Z.Z.Daily Construction

When you plan a kitchen remodel or upgrade, kitchen cabinets is one of the critical decisions you need to make. And kitchen cabinets can also be one of the most expensive components of your kitchen remodeling project.

You have many kitchen cabinet choices, but you can break it down to three basic approaches, with a fourth option you may not have considered.

• At the top end, you can go with completely customized cabinets. You hire a custom cabinet builder to build you tailor made cabinets from scratch. This is the most expensive category, and can easily start at $20,000 and up. With this approach, everything depends on the expertise, fine craftsman skills and experience of your cabinet builder. If you have an unusual floor or space plan, or you’re interested in some unique cabinet designs, this may be the best way to go. By the way, we have many years of experience with custom cabinetry fabrication and installation at Z.Z Daily Construction.
• Premium brand pre-manufactured cabinets from companies like KraftMaid.  Premium brand cabinet manufactures can offer excellent quality, choices of materials, a variety of hardware options, and  with many designs and styles to choose from. Most cabinets come in standard dimensions and sizes, so you have a little less flexibility than with custom cabinets when it comes to odd sizes and dimensions to fit your ideal kitchen plan. Kitchen cabinets in this category typically run between $10,000 and $20,000 for the average kitchen remodel.
• Budget priced kitchen cabinets from the big home improvement centers like Home Depot and Lowes. Many customers start here when shopping for cabinets, most likely because of the familiarity, and a sense that this will be the money saving choice. We generally don’t recommend the home centers for kitchen cabinets. These cabinets tend to be fairly low quality, inferior materials and construction, and poor hardware options.  In the end, many folks don’t actually save that much money with the home center cabinet choices.  Worse yet, you can end up stuck with kitchen cabinets that leave you dissapointed everytime you step into your kitchen, and you may have to live with this choice for years. (more…)

We see more green remodeling ideas everyday, particularly in the area of earth-friendly building materials. We found another company in a similar category to Serious Materials, the maker of EcoRock – a new alternative drywall solution, that we brought to your attention recently.

Cleanboard, a San Francisco based drywall startup, is a new company with a slightly different twist on a drywall product manufactured using a more environmentally friendly process. Cleanboard promotes their ecology friendly drywall product as “the most environmentally friendly drywall on earth“.

CleanBoard has created a solar powered system that uses mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays on a heat collector which heats a transfer fluid to store the sun’s radiant energy. The heated transfer fluid heats the drywall baking ovens up to 200 degrees Celsius. And the transfer fluid can store the heat in pressurized chambers up to 24 hours enabling the company to manufacture drywall even on days when the sun isn’t shining.

The traditional gypsum drywall manufacturing process typically relies on fuel expensive gas fired ovens that represent a significant carbon footprint. Moving to a solar based technology to heat the ovens provides a carbon free solution and should reduce the energy costs to manufacture the drywall by more than 50%.

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We hear a lot about eco-friendly green remodeling lately. As the sustainable building trend picks up momentum, many companies and manufacturers are jumping on the bandwagon and bringing new and improved green building material products to market.

One such company, Serious Materials, has released a new drywall product they call EcoRock. The company claims this is the first significant change in the way that sheetrock is manufactured in over 100 years, and has recently won the Popular Science GreenTech award for best of what’s new in ‘08.

For environmentally conscious home builders and home remodelers that are looking for better sustainable building materials solutions, EcoRock may be an interesting advancement worth looking into.

EcoRock improves on traditional gypsum sheetrock in several ways.

• Uses 80% less energy to manufacture than gypsum drywall.  Traditional gypsum wallboard manufacturing processes uses energy intensive drying ovens to fabricate drywall. EcoRock is naturally dried and cured using an oven-free process that consumes much less energy to manufacturer.
• Made of 80% recycled materials - made using recycled industrial waste products including waste from steel and cement plants. No gypsum is used to manufacture EcoRock.
• Mold and Termite resistant – outperforms all other mold resistant drywall as much as 50%. And no harsh anti-fungal chemicals are used to make EcoRock.
• Can be fully recycled at end of life – can be used as a pH additive for soils and can be returned to the production of EcoRock and other building materials as a useful raw material. And unlike gypsum drywall materials, EcoRock can be safely disposed of in landfills if necessary.

According to the manufacturer, EcoRock should be available from building material suppliers in the Western states later in 2009. The manufacturer indicates there is no difference in hanging, taping and installing EcoRock over standard drywall products.  The cost for the new drywall building material is not currently published, but expect it to be higher priced than gypsum based wallboard.

Green remodeling is a distinct trend gaining momentum in the home remodeling industry. When homeowners decide to undertake home improvement projects, green and eco-friendly considerations make sense for two reasons. The energy conservation aspects are good for your wallet and going green is good for the environment.

