Spaces for Life: Why is that crack there? A guide to cracks in your house
By Lance McCarthy You are sitting there at the dinner table when you see it. There on the wall above the doorway. A crack! (Cue that violin screeching noise they use in the movies for when spiders or knives are shown) Why is it there? Is the house collapsing? Should you evacuate to the back
Spaces for Life: Prairie Village Addition
By Lance McCarthy Do you guys do _______________? That’s one of the questions I get more than any other. The blank is usually filled with all kinds of projects…bathrooms, kitchens, new builds, office tenant finishes, decks, leaky faucets…We love it all because our real passion isn’t a certain type of project, but more a certain
Spaces for Life: Communication tips to help you survive a remodeling project
By Lance McCarthy I just finished a really good marriage book by John Gottman called The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. Excellent read, and I learned a lot that I hope will make me a better husband. (You’ll have to ask my wife if it is actually working). As I was reading, it occurred
Spaces for Life: Foundation Repairs that Don’t Work Part I
By Lance McCarthy Last week I promised some answers about fixing foundation problems. Well…I’m back with those answers. We were talking about failed fixes that many foundation repair companies use, and why they usually don’t work–because they are usually trying to fix a symptom instead of fixing the actual problem. This reminds me of an
Spaces for Life: Ways to work with a contractor
By Lance McCarthy There are many ways to work with a contractor that are swirling around out there in Constructionland. I thought it might be helpful to give a brief overview of those different methods. As with chess pieces or Marvel Superheroes, there are strengths and weaknesses to each type. In case you were wondering,
Spaces for Life: The Secret to a successful construction project
By Lance McCarthy My 6-year-old has been honing his comedy skills, and discovered the impatient cow joke. You know this one? ***Spoiler alert*** I’m telling the joke now… “Knock Knock” “Who’s there?” “Impatient Cow” “Impatient C–” (before the other person can say “who”) “MOO!” I consider myself a humor connisseur, and this is still
Spaces for Life: Get the down-low on basement finishes
By Lance McCarthy Basement finishing – it all comes down to this… As you may know, I am a book guy. One of my favorite books is “At Home” by Bill Bryson. In this book the author walks you through his old house room by room explaining amazing facts and history of the rooms. I
Spaces for Life: Organizing Ideas Continued…
By Lance McCarthy Last week I asked my friend Mary Ellen Vincent to write about some of the ways she uses IKEA products in her home organizing. She started her business OrganizeME around the time I was starting ReTouch, and we have enjoyed a cooperative relationship over the years. She has helped my clients prepare
Spaces for Life: Questions to ask your contractor
By Lance McCarthy So I’m supposed to be writing about the project of the month, but we have been working so hard to get ready for the NARI Remodeled Homes Tour this weekend, that I couldn’t get it off my mind. If you haven’t ever been out for one, it is fascinating to actually walk
Spaces for Life: Universal Design Frequently Asked Questions
By Lance McCarthy I have asked one of the other members of the ReTouch community (we have a number of companies in the construction and real estate industry that office together and work collaboratively) to write for this week, and I think you might find it interesting. Bryon Sunday owns Accessibility Remodeling, and they specialize