As I continue to meet new clients and grow our StoneWright Home Services business, I am amazed at the number of clients that are unhappy with work they have paid good money to have done.    Many try to work with the trades people to make it right but from the client‘s perspective the craftsmen just want to rush through a job and collect their monies…….where is the quality?  Where is the caring about your work?   When you create something, are you not proud of it?

I know I am and when we set off to do a bathroom, kitchen, laundry room, flooring, wainscoting, whatever it is…I want it to be the best it can be.   I want my clients to say WOW–,that is awesome!   That is the best work we have ever had done!!     If they are not saying this then I have not done my best which is just not acceptable.

A few weeks ago we were asked to come into the middle of a job that another contractor started and to do some work.  I normally do not act as a subcontractor as you lose some control around design and have no interaction with the customer.    A good friend had reached out to me on this job for some advice, as things were going terribly wrong.    I was able to share my knowledge with him to fix some of the issues but others would require starting all over, which the homeowner did not want to do.

This client had worked with a designer on the tile work for their bathroom which included LED lights in the shower.  The design looked good on paper, however the materials used to complement the floor and LED tiles were not the right match.   In addition, the original contractor did not frame the walls square or plumb…the main wall had a big bow in it.

We were asked to install the tiles as we were the only contractor that would install LED light tiles in a shower.    We installed the shower, floor and tub tiles based on the materials supplied to us by the previous contractor.   All of the framing and prep work was completed.    As we began installing the tile, we told the contractor that things were not right.   He assured us this was what the client wanted……..Take a look:

Once the tile was installed, the client really did not like the design nor did she like the way some of the tile was laid so she asked to talk with us directly.   I spent several hours talking with the client about the way the tile was laid and explained to her that her walls were not plumb or square.  I also explained that there were several issues with the shower base (which we did not build) and several other things.

The client was also unhappy with the tile choices selected by a designer at one of the big box stores….As you can see the shower floor does not match the wall or LED tiles.

In the end, we were able to gain the confidence of this client, helping her understand what needed to be done to get the bathroom done as she had envisioned.  We walked through the steps to square up the walls and laid out a new design with new materials.   Over the next 3 weeks, we will give this client the bathroom of their dreams.

While we do have some constraints as it relates to shower size and reusing some materials already purchased like faucets, tub, glass shower surround, and LED light tiles, the client has given us some flexibility to add to the design and enhance the final product.   A few special features of our design will be……LED light tiles in the shower,   a linear floor drain which would create a curbless shower,  some retro lighting and one of my favorite accents a 5ft wainscoting!

Stay tuned for updates on how this project is going….. I hope to upload some video of this project using my new Hero3…..should be exciting!!.

Related articles

• Money-saving ways to boost your bathroom (moneyguidebook.com)
• Bathroom wall designs (the-stuff-i-like.com)

Blessed, Thankful, New Beginnings, New Journeys, Surprises, Challenges

New Journey:

As many of you know, I left corporate America a little over two years ago.   While I have continued to seek other opportunities back in the corporate world, my true hope was to start a new journey…..as a small business owner.   In 2012, I decided to fully pursue and build my real estate and general contracting business.

Over the year we had several new clients put their properties in our trusted care and we have found many new tenants to occupy them.   We had the opportunity to assist several homeowners with remodeling/home improvement projects…..exterior decks, porches, pergolas, laundry rooms, hardwood floors, carpet, tile floors, linoleum flooring, cabinets,doors, windows, tile showers, LED lighting, wainscoting, bathrooms and kitchens.

We have helped several clients whose homes have been impacted by termites, water damage, mold and other issues.     I have been most surprised by the amount of work we have received due to the lack of quality work done by other contractors.   It breaks my heart and fires me up any time I meet a property owner and hear the troubles they have had with so-called contractors taking advantage of them.

One of the small projects that has been a hit with our client and their friends was a doggie door…..while this might seem a common task, I think you will find the following pictures a step above the normal doggie door.

We have been successful in putting together a team of talented craftsmen and subcontractors that care about doing the right thing for clients….for this I am thankful and look forward to 2013 being a year of helping other property owners improve one of their greatest investments.

New Beginnings:

Will, our oldest son, began college at Belmont University in Nashville TN, where he is a commercial music major.    He has been blessed with many musical abilities and is furthering his love of music, song writing and performing.    He has adapted to both college life and Nashville very quickly and I think his new home will be Nashville…at least for now!!   It is not a bad city to call home………….and we look forward to many visits.

My wife, Jan, while homeschooling and taking care of our home and children has decided to also begin helping in our small business.   Bless her heart as she began this year helping with our bookkeeping and learning the details of both property management and general contracting.  I am thankful for her patience with me as I am an impatient teacher.

Many of you know that we began raising chickens and pigs a few years ago for personal consumption.  This year we acquired our own label for selling meat raised here on our farm in Gaston County.   StoneWright Farms now offers fresh eggs and pork.      In 2013, we look forward to finishing our cold smoke house and having some country ham and bacon cured by next Christmas.

Surprises:

One of our best surprises in 2012 has been our bee business.   My son, Ben, and I started several years ago keeping a few hives as a hobby and father/son activity. This past year it has grown into another part of our small business.    We were called on several times in the spring and summer to capture honey bee swarms and to remove bees from homes and buildings.   We put our contact information on one website and we received calls weekly…what a surprise!   I learned that I was the only “insured” bee keeper in NC/SC who offers bee removal services….this has really created a niche business opportunity for us.   We have learned a lot about bee removal from structures, transportation and relocation.    I have also discovered that thermal imaging is a great way to locate bees who build hives in building, walls and ceilings.  Another good part of bee keeping is that we receive the fruits of the bees’ labor………..Honey.    I am amazed how honey tastes different based on the time of year collected, based on pollinators, and whether it is farm raised honey or wild honey.    No matter what honey we have collected this year….it has been very tasty.

I have also enjoyed sharing my journey, knowledge and what I continue to learn with all the clients I have had the opportunity to build relationships with this year.

Challenges:

There have been many…….insurance, estimating jobs, insurance, finances, too much work, too little work, insurance, time enough to learn, animals, house, bees…..and the list could go on and on……..I am reminded of an encouraging picture that a mentor once gave me and that still hangs in my home office that says….”A bend in the road is not the end of the road”     We all face challenges and we can decide to let them stop us or we can decide to grow through them.   Our family has decided to grow through them…many have led to pleasant surprises on this new journey.

Thankful and Blessed!!!

I am thankful and blessed to be married to Jan, my wife of more than 20 years!!   She continues to be a great partner, supporter and cheerleader!!!   We have been through so many changes over the last few years–some that would break many families.  However, she continues to be a supporter and active part of this career change and overall change in how we support our family.

I am blessed to have children that are growing into young adults…….while they have not enjoyed the missing luxuries of living on a corporate America salary, they have been real troopers!!!   They have stepped up to help with things around the farm and house as Jan has helped me in my business.   Our sons and daughter have joined me on several jobs to help with cleaning, painting, framing and other tasks.    I think they are learning about what jobs they would rather not do versus other career opportunities.   I would be overjoyed if any one of my children shared my passion for real estate, home improvement, woodworking and building……however, I know God has blessed them with their own passions, gifts and talents and my prayers are that they follow God’s plan for their life first and foremost!!!

Homeschooling continues to go very well at our home.   All of our children love what they are learning and the flexibility to learn according to their own bent.   We have been reassured in our decision to continue to homeschool as we have watched Will make a successful transition to a higher education.   He as done very well at Belmont during his first semester.

Ben received his driver’s license in October and Chris began driver’s education in November.   In the spring we will have 3 teen drivers and be insurance and automobile poor………….donations are welcome!!    Ben is enjoying his ’91 Chevy truck and has shown some interest in learning about how to work on cars….I can’t wait to see what he does with his truck in 2013!!

Katie our youngest child and only daughter continues to rule the house and has begun tractor driving school!!!   I think she will be like her dad….a jack of many trades and master of none.   I am afraid this results from being ADHD!!!

Chris (or as I like to refer to him: CD) is our third and youngest son  He continues to enjoy his love of Legos.   I even had the opportunity to take him to a Lego conference in the spring which I found fascinating.  Who knew you could do so much with Legos….I was just amazed!!!    CD is our quiet child….much like his dad (no laughing!!) and I really saw him come out of his shell as he talked with other Lego enthusiasts at the show and talked to others about the display he and his friends entered.   What a joy!!

We have been blessed with good family, friends, employees and customers over this past year and for that I am very thankful!!   Thank you all for your encouragement and support over the last year!

Please join me for a GREAT 2013!!!    Happy New Years!!

Remember one of my favorite sayings as you begin this new year…….

“The Master in the art of living makes little distinction between his
work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body,
his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He
hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of
excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he
is working or playing. To him he is always doing both.”

This project started with the plan of opening up an old screen porch and blossomed into a full covered porch redo with cedar T&G ceiling, cedar wood trim, cedar post and a custom built cedar pergola.

We still have  a few days left on this project but here is how it is progressing.

Removed all support post and building a bigger header to open the span.

New header

Cedar T&G roof going in with new can lights

Completed cedar ceiling

Pergola view from porch

Pergola view from back yard

I have been busy as a bee lately.   Many new remodeling projects going and our bee removal business has been buzzing!!    Wanted to take  a minute to share some really neat thermal images of honey bee hives I am getting ready to remove from structures in the next few weeks.   Want to learn more check out our Bee Removal page at http://goodlifegaston.com/bee-removal/.    We will also have more Crowders Mountain Honey in a few weeks.   Let us know if you would like to purchase a pint or two.

Hive in Charlotte NC commercial building between bricks. Bees going in at gas pipe.

Bee Hive in a Commercial Building in Charlotte, NC.

The one that survived has been very strong this year.   They started building early and the brood boxes were busting at the seams.    So about 6 weeks ago we started adding extra supers so that we could rob the hive of honey.    I was a little concerned about 2 weeks ago when I check the hive as there was no brood…..so what happened and were was my queen bee?

As I was checking the last frame I found a young queen.   Apparently  my hive had swarmed and this new queen needed a little time to start laying eggs.      I decided at that time that I needed to leave the supers on the hive a little longer.

I went back today to check the hive and found 2 boxes completely built out with honey.    There were 2 other boxes partly built.    We took the 2 full boxes and started the process of extracting the honey.    Here are pictures of a frame fully capped…..

Capped frame full of honey

We invested in a honey extractor so I was excited to try it out.    We brought the 2 supers weighing about 50lbs each  into the garage where we began the process of  preparing the frames for extracting the honey.

We first had to remove the capping from the comb to expose the honey.    Then we put the frames in the extractor for spinning……check it out.

Capping the frames

frames in extractor

Spinning frames to remove the honey

Now we let it settle for a few day and then bottle it up!!   If you are local to the Crowders Mountain area of Gaston County we will be selling some of this local gold……  Raw Honey that is!!

Look for or ask for StoneWright Farms Crowders Mountain “Raw” honey.

Related articles

• Our First “Itty Bitty” Honey Harvest (lilsuburbanhomestead.wordpress.com)
• Big Deal Honey (elkinsparkfarm.wordpress.com)

We started the extraction around 4:45pm on Sunday afternoon and finished around 8:30pm.    While this looked like a small hive from the outside it turned out to be a good size hive which appears to have been in the soffit for a few years.

And here is the pot of GOLD at the end of the rainbow…..

Stay tuned as next weekend we extract a 7 year old hive from a commercial building in Charlotte.   Should be lots of gold in that hive……………..

Living the Good Life…..

Front Porch Stair Rail

New Porch Railings installed:

Another project called for removing old porch wood post and replacing with fiberglase columns.  Here are the before/after photos:

Old column leaningAfter Photos:

Over the next few months we will be working on several kitchen, bath, flooring, carpentry projects..stay tuned as we share some new products and ideas.

Living the good life……

No! No!….I am talking about building products.    Over the last 2 days we have been helping a client improve the look of their front and back porch railings.    They called StoneWright Home Services to get a quote on cleaning and painting their porch railing and by the time we discussed the pros and cons of cleaning and painting every year they took my recommendation and had us install pvc post wraps and railing.

I will return later with before and after photos as I think it made a big difference to their home and will be much easier to maintain.

So before you start thinking about staining or painting your porch post and rails check out www.rdirail.com.  They have some great products for your home.

Living the Good life………..: )

Today…..My friend Chris posted on facebook that he had a bee swarm in a dogwood tree in his front yard.

He was looking for someone to take the bees from his front yard and I was the man for this task today!!     I ran home, picked up my equipment, an empty box, and off I went with the help of my sons.

I have to admit that I was really not sure what I was doing.  I have read a lot about catching swarms but have never seen it done nor have I done it.   I was a little nervous but once I was there and looking at the bees in the trees the excitement hit.

I sprayed the bees with a little sugar water then Ben and I went to work getting the bees into the hive box.    What a rush shaking and brushing several hundred bees off a tree branch……such simple pleasures to make my day.

Living the good life….

Things have been very busy the last several weeks in the property management and home services businesses……I do need things to pick up in the real estate brokerage business.  If you are looking to buy or sale give me a call.

Not much time to spend on the farm…but we did get approved as NC Certified Meat Handlers this week., meaning we can sell our pork this spring when it comes time to process.    If interested in ordering anything send me a note.

Over the next week we will be preparing the garden for planting, seeding a new pasture and beginning to build additional hive boxes.    Bees will be here in April and looking to have some honey this year…….Yum!!  and maybe it will help with my allergies.

Living the good life….