't forget that you get what you pay for and it certainly isn't about the lowest bid but the remodeling company's integrity and knowledge. Some CAPS certified remodeling companies have the experience and education to assist you in accomplishing remodeling upgrades that include accessibility or disability issues. It is important that the job flows between the various trades involved to produce a better final outcome. This too is a reflection on his remodeling experience for which there is no substitute.
Fine Kitchen Cabinetry in Austin, Texas is about the cabinet carcass and the finishes applied to it's front making up a Northern face frame or a frameless European look of your fine cabinetry. Each type will accommodate mounting doors using a concealed cup Euro 32 mm bore hinge and installation is accomplished by varying the type of mounting plate that attaches to the carcass. The mounting plates are specific for the design once the doors are applied in an overlay fashion. If the doors are recessed to be flush with the carcass face then other types of hinges can be used such as wrap around or door stile bore types. Non concealed hinges come in many forms such a strap, Youngdale kerf units, flush, or offset and are used to create a certain style such as an antique look. These hinges also come in many finishes like brass, chrome, or black to name a few.
Door styles includeFlat Panel, Raised Panel, Shaker, Lip Molded, and Slab
We Create Interesting Cabinets by Varying Both The Height and Depth Along a Cabinet Line
FeaturingRed or White Oak, Poplar, Alder, Cherry, Walnut, Maple, Birch, Ash, Pecan, and many other Exotic Wood Species
We offer full extension drawers with SOLID WOOD construction for durability mounted on ball bearing guides
Our cabinets contain fully adjustable shelving supported by metal pilasters
Many choices of hinges are available from concealed 32mm hidden hinges by Blum or many other surface mounted varieties
Many convenient pullout options for convenience and clutter reduction are available used for pantries, trash cans, mixer lifts, or under sink storage to name just a few
Frameless European cabinets can either be wooden or covered in plastic laminate per your choice for your Austin kitchen remodel. The laminated application makes for a cleaner application and provides for easy maintenance. These doors are flat with no crevices to conceal grease and grime.
If you go for the wooden look there are many choices from which to choose. These include a slab as above with the edges banded with heat tape or a 1/4" rip of the same wood specie as the door, a flat slab using a lip molding on the edge creating a 3/8" offset door, a raised panel with a 3/4" insert, a flat panel with a 1/4" insert, or a Shaker style with a varying divisions of the face.
Any of these will work for a kitchen or bathroom cabinet remodel Austin, Texas and it is truly a personal preference. So whether you are furnishing a new kitchen or bathroom space or are going for a kitchen or bath upgrade be sure you consider all the possibilities and design the room for function.
Raised Panel Doors Can Be Square, Single, or Double Arched
If you plan to remodel the ‘food production room’ in your home, then choosing your kitchen cabinets is probably going to be part of the plan. Not surprisingly, kitchen cabinetry is up for scrutiny in terms of the modernization tsunami changing home décor trends in recent times.
Modern cabinets are breaking away from the ornate design found in traditional cabinet styling, rather reflecting minimal trends such as simple, clean design features. Streamlining and modernizing kitchen cabinetry works in tandem with other kitchen furnishings such as new-age countertops and complimentary backsplashes.
To determine what style of kitchen cabinets are in your home you need to look directly into their face beyond the doors. Are they the face frame North American type or are they the European frameless version? Fine cabinetry comes in many choices to suit your desires.
The face frame North American type has long been a popular cabinet style. It is characterized by the plywood cabinet box, or carcass, having a 3/4" thick hardwood front frame application of 1 1/2"-2" widths. These are present on both the vertical components, or stiles, and on the horizontals called rails.
The frameless European style is just the carcass without any face frame yielding only a 3/4" outward appearance at the stiles and rails. Both the frameless and the face frame styles use the same carcass body enabling the same European hinges, drawer guides, and cabinet legs to be used.
