One morning before work, as newlywed Jim Wueste drove around looking for a house that would fit his blended family, he discovered an old two-story stucco foreclosure in a neighborhood by Oak Hills Country Club. Vacant for three years, the house had been on the market for so long, the For Sale sign had fallen over in the yard.Something's got to be wrong. It's too great of a house, he thought. He immediately called his wife, Arlene. During her lunch break, she zipped down Fredericksburg Road to look at the property.
It was a unique spot, and so that intrigued me, Jim said. It was an older home, which intrigued her.Concerned that the 1922 house,Shop for wholesale Granite countertops from China! built with a suspended concrete foundation on a sloped lot, could have issues, the couple hired an engineering company to evaluate it. The report found the house was solid, hardly moving at all in 70 years.
The foyer, with walls covered in fabric that has the appearance of wallpaper, opens to the two main rooms downstairs, the bar and a den. Since the couple's four children have grown up and moved, the Wuestes, now both retired he from the San Antonio Fire Department, she from USAA use the downstairs mostly for entertaining.
A previous owner converted the garage to the bar, which has the ceiling and part of the walls wearing green silk. Antique Honduran mahogany panels complete the walls. Jim says he was told the mahogany, the stained-glass windows, the front door and the sidelights came from a house that was torn down in Alamo Heights.
The Wuestes made only two changes to the downstairs: They removed carpeting that covered the wood floors, and they added decorative antique cathedral window panels in cabinets flanking the marble-topped bar.They're French, presumably from the 1500s, Jim said. A military officer brought the the windows back from Europe during World War II and passed them on to an EMS chaplain who collected things from churches being torn down.
The gates from the communion rail at St. Benedict's Home for the Aged chapel downtown are here too; they're holding up the glass top on the table in the breakfast nook upstairs.We've done all of the interior, Arlene said. We have touched every room.We've been working on it through the years. We did it in pieces because it's so expensive, Jim said.
In the kitchen, they left the original Chicago brick in place around the stove. They refinished cabinets, added granite countertops and updated to stainless steel appliances.This last go-round we finished the Pella windows, everything in the main part of the house, Jim said. We've got all of the old windows out; we've just kind of been chipping at it.
The couple has made one major addition to the property: a greenhouse where Jim tends plants. Designed by architect Harvey Marmon, a neighbor's friend, the glass structure is no ordinary greenhouse.One day a woman knocked on the Wuestes' front door asking if her daughter could get married in their chapel. They laughed and explained that it's not a chapel, just a beautifully designed greenhouse.
Prefabricated is sometimes used to refer to modular homes, manufactured homes and mobile homes, but now it is often used synonymously with modular construction. Modular home construction streamlines the traditional site-building process. Site building usually involves multiple parties, but prefab homes are typically designed, constructed and built by one company.
Most of our clients have built something before, and a big part of what they appreciate is that its not open-ended, says Matthew Stannard, CEO and founder of Seattle-based Stillwater Dwellings. They know the price, and they know what theyre getting. Its a lot less stressful process for them.You will never need to change the bulbs and yourgranitetrade will last for years and years.
Because of the streamlined process, architects and builders are able to control how much (or how little) waste is involved in construction. It seems to me that the conventional high-end custom home is the most inefficient industry since the Industrial Revolution, Stannard says. Prefab companies are offering ways to remedy to this: Homes are constructed in factories where its easier to source sustainable materials and control waste, and transporting fewer workers means a smaller carbon footprint.
Brian Abramson, co-founder and director of business operations for Method Homes, says the company has achieved up to 96 percent landfill diversion on a project.
Not only is the building process more sustainable, but prefab homes have benefits for your energy bill, too. New developments in the industry allow builders to achieve a tighter envelope on the house. Spray foam insulation and structural insulated panels help to ensure that air doesnt leak into or outside of the home.
Bragging rights today are not, I have granite countertops, Koones says. But, I built a house thats very efficient, and I pay practically nothing in energy bills.
As prefab homes become more environmentally sustainable, their design has evolved as well. Many people associate prefab homes with a modern style of architecture; however, prefab is a type of construction, not a certain design style. Builders have discovered they can build almost anything with prefab, Koones says. Prefab houses can be built in almost any style you can build an on-site house. Method Homes, for example, recently launched a traditional-looking cottage series of homes.
Contrary to their prior reputation of being cookie cutter homes, Stannard says prefab homes are actually very customizable. We can do things like make a bathroom bigger, or make a walk-in closet,Browse our Granite slabs collection from the granitetrade.net! or do extended ceiling height, he says. People are surprised about what we can do.
Its important to note one of the major differences between prefab (modular) homes and manufactured homes. People think manufactured home when they hear prefab home, Abramson says. In fact, were modular, built to the local building codes. Our homes are equal if not stronger than their site-built counterparts.
Click on their website http://www.granitetrade.net/!
It was a unique spot, and so that intrigued me, Jim said. It was an older home, which intrigued her.Concerned that the 1922 house,Shop for wholesale Granite countertops from China! built with a suspended concrete foundation on a sloped lot, could have issues, the couple hired an engineering company to evaluate it. The report found the house was solid, hardly moving at all in 70 years.
The foyer, with walls covered in fabric that has the appearance of wallpaper, opens to the two main rooms downstairs, the bar and a den. Since the couple's four children have grown up and moved, the Wuestes, now both retired he from the San Antonio Fire Department, she from USAA use the downstairs mostly for entertaining.
A previous owner converted the garage to the bar, which has the ceiling and part of the walls wearing green silk. Antique Honduran mahogany panels complete the walls. Jim says he was told the mahogany, the stained-glass windows, the front door and the sidelights came from a house that was torn down in Alamo Heights.
The Wuestes made only two changes to the downstairs: They removed carpeting that covered the wood floors, and they added decorative antique cathedral window panels in cabinets flanking the marble-topped bar.They're French, presumably from the 1500s, Jim said. A military officer brought the the windows back from Europe during World War II and passed them on to an EMS chaplain who collected things from churches being torn down.
The gates from the communion rail at St. Benedict's Home for the Aged chapel downtown are here too; they're holding up the glass top on the table in the breakfast nook upstairs.We've done all of the interior, Arlene said. We have touched every room.We've been working on it through the years. We did it in pieces because it's so expensive, Jim said.
In the kitchen, they left the original Chicago brick in place around the stove. They refinished cabinets, added granite countertops and updated to stainless steel appliances.This last go-round we finished the Pella windows, everything in the main part of the house, Jim said. We've got all of the old windows out; we've just kind of been chipping at it.
The couple has made one major addition to the property: a greenhouse where Jim tends plants. Designed by architect Harvey Marmon, a neighbor's friend, the glass structure is no ordinary greenhouse.One day a woman knocked on the Wuestes' front door asking if her daughter could get married in their chapel. They laughed and explained that it's not a chapel, just a beautifully designed greenhouse.
Prefabricated is sometimes used to refer to modular homes, manufactured homes and mobile homes, but now it is often used synonymously with modular construction. Modular home construction streamlines the traditional site-building process. Site building usually involves multiple parties, but prefab homes are typically designed, constructed and built by one company.
Most of our clients have built something before, and a big part of what they appreciate is that its not open-ended, says Matthew Stannard, CEO and founder of Seattle-based Stillwater Dwellings. They know the price, and they know what theyre getting. Its a lot less stressful process for them.You will never need to change the bulbs and yourgranitetrade will last for years and years.
Because of the streamlined process, architects and builders are able to control how much (or how little) waste is involved in construction. It seems to me that the conventional high-end custom home is the most inefficient industry since the Industrial Revolution, Stannard says. Prefab companies are offering ways to remedy to this: Homes are constructed in factories where its easier to source sustainable materials and control waste, and transporting fewer workers means a smaller carbon footprint.
Brian Abramson, co-founder and director of business operations for Method Homes, says the company has achieved up to 96 percent landfill diversion on a project.
Not only is the building process more sustainable, but prefab homes have benefits for your energy bill, too. New developments in the industry allow builders to achieve a tighter envelope on the house. Spray foam insulation and structural insulated panels help to ensure that air doesnt leak into or outside of the home.
Bragging rights today are not, I have granite countertops, Koones says. But, I built a house thats very efficient, and I pay practically nothing in energy bills.
As prefab homes become more environmentally sustainable, their design has evolved as well. Many people associate prefab homes with a modern style of architecture; however, prefab is a type of construction, not a certain design style. Builders have discovered they can build almost anything with prefab, Koones says. Prefab houses can be built in almost any style you can build an on-site house. Method Homes, for example, recently launched a traditional-looking cottage series of homes.
Contrary to their prior reputation of being cookie cutter homes, Stannard says prefab homes are actually very customizable. We can do things like make a bathroom bigger, or make a walk-in closet,Browse our Granite slabs collection from the granitetrade.net! or do extended ceiling height, he says. People are surprised about what we can do.
Its important to note one of the major differences between prefab (modular) homes and manufactured homes. People think manufactured home when they hear prefab home, Abramson says. In fact, were modular, built to the local building codes. Our homes are equal if not stronger than their site-built counterparts.
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