It’s all about delivering the finest in custom construction and the best in customer satisfaction. I have one “Rule”: “We will do whatever it takes to have NO unhappy clients”.  If you are thinking about building a home or an addition or just about any construction project, do your self a favor and Call Me to talk about your project. I’d love the opportunity to give you an estimate and discuss your plans.  I own and operate Summer Hill Building & Contracting, Inc. the Premier Home Builder of Schuylkill County, PA.

It is still financially better to own your own home than it is to rent, So Call Me ! I & my team can help find you another lot and build your dream home!

We have building lots in “Forest hills” development in Pottsville, PA.  Probably the last AFFORDABLE building lots in Pottsville.  Erica Ramos and her team at “Realty Executives” can help you find the right building lot for you . Pottsville has a sewer permit moratorium in place as of right now but the sewer authority is working on it’s remediation & will be lifted at some point in the (hopefully) near future. BUT, I have a sewer permit available so we can get on to the adventure of building your new home right away !

The Financing of your new home is an important decision and our mortgage broker, Nick Shestok at “Mortgage Network Solutions” can help you find the deal of a life time ! Great rates ( some below 4.0 %)    How long can these rates stay this low !

Back To The Dewald Farm House.

Well, I’m Ba-ack !

I’ve been working on more projects at the Dewald farm house. This time I’m renovating the upstair’s master bathroom. It last saw renovation work in the early ‘60’s. So it was way due for some upgrades. It had a large diagonal tub / shower in yellow, and a very small yellow 24” sink and yellow toilet. The tub / shower was problematic as it would cost way to much to remove with all the surrounding tilework. ( and anyway, where would you find such a unique 5’x 5’ diagonal tub again) Just a shame it was yellow, but, it was behind a partition wall and sliding doors so it was not overly obtrusive. In fact it was just a bit kitschy, that worked for both my clients and myself.

Now to the work.

Old Location of the Toilet & Sink, The Linen Closet is going there.

Old Dry Vanity Location & Where The New Vanity Was Going.

We removed the old toilet and sink along with a cool but well worn medicine cabinet, along with a 6’ dry sit down vanity. (basically a 2’ x 5’ piece of Formica counter top nailed to the wall.) Then I ripped up the carpet, then the underlayment, then the old, old linoleum, until I got to the very old tarpaper. This I tried to scrape off, then, heat with a heat gun and scrape off. Well, after a few hours and some very sore hands I came to

New Hickory Hardwood Floor...Beautiful !

the realization that I wasn’t gonna get it off enough to expose that old 2 x 6 T & G fir barn flooring in any kind of reusable shape ( especially for a master bath floor.). So after a phone conversation with my clients we decided on a light hardwood floor. Preferably with some grain & inclusions in the wood. I found some Beautifully figured Hickory T&G hardwood flooring at Miller’s Supply in Schuylkill Haven, PA. That fit the bill perfectly. I also picked out the 5’ dark cherry

New Double Bowl Granite Vanity Top with Cherry Cabinet - Very Nice !

vanity, linen closet, granite double bowl vanity top and top of the line  toilet .

The first thing I needed to do was to bring the 1,1/2” waste line & the copper water lines to the new location (where the old dry vanity was located). So going over the old flooring with the new hardwood gave me just enough space to bring the lines across the floor with out compromising the big chestnut beams supporting the floor system. (remember, from the last blogs about the Dewald farm house, this structure was built from parts of an old cow barn in the early 1900’s so everything inside was exposed. Beams, floor

Another View of that Double Graniter Vanity...WOW

decking …everything! )  This I did with only a little chopping of a notch in the top of the beams. Then in went the hardwood floor.  I needed to bring a new dedicated electric feed to the new vanity area. Most of the old electric in this building doesn’t have a continuous ground let alone meet new safety code requirements. So I brought over some MC cable from the breaker box and ran all new electric in the T&G pine wall. I had to remove the pine boards to place the receptacle and switch boxes, then re install them.

New Tiolet & Linen Closet ...Much Better !

Then the vanity was placed & the granite top, Now it was plumbing time ! I always get a little nervous about my soldering but it all went swimmingly with no leaks and cleanly organized. Then the waste lines & the fixture hook ups. Good, still no leaks! Now the Linen closet , toilet, towel bars, mirror, and baseboard. Then the new lighting and the clean-up. ALL DONE !

Here are some pics of the project. ( but I forgot my camera on the first day so no “before” pics.)

I’ll be Posting more about the next phases of this project as I get the work done. Still have a down stairs bathroom to renovate and a new Kitchen…I can’t wait !

Thanks for reading & following along, If you have any questions you can contact me from here at my blog site or come on over to my web site at Summerhill Building & Contracting, inc. Or at the “Build Strong” tab on this blog site!

Oh! and stop by  our “Face Book” page and  click the “Like” button to share us with all your friends. You never know which of your friends are thinking of building! You’ll be doing them and me a BIG favor !

