My oldest son Jeramiah, is now 14 and needed his own space away from his young brother. Converting my office to a bedroom was simple, adding a few walls around the hall that goes to
the back door was all it took. A closet was added for shirt hanging and a ceiling fan for those hot summer nights.
CARPORT TO GARAGE CONVERSION
After this conversion was completed, I was very surprised just how easy it was to finish, and WOW what a difference, now we have a complete looking house aside from some minor landscape work. I couldn't have finished without the help of my friends at Cactus garage doors, they went out of their way to make my conversion a success. I was so happy of my conversion performance that I decided to start a business specializing in carport to garage conversions.
We call it "Home Fantasy Facelift". Actually its going to be more than just garages, I want to create a new model looking home into your existing home for a complete facelift. My services wont be just your everday remodel, we want to first show you what your new home conversion will look like using the power of 3D. Click on our Designs link for more information about the "Fantasy Facelift".
NEW FRONT WINDOW INSTALL
Most of us though don't have a clue on how to update a room's appearance especially when doing major modifications like the new window below. Room remodeling/decorating is a time consuming process but can be an enjoyable experience if you know exactly what you are wanting a room to look like.
From the very beginning, my wife and I noticed that the living room needs more natural light, I consulted an Architect friend about removing the two skinny windows in our living room for one large 6'x5' window. My smart friend was also nice enough to give me a hand with my project, thanks Ken. Now that it's almost complete, we can say wow, what a difference, its kinda like night and day. We flooded the once dark room with an aboundance of natural light. My wife also thought that giving this room a fresh coat of a faint color would really do wonders. We are excited once again to walk into this room.
But this is only the beginning, next we will show you how to install two skylights in a splayed light well. We all know that this isn't the 70's anymore, removing your dated popcorn ceiling would bring any room into the new century along with a few ceiling light cans for that dimmed light glow effect.
Below shows our step by step process, we highly recommend consulting a professional before attempting a project of this magnitude, happy building!
KITCHEN REMODEL
Our newly remodeled kitchen is the result of our second house flood. When our home was built in 1969, the builders didn't know about abs plastic pipe, our home is plumbed with cast iron piping. Anyway, the kitchen sink drain pipe wore a hole through it flooding our kitchen. Having any type of insurance claim can be a real bear but in the end, we received enough money to make the kitchen the way we wanted. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of our old kitchen, trust me it was another room stuck in the 70's! What do you think of it now?
MAILBOX COLUMN
This is one project I've been looking forward to and dreading all at the same time. This is because I have never done any masonry work with bricks or block. Laying concrete is one thing, bricks are another. I told myself I would try to put this project on hold as long as I can or until the wife demanded it be done. I don't know what I was so afraid of because this project is almost finished and had only a few little problems with it. True there is some things to look out for including making sure everything stays level, proper masonry spacing (3/8") and masonry mix consistency to name a few.
Applying stucco to the blocks is the next step, it's an easy mix, just add water. The stucco is applied in two layers with a mortar trowel about 1/4" thick. Placing the glass block is the next step, it's just like laying the concrete blocks with few exceptions, additional supports are needed and you have to use a special mortar mix or a silicone method. In back of the glass block is going to be a light socket and a bulb. One thing that a person has to think about pertaining to the light is just how you're going to change the light bulb. I'm going to have one of the glass blocks on the back placed in such a way that it can be wedged out with a screwdriver.
I just have to say that I really enjoyed this project and am looking forward to many other masonry home projects including building more of these mailbox columns for other people. I first need to sharpen my skills and get faster at it. The following pictures below show the steps it took to build this beautiful structure. Please email me for any questions you might have or a more detailed breakdown of the steps.
The last photo is actually a rendered image of the completed column.
Happy building!
OUR HOMECOMING
All of us here at the Schwinghamer residence really are tired and hot, after going through our sewer mishap we feel its time to really get back into our house projects. I'm happy to tell you that our family has gained a few new members, another Labrador puppy and a little kitten. Contrary to what my wife believes I convinced her that we need a fence in the middle of the back yard (to control our dogs). Our black lab, almost one year old loves to jump on people. As our backyard projects are shaping up it seems that projects are overlapping.
