Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the home Modeling show brought to you by
Edge Construction. The website Edge Construction Company dot com. All
one word Edge Construction Company dot com. Great website and resource.
Learn more about edge Construction. Also some links there, How's Pinterest, Facebook?
Really good resources. Been thinking about doing summer modeling. All
I gotta do that is pick up phone, get a
call at Edge Construction six so eight six three six
(00:20):
three three four three that's six three six edge. What
I mentioned the website Edge Construction Company dot com. It's
always fun as the as the young folks say, to
peruse such as the such a site. It's really cool
to see the work that they do at edge Construction.
Also that link to hows from Edge Construction Company dot
com is a fantastic resource. And joining us this morning
is the owner of Edge Construction, the one and only
mister Mike Twag. Mike, how you doing this week? Good
(00:42):
to see you.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I feel like we have another word that would go
I think.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Now, have your grand kids used the term skibbty to
you yet?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
No? Or is that one I need to brush up?
Speaker 1 (00:53):
It's apparently what I hear Madson, my son will say
skibbety sigma oh hi io riz, which is short for charisma.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
It Scott Risk, all right, I get. I'm not sure
about the other one.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
So it's I don't know what it is, Mike, this
is this and that's the fun part.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
He's given me the word, but he's not clue into.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
My wife Christina will say matt'son last or something and
she'll just say skimmy, ohio and like woggle.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
It's like stamp done.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Did she agree or disagree?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
But whatever was? Yeah, so I probably should write these
down here, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Because yeah, you'll hear them. You will definitely hear them.
It's good to see you. And as we get through
kind of getting working our way through summer and folks
kind of looking ahead, I know, towards the holidays, and
I know when it comes to holidays, entertaining comes into play,
company guests hanging out in the kitchen. We're going to
talk about some big picture remodeling trends when it comes
(01:53):
to kitchen remodels, and I just kind of I saw
some notes about the colors for cabinet tree for example,
in a kitchen a lot of white. But you had
mentioned stain cabinets are are becoming very popular.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, it's so there's a I myself have a white kitchen.
I mean, we got I don't know, caught up in it.
It's so easy to do a white kitchen, and I
don't think that that element's ever going to go away
because it just kind of goes with everything white and black.
You sort of can't go wrong, right If you're going
to mix other colors, it gets a little tougher. And
(02:31):
so the white panted cabinets, I mean, you go back
one hundred years, there are a lot of white kitchens.
Fast forward to a few years ago. We started doing
a lot more custom colors, and if you look through
our website, go to the kitchen portion of the portfolio page,
you're going to see you're going to see probably about
a third white, a bunch of custom colors, and the
(02:54):
stain cabinets creeping back in. So some people just call
those wood cabinets, but they're an actually, I mean, but
our painted cabinets are a really good quality cabinet. There
it's a maple cabinet underneath the paint. So you don't
want to use a lesser wood under there just because
nobody can see it, because maple is a good hardwood.
It's really stable. Paints well, it's super smooth. A lot
(03:17):
of advantages to them.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
I've got to ask you about that then, because I
think one of the things that was oftentimes able to
be avoided with painted cabinets, the fact of what the
materials they are made of. One of the things that
I know with you and working with you over the
years and talking with you at edge construction, is you
think of cabinet's how much abuse they take, especially kitchen cabinets,
(03:43):
just because you know it looks great, because the paint
on it looks great. You really want to make sure
that what's being painted over is a solmentary you mentioned
would and that all the hardware and everything associated is
really high end stuff, don't you You.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Do and painting, doing a really good job of painting
something like a cabinet is kind of a complicated process.