Thanks for joining and “Keep on Building”

Bob ” The Builder” Leiby

The new vanity location – roughed-in

It’s all about delivering the finest in custom construction and the best in customer satisfaction. I have one “Rule”: “We will do whatever it takes to have NO unhappy clients”.  If you are thinking about building a home or an addition or just about any construction project, do your self a favor and Call Me to talk about your project. I’d love the opportunity to give you an estimate and discuss your plans.  I own and operate Summer Hill Building & Contracting, Inc. the Premier Home Builder of Schuylkill County, PA.

It is still financially better to own your own home than it is to rent, So Call Me ! I & my team can help find you another lot and build your dream home!

We have building lots in “Forest hills” development in Pottsville, PA.  Probably the last AFFORDABLE building lots in Pottsville.  Erica Ramos and her team at “Realty Executives” can help you find the right building lot for you . Pottsville has a sewer permit moratorium in place as of right now but the sewer authority is working on it’s remediation & will be lifted at some point in the (hopefully) near future. BUT, I have a sewer permit available so we can get on to the adventure of building your new home right away !

The Financing of your new home is an important decision and our mortgage broker, Nick Shestok at “Mortgage Network Solutions” can help you find the deal of a life time ! Great rates ( some below 4.0 %)    How long can these rates stay this low !

Before as the Lazy Dog Coffee House

The Final “Lazy Dog Bistro” to “Lazy Dog Apartments” conversion Blog.

OK, this has been a great adventure, I was privileged to make some great friends in Dr Dave Wasilewski and his wonderful wife Denyce, from “18E Real Estate” and “Schuylkill Dental Medicine” I cannot say enough about how great it’s been to work on this project with them.

Both main level apartments are now finished and the  upstairs apartment has a

After, Lazy Dog Apartments "Great Room"

new laminate floor in the living room & hall. (the left over flooring from the main downstairs apartment). The very spacious upstairs 2 bedroom apartment and the large downstairs efficiency apartment are ready for renting so if you need a great place to live in Minersville, PA. drop me a note and I will hook you up .

If you-all have been following along (most of these last 6 months), I’ve had a running commentary on the construction. Well, there is only so much you can say about hanging drywall and laying flooring. ( if you’ve hung drywall on one project , you’ve hung it all, not a lot of variation between drywall jobs). So the blog posts have sort of petered out during the small apartment phase. ( my apologies if you were following along). That being said, here are a bunch of pics of the finished projects and a very nice testimonial letter.

My next project will be back at the old Dewald farm lodge, starting in January. I will be renovating the master bathroom & kitchen. ( see the older posts about this great old Schuylkill county land mark and my previous work there.)

Thanks for reading & following along, If you have any questions you can contact me from here at my blog site or come on over to my web site at Summerhill Building & Contracting, inc. Or at the “Build Strong” tab on this blog site!

Oh! and stop by  our “Face Book” page and  click the “Like” button to share us with all your friends. You never know which of them are thinking of building or remodeling their home or commercial spaces! You’ll be doing them and me a BIG favor !

Thanks for joining and “Keep on Building”

Bob ” The Builder” Leiby

It’s all about delivering the finest in custom construction and the best in customer satisfaction. I have one “Rule”: “We will do whatever it takes to have NO unhappy clients”.  If you are thinking about building a home or an addition or just about any construction project, do your self a favor and Call Me to talk about your project. I’d love the opportunity to give you an estimate and discuss your plans.  I own and operate Summer Hill Building & Contracting, Inc. the Premier Home Builder of Schuylkill County, PA.

It is still financially better to own your own home than it is to rent, So Call Me ! I & my team can help find you another lot and build your dream home!

We have building lots in “Forest hills” development in Pottsville, PA.  Probably the last building lots in Pottsville.  Erica Ramos and her team at “Realty Executives” can help you find the right building lot for you . Pottsville has a

One of the 2 "way cool" bathrooms in the main apartment

sewer permit moratorium in place as of right now, But I have one sewer permit to build with here in Pottsville. So we can get on to the adventure of building your new home.

The Financing of your new home is an important decision and our mortgage broker, Nick Shestok at “Mortgage Network Solutions” can help you find the deal of a life time ! Great rates ( some below 4 %)    These rates are going up !

Operation “Lazy Dog” is a success !

Japaneese sliding pannels

Well Dave & Denyce moved into their new apartment Wednesday.  The old patrons wouldn’t even recognize the place. …I hardly recognize it. So much has been done to convert the Bistro into 2 apartments. But to be honest, I miss the Lazy Dog, a lot…  so I have mixed feelings about the whole adventure. I am grateful to Dave and Denyce for the opportunity to work there, They have been the absolute best clients…ever! And

Pannels at the laundry / pantry

over the years of playing at the Lazy dog and then working on this project they both have become great friends. You don’t always get to keep your clients as friends after the project is finished ( for various reasons), but in this case I have made the best of friends. I will post some finished and moved-in pics as soon as they are settled and squared away.