The greatest difference is seen once the door or drawer fronts are mounted on fine cabinetry in Austin, Texas. The European frameless type makes the adjacent door spacings smaller showing less of the stile beyond. The framed units have more space between the door applications showing more of the stiles and rails beyond.
Frameless is a little less expensive to construct than the face frame style so that it really becomes a matter of personal preference and different styles can be mixed within the same house using one type in the kitchen and the other in the bath.
A Typical European Cabinet Design
Typical Face Frame Look
Typically bathroom vanities are 21" deep and approximately 29" tall. The depth is not a problem but most folks would prefer a universal design height of 34". This height will work for your son or your father making the vanity more accessible to all. Fine cabinetry is a must for any bathroom makeover. As for the vanity, you can work your way down from the upgraded cabinet top that has been installed at the correct height for you. The vanity should have adequately accessible storage satisfying your needs. Incorporating easy operating and properly sized drawers and pull out shelves within the design can be very beneficial. Linen, medicine, and "over the potty" wall cabinets need to be well thought out. The correct species of wood used for the construction of your fine cabinetry and the style of you cabinet doors are two very important factors to consider. Remember, you do have a choice and you are going to be looking at these new cabinets for a while.
There are basically two styles of ADA vanities that comply with an unobstructed 27" tall roll under area below the sink. ADA sinks with a rear drain location provide for better plumbing drain hook ups. This modification has everything to do with both the water supply lines and the waste line connecting the sink. There must be provisions made to protect the user from being scalded when coming into contact with any one of the plumbing pipes serving the sink. These connecting pipes may become heated merely by the water passing through them creating the problem. The open type model should always receive both waste and supply insulating jackets applied directly to the pipes providing protection for the wheelchair user. The closed model concealing the pipes will be equipped with a removable face or face board covering the pipes. This pipe concealing panel must be installed at the correct wheelchair user clearance angle. This allows for the needed unobstructed legroom required for the user. The vanity can extend beyond the sink but the area containing the sink is required to have this roll under capability. This section of the vanity top must not be any taller than 34 inches above the finished floor with sufficient lower leg clearance. Clear unobstructed reach distances around the counter top area must be observed. Any motion controlled sensors integrated into the various dispensing devices and/or plumbing fixtures throughout the restroom present a true hands free benefit to all the restroom users. If these aren't in the budget then at least wrist handles used for controlling the faucet can be incorporated into the design of the vanity. Furthermore, automatic flush valves should be used on all toilets and urinals that provide for hands free use.
A completely serviceable special needs bathroom must contain at least one ADA vanity and the accessible route must be defined. The vanity must be one with a clear underneath scald protected area having an unobstructed roll under capability for wheelchairs. These new residential vanities do not need to look institutional. They can be designed like any other piece of fine furniture. A five foot turning radius allowing the wheelchair to maneuver into any approach must also be associated with the ADA vanity. A 36x48" clear approach area to the vanity must be observed and this can overlap the five foot turning radius. The area of travel will then be enhanced by an unobstructed clear accessible barrier free route dedicated to reaching the vanity.
Once you've had your home for a while or have recently closed on a new property, you need to analyze and discover any deficiencies that are incorporated into the overall functionality of one of your most private rooms. Make a list of your greatest wants and desires and begin to figure out how to make them affordable and real.
Conventionally, the master bathroom has featured a giant master bath tub. This might be a traditional tub or a jetted unit – but it seems that more and more clients are asking for something else. They are saying ‘no’ to the large master bath tub taking up more room that could be used for other activities. Specifically, the current trend is for smaller, freestanding tubs with stand alone larger custom showers that might include body sprays, steam showers, duel heads, etc. or maybe no tub at all. The tub no longer needs to take up so much of the usable square feet as the main focal point in the bathroom. Most likely, large showers will remain popular, while tubs will remain a more personal choice. There will likely be a certain group of people who really enjoy and want a nice long bath, regardless of the trends. Each situation is personal, and a home should be full of personal choices.