It's a two or three stage deal budget wise. Actually,
painted cabinets are more expensive, quite a bit more expensive,
could be as much as twenty or thirty percent or
more if you get into custom colors. And I think
(04:20):
that people are usually surprised by that. They're thinking, like
you know, that richness of wood is something you've got
to pay for. Well, actually, that's that's underneath there. It's
covered up, and it's it's easier to do a stained cabinets,
so our manufacturers price those a little better. I don't
I want to say they're like on a budget, but
I think you know, design always comes first. If somebody
(04:41):
really wants something, we are not in the business of
talking you out of that. We want to find ways
for that to fit into the design. And so I
understand the move towards the custom colors. You know, if
you're on our side, it all becomes like, Okay, we've
done ten white painted cabinets in a row kitchens and
(05:02):
I don't want to say we get sick of it,
but it'd be nice to be doing something different. Then
all of a sudden, those custom colors rolled in. Maybe
three years ago, we did an oak kitchen. I don't
remember which one it is, but I remember how much
I liked it just when we were installing because it
was dark. You know, the the oak cabinets have a
(05:24):
lot of flavor. They've got you know, a lot of
grain showing through. Oh boy, I forgot how nice this is.
We've got one up on there from a not too
long ago. I think it was a hickory, kind of
a rustic hickory or older. It was actually in a
log home, so that's the reason it was probably picked out.
But it was really pretty much so a lot of
(05:46):
times those stained cabinets can can be really attractive.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
That log cabin one.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
By the way, I'm talking about in a minute.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
But one thing I'm going to ask you about when
we talk about woo are stained cabinets? Are we talking
about do they make veneers for that like type? Are
their products like that out? Not that you want to
go with that, but isn't I asked, because I know
a number of years ago, probably ten years ago, I
don't even know if we talked about it on the
show or off the air. A friend of mine h
south of here. I had visited him and he had
(06:13):
recently had his kitchen done.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
And did they reface or he had like a full full.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Kitchen redone, but like the one cabinet like it was
like almost like a like a wall, like a sticky
plastic to make it look like would And I remember
at the time asking you about that, and you kind
of are like, oh, that's not a good thing. I'm
going to tell you a little. Uh, this is a
follow up to that story. Uh, it's did not hold
it just like just like you like you had projected.
(06:41):
Is that that's not really what you want done.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah, we've you know, the durability thing is something we
need to talk about because okay, well, well not to
pick on the refacers. I think there is a place
for that, and there's there's been one or two times
a year we'll recommend something like that. But you know,
in order to put a you're still putting a fair
amount of money into those cabinets if you're going to reface,
(07:06):
and so you're basically that the idea is you've got
this kitchen that maybe don't like the style or the color.
Things are outdated, but they're extremely good shape. Like you know,
all your your hinges are in good shape, the cabinet
door is in good shape. Everything is in good shape,
the boxes are in good shape. We're just going to
go over the top of that with something. And usually
you you had mentioned families can be tough on kitchens.
(07:28):
Usually by the time you're ready to do something, you
know you're the drawer glides are falling apart, there's there's
there's just the wear and tear is really showing. I
do want to I want to talk about durability from
a standpoint of painted versus stained. Yes, now, having the
painted cabinets, you cannot be like O. C. D about nothing,
(07:53):
no imperfections, right. The problem is when you when you
when we order these cabinets and they come out of
the factory, it's got this really smooth, sprayed on finish
that was you know, baked on in the in the facility.
It's like a finish that's really hard to replicate out
in the field. So we got pretty good at doing repairs.
(08:13):
But you know, kitchens take some abuse and so things
are gonna get dinged up. Things are gonna it's it's
gonna happen, and you're it's gonna happen your custom colors,
it's going to happen to your painting cabinets with the
with the stain cabinets. I do think there's an advantage
there to durability. It's just not as noticeable if you
(08:34):
put a little scratch, maybe you can stain mark it,
you know, and ninety percent height it even even areas
around like a sink where it's constantly getting wet and
maybe the finish gets a little bit older, it's fairly
easy to just do a light sand and spray a
new Polly on top of there. So the the durability
is a thing you should think about if if you
(08:55):
if you were going to be bothered by the tiniest
little inferfection, maybe that's not the way to go. So
we as we talked that about it, would you be
bothered by other times?