Phase 2 (the efficiency apartment in the old kitchen) is progressing apace!

Some framing & washing machine plumbing in the walls

I had my rough-in inspection last week and hung and finished all the drywall to today….well I had a little help finishing the drywall, well OK, more than a little. My normal drywall finisher wasn’t busy (Vern Baver from Auburn, PA… in case you need the best finisher in the county for your project). He said he’d help hang the high and heavy board on the fire rated walls and ended up sticking around to finish the work. In fact he banished me from the finish

The same wall with drywall

work (except for the joints above the dropped ceiling),  (He teased me that my finish work wasn’t up to his standards), well he is the best finisher I’ve found and I AM not a finisher so maybe he was only half teasing. Well, he is finishing up today and I will start painting on Monday. [ just for the record, he IS so much a better finisher than I am].

This is as much of a "pose" as I could get out of Vern !

The Plumbers finally showed back up to set the shower base, then Monday they will install the walls so I can drywall around it and finish it. They had been called away most of this week for a emergence boiler replacement job. But they are back now and so the project can keep going.

Next week is painting, finish electric, drop ceilings and hard floor coverings (wood laminates and vinyl). The carpet will wait for the end.

Thanks for reading & following along, If you have any questions you can contact me from here at my blog site or come on over to my web site at Summerhill Building & Contracting, inc. Or at the “Build Strong” tab on this blog site!

Oh! and stop by  our “Face Book” page and  click the “Like” button to share us with all your friends. You never know which of your friends are thinking of building! You’ll be doing them and me a BIG favor !

Thanks for joining and “Keep on Building”

Bob ” The Builder” Leiby

It’s all about delivering the finest in custom construction and the best in customer satisfaction. I have one “Rule”: “We will do whatever it takes to have NO unhappy clients”.  If you are thinking about building a home or an addition or just about any construction project, do your self a favor and Call Me to talk about your project. I’d love the opportunity to give you an estimate and discuss your plans.  I own and operate Summer Hill Building & Contracting, Inc. the Premier Home Builder of Schuylkill County, PA.

It is still financially better to own your own home than it is to rent, So Call Me ! I & my team can help find you another lot and build your dream home!

We have building lots in “Forest hills” development in Pottsville, PA.  Probably the last building lots in Pottsville.  Erica Ramos and her team at “Realty Executives” can help you find the right building lot for you . Pottsville has a sewer permit moratorium in place as of right now but the sewer authority is working on it’s remediation & will be lifted at some point in the (hopefully) near future so we can get on to the adventure of building your new home.

The Financing of your new home is an important decision and our mortgage broker, Nick Shestok at “Mortgage Network Solutions” can help you find the deal of a life time ! Great rates ( some below 5.0 %)    These rates are going up !

The Lazy Dog Apartments…The Saga Continues

Hi All !

It’s been a while for me…well, more than a while since I wrote a blog about

Getting down to the "lick log" !

whats going on at the (former) Lazy Dog Coffee House, in Minersville, PA.  You know the big work like the framing, drywall and painting went pretty fast. It’s all the little stuff that ends up taking the time. I’ve been wanting to write a blog about the work for a while now but I didn’t seem to have all that much to write about. Well, here’s the scoop.

The completed kitchen. we reused as many of the old cabinets as we could building new ones where needed.

Since last we spoke, The painting is finished, the trim is installed reusing most of the caseing from the old place. Adding double beaded baseboard. Installing those Japanese sliding panels in the flex room & laundry area. I installed all new laminate hardwood flooring on the entire floor. Tile in the bath rooms and some very cool looking vanity sinks. I got a little help figuring out the lighting circuits. ( now I know why my electrician didn’t want to do this renovation job. He said restaurants are the worse when it comes to retro-fixing the electrical

Just LOVE those "Japaneese Pannels"

systems.) He wasn’t lying ! But in the end we worked it all out with little trauma …or drama ! Now, the appliances are installed and we are just waiting for the plumber to hook-up the kitchen lines.

I have started on the second phase. Converting what was the kitchen in the Lazy Dog into an efficiency apartment. I’m working out the electrical back there now. Tomorrow I’ll be cutting out the concrete floor for the new plumbing lines. ….OH, Goody!

One of the bathrooms, note the cool vanity sink !

Thanks for reading & following along, If you have any questions you can contact me from here at my blog site or come on over to my web site at Summerhill Building & Contracting, inc. Or at the “Build Strong” tab on this blog site!

Oh! and stop by  our “Face Book” page and  click the “Like” button to share us with all your friends. You never know which of your friends are thinking of building! You’ll be doing them and me a BIG favor !

Thanks for joining and “Keep on Building”

Bob ” The Builder” Leiby

It’s all about delivering the finest in custom construction and the best in customer satisfaction. I have one “Rule”: “We will do whatever it takes to have NO unhappy clients”.  If you are thinking about building a home or an addition or just about any construction project, do your self a favor and Call Me to talk about your project. I’d love the opportunity to give you an estimate and discuss your plans.  I own and operate Summer Hill Building & Contracting, Inc. the Premier Home Builder of Schuylkill County, PA.

It is still financially better to own your own home than it is to rent, So Call Me ! I & my team can help find you another lot and build your dream home!

We have building lots in “Forest hills” development in Pottsville, PA.  Probably the last building lots in Pottsville.  Erica Ramos and her team at “Realty Executives” can help you find the right building lot for you . Pottsville has a sewer permit moratorium in place as of right now but the sewer authority is working on it’s remediation & will be lifted at some point in the (hopefully) near future so we can get on to the adventure of building your new home.

The Financing of your new home is an important decision and our mortgage broker, Nick Shestok at “Mortgage Network Solutions” can help you find the deal of a life time ! Great rates ( some below 5.0 %)    These rates are going up !

The “Lazy Dog Cafe’” Transformation

Minersville, PA

Well it’s been about 2 weeks since my last blog about the Apartment conversion

Primer coat on everything

job. I’ve been hanging then finishing the drywall. Now I’m painting…  …EVERYTHING!

There is not much to say about this phase of the project. Drywall is, after all… well,  drywall ! Pretty much the most boring of construction subjects.

Dry walled livingroom

I have some pics to post but they are boring too ! Oh well, that’s life. Next week I’ll be finishing the painting and starting the finish electrical work. That’s when things get interesting. ( I hope I got all those old circuits sorted out properly !)

Friday we ( My son Robert & I ) cut in all the painting on the ceiling and painted, by hand mind you ALL the beams, edges and duct work. lots of hand work. But we are ready for rolling the ceilings and the white walls on Monday. Then all those pretty colors…lots of colors. Dave & Denyce have more courage with colors than I do, that’s for sure !

Thanks for reading & following along, If you have any questions you can contact me from here at my blog site or come on over to my web site at Summerhill Building & Contracting, inc. Or at the “Build Strong” tab on this blog site!

Oh! and stop by  our “Face Book” page and  click the “Like” button to share us with all your friends. You never know which of your friends are thinking of building! You’ll be doing them and me a BIG favor !

Thanks for joining and “Keep on Building”

Bob ” The Builder” Leiby

It’s all about delivering the finest in custom construction and the best in customer satisfaction. I have one “Rule”: “We will do whatever it takes to have NO unhappy clients”.  If you are thinking about building a home or an addition or just about any construction project, do your self a favor and Call Me to talk about your project. I’d love the opportunity to give you an estimate and discuss your plans.  I own and operate Summer Hill Building & Contracting, Inc. the Premier Home Builder of Schuylkill County, PA.

It is still financially better to own your own home than it is to rent, So Call Me ! I & my team can help find you another lot and build your dream home!

We have building lots in “Forest hills” development in Pottsville, PA.  Probably the last building lots in Pottsville.  Erica Ramos and her team at “Realty Executives” can help you find the right building lot for you . Pottsville has a sewer permit moratorium in place as of right now but the sewer authority is working on it’s remediation & will be lifted at some point in the (hopefully) near future so we can get on to the adventure of building your new home.

The Financing of your new home is an important decision and our mortgage broker, Nick Shestok at “Mortgage Network Solutions” can help you find the deal of a life time ! Great rates ( some below 5.0 %)    These rates are going up !

The Mechanicals are in!

We have been working at the “Lazy Dog” Coffee House, in Minersville PA. This coffee house was a project of love for Dave & Denyse. (The owners). They really went the whole 9 yards here & created a wonderful music & bistro venue…alas running a restaurant (especially here in Schuylkill county) is a effort in frustration. & They saw the writing on the wall, and after 4 years they pulled the plug. A hard and bitter choice – if you ask me. This series of blogs is a continuing account of my work here converting this restaurant to  apartments .

I have spent the better part of 2 weeks working out the old electrical system…what was connected to what…which circuits we could keep and which circuits we need to remove. Wiring ALL the new circuits and the data and TV stuff to boot.  I’m not an electrician but I can do the work but not in a “production” fashion. I needed to keep very focused on each circuit to make sure each lighting loop was complete….well the rough-in electrical inspection is tomorrow along with the rough-in plumbing inspection. Carl Faust is our code inspector on this project. He has a reputation as a “By The Book” kind of fellow…I hope there is no issue tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning the Drywall is being delivered. As soon as I get the OK from Mr. Faust I will start hanging the drywall.

Insulated bathroom wall

Well I got my inspection this morning…and it was a perfect job! no remediation….nada…. neit  …Nunka!  wonderful!  I really wasn’t worried(much) & I’ve done lots of smaller electrician work when connected to a job, but since I don’t do electrical work all the time and I’m not an electrician by trade, (but I do pay attention when the subs are working on my homes). I was a little apprehensive especially since Carl has such a strict rep. But I passed with flying colors. Because these times are what they are I am doing all manner of work.- some types of work I don’t do as a routine but I can perform well with a little concentration.

The same wall with drywall on

Starting to hang the drywall now. this will takes a few days then the finishing will start. I am loosing one of my helpers as of next weekend…Robert  (my son, home from the university) is heading back so I’ll be doing these smaller jobs by my self again. That’s OK…I like working by my self and often do smaller jobs on my own. Carolyn

Framing & mechanicals are run

A typical lighting circuit

(Dave,the owner’s daughter) is helping since she is off work ( she’s a teacher), and a great help she is too!  I am finishing the drywall hanging today ( Thursday) & will start the finishing.

Thanks for reading & following along, If you have any questions you can contact me from here at my blog site or come on over to my web site at Summerhill Building & Contracting, inc. Or at the “Build Strong” tab on this blog site!

Oh! and stop by  our “Face Book” page and  click the “Like” button to share us with all your friends. You never know which of your friends are thinking of building! You’ll be doing them and me a BIG favor !

Thanks for joining and “Keep on Building”

Bob ” The Builder” Leiby

The State DEP & the “Greater Pottsville Area Sewer Authority”, just last week, released 10 Sewer permits & they are available for new construction in Pottsville, PA. I just picked one up for a new home I’m contracted to build in the Forest hills development, (likely, the last lots available in the whole Pottsville area). These lots have; city sewer, city water, curbing, all other utilities including some even with city natural gas.

Now, I know we are still hearing a lot about the doom & gloom of our collective economy  & we all hear there is a “Shadow Inventory” of foreclosed homes just waiting to be released onto the market. But not here! We are in an “Anti-Housing Bubble”! Remember, we live in Schuylkill County! In the “Coal mining mountains of central Pennsylvania. Nothing much happens here. We know most of our neighbors. We all live the “small town ” dream ! We don’t live in “South Florida” or Las Vegas” or Phoenix, or Atlanta…you know the “Sand States”. That’s where the “Housing Bubble” was,- Not Here!  So why are we so freaked-out! I’ll tell you why, because the media in all it’s glory needs to sell advertising: so they need to attract readers & listeners to sell that advertising. So they go on & on about how bad the economy is! But just look around you, thing’s just aren’t that bad here. They’re never that bad here…they’re never very good here either but they’re just not much worse than usual.

I am a transplanted Skook! A lot of us are!  I moved up here from Lancaster PA in 1980. I fell in love with this county; It’s land & it’s people. I chose to build a life and raise a family here .  I also built a small business here (for better or worse). I own Summer Hill Building & Contracting, Inc. I am a journeyman mason, a damn fine carpenter and a pretty good Home builder. It’s one of the ways I define myself…to be the “Best Builder in Schuylkill County” . I’m also responsive enough and flexible enough to deliver exactly what you are trying to  achieve; be it a remodeled kitchen or bath, or a master bedroom suit addition , or even a whole house make over…I’ve pretty much done it all! Including building custom homes…remember we where talking about sewer permits and building your new home in Forest Hills. Well, We can build your new home on one of my lots or on your lot( if you already own one). Or I will ever sell a lot to you (if your brother is a home builder). With these sewer permits available, if you were thinking of building a home in Pottsville you should hurry! These 10 (now 9) EDU’s will most likely not last all that long. So lets get Crackin’!

It’s all about delivering the finest in custom construction and the best in customer satisfaction. I have one “Rule”: “We will do whatever it takes to have NO unhappy clients”.  If you are thinking about building a home or an addition or just about any construction project, do your self a favor and Call Me to talk about your project. I’d love the opportunity to give you an estimate and discuss your plans.  I own and operate Summer Hill Building & Contracting, Inc. the Premier Home Builder of Schuylkill County, PA.

It is still financially better to own your own home than it is to rent, So Call Me ! I & my team can help find you another lot and build your dream home!

We have building lots in “Forest hills” development in Pottsville, PA.  Probably the last building lots in Pottsville.  Erica Ramos and her team at “Realty Executives” can help you find the right building lot for you .

ATTENTION: Pottsville  sewer authority has released about 10 sewer permits as of this last week. If you are even thinking about building a home in the Pottsville area, Call me!  I can start the permitting process.& build you a new home The Home You’ve Been Dreaming Of !

The permit moratorium will be back  in place as soon as they run out of these 10 permits. The sewer authority is working on it’s complete remediation & will be lifted at some point in the (hopefully) near future so we can get on to the adventure of building your new home.

The Financing of your new home is an important decision and our mortgage broker, Nick Shestok at “Mortgage Network Solutions” can help you find the deal of a life time ! Great rates ( some below 5.0 %)    These rates are going up !

This "before" pic could be mistaken for an "After" pic.

Bistro – Apartment Conversion

Glad I'm not a plumber

Well, the last week was for the plumbers. They needed just about the whole week to break out the concrete floor where the old plumbing was and the new plumbing is going – to rough-in the new waste lines. All this was isolated to 4 separate areas of the  “old” restaurant (but still a lot of work).

Some head scratchin' and pipe layin'

That’s done now, So this week we framed in the interior walls and set them up. We had to pay close attention to squareness and straightness. [ nice straight lumber seems to be hard to find lately because of this downturn in the construction economy?... none of it was pretty...or very straight!]. The old walls (interior at least) were not even close to square. This impacted on the rough-in plumbing and my new framed walls.  It took some working with but we finally squared up the whole works.

You can see the built-in "rack bracing"

Now, I had to find a way to hold the interior walls square and rigid (since they are NOT going to the ceiling). Well, a bit of  cut-in rack framing like the old barn builders used, did the trick.  Now each  free standing wall system is solid and square. I LIKE IT !  The plans call for some 4×4 framing members going up to the ceiling but I don’t think we need them, so I will ask the inspector if I can eliminate them, since they are obviously NOT needed.  These walls are not going anywhere!

More "stand-alone" walls

The last part of the week was spent (by me at least) laying out the electrical boxes and runs along with all the TV & Data wires ( This Client surely knows his Tech. stuff !)  which is a challenge since I have NO ceilings to run overhead wiring  loops in. But we ( the Owner & I are figuring this out)  My helpers where busy taking down the back room drywall and deconstructing all that (almost new) wiring in the back half of the building. They

are working out the circuits and labeling the wires at the box. This will help enormously when we go to re wire the place .   There was a lot of back framing needed to accommodate the old work…(back framing is the framing that you build piece by piece- to fill in the framing details after the main “production” framing is in place)- ( A good builder will try to keep the back framing to a minimum).   Some of the old lighting circuits will need to be re-used as they are the only way to have ceiling lighting ( there was a lot of them about the place !) I will use extension boxes to gain access to the sides of the boxes and run EMT conduit to where the new light locations are. This will accent & fit in with the whole “Industrial Chic” look my savvy clients are striving for.

Is this thing working...? Why, yes it is !

This coming week will be mostly pulling wires and placing conduit and new lighting boxes. The plumbers will be back with the rest of the rough-in, you know, setting the tub, & showers, running the PEX water lines…all the plumbing stuff that will need to be installed before the drywall goes up.

Thanks for reading & following along, If you have any questions you can contact me from here at my blog site or come on over to my web site at Summerhill Building & Contracting, inc. Or at the “Build Strong” tab on this blog site!

Oh! and stop by  our “Face Book” page and  click the “Like” button to share us with all your friends. You never know which of your friends are thinking of building! You’ll be doing them and me a BIG favor !

Thanks for joining and “Keep on Building”

Bob ” The Builder” Leiby

It’s all about delivering the finest in custom construction and the best in customer satisfaction. I have one “Rule”: “We will do whatever it takes to have NO unhappy clients”.  If you are thinking about building a home or an addition or just about any construction project, do your self a favor and Call Me to talk about your project. I’d love the opportunity to give you an estimate and discuss your plans.  I own and operate Summer Hill Building & Contracting, Inc. the Premier Home Builder of Schuylkill County, PA.

It is still financially better to own your own home than it is to rent, So Call Me ! I & my team can help find you another lot and build your dream home!

We have building lots in “Forest hills” development in Pottsville, PA.  Probably the last building lots in Pottsville.  Erica Ramos and her team at “Realty Executives” can help you find the right building lot for you . Pottsville has a sewer permit moratorium in place as of right now but the sewer authority is working on it’s remediation & will be lifted at some point in the (hopefully) near future so we can get on to the adventure of building your new home.

The Financing of your new home is an important decision and our mortgage broker, Nick Shestok at “Mortgage Network Solutions” can help you find the deal of a life time ! Great rates ( some below 5.0 %)    These rates are going up !

This is the "before" pic of this great Schuylkill County Restaurant

Restaurant re-configuration

We all have heard the tale of how hard it is to operate  a restaurant …successfully

Well, this is just as true here in Schuylkill County PA. as it is anywhere. The very fine family that started this especially good restaurant gave it the best go they could.  ! When it became evident that there just wasn’t enough business to sustain this dream any longer my clients ( and friends) pulled the plug…and not without a boat load of sadness.

This is just about the same view but with most of the interior striped

They hired me to convert this beautiful space into 2 apartments.

The last few weeks have taken me to some very different types of projects. The last one was phase 1 of the Dewald Farm restoration.  This most recent project is a restaurant remod.  We are taking an otherwise lovely space that was a wonderful bistro / coffee house and turning it into a pair of apartments. The owner didn’t want his name or location divulged on my blog so I will respect his wishes. But I can report on the ongoing project and file pics of the ongoing work in my blog. This post represents the first 2 weeks of work.

This pic shows the bathrooms...or whats left of them.

Now, my clients are a hands-on kinda group and had just about everything figured out that would need to be figured out for this conversion…They basically  needed me to share their vision and do the actual work & management of the project. It would be my pleasure !

…….  And so it goes!

• First: we had to remove all the mostly new and high end lighting from the ceiling and store it for future use.
• Second: we disassembled the counters & cabinetry to be used as part of the new kitchen and stored them safely away. My clients are working with the cabinet maker who originally built these beautiful cabinets to fill in the cabinets they don’t already have and make a new and very nice kitchen.
• Then we needed to locate and label all the electrical runs & circuits (there was a lot of them).
• Next we wanted to remove the old carpeting, tile and hardwood (dance) floor. We saved the hardwood for future use. The thin set cement under the tile just wouldn’t come up without a fight, so I brought in a concrete floor grinder…one day later no more thin set. (but that was a wet and sloppy job).

• 

  My minions... hard at work de-constructing the hard wood floor

• Then we needed to remove the old drywall and most of the wall studs in the bathroom area.
• Now we are relocating the plumbing fixtures and adding 2 showers & a Jacuzzi tub in 2 full bathrooms This part took a lot of hard work both for myself, my helpers and my plumbers for this project, “Hopkins Plumbing” from Seltzer, PA.
• I had to cut out large sections of the ,not so old (4 years) concrete floor to expose the existing plumbing runs. The plumbers then brought a large electric jack hammer to play and busted out all the concrete I delineated with the saw cuts. WOW a lot of mess, noise and dead concrete …I’m glad this part is behind us. ( we are quickly filling up our first 30 yard dumpster)
• We are also framing interior walls to result in  bedrooms, office space and
  

  Hardworking, Happy Helpers

  flex space  along with a vary large living room / kitchen (sort of a great room kind of thing.

Now what’s really cool about this interior wall framing plan is that other than the bathroom walls, no walls will go to the 11’ ceiling they will stop at 8’ like a loft apartment  on the “lower east side” ….Cool stuff!

Thats me...hiding ..er, working, yeah, that's it... working on a partiton wall

Thanks for reading & following along, If you have any questions you can contact me from here at my blog site or come on over to my web site at Summerhill Building & Contracting, inc. Or at the “Build Strong” tab on this blog site!

Oh! and stop by  our “Face Book” page and  click the “Like” button to share us with all your friends. You never know which of your friends are thinking of building! You’ll be doing them and me a BIG favor !

Thanks for joining and “Keep on Building”

Bob ” The Builder” Leiby

It’s all about delivering the finest in custom construction and the best in customer satisfaction. I have one “Rule”: “We will do whatever it takes to have NO unhappy clients”.  If you are thinking about building a home or an addition or just about any construction project, do your self a favor and Call Me to talk about your project. I’d love the opportunity to give you an estimate and discuss your plans.  I own and operate Summer Hill Building & Contracting, Inc. the Premier Home Builder of Schuylkill County, PA.

It is still financially better to own your own home than it is to rent, So Call Me ! I & my team can help find you another lot and build your dream home!

We have building lots in “Forest hills” development in Pottsville, PA.  Probably the last building lots in Pottsville.  Erica Ramos and her team at “Realty Executives” can help you find the right building lot for you . Pottsville has a sewer permit moratorium in place as of right now but the sewer authority is working on it’s remediation & will be lifted at some point in the (hopefully) near future so we can get on to the adventure of building your new home.

The Financing of your new home is an important decision and our mortgage broker, Nick Shestok at “Mortgage Network Solutions” can help you find the deal of a life time ! Great rates ( some below 5.0 %)    These rates are going up !

Tales from the old Dewald farm

I’ve been working in a very unique home, doing some really cool stuff. The Old

Small & dark - 2 bedrooms - H E L P !

Dewald place has almost mythical status here in Schuylkill County.  OK, first some Background.  Dr Detweiler built this home in the 1920′s for a country retreat. He built the timber frame out of an old cow barn, all chestnut posts and beams ! then he vaneered the entire home in over fired brick & big hunks of brick slag from the Auburn brick yard. The brick were laid in a wavy fashion so there is not a straight run in the whole house. Then he built a hugh stone fireplace and

The finished north wall and floor of the new "Master loft bedroom"

sided the interior walls with vertical planks of tunge & groove wormy chestnut and built the floors of 2x T & G Fir.  This very unique home stayed in the family until after the 2nd World War when the DR. passed and it was sold.  In the 1970′s a descendants of the original owner / builder , (Dr. Detweiler) – Butch Dewald (a grand son) bought it back . He was the Owner of Dewald & Lengle hardware store in Friedensburg, PA. He lived there until his passing a few years ago. Now My client, Rev. Mark Dewald is the owner. He wanted to update some

The view from thr top of the grand stairway - down the loft to the master bedroom... just look at that floor !

of the electrical  and plumbing systems and make the home a nice place to live in and in the future to retire to.

Now for the work.

• We wanted to get rid of the 3 very small bedrooms in the loft area and make a nice large master bedroom and a small guest room. To do this work we had to remove some non-bearing partition walls & the old and very tacky 1960′s type light ash color paneling someone had put on everything in the loft…every beam, every chestnut rafter, every square inch of chestnut wall and ceiling wood …everything. The owner removed the old paneling & I came in to remove the old “liquid nails” glue and all the paneling nails sticking out of everything.
• The owner also removed 2 layers of shag carpet and 2 layers of very old linoleum which seemed to be nailed every 2 “.
• 

  3, red Mini Pendants on a curved Cherry plank, mounted over the bar.

  I saw right away the potential of all this beautiful old wood so In talking my ideas over with my client (who was really looking for conformation of his vieion)I found he had a similar  feel for the end result of this restoration project, but just lacked the language to convey his  ideas.

• So I scraped and sanded the ceiling between the big 3×8 rafters and exposed some beautiful wood which we later varnished with 3 coats of satin polyurethane.
• I removed the partition wall  between the bedroom and the loft area – making a 20′ x 22′ master (the partition between the 2 dark and small bedrooms had already been removed).
  

  That's me working on the Dewald's Bar...you can see the wood chandalier behind me.

  bedroom and letting in a lot more light and opening up the whole area.

• Now we dealt  with the floor. The Owned removed all the old flooring down to the wood and removed as many nails as he could find. I came through and scraped the entire floor removing the old linoleum backer which had adhered  to the wood. Then ran a great big floor sander with 20# grit paper to get the rest of the junk off the wood. Then went over the floor with 60# paper to bring up the beauty of that fir barn flooring.Then when all the other jobs were finished upstairs, we varnished the entire floor with 3 coats of “Varathane” satin floor finish.
• Before we finished the floor I re wired the loft / bedroom and studded and insulated the north wall, then finished it with drywall. Then using a pile of old “Chestnut Oak” wood I’ve been saving I built in the old beams, and trimmed out the 3 new windows and baseboard, hand planing and sanding them just enough to make them smooth but leaving in some of the saw mill kerf marks to match the rest of the old wood in this home. Then staining them to match the old wood’s color. ….W O W !
• Now I added new lighting and ceiling fans  in the loft, living room, Bar, Foyer, Outside the front door, and even a motion sensor light for the driveway area.
• I re wired an old carved wood chandelier ( with the wood statue of old Doc Detweiler) and added a triple down light array for working behind the bar.
• And since I couldn’t get any reasonably priced 8′ mini pendant lights locally for over the curved bar, got a 5′ long curved plank of cherry with the bark still on it, planed it and sanded it smooth, varnished it with 3 coats of satin poly, added the 3 – 5′ mini pendants with  red art glass and mounted the whole thing above the bar on heavy ornamental chains from the sloped ceiling. Probably the neatest and most artistic  thing I’ve done in a while!
• And all this needed to be done in 3 weeks for a wedding !

Here is a letter from Mr Dewald thanking me for the vision and hard work!

Bob,

  Now that the first phase of The Dewald Farm renovation is completed, I wish to write you this thank you note to express my deep appreciation.  Seveal months ago I told my brother I was looking for someone who could “do it all” with some “artistry” thrown in.  He told me about you, and it has proven to be an excellent recommendation.  As you know, this house is not simply another “project” for me–the house represents generations of my family, so I wanted it done right.

  Let’s review:  We met several months ago.  We turned a dark, rather dreary, and certainly tacky bedroom into a beautiful loft.  We added tons of light.  You put in efficient, but beautiful new windows.  You trimmed the windows and wall work with antique chestnut oak you had preserved in faith that a project like ours would come your way.  You and your son found a way to make the bedroom’s cathedral ceiling glow.  (We were not even sure if we could save it, or would have to cover it.)  You then attacked the floor, discussing with me the possibility of fighting hard to preserve the inch plus thick ancient planking, instead of simply putting new hardwood, or worse, laminate over it.  You figured out original electric.  You found a way to light up our bar with red glass halogen lamps while also preserving and using our family’s ancient wooden chandelier behind the bar.  You also found a way to improve our main living area with entry lights, dining lights, and safety lights.

   I look forward to your return later this summer to tackle the upstairs bathroom and some other plumbing issues.  Now that we know each other, the dialogue between us flows with both your ideas and my ideas…This is how it should be.

   If you wish to show this letter to future clients or have them call me  or e-mail me at my home for a recommendation, please feel free to do so.  My words will glow like the ceiling you created.  I hope you took some “before” and “after” photos. 

   Cordially,

   Mark D. Dewald,

   Dewald Farm Owner

Any mistakes in the story of this amazing home are mine…alone.  I’ll publish some more pics as I get them. This home has a long and very cool history !  & Thanks Mark for telling me the story about this home and letting me work on her!

Thanks for reading & following along, If you have any questions you can contact me from here at my blog site or come on over to my web site at Summerhill Building & Contracting, inc. Or at the “Build Strong” tab on this blog site!

Oh! and stop by  our “Face Book” page and  click the “Like” button to share us with all your friends. You never know which of your friends are thinking of building! You’ll be doing them and me a BIG favor !

Thanks for joining and “Keep on Building”

Bob ” The Builder” Leiby