Keep in mind that moving plumbing, especially drains, is one of the more expensive aspects of a fine bathroom makeover involving floor demolition. If you can limit and control the costs involved with this issue you will have more money to spend on the things that show off your endeavors. Keeping this in mind will make your Austin bathroom remodeling a success.
Start with your vanity cabinet(s) to see if the proper amount and kind of storage is present. Can you accomplish your needs by using specialty items like pull out shelves, miscellaneous storage add ons as in wire pullouts, tilt out trays, or simply drawer inserts separating cosmetics or medicines? If this isn't enough, your vanity cabinet can be replaced with something that's been custom made or you may be able to find an off the shelf product that solves your storage problems.
How about your existing conventional tub? If it is no longer used or you have another tub in your other bathroom it can be transformed into a shower within the same footprint. You'll need to decide if you want a door and bring in the sides for the correct opening with either glass blocks or custom tile work on stick frame type construction. A walk in shower without a door requires a large enough area to enter so that the shower head is off to the side. Today's custom walk in showers can get pretty fancy with body and rain heads but remember these require a larger size supply line than is normally standard. Composite shower pans or liners beneath the floor tile can be composed of either a custom fiberglass application or the proper vinyl material. Waterproofing is the most important aspect of shower building and all precautions must be taken.
Changing your toilet is an easy way to change the look and efficiency of your bath. Older toilets use too much water when flushing and leaky flappers or malfunctioning fill valves are also water wasters. Toilets come in either a round or elongated shape and in standard and somewhat taller heights according to your comfort level.
Now that you've worked so diligently to attain the most efficient envelope for your building it's time to consider the finer points and a few energy minded construction techniques. This is why home remodeling Austin, Texas is a unique problem and furthermore why professional residential remodelers exist. From here on out you will be dealing with the penetrations going through your envelope perimeter that are deducting from all your efforts. These areas include not only the electrical boxes, wires, pipes, and registers that are coming through your walls, floor, and ceilings,but in particular the doors and windows that connect us to the outside.
Austin house remodeling criteria demand that any penetrations concerning your utilities must be dealt with using expanding foams, caulks, or gaskets that limit infiltration into your envelope. You can use clear paintable caulks in conjunction with all your interior trim eliminating small leaks that add up to large problems. You can also caulk your A/C buckets to the ceiling before replacing the grilles. Use insulation dams above attic stair units and weatherstrip the pull down door to the ceiling. Repeat this procedure at any additional attic skuttles within your building.
Your return air closet can also be a conditioned air thief. Caulk all inside corners of the closet and seal your air handler to the platform it rests upon. Weatherstrip the closet door. If you have a gas furnace you can either remove the closet ceiling or install combustion air pipes that connect the closet to the unconditioned attic above.
Now to attack the most wasteful of all the efficient envelope penetrators that connect us to the great outdoors-your windows. They make up a great percentage of surface area in your now upgraded and insulated exterior walls. You must access whether or not to replace the original leaky windows and what value they add while preserving the look of your exterior. If you choose to keep them, either efficient storm windows or insulating shutters may be installed on the interior. If, on the other hand, you favor replacing them always remember a good rule of thumb. A single pane of glass only offers an R-1 resistance to the outside. You are basically dealing with aesthetics so don't be taken in by all the bell and whistle talk. The main specification to consider is the E-factor concerning how well light is transmitted into the building helping with direct gain problems during the summer months.
All solid exterior doors offer insulating qualities through their makeup and must be weatherstripped. If your doors contain glass inserts treat them as windows installing insulating shutters on the interior or a storm door on the exterior. Any penetrations through the conditioned envelope reduces it's total efficiency.
