Higgins

Gary and Sheila Higgins own this large brick home on the river in the back of Sequoyah Hills, Knoxville's Oldest premier subdivsion. The view from the back deck and patio are magnificent. It made a great spot for lunch while we were there this summer.



The renovations in this home started in June 2008 and carried into September. The work included 3 bath overhauls, screen porch renovation, replacing two large windows, replacing the kitchen floor, various door repairs, eave repair, flat roof replacement.
Wendy Tittsworth, the owner of Just So Decorating, coordinated and designed the whole house make over.

This is a before shot of the powder room near the entry. It was very dark and flowery. We lightened it up with some wainscoting and trim and classic fixtures. It is refreshing and gives an inviting peek into the back patio.

This small bath in the basement suite also received a new floor to accent the rest of the tile. New sink and toilet installed brought it up to date.

In the master bath we added alot of trim on the 32 doors and drawers in this spacious retreat. We tore out the cramped corner shower and built a larger rectangular one with clear heavy glass surround. Painter Chriss Hardy of 'The Painted Room' Matched the shower tile masterfully on the sliding doors. We installed a new granite top on the left and and toilet to match the one in the powder room. New fixtures on the tub and sinks brought this room together.

The kitchen floor had flood damage from a heavy rain and a clogged drain. We tore out the engineered hardwood and two layers of vinyl tile, repaired and leveled the elavated slab to prep for tile. the orange mat is designed to prevent cracking in the tile and grout by providing an uncoupling point to allow for settling, expansion and contraction.








The new tile made the room look larger and brought out the beauty of the cabinetry.

This sunroom and sreen porch flat roof developed a leak and was causing damage inside the home. So this became a priority and we hired a roofing contractor to replace the tar and gravel roof with a bitumen membrane rubber roof. then we replaced the damaged eaves and soffits and had the copper gutters remounted.

These two original windows were leaky and failing. The new replacements changed the entire look of the rooms inside.
Before the changes....



The screen porch overlooking the Tennessee river was our favorite place for lunch.

Atkinson porches

This 1915 Craftsman kit home is located in the College Hill historic district in Maryville, TN, and is owned by Andy and Lisa Atkinson. I have worked on many projects in this home including plaster repairs, bath renovations, trim restoration, and landscaping. However, the most notable upgrades were the porches. The original oak tongue and groove flooring had water damage from a leak I fixed previously.
The floor had a slope to shed water away from the house as it was designed as an open L-shaped porch and modified to have a sun room on a corner. This was evident in the floor decking and the framing. This combination of this slope and warping and settling of 90 years and made for an interesting layout under the front door and siding.
This project was completed in July 2007 when I was still working solo.

Originally we were going to try to save the floor joists, but as I removed the oak decking it became evident that it was going to be better to replace it to avoid future problems with installation of the new flooring.

In the upper right corner of the photo you can see the rotten floor joists. The houses of the era were built with the porch having basement crawlspace access under it.
New framing was installed. Had to match the door casing height to avoid gaps at the floor and trim juncture.
Brazilian Camaru Teak was chosen for its resistance to rot and water, durabilty against wear and tear of porch furniture, and for its beautiful grainy texture. I used liquid nails and an air assisted flooring nailer for the installation.

Sanding was an all day event, using a vibratory floor sander and several grits of sandpaper.

After a thorough cleaning I applied three coats of teak oil, which soaks in to the wood and helps the preservation and highlights the exotic knot free grain patterns and variety of colors in the teak. This was allowed to dry for a day before beginning the polyurethane application.


Three coats of polyurethane were applied with a light hand sanding in between coats to remove small imperfections.

The back porch was done prior to the front as an example of the product to come. A handrail was added later on the house side of the stairs for ease of entry.




A teak cap was installed on a new handrail to tie in the teak floor.

Hensley remodel

In this Knoxville Condominium, we striped out carpet throughout the home. All light fixtures and ceiling fans come out too. While we replaced fixtures, fans, and installed tile, the painters were busy trying to be ahead of the flooring installation. We also replaced all door hinges and hardware. The majority of the work was finished before to keep the foot traffic lower on the new engineered hardwood floors.

The front entry wall is on a 30 degree angle which we ran the flooring though the house. this added visual interest and made the rooms seem larger. The previously laid tile on the bath floors was also set to this angle.

This type of engineered flooring can be installed by nails, glue down, or floated with the glue in the tongue and groove joint. We choose the later due to some major slab irregularities we found. An expansion gap is left at the perimeter.

Bath vanities were repainted. Then we replaced vinyl with ceramic tile floors in the two baths, while the painters continued painting the rest of the house including the ceilings. We tiled in a shower in the master bath and installed new sinks, fixtures and toilets in both baths.

The kitchen cabinets were painted with a distressed look and new counter tops were installed. New sink, faucet and light fixtures completed the prep for new appliances.

This project is still in progress so this will continue soon.