Modus V Studio Architects

If you or anyone you know are thinking of remodeling or building a new custom home, we could help. Check us out at http://www.modusvarchitects.com/ to see our work!

Spring around the house

I cannot take credit for this - though I suppose it was wise for us to save as many plants as possible when we were remodeling the house. The previous owners have done an amazing job with the gardens around the house. It's just a pleasure to see all the beautiful plants in the yards coming back to life during spring time:

Photo day

It's been a while since we last posted anything, and we have really been enjoying our house. We opened up the folding door in our living room in the summer and enjoy many barbeque parties in the backyard. We spent many winter nights watching TV in front of our fireplace in the entertainment room downstairs. We have been having a lot of fun cooking at home in our kitchen. A major local publication is interested in writing an article about us, and we have had the pleasure to work with an amazing photographer from them. We have got some awesome photos of the place - once the article is published we'll be sure to post a link so you can check it out!

It is done! House warming is on April 18!

Who would have thought moving, installing the A/V stuff, and tying up all the loose ends would take so darn long - but we're practically done. We are still hanging pictures and adding some odd pieces of accent furniture here and there, but we are living in the house comfortably finally. Our housewarming party is on April 18th, and we are expecting about 80 friends. I am really looking forward to it.

Here are some photos of the finished house:

9th inning

Just putting on the finishing touches now. Another week and we might be able to move in. Here're some photos.


Our stair treads came pre-stained, but we still needed to apply 4 layers of floor finish to make the treads more durable.

Basement hallway

Stairs going up to second floor

The laundry room

The basement media room

The desk we are building in our office

The house at night on the outside

Our kitchen is still under construction

Light fixture above the kitchen island

Almost There...

We are finally finished with our exterior painting and installed railings. Now, all we need is a good clean up. As for the interior, we are getting closer. This past few weeks, we have been working on cabinetry, stairs, and lighting. Our scheduled move in date is late Oct.


Master bathroom cabinets


Kitchen cabinets


Toilets installed

Wood Floors

Wood flooring is being installed. The wood has a heavy texture on it - thus wear and tear will only "add to the character" of the wood.



Our living room is nice and bright. The fireplace is faced with rows of slate tiles of random thickness.

Fireplaces

Main Floor Fireplace "Before"


Main Floor Fireplace "Work In Progress"


Main Floor Fireplace "After" (Our painter wrapped the fireplace to protect it, we will update the photo once paint is done)


Basement Fireplace "Before"


Basement Fireplace "Work in Progress"


Basement Fireplace "After"

August Photo Update

Metal Siding "Before"


Metal Siding "After"


New garage doors make the basement much brighter!


Interior doors & trims installed.

08.13.08 Family project

Working late into the night, we finally finished "the wall". What's left would be filling the nail holes and some staining. Here're some photos:

Tiling mistake

We've started tiling. It is a new phase in many ways, since this is finish work. The level of craftsmanship required must be much higher. The tolerance of error much smaller.

At first, we have a sub who's willing to do it for a very reasonable amount. We have worked with him before with some framing and rough masonry work and thought he was ok. So we gave him the job. He started by preparing our showers and tub surrounds with cement boards. That was not bad. Then he moved on to put the "subway" tiles on the two smaller bathrooms. That was when things went awfully wrong.

I'm not going to get into details and let's just say that there are unacceptable gaps, rows of tiles that were out of plumb, as well as rugged edges that looks like the tiles were hand broken instead of sewn. Some things that we observed that should have sounded some alarm bells:

1. He doesn't really use a level
2. He never plan the layout of the tiles before starting
3. He started with a whole tile from the edge
4. He was not responsive to our demands or suggestions

And so, we had to replace him with another guy after just two days. But the damage was done. The tiles in one of the bathrooms has to be torn down and replaced, while those in the other bathroom had to be altered significantly.

I would still call the guy who messed up our tiles for rough work. He worked hard and did a pretty good job when it comes to those other things that he did. Nonetheless, I know now that he will not be able to meet my expectations when it comes to finish work.

I guess the lesson is this: someone who's good at one thing doesn't necessarily means that he/she's good at everything- check reference for every single tasks, even if it is someone with whom you have worked with before on other things for your project.

08.12.08 The "Wall"

I had an idea of using some of the old tongue and groove pine we took down from the existing ceiling in the basement and making something fun out of it. Upon entry through the front door, we have a feature wall that wraps around our future office. I thought perhaps we can use the wood to create an interesting texture on it.

This has to be the most physical work we have done since the beginning of this project. I'm so lucky that my parents are in town visiting and they were able to help us build this. It turns out to be a nice family bonding experience. Because of their involvement, this turns out to be more special than I could possibly imagine. Thanks mom and dad!

Here're some photos:

Drywall

We will have drywall finished this week. We have level 5 smooth finish, and not a lot of people can do a good job with that. The guys we have are great, we have been very happy with them so far.

The only problem that we have run into is the fact that many of the can lights that was pre-installed before drywall don't line up. The can lights sits on a track so that you can slide them around for adjustments (see previous post for photo). There is a little screw you can put in to lock them in place if you choose to. Our electrician didn't lock them in place. I thought that would be fine assuming that the drywall guys will just align them when they hang the drywall. Obviously they didn't.

I guess the lesson is don't assume drywall people will move anything that's not drywall.