Digging for an in ground pool was going to be my number one project this fall but that changed because I discovered that my main sewer line is in the middle of the pool area. So the next best thing is an above ground pool with grass, landscape and a deck. The first thing that needs to get done is a pool fence.
Putting up a pool fence is a straightforward type of project; concrete fences posts into the ground and attach the inner fencing. I thought to myself "this is going to be a piece of cake" and it is pretty easy if you use the posts made to be concreted in the ground and not the ones that use threaded anchor bolts. Please visit your local Home Depot for all the materials you need. I recommend you dig an 8" round hole, about 18" deep, I went one step further and hammered a 4 ft. rebar in the ground that will be submerged in the concrete. I used Superior concrete mix, just add water. When I went to The Home Depot for my supplies, I received a pool fence layout sheet giving me necessary information like center to center post width and the inner fence height. I completed this project in about three days because of waiting for the concrete to dry completely.
HOUSE SEWER BACKUP
On April 12 we had a not so nice accident happen to our house, Jessica, my daughter flushed the toilet, the water went down then back up flooding our beautiful home. Our house had to be evacuated because of the bacteria from the sewer water. My wife and I have never had to deal with something like this. My first made the mistake of hiring a public insurance adjuster. It seems to me that they like to drag their feet trying to claim as much as possible so they get the most money. Needless to say they are don't care how long your out of your home.
After almost no progress to our house (using the public adjusters) we decided that we need help. Hiring Minute Men Resoration in Glendale was the best decision we could have made. Their team was quick but thorough, (cleaning, painting, reinstalling carpets and tiles) they are going to get us back into our house in less than three weeks! I was totally impressed with their workmanship, honesty and thoughtfulness throughout the job, I would recommend them to anyone with water damage!
Dealing with insurance companies can be a little intimidating at times especially when they dont want to have your best interests in mind. This kind of event doesn't happen everyday (thank God), it helps to know what steps to take after a misfortune.
We hope to be back into our house on the 14th of June to start up my home projects again.
SPRINKLER DESIGN
We are now finished with our second featured project, the water heater closet. This was sort of a
continuation project of the pantry (our first project), we moved the water heater then enclose it.
We will show you a finished picture soon (its going to look exactly like the 3D rendering). I know we
told you that after this project we were going to tackle a mailbox column w/light in the front yard,
we'll that's been put on hold.
Looking at our future back yard pictures, we decided it would be smart to install a sprinkler system
for a plush lawn. Shown to the left is an overhead diagram of our house and both yards. It shows the pool
fence separating the pool area from the grass area; this will be the first item that needs to be
installed. True we do not have a pool at this time; we do have a Labrador puppy that likes to get into
everything. Take note, the various planters, they will be tied into the sprinkler system using bubblers.
The violet lines indicate the PVC pipe runs to the sprinkler heads and the red lines show the bubbler
runs to the planters. The green line in the front yard is the main water supply.
The design of this sprinkler system was provided by www.diy-online.com, this is a free service. Its
fast, it's easy, I recommend it! This sprinkler project starts with trenching the ground about 9" deep from the main
water line that goes to your house to the area where you want the valve box to be located. From that
point you trench to the sprinkler heads in your yard. Renting a trencher at your local Home Depot is an
easy and cost effective method as well as gathering all the supplies there too. The great part about
the diy-online design is that they give you a complete parts list for your size yard. Important note:
Before you start digging, make sure you call your local blue stake (it's a service that can tell you
where dangerous power is underground before you dig). The reason why I'm taking the time to tell you
about the installation process is because this is going to be a very popular project. Almost every
home has some type of yard and/or planters that need aqua (especially in the hot summer of Arizona).
WATER HEATER CLOSET
The picture to the left shows the water heater area.
