Project History

• The year began with remodel project in Ann Arbor, which included reconfiguring the walls of a house built in the 1920s. We were able to salvage the trim and reuse it to create walls that looked intended from the day the house was built. At this home we also accomplished a full paint job and window replacement. The old units were inoperable wooden things that leaked cold air.
• Around this time we also purchased a house in Hamtramck.  It's a nice single family home that's been vacant for some years.  The floors are oak and maple and old growth pine.  The base boards are 8 inches high; the door casings have crown moldings.
  
  The first thing we did was put on a new roof.  We fully insulated the attic space and blew cellulose down the walls.  We installed new windows and painted.  Working with local artist Mitch Cope and architect/designer, Gina Reichert from Design 99, we installed new tile in the bathrooms and kitchen and tossed out the old metal cabinets which were rusted and crumbling. We built new wooden cabinets using nine ply cabinet grade sheet goods and painted them. There's still more work to do, but it has been great making improvements to this old home, one that was abandoned for several years and filled with a dumpster's worth of vodka bottles, and had a thick nicotine coating on the walls and trim. The house was in disrepair and a hazard, but we're making it into a desirable home. It is cool and good for the city and the neighborhood.
• Also in 2008 we remodeled 2 bathrooms, one using indigo glass tile accents.  The glass tile glows. 
• We blew 40 bags of insulation into the walls of a house in Hamtramck.  It was a single family house.  We accomplished the job for $1,220.00.  Not a bad price to insulate all your walls. 
• We refaced several decks and rebuilt another that had fallen into disrepair.  We've replaced a lot of windows, painted two houses, and installed skylights.  
• Currently we're working on building an attached garage, with a sundeck on the roof. 
• We're also in the midst of applying for a variance to build a historically styled wooden porch in St. Clare Shores.  By ordinance they're no longer allowed. 
• We annually work at condominiums in Ann Arbor where we find and repair rotten wood, document the problems, and recommend maintenance. 
• We have also scheduled to build and install cabinetry which will contain home theater components. 

• In January, we completely gutted and began rebuilding the long narrow space on 9 mile in Ferndale that would house the new Pinwheel Bakery.  Previous to our work, this building had been used as a clothing store. 
  
  This meant everything needed to be rebuilt, rewired and appropriately vented.  Working with architect Roland Day, we partitioned the space, applied a new ventilation system, added a bathroom, and walk-in cooler. 
  
  Perhaps the most exciting part of this job was seeing the transformation of the front facade.  During demolition we discovered that the sealed area above the indented entrance had once housed a leaded glass window, although it had fallen out of its frame and was stained with soot, it was still for the most part intact. 
  
  Working with the DDA and the business owner, Hughes and Lynn were instrumental in helping the bakery receive funding from the city of Ferndale to restore the leaded window and create a more open and inviting entry to the building.  After several months and 15 different subcontractors the Pinwheel Bakery is in full swing, cooking up amazing brioche, scones, cupcakes and cookies.  If you haven';t already checked it out, visit what Sylvia Rector, Detroit Free Press Restaurant Critic, is hailing as “Ferndale's sweetest new spot.”
  

• By the time summer rolled around we had remodeled two bathrooms in the same house.  Doing two bathrooms at the same is a good way to save money on subcontractor labor. 
• In June we were hired by the Hamtramck Recreation Department to repair their worn playground equipment and the pavilions at Pulaski Park. 
• we've painted one house, installed some really fine Weathershield replacement windows and doors at the headquarters of the Hamtramck Star. 
• We renovated a screen porch and a home office in Barton Hills, and installed a hardwood floor in South Lyon. 
• We were very pleased to be asked by Christ Church Detroit to renovate two chapels in their historic building that dates back to the 1860s.  One of the chapels houses an amazing Tiffany stained glass window.   

  The highlight of the chapel project was rebuilding and retro-fitting an old alter that was salvaged from Saint Anthony’s Church in Detroit.  We also redid the floors, bolstering the framing where it had sagged or was cracked and applied new high traffic commercial tile. We plastered the walls and painted. 
  

2006

2006 may not have been a good year for the Michigan economy, but we still saw a lot of remodeling and renovation work occurring.