Leather flooring invites you into the new RemodelWest studio.

As of May 2009 our new studio is open.  It’s been a great experience and rewarding as we have applied sustainable choices within our own environment.  Of course we are not 100% complete with a few things to finish up but it has really come together nice.  Leather Flooring by Torlys is a feature material in the front of our new space.  More prominent in Europe leather flooring is making a name in the US.  As I understand it during WWII the Germans developed a process to use post industrial waste from leather factories.  This process spurred from a leather shortage for boots and has been used ever since.  This 100% recyled  flooring material has a great feel as you stand on it and is applied exactly like a laminate…

Reclaimed Redwood, Antenna Tower, and Natural Tung Oil pull it off in Remodel West new studio.

Today we are about three weeks from completion.  The studio project has been an interesting project as I balance costs, time, and adhering to green building practices as much as possible.  Our subcontractors and suppliers have been overwhelmingly cooperative and it has been refreshing dealing with them on this very creative project.  Reclaimed Clear Heart Redwood Put to use in new studio!  Cost ZERO (with some sweat equity). Somewhat of a pet project for me, reclaiming and using approximately 500 lineal feet of clear heart redwood from one of our projects has been very rewarding.  I haven’t researched what this material might cost if you could even find it but I would estimate $10-12 a foot.  The cost…

Studio Project Making Rapid Progress

Sheetrock has been completed and painting begins this week.  We decided to use Benjamin Moore paint because of their green product offerings.  BM has come out with a line called “Ben” that is a cost affective solution for those interested in using LOW VOC paints.  The Aura line is their top of the line but at $50.00+ per gallon it can add up real fast on a larger project.  Natura is their Zero VOC.  So we decided to use both the Ben and Natura lines in the new studio to try them out and to stay true to out Eco-Friendly studio.  The sheetrock finish inside the studio will now allow us to show our clients several different styles of texturing.  The interior front wall was constructed of a dated slump stone so I decided…

Studio Project: FSC Lumber Material for the framing.

 

Framing has begun in the new studio this week and it is quickly taking shape.  In keeping with as green a project as possible I decided to use lumber that was harvested from sustainable forests.  FSC certification for lumber is how one can insure that the material being used is genuine.  For those who may not be familiar with FSC it stands for Forestry Stewardship Council.  This is a worldwide organization that provides a vehicle to certify forests and suppliers.  FSC is recognized as the authority in this area and insures that forests are managed in ways that protects our environment while insuring a supply of materials for the future.  As we progress down this road using sustainable materials is just one of many steps to…

Remodel West breaks ground on new studio in Saratoga CA.

Our new studio will accomplish several goals, as mentioned in a previous post allowing our customers to benefit in many ways. We are looking forward to a fresh exciting change in our working environment while positioning us to present our new green building agenda. So welcome to our studio project. I plan to post progress information and photos for those followers. Keep in mind that a main goal is to create an eco friendly studio by implementing design and construction practices in as many things we do as possible.  
So here it goes. 

On the property there was an old abandoned antenna tower that was used for a paging company. It hasn’t been used in years and this spurred my first idea. I want to create an environment

RemodelWest decides to re-locate business to Saratoga California.

After much consideration I have decided to move the studio to our building in Saratoga.  The building is a total of 13,000 square feet in an ideal location right in our customers backyard.  There are combination of goals and motivations that have influenced my decision.
  • We would like to create a studio environment that is more conducive to our progress towards sustainable design and construction.
  • We would like the flexibility to grow into adjacent spaces.
  • I would like to position our company to be as competitive as possible while not compromising the quality of our service.
  • We would like to participate in a tight knit community.
I think from the outside looking in many people will think I am crazy to abandon such…