Creative Green Remodeling Ideas

There are so many creative ways to apply green home improvement ideas. For example, if you enjoy a climate like we do here in Southern California that promotes the integration of an indoor and outdoor lifestyle, consider the following creative application of an outdoor shower.

This concept, courtesy of Jeremy Levine Design, provides an enclosed open-air shower off of the indoor bathroom.  The outdoor shower offers a serene exposure to the open air while protecting your personal privacy.

The green friendly design recycles the shower water into a grey water garden outside. An aesthetic and pleasing lifestyle design that is smart for the environment as well!

photo credit: Jeremy Levine Design

The possibilities for green remodeling concepts are wide-open, but most homeowners choose to start with the basics first. Here are five of the more common green remodeling improvements that you might consider for your next remodeling project. (more…)

Did you know that you can receive tax credits for a number of home improvements that increase the energy efficiency of your house?

Originally, these residential home improvement tax credits were set to expire in 2009.

Well, here’s some good news. These energy based tax credits have been extended through the end of 2010.

Energy Based Home Improvement Tax Credits

First established by congress and signed into law by President George Bush in 2005, the Energy Policy Act (EPACT) provides tax credits to individuals for a number of energy conservation home improvements.

The tax incentives offered are credits, not deductions. A tax deduction discounts the tax payer’s gross income which lowers the amount of income on which taxes must be paid.  A tax credit differs from a tax deduction by directly reducing the amount of taxes owed rather than decreasing gross income. Most homeowners regard tax credits as more beneficial.

These energy conservation credits were initially set to expire in different years, with the first expiration dates starting in 2009. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has extended many of the consumer energy tax incentives through the end of 2010.

Remember, always consult your accountant or tax specialist first to fully understand the specific tax benefit you might receive. The current tax laws are subject to change, and these various tax credits are scheduled to expire at different times. (more…)

The kitchen is a central living space in our homes. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking, gathering, feeding our families, and visiting. Here are five popular kitchen additions and upgrades that will add convenience, comfort and beauty to your home.

1. Cabinet Organizers and Lazy Susans

How often do you find yourself rummaging through your kitchen cabinets for that skillet or sauce pan that just seems to have disappeared? And where’s that favorite utensil that you haven’t been able to track down for months? Must be hiding in the back of one of your cabinets somewhere. And be honest, would you pull out the Cuisinart more often if you didn’t have to get on the floor on your hands and knees to dig it out of the cabinet?

You can greatly improve convenience in your kitchen with cabinet organizers and lazy susans that make your cabinet interiors visually accessible and easily reachable.

These storage enhancements make it simple to see what you do and don’t have, and you no longer have to pull everything out of a cabinet to get at an item that’s hiding all the way in the back. (more…)

Home remodels, any way you slice it, somehow always end up bigger jobs than you anticipate. Most homeowners are not well prepared when they take on a home remodel project. Unfortunately, the lack of preparation can lead to higher costs, poor quality results and unnecessary added stress and anxiety.

Make sure you do your home remodel planning first

Proper planning helps you avoid the rush. Most homeowners underestimate the number of decisions they need to make before they even get the construction underway. When you don’t give yourself sufficient time to plan up front, you’ll tend to make hasty decisions that you’ll either want to change later. Or worse, in your hurry to get moving, you’ll overlook an important consideration that can cost you much more after you’ve started to build.

A rule of thumb to remember; Anything you have to re-do a second time to get it right will always cost more than doing it right the first time.

Whether working with a designer or consulting with your contractor for ideas and advice, the variety of decisions you’ll need to work through will add up quickly. You’ll do better if you give yourself the proper time to cover the planning phase up front, and go in with a positive attitude. Enjoy the planning steps and make it fun.

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Kitchen remodels remain one of the most popular home remodeling projects that homeowners undertake. In 2004, admittedly at the height of the recent housing boom, Americans spent more than $10.5 billion remodeling their kitchens. With the current downturn in the economy, the spending on remodeling is returning to more traditional levels of 5% a year.

While homeowners may be getting more cautious given the current market conditions, kitchen remodels still remain a key area of focus for homeowners looking to improve the beauty, functionality and value of their home.

Your kitchen can be one of the more expensive projects. You’ve seen some of the very extravagant kitchen upgrades in home decor and designer magazines. These high-end kitchen remodels can cost as much as $100,000 or more. While beautiful to admire, that’s probably beyond the budget of most Americans looking to improve their kitchen.

If you’re considering a kitchen upgrade, here are a few ways to get the most for your money.

Always start with a plan. According to a recent Consumer Reports Survey, people who did less homework before they began their home-improvement projects reported more problems. Nearly 25% of the over 2,000 homeowners surveyed said they wished they had done more research or chosen a professional contractor more carefully. One of the more common complaints was that the job wasn’t finished on time.
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