Peter’s Blog

July 7th, 2009
I am no economist, but I feel confident that we have likely bottomed out and we'll see our local economy start to rebound by the end of summer. It's been a challenging year for the construction industry and unfortunately we've seen some of our long-time construction customers unable to survive in these challenging times. But... finally the phones are beginning to ring again and I'm optimist about our economic recovery. There is no better time to remodel: bank financed interest rates have lowered, labor rates are slightly down and we've recently lowered our cultured marble pricing to mid-'90s levels due to the reduction in some raw material costs. Some of our other product suppliers have also lowered costs, for example some cabinet lines have announced price reductions as well as lower fuel surcharges on shower doors.

There really is no better time to start your bath remodel projects.

July 30th, 2009
Our new product- TruStone is truly exciting. You need to visit the showroom to see the natural beauty of this material and to see how affordable this product is compared to natural stone. Take a few minutes to check out the TruStone website. Not only will you see the various images available but you can check out dozens of installations. I recently got a kick out of the beach scene shower surround, however, I would have incorporated the sand and water into the shower pan as well.

This is amazing stuff.

August 10, 2009
We are just completing a major bath remodel in Bellevue. The homeowners were anxious to update their 60's bath with modern features, while gaining an elegant and far more functional space. We gutted the room and spent several days reframing for the new shower, bench, moved doorways, replumbed for a new vanity area, lighting, tile flooring, added an additional electrical circuit and switches, etc. However, once the walls were opened up it became obvious that the galvanized steel piping was in a sorry state. For a couple of hundred dollars, all the accessible plumbing pipes were replaced with copper. If this had not been addressed, the old corroded pipes would surely have failed , resulting in thousands of dollars in damage. The delighted homeowners are now enjoying a luxurious new bathroom suite...

August 18th, 2009
We've recently completed our first custom image in TruStone. On a Mocha Travertine background in matte finish we've photofused my black lab AKC Master Hunter "Jet" onto a cultured marble piece that is now serving as a conference table at a hunting lodge in Monroe.