Our Off-Site Process Prior to Starting a Home Remodel

If you’ve been considering an extensive remodel, you are probably trying to mentally prepare for the weeks of construction that lie ahead for your home. Having a team of subcontractors and a project manager making visible changes to your kitchen or bathroom is a very exciting time; this is when your ideas truly come to life, as you can see the actual modifications taking place. What most homeowners don’t realize is that there is a lot of preliminary work that is done off-site prior to the demolition and construction. As anxious as many of our clients are to get started immediately after their consultation, there is a methodical process that must be followed beforehand in order to make the construction phase as smooth and seamless as possible. Read more

Mike’s Guys Home Improvement: The Ease of a Free Virtual Estimate

If there is one common complaint we’ve heard from homeowners throughout the years, it is that they struggled to find a contractor that would follow-up after their initial conversation. Unfortunately, homeowners are often forced to deal with the frustration of waiting for an estimate that never comes. If you’ve ever experienced a disappearing contractor or non-responsive home improvement service, you know how infuriating it is to be seemingly forgotten about when you’re trying to get a project done. Read more

A 1980’s Kitchen Redesigned for 2 Home Cooks

For many of our clients, updating a space for improved functionality is just as important (or even more important) than updating for aesthetics alone. This is particularly true when the homeowner is an avid cook who enjoys spending time in the kitchen. For our recent clients in North Arlington, creating a “cook’s dream kitchen” was the overall goal for the remodel. Both clients loved prepping, cooking, and hosting dinners; they knew early on in the year that they wanted to host Thanksgiving 2022 at their home. Unfortunately, their existing kitchen wasn’t quite suitable for the occasion.  It lacked the amount of counter space and storage they desired, and the appliances did not meet their needs in regard to functionality. They met with our designers to discuss the pain-points and explore how the kitchen could be redesigned. Our team came up with a number of ways to improve the features of the space within the existing footprint in order to give the clients what they wanted. Read more

5 Options for Completing a Home Remodel

The problem: your home is dated, dysfunctional, or doesn’t meet the needs of your lifestyle. The solution: remodel it for improved aesthetic and functionality. Sounds easy enough, right? The key is choosing the best option for getting it done. The way that you approach your home remodel can either make or break the success of the project, so it’s worth it to sit down and consider each of the options before moving forward.

What, then, are the best approaches? There are many, but here are some of the most common ways to get your home project completed: Read more

His & Hers: Small Bathrooms, BIG Updates!

Our recent clients in Fort Worth, TX, came to us in need of assistance updating their master bathrooms. Unlike most houses, there was not one large master bathroom; instead, it was two small bathrooms, separated by the master bedroom. While this layout may not be ideal for everyone, our clients liked the idea of having their own separate spaces, in which case, the smaller sized bathrooms were perfect for! Both rooms, however, were in desperate need of some refreshing. Our clients had some initial ideas and colors picked out but wanted to discuss the best options for utilizing the small areas. Our designers drew up the floor plans and 3D renderings to better communicate the changes. Read more

From Concept to Completion: How Our Design-Build Process Simplifies Your Remodeling Project

If you’ve been considering a major home remodel, you have likely already done a bit of research about what the process entails — it can certainly feel overwhelming to realize all the moving parts that need to come together in order to achieve a flawless finish. The many professionals that are necessary include an architect, a designer, and an engineer to create a design, followed by a general contractor to build it (or the long list of subcontractors you’d have to seek out yourself if you choose that route!) That is a lot of relationships to develop, individuals to trust, and various schedules to coordinate, all while ensuring things are being done correctly. Needless to say, there is plenty of room for error! Read more

A Stunning Laundry Room / Mudroom Swap in Keller

Do you have two rooms in your home that just seem like they should be swapped? Our recent clients in Keller, Texas, have a beautiful home that was built in 2002. The original laundry room came directly off the garage and was very small, creating a bottleneck of thru traffic. The room also lacked counter space and sufficient storage. Neighboring this tiny laundry room was a much larger room that the previous owner had used as a music room for her piano. Because the clients have two young children, this room became a playroom and makeshift mudroom to store shoes, jackets, and miscellaneous items. From the time the clients moved into the home 4 years ago, they both felt that it made more sense for the larger room to be the laundry room, leaving the smaller room off the garage as a mudroom. They came to us with their issue and the idea of swapping the spaces, and our designers got to work conceptualizing the new floor plan. See the full story in our blog post. Read more

Mike’s Guys: How Do I Refinish A Popcorn Ceiling Myself?


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We recently shared a post on 3 options for getting rid of popcorn ceilings. There are a few different ways to approach it, including hiring a professional (like Mike’s Guys) or installing beadboard sheets over the popcorn for a cleaner look. Of course, if you have settled on the idea of tackling the project on your own, we thought it would be helpful to have a step-by-step guide explaining how to scrape and refinish your ceilings.

Before You Start…

 

As mentioned in our initial post, before you start scraping away, it’s important to test your ceiling for asbestos. Homes built prior to 1980 potentially contain this dangerous substance in the ceiling, which could be a hazard to your health if inhaled. You can easily scrape off a section and send the sample by mail to an asbestos testing lab for a small fee. If asbestos is present, it will be necessary to hire a company that specializes in removing materials containing the substance rather than trying to do it yourself! Read more

What are ‘Budget Items’ in Regard to My Home Remodel?


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Aside from wanting to see detailed floor plans and 3D renderings, there is one primary reason homeowners choose to purchase our custom design package for their major remodel: to receive an all-inclusive price quote for their unique project. The Scope of Work document we provide as a part of your design package allows you to see exactly what is included – everything from foundation work to framing, to plumbing, electrical, and so on — and the total cost of everything as installed by the Medford Team. Your total project cost includes installation, materials, and labor, plus the total cost of your Budget Items. This bottom-line number is your total project cost. Since your Budget Items are the portion you as the homeowner get to control, we’d like to discuss them a bit further: Read more

A Bright Dining Room Refresh in Fort Worth

One of the primary goals of our recent whole-house remodel in Fort Worth, Texas, was to create a brighter, more open floor plan throughout the entire home.  A big contributor to achieving this goal was to renovate the dining room, which is in the direct line of sight upon entering the front door. The original room included a large window overlooking the backyard and providing plenty of natural light that our designers wanted to emphasize. Our clients loved the idea of streamlining the design and refreshing the dining room as a whole. Read more