Do A New Addition on Your Home

An addition to any home is something that lasts for many years. A well-thought out and planned addition enhances any home, adds to the equity and gives you needed space, comfort and livability.

 Some of the many reasons for adding living space to your home are:  1) A growing family needs an additional bedroom or bathroom. 2) You’re staring a business and need a home office. 3) Surprise your spouse with a new kitchen. 4) Or go and add a new gym or recreation room (some people are even adding basketball courts and in-door shooting ranges!)

 In planning out your new addition project, keep in mind that the construction of this new found space is not only safe, but also meets all building codes, and is also estimated to fit your budget.
 There are two ways to go with an addition – horizontal additions and vertical additions. Having the space and required clearances on your property, a horizontal addition to your home will greatly increase its overall comfort level and usability.

 A vertical addition is somewhat more tricky, but works well when you have limited space on your property to go outward. Usually these additions require new footings and foundations to support the new space. Having a small piece of land, you may be limited to adding an upstairs guestroom, bedroom or bathroom.

 Another option on a vertical addition is to go downward. Building a basement that could encompass anything from a bed/bath combination to a new recreation room or even something much more extensive – an in-home theatre, indoor putting green or whatever you might have in mind is always an option that can be looked at and estimated.

 Should your budget not allow for an expensive addition, you may want to look at adding an enclosed porch or sunroom to your home. This works well as they are good all year round and require little in terms of extended air conditioning and heating (often a substantial increase in many addition projects).

 Give my office a call today (818) 548-8760 and we’ll schedule you for a free estimate to build a new addition or do any other major remodeling work on your home.

A Man's Home is His Castle

I not only remodel, I do additions and can built you a house from the ground up.  I also don’t limit it to just castles but can also do…
abodes, accommodations, addresses, bungalows, cabins, caves, chateaus, citadels, cribs, cubbyholes, digs, domiciles, dumps, dwellings, establishments, flats, forts, garrisons, habitats, hangouts, haunts, hideouts, homes, houses, huts, joints, lodgings, manors, mansions, nests, pads, palaces, quarters, residences, resorts, roosts, shanties, shelters, strongholds, towers and of course villas.

I have been in construction for over 30 years…
 Since I was 19 years old I have been doing construction and I have been a licensed general contractor since 1995.

 I started in 1977, I learned the trade doing it from the ground up for 18 years, my first job in construction was digging trenches for the foundations of houses, then doing miscellaneous jobs, then into construction trades (framing, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, painting and many more) up till 1990 when I became "Randy the Handyman" for 5 years. then became a Licensed Contractor, in Glendale, California in 1995.  For the next 22 years, 1995 to 2017, I have built up a pool of sub-contractors to do most anything.  I now specialize in residential remodels, additions and houses from the ground up.

Got something? Call me - (818) 548-8760 or visit my web atwww.newcastleremodeling.com
 I know what it takes to get a job done and can spot when things are being done correctly or incorrectly.
 I would like to have the opportunity to do a project for you, construction is what I do.
CA Lic 978915

- Randy

Are You Running Out of Storage Space? By Randy Mate

 Are you trying to figure out what you’re going to do with all your stuff? There are many things you can do to make more room. Here are some ideas:

1.     Set up free standing bookshelves. This can be done by either buying some shelves that are already put together or by getting shelves that you “match the numbers” on and put the correct screw in the correct hole. Whatever you do when you are dealing with free standing shelves, you are going to want to attach the shelves to the walls so they don’t fall over in the event some sort of earth motion were to take place.

2.     Put shelf strips on the walls that take “clip in” supports. These are pretty simple. You put these strips onto the walls (it is best to hit a stud) and then you can buy “arms” that hook onto the strips that stick out to support the shelf. The shelf is a pre-made laminated board that is made to match the “arms” and the strips. You just lay the shelves onto the arms and you are done. The best thing about these shelves is that you can adjust them in about 1 inch increments to suit whatever you are going to put on them.

3.     Put shelf brackets on the wall that you set a shelf on. These are simple “L” shaped brackets that you attach to the wall and then attach a shelf to the top of. Once these shelves are in place they would not be moved as they are all screwed in place.

4.     Put in built-in shelving or cabinets. This definitely takes more time and skill but it is where you take a space that you have that is not being utilized well enough and you build fixed cabinets however you want it to look and function. I won’t get any further into this one as it could be an article of it’s own.

5.     Set up a storage shed in the yard. I’m talking about one of those sheds that you can get at Home Depot or such that you take home and put together in your yard. The most important thing about one of these things is to build a foundation of at least wood for it to sit on and it is a good idea in my opinion to make it from concrete.

6.     Build a wood shed on a small concrete slab. In this case you are basically building a small building. Frame for concrete, put bolts into the concrete to bolt the bottom wood to, set bottom plates, build walls, build a roof, ply the outside, roof it, seal the outside and make it waterproof if need be. This is another pretty complicated one but one that with just a little study anyone could do.

7.     Rent an outside storage space. Well I guess I don’t have to say any more than that.

8.     Put an addition on your home. Add anything from a closet to another floor to your house. This could get pretty big also.

   Hope this helps. - Randy

Why Remodel Your Kitchen

     The kitchen is often the most used place in your home and, thus, should get the most attention than other portions of your house. In looking over some recent studies, I found that more homeowners and buyers look to the kitchen as a focal point on buying and selling a home. It is something that will add quick value to your home and get you the best for your buck, so to speak.

Here is the sequence of a kitchen remodel:
Desire
Concept
Funding
Design
Architecture
Engineering
Estimation
Planning
Scheduling
Demolition
Rough
Finish
Fixtures
Enjoyment!

   If you have any questions about remodeling your kitchen, feel free to call me at (818) 548-8760 and get that free estimate!

WATER STAINS ON THE WALLS OR ON THE CEILING

   This is usually caused by a leak in the roof or where the rain gutter meets the house. And in some rare instances, by a leaking pipe in the ceiling or wall. Once you have the roof patched or the leak handled you now have a stain that needs to be taken care of.

   If the stain is on a painted wall or ceiling and you know the color, you just need to paint the stain first with an oil base primer (so the stain will not come through the paint), then paint it with the correct color. If you need to match the color then you can go to a hardware store that has a means to computer match paint and get paint matched that way. If you have a “cottage cheese” ceiling that has not been painted and is clean, it would be best if you got some white “Kilz” spray paint and spray the stain with that.
   Need assistance? Call me at (818) 548-8760