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Not As somebody that's more than familiar with tiny imperfections,
I just let it that. As we talked then about
about kind of finding that that right finish for the
for the right lifestyle. Is that part of that conversation
with me, you know, when you're sitting down with the
designers and as a homeowner kind of talking about the
type of person you are, not only the look you
(09:24):
want to achieve, but but asking something is do do
these type of things bother you? Because maybe going with
a solid white cabinet might not be the best best
design options or at least to know what you're.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Getting into, right, So yeah, I think a good designer
is going to take you through that process. And uh,
people now fall in love with the pictures they find online.
So if you know, we've had people look at that
not the elder cash and go oh, you know, I
want that, and in the end not end up with
it because maybe you follow through this whole design process
(10:01):
and you think, well I really like that kitchen, but
not in I don't have the right house for this,
you know, like you do need you do need a
certain style to go with that.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
The the advantage to the you know you talk about
the white, I'd say white versus the custom colors, there's
an advantage there endurability, just because it's it's it's you know,
white is white. It's easier to repair versus a custom color.
That when you when you paint over the top or
try to repair on something like a custom color, we
call it it flashes. As we call it flashing. It
(10:35):
means you can if you're standing in the right light,
maybe you get off on the side, you can see
that little spot that and so we're trying to avoid
that stuff. I do think people are much more careful
with with these. And you know, it's like a new
car anyways, you're going to be You're not going to
set a rock on the top of a new car,
right You're gonna you're gonna take care of it.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
So it's it's interesting you mentioned you called flashing.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
What's the flashing?
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, lash, I remember years ago I had a anybody
that's ever had a car that's been an a fender
bender and they do the repairs. You learn a lot
about like like paint and because I had no idea
and yeah, like my thing was always like, well, all
the you know, you drive a maroon, Chevy whatever, specific,
they're all gonna be the exact same color. And you
can they could just pop that piece off, paint it,
(11:23):
slap it back on. It's gonna look great. But there's
so many different variations in color and time, and you
know the environment that it's been in. Blending that stuff
in is a is a real is a real It.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Is a real trick. And so I'll give you a
couple of painting trims. We just had one. Uh, the
next one is sheen she So that is a that
is really it comes into play. So my the painters
that work for us are our guys. They're they you know,
anybody can go into the store and buy the same paint. Sure,
(11:55):
but getting that, getting that that finish that and a
lot of times it's spraying it and then dulling it
down to get the schine to match. I'll give you
another paint term now, Skipper. So what do you think
Skipper means? I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Even the other two I could have maybe guessed at Skipper.
I've known.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
So if you and I are painting in a room
and you missed a spot, I'm gonna say, hey, Skipper,
I get over there, fix that spot.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Like when you're painting with a roller, you go up.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
You can do this with your wife. Skipper.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
By the way, and I know we talk a lot
about obviously electricians and carpenters and and their different roles.
Painters we have. I don't think we've ever talked about
how does that work with with edge construction, like do
you work with specific crews? And where we have been
guys and the guys.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Our house painters, and uh it was, you know, probably
one of the one of the best decisions we we
we made. We have we have two very good painters
that work for us. And I've been painting my whole life.
I like painting. I'm in this business where I get
to work at it and perfect it, and it's embarrassing
(13:09):
how much better they are than me really good. And
if you've ever had your house get a really professional
paint job, I mean, I think it makes us much
difference on the look of your house as almost anything else.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
This guy from this old house that does as you
were mentioning a paint you ever watch what's his Uh,
I'm not even gonna to morrow. Yeah, I know his face.
That's why I had to show you that. For folks
that don't know, I just showed Mike a photo of
because we're both big fans of this old house. I
watch him as we talk about paint and specifically, you know,
areas like a kitchen where you really want a really
(13:44):
good job people that know how to paint and have that.
