Talk

Talk........

I want to thank everyone for all the great response and support that I am getting from The Roaming Chef Blog. I'm having a great time doing it and love sharing this information with you.

All of my friends and clients are asking for information on construction and home finishing along with all the other topics that I have been sharing. So I have decided to add it to the blog.



As I had previously mention in the begin i'm in the residential construction and  finishing business and have just finished a 1970 modern, in the Hollywood Hills. The project was a complete interior and exterior redo. Someone had changed the original interior from modern to a heavy Tuscan look, (all wrong for this house). One thing I believe is to let the house talk to you and it will tell you what it needs, this one was screaming HELP.

This doesn't mean that if you have a Spanish house and you want Modern that you can't incorporate some of the modern into the look, but remember a Spanish is a Spanish and a Modern is a Modern, simple rule. So if you want a great look keep it simple and stay with one or two styles and don't become crazy just mixing everything or fighting what is there. I have found a little sometimes goes a long way when finishing a house or room.

In most of my projects there turn key meaning they are complete with interior finishes such as window coverings, wallpaper, lighting fixtures, etc. And can be purchased completely furnished down to linens and dishes.In most cases the purchaser just has to move in personal belongs along with a few added extras and there done. Being completely ready to continue on with there daily life's in just one or two days is very desirable to many busy people.

So with that simple formula and loving what I do, I have been able to be very successful with this business. I did take a eighteen month hiatus from the business, that is when i moved to California from North Carolina and Florida where I had been building for the last ten years along with a little hairdressing (once a hairdresser always a hairdresser). The housing market pretty much dictated these actions for me. Things are starting to get better with real estate and there is a lot of good buys if you have the cash (which is always king) or wonderful credit.

I am seeing there are buyers that are willing to do some of the work these property's need but don't have the first clue on where to start as well as the time. If your working a full week nine to five your not going to fill like coming home to a house that is all tore up. So my rule of thumb here is stay organized, be able to clean up and put everything away after your day of working on the project. Trust me you will be much more comfortable and be able to find the things you need. Even when I have a large project that i'm working on organization is the first thing, there is nothing worst than seeing your trades fall all over everybody else's  tools and trash. It just makes you crazy and adds so much more stress, yes I said stress.

And for the others that don't have the time and want to hire a contractor to handle everything be carefully and do your research before hand. Nothing worse than someone promising you everything and giving you nothing but a headache is not a good way to go. A good way to avoid this problem is know there work, go see it if you can and inspect everything with a sharp eye. Look at the finished details and how cleanly there are installed along with quality of materials. My saying here is if the finished caulk job is sloppy on the out side the workmanship is sloppy on the inside. A contractor usually takes the same work ethics from begin to end of a project. I have found that a trade person that is good for someone else is not always good, so talk to the person you want to hire in length about the project, use you feeling here if something doesn't feel wright don't do it. Don't second guess yourself, that doesn't mean you won't make mistakes but there won't  be so many.

So this is the beginning of Construction Talk, a look inside what goes on in the business. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do telling about it...........