The next picture above shows the back porch when we bought our house. See the area where the arrow is pointing
to, that's the water heater closet. This is the area that is the back wall of my new kitchen pantry
(my first project).
This simple project is going to be a welcome
addition to the back porch, it makes sense to enclose that ugly water heater plus it gives me more
storage space. Another beautiful item that was placed on our back porch is a barbecue island from my
friends at Bbq Hut inc. Look below for the 3D rendering of this
perfect outdoor cooker. Please click on their link for all your BBQ needs.
My little helper (pictured above) and myself built the skeleton of this closet out of 2x4's in a day
(email me for detailed plans). I just want to say thanks to Nathan for his all powerful hammer swing.
We went to the local home depot and found that we could use the identical wood siding that the back of
the house has for a perfect match. We built two swing doors and used some plastic meshing to provide
enough venting for our gas water heater. Stay tuned for our next project, a mailbox column with a
light surrounded with glass block. This column will be located in the front yard next to the street, see above
for a preview rendering. After I complete this mailbox column and like the results, I have thought about
building these beautiful additions to other people's houses (please email me if interested).
The picture on the right (next to my little helper) is our finished waterheater closet (exactly like my 3D rendering).
FUTURE BACKYARD VISUALIZATION
My wife and I were out in the great outdoors, actually in our backyard milling over some landscape ideas. We both
decided it would be really nice to have a pool built for the hot summers here in Phoenix while keeping a small grass
yard for the kids to play in. This backyard is gonna be a much longer project than
other things we want to do to our house. We will tackle our back yard in the future. Another very helpful thing 3D
does for homeowners is choosing kinds of plants and flowers for the yard. One thing that my wife has always wanted
since we bought this house is a bigger master
bathroom including a sauna tub, of course I was all for it. What I'm trying to get across you
all you home owners is that Third Dimension Design has the ability to show you anything you want to see in your home
improvement ventures. Just take a look below at what we had to contend with when we moved in and what the yard might
become in the future.
When I showed my wife these two pictures she couldn't believe how beautiful the new yard appeared. Needless to say
she's very excited about the future.
PANTRY
Now that we are all moved in to our first home (August 12, 2001), we immediately started
planning the first house change. The really silly part of this house is
that the washing machine is inside and the dryer is outside in the storage
room (where it should be). My wife and I decided if we do buy the house
we would move the washing machine and the water heater outside. The kitchen is lacking a pantry
which it badly needs (from lack of cabinet space). You can see on the left, a
picture of the washing machine and hot water heater. 
After we move the washer and water heater, we will make the empty space into a spacious
pantry. Speaking of moving the water heater, that will be our next
project along with building a closet/enclosure combo for the water
heater, we will keep you posted. The smaller pictures below show
some steps that were performed moving the washing machine (any picture
can be enlarged by clicking on it). Im not going to go into detail with
the steps it took to move the washer and water heater. Please feel free
to email me at 3ddd@cox.net for
more detailed information.
As you can see its quite a lengthy procedure to move a washer but well
worth it! The steps to follow show the transformation of the once used
washing machine closet in a beautiful pantry. This pantry is gonna be
huge with room enough for any food products, plus a storage cabinet and
large drawer for tupperware.
For more information on the construction of our new pantry, please email
us. Now that our new pantry is nearly complete, we are happy to know our
finished design works well for us, we wouldn't change a thing. Its really
dreadful to have to settle for a something that doesn't work especially when
you think about all the time and money wasted on a poor design. Please see
below for the final 3D design picture of our new pantry. We can now show you
a photo of our finished pantry to the left of the 3D design image. Notice how it is
an almost exact copy of the 3D design.
After we move the washer and water heater, we will make the empty space into a spacious
pantry. Speaking of moving the water heater, that will be our next
project along with building a closet/enclosure combo for the water
heater, we will keep you posted. The smaller pictures below show
some steps that were performed moving the washing machine (any picture
can be enlarged by clicking on it). Im not going to go into detail with
the steps it took to move the washer and water heater. Please feel free
to email me at 3ddd@cox.net for
more detailed information.