It's it is a real that's a real skill.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
It's amazingly it's it's a skill set that you build
your whole career, just like carpenter or anything else. And
you know, when we start talking about products, I'm with
our people and I'm sure other professional painters, it gets
really specific. You know. We like the the I've talked
about Sherman Williams before. We use about eighty percent Sharan Williams.
(14:14):
And there's a reason, I mean, there's there's six or
eight different levels of paint in each category, and we
have tried all of those, and we there's reasons our
people will pick one or the other and and they'll
notice when there's a formula change and start complaining and whining.
But yeah, that that is a that to me, a
(14:36):
professional paint job is really worth the deal.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
And anybody that's ever tried to paint on their own nose,
it's it's.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Well, there are some pretty kind of painters, but like
I said, it's it's so different when you have I
think it's different when you have somebody really.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Good as I we've my wife has tried though oldest
painted out her. It's yeah, I wish I had a
camera in the studio to show everyone. Your face out
doesn't often go well. Talking this morning with Mike two
Egg of Edge Construction, talking about some big picture kitchen
remodeling trends. I talked about cabinets, a little bit about painting.
We'll talk about some of the more more of the
(15:11):
aspects when it comes to kitchen remodeling, some of those
some of those big picture things to think about when
it comes to your project. By the way, I've been
been to the website. Yet head on over there now
Edge Construction Company dot Com. Great opportunity take a look
at some of the recent projects they've been working on.
Edge Construction again that website, Edge Construction Company dot Com.
Twelve number six so eight six three six three three
four three that number six three six Edge. More of
(15:34):
the Homer Modeling Show with Edge Construction is next year.
I'm thirteen ten do wuiba. This is the Homermodeling Show
brought to you by Edge Construction online. Edge Construction Company
dot com. That's all one word, Edge Construction Company dot Com.
There teleph number six so eight six three six three
three four to three that number six three six Edge.
Talking this week with Mike two Egg of Edge Construction
(15:54):
about kitchen remodeling, and before the breakout, we were talking
a little bit about cabinets, and cabinets are one of those, uh,
one of those things that you really want done right
for a number of reasons. You want them to last
because you don't want to buy new cabinets ever. But
the other thing that's kind of a bummer is if
they're not high quality or well built, they don't last
(16:15):
as long, which means they oftentimes end up in the
junk pile, and that's not a not a great place
for them. The best thing is, you know, talk about
and I feel sometimes like it's it's kind of like
a co opted buzzword, that term sustainability. It is important
when it comes to longevity and the availability to you know,
(16:39):
is it's a win win. Think about quality cabinets are
that are not only never not going to end up
in the landfill, but they're also going to last and
perform a long time. Sustainability is an important part of
some of this. It is.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
But I you know, okay, what makes a product green? Right? Yeah,
We've talked about this a million times, but like, to me,
the greenest product the world is a one hundred year
old maple floor and houses in downtown Madison. We're refinishing
those floors and I mean they have more than one
hundred years left in them. I mean, like, how do
(17:12):
you get greener than that? It was it was cut, once,
it was made, ones, it was installed, ones.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
It doesn't have a sticker on it, Like this doesn't
have a green sticker.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
No, you're right, or you know you mentioned cabinets. Well, okay,
there's part of the under that big umbrela of sustainability.
You say, well, we can use recycled materials. Well, particle
board is theoretically it can be a recycled material or
they'll use basically what would be waste material. And I'm
not saying that's bad. I'm just saying I don't love
(17:42):
it in cabinets. Okay, very few cabinets, by the way,
don't have product board in them in some real shape
or form. The MDF medium density fiberboard. I mean, we
have tried to stay away from that stuff in our cabinets,
but it's even crept into our manufactur is just in
little waves, not in big waves, in little waves, and
(18:03):
so it's you know, there's not much I can do
about it, but it's it's it's heavy, it misbehaves around moisture.
There are reasons to not use it. But anyways, I
that's that's uh here or there, and then you start
looking at so really one the first thing to talk
(18:26):
about with sustainability is like you mentioned longevity, because okay,
if you put in a if you design a kitchen,
well the chances are that more people are gonna like it,
and twenty or thirty years from now, somebody might the
chances are higher that the new owner at that point
is going to go, Okay, I really like this kitchen.