Tankless Hot Water Heaters DON'T Waste Energy Heating Water
Check out Part 1: Ceilings which covers your attic wastes
Check out Part 2: Walls which covers your wall R-factors and underpinning
Phote Credit: Compact fluorescent...By Mike Dykstra
Now that you've taken care of the energy being wasted "through the roof" how about those walls and what energy minded construction techniques can be utilized? What type of construction makes up your walls and what are the best ways to go about eliminating some of the waste caused by air infiltration? Let's define what home remodeling Austin, Texas means.
Any remodeling contractor will tell you that Very old buildings have wall construction which is limited only by the materials that were available at the building sight for any specific time. These structures were normally composed of sod, masonry, or logs that were chinked with mud set into their joints relying on the principle of thermal mass. By building thicker walls the same logic of the R-factor was used. It took longer for outside temperatures to transfer into the building through these massive resistant walls into the living space.
Once lumber became available it was used at a premium. The presence of clapboard or weather board construction came about using one by (one inch thick) boards in varying widths on both sides of a 2x4 stud forming the outside walls.
The joints between the boards allowed air to infiltrate the building. Batten boards were nailed over these joints on the exterior to eliminate some of the air flow and later cheesecloth covered by wallpaper was applied on the inside boards. The walls still had too much air infiltration relying on the dead air space and the composition of the wood itself to comprise the R-factor. Finally 1/4" sheetrock was applied over the wallpaper as a first generation drywall application.
If this clapboard system is plaguing your building you must access which side of the wall you need to attack. Do you need new exterior siding that allows you to install and bury additional rigid insulation or desire a newer looking drywall finish on the interior? The only way to gain access to your stud space for applying batt insulation is to remove one side of the clap boards. The kraft face must be turned toward your living space to create a vapor barrier against the outside and R-13 is the thickest product you can place in a four inch cavity. Don't be misled by an offer using a blown in product that can be held up by wiring and never reach the bottom of the wall cavity which defeats the whole process.
Once you have accomplished this task you have helped to maintain your envelope but you need to look down. If your floor is on a pier and beam structure do you have an underpinning present? It's purpose is to stop the wind from robbing you of additional infiltration from below your floor. If present, the underpinning can eliminate having to install insulation between your floor joist. It acts by literally raising the constant temperatures that existing naturally below ground. This natural occurence will temper the crawl space beneath your floor joists and prevent energy robbing infiltration. You now have a reasonably efficient envelope given your existing situation.
So you have recently purchased or already own a building with character but feel like it's wasting your hard earned money causing high energy bills. What are some of the best and most cost energy minded construction techniques in Austin, Texas you can use to help lower those "through the roof" expenses? You need to understand primarily that your ceiling is the only common denominator between your costly conditioned living space and the root of your problem---the attic.
The greatest retrofit solution concerning home remodeling Austin, Texas is the resistance factor (R-factor) you can add above your ceiling in the form of insulation to slow down temperature exchanges and the amount is determined only by the space that you have. If you own a building without any insulation then insulating the ceiling above the walls and floor causes the most radical changes in the way the structure responds to temperature differentials. Lay in Kraft faced batts with the paper next to your ceiling to create a vapor barrier. If your attic has old preexisting insulation add more on top of this in the form of unfaced batts running perpendicular to your ceiling joists or apply the blown in type.
Remember that insulation works best when there is air surrounding each of the fibers or filaments comprising it's makeup that forms the resistance. Settled and stomped down areas defeat the purpose by transferring temperature easier between the fibers themselves that are touching one another. Think of your attic as a heat producing battery that pushes the summer heat down through your ceiling into the conditioned space. The air expands as the temperature increases and once the attic ventillation is overcome by sheer volume it continues to hold that increasingly heated air only to transfer the heat directly through your ceiling causing your A/C to cycle more often. Conversely in the winter the cold intrinsic attic air takes advantage of the principle of heat rising and becomes a collecting sponge for your expensive heated air. The presence of adequate insulation fixes both situations because the greater the R-value the better the fix.
Check out Part 2: Walls covering R-factors within your walls
Check out Part 3: The Envelope covering penetrations and their energy waste
