Harrell Remodeling

Category Archives: Bathroom Remodeling

Rediscover Your Back Yard with Hardscape Features

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Lisa Sten

Are you ready to spend more time outdoors without leaving the sanctuary of your home? Do you want to fall in love with your back yard again and add to your home’s useable footprint while enjoying the Bay Area’s world-renowned micro climates? There are many different hardscape features and ideas that will enhance the outdoor living experience in your home. Hardscapes are typically defined as the fixed objects in landscaping, such as brick and tile patios and pathways, pergolas, stone walls, wood decks and other similar structures.

Gazebos and Pergolas

Create a shaded seating area with a solid-roof gazebo. Furnish it with a small table and chairs, a swing or built-in benches. Pergolas provide filtered shade without blocking your view of the sky. Choose materials like cedar, steel, vinyl or aluminum to coordinate with other outdoor-living components in your yard.

Decks and Patios

Rediscover the outdoors with the installation of a deck or patio with wood planks, pavers, concrete, natural stone or brick. Add outdoor furniture, a hot tub, fire pit or a kitchen to create a space for relaxing with family, and entertaining guests.

Swimming Pools

Add some refreshing splash to your back yard. Instead of your typical pool of the blue-and-white rectangular variety, use instead, natural stone basins and borders. Add waterfalls, unusual shapes and graduated levels to your custom pool. Surround it with a brick patio or a multi-level deck with seating.

Stones and Boulders

Large stone sculptures or a thoughtfully-placed stone fountain can be a beautiful focal point for your back-yard. Large rocks built into a low wall along a pathway or perimeter, convey a touch of rustic elegance and can create a terrace effect. Consider granite, limestone or slate for a beautiful yet natural look.

If you’d like to create something extraordinary with the outdoor living spaces in your Bay Area home, the design-build professionals at Harrell Remodeling can help. Contact us for details.

Posted in Outdoor Living Areas | Tagged hardscapes, outdoor living | Leave a comment

Open Up Your World to Skylights and Sun Tunnels

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Design Team

Skylights and sun tunnels are two innovative ways to bring natural light into the interior rooms of your home. Skylights are windows or see-through panels located on the roof.   In rooms with angled ceilings that match the angle of the roof, the skylight is mounted on the roof and light travels directly into the room.  In rooms with flat ceilings that do not match the angle of the roof above, it is fairly typical to have a light well made of drywall built around the roof mounted skylight that connects the skylight to the room’s flat ceiling.  This light well brings the light into the room.  These applications work when a skylight can be placed directly above a room.   Sun tunnels are often used when there are obstructions in the attic that prevent the installation of a skylight.  Sun tunnels are similar to skylights, but rather than a light well, sun tunnels have a tube with a reflective interior lining that captures natural light from a roof mounted dome and channels the light indirectly into the room.  This tunnel often travels at a slight angle through attic space. Sun tunnels can be installed in kitchens, living rooms, hallways and other areas of the home that may not have ample natural lighting.

Skylights

These ‘windows in the ceiling’ can increase natural lighting and make a room feel brighter and larger.   When properly installed as part of a Bay Area home remodeling project, skylights can help homeowners cut costs on an electricity bill while enhancing the home’s level of sophistication.   Skylights are available in a wide array of shapes and sizes with UV protected glass in a variety of tints.  Skylights can be fixed, or operable.  Operable skylights increase the fresh air flow and are often available with easy to use remote controls.

 

Sun Tunnels

Starting in sizes roughly a foot across and available in both round and square shapes, a sun tunnel diffuser panel sits on the ceiling level of a room.  From there the connected sun tunnel extends through and across attic space to a roof mounted clear dome.  The interior effect in the room’s ceiling appears similar to recessed lighting. Sun tunnels can be integrated into roof systems with slopes between 15 and 60 degrees.  Choose a diffuser for the sun tunnel that limits both glare and bright spots.

Federal Tax Credit

Homeowners interested in improving their energy efficiency will like the green impact of skylights and sun tunnels. Skylights and sun tunnels bring the illuminating properties of daylight into dark rooms. Federal tax credits of up to $200 are available for certain products through the federal government’s Energy Star program. They must be purchased and installed by Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013. The tax credit covers replacement windows, including a variety of skylights, as well as new ones put in as part of a home addition.

Posted in Remodeling Trends | Tagged skylights, sun tunnels | Leave a comment