It was designed really well. Uh, that's not a reason
(18:47):
to get rid of it, right, because of a certain
percentage of the ones that we do are perfectly serviceable
kitchens that people just don't like. The next step is
the is how well those products are made that you're
going to use. So if you are using to a
lower end laminate floor, that's a ten or twelve year
floor usually okay, not very green. I don't care if
(19:10):
it has a big stamp on the box. I don't
think it's green. It's made with a lot of recycled material.
I don't care that that to me is something that
has to be replaced in ten or twelve years. Is
not green. Where else are we? Oh, stone cart tops? Okay,
now we're talking a product that's gonna last a long time, right,
(19:30):
And I'm down the list.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
With that, and idiot you think about that stuff and
kind of having that perspective. It's interesting too about the
importance of design is I think a lot of times
we think of the substance of what these things are
made of to kind of distill it down and the
reality is it can be the greatest stuff if it's
not designed well and and have that thought. It may
very well be a perfectly serviceable kitchen remodel. But in
(19:54):
thirty years, if that remodel wasn't well planned and thinking
about good design, somebody may come in and say these
are great everything, but it just doesn't it just doesn't function.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Yeah, and it makes sense, right if you have a
poorly designed kitchen and a really well design kitchen, the
materials are kind of the same. I mean, like you're
not You're not necessarily spending less money on the materials.
So it's it's good to put some thought into that
design and and and some effort and into that design.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
You know, we were talking at last segment about paint
and that we don't it's probably not gonna take a
ton of time. But one of the notes I saw
talked about some choices for kitchen renovations. Uh, VOC free
paints and finishes and conies. Do we get folks that
are requesting that, are those volatile organic chemicals free or
is that.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
A yes, it was it was. I think it's something
everybody's ware. But luckily the manufacturers have been aware of this.
Also so there there's not a lot of eocs and
in any of the products that we use. I mean,
you know there there's there's that that has really changed
(21:00):
over the years. And the paints and the and the
and the Polly's and the stains. Okay, you know we
use we don't use the oil based stuff anymore. We
don't use uh, they're just not not as harsh. So
they've found ways to make a good quality product and
use low VOC materials to make them. That has bled
into In fact, you might get more VOCs off something
(21:23):
like the plywood underneath your floor than you would now
off of a flooring choice because you know there are
glues and binders that puts that stuff together and in
theory that takes a certain amount of time to be
bleed off. But but those are now water based products also,
so like like I said, it's it's become less of
a problem. But there are people that are very sensitive
to that, and we'll want to see what level are
(21:47):
are that are you using and are there alternatives? And
then for us sometimes that's their their choice. If you
want to use what I would call an in for
your product, something that might not last, but as lower
VOCs because that you're sensitive that that that is a
choice you gotta make.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Am I wrong in that? So? When I was younger,
we had our carpet redone in our house, and I
remember had that real strong chemical and I still love
that smell. Mic I'm going to tell you we had
the carpet done at our house and it was not
that it was the low.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
New car smell.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Yeah, it's there is something and literally the new cars
smell there. So but it's it's good.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
I'm really assuming that you know. That's another yeah side
of manufacturing that you know. I don't know if it's regulated,
but the uh, the consumer has regulated these things, yeah,
to where that's more important and people just don't want
to deal with it.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
See, it's good to hear. As we talked this morning
with Mike two Egg, owner of Edge Construction, think about
sorry that conversation. All I gotta do is pick a phone,
gimme call six so eight six three six three three
four three that number six three six Edge and of
course the website Edge Construction Company dot com. That's all
one word, Edge Construction Company dot com. We did your
conversation with Mike two egg. Next as the Homer Modeling
Show with Edge Construction can use right here on thirteen
(23:01):
ten WIVA. This is the Homer Modