This great little heater unit is made by a company called Envi that we installed in a small (6×7) mudroom addition from this winter. It has a built in thermostat and works as a convection unit, drawing cool air from below and sending it up to create a circular air flow and maintain a consistent room temperature. We also put in a well insulated and air-sealed entry door in a stairwell to replace a cold and drafty old hollow core door. The door trim is fir to match the existing older  trim. True Colors paint store in Montpelier did a fantastic job doing a stain match to the old varnished trim.

small heat, small space, small budget...a good match

It seemed like it was never going to snow and then…tire chains are required to pull the trailer out! For the homeowner in the winter it may be “some hiking required”. Have been working on framing, capping and finishing a walk-out basement on an existing foundation. It was originally to be a whole house but the bank said no to the borrower. Luckily she was able to get financing through a special program for low-income borrowers. She will do much of the finish work. Radiant heat in the slab and a beautiful view of the hills through five 25×74 fixed glass low-E units should create a cozy home. They did. The owner is in and enjoying the view.

Currently two jobs are nearing completion. One is a small mudroom/bathroom addition inside the garage. The other is a reconfiguration of a 600 ft2 mother in-law cottage. More details and pictures soon.

When refinishing a floor it was clear that our sanding was to be the last one in the life of this 100 year old floor. SO…how best to preserve this floor? What is the greenest option? I am generally a fan of the Vermont Coatings floor finish but personally do not believe that it is anywhere near as durable as an oil based poly. So the choice was made to go with the oil knowing that when this floor needs help again it will have to be torn up. That way the wood will have a much longer useful life and that seems more important than saving the VOC and petroleum action from occuring in this case.

In the same apartment there was a tub surround that had failed due to tile on drywall accompanied by failing caulk. The question in this case was should we re-tile or replace the old set up with an acrylic unit. About the same cost either way. We decided to go for rebuilding the wall and insulating it properly followed by tile with epoxy grout. That way we eliminated the dumping of the old tub and the use of a lot of extra plastic.

These are the kinds of things that go on in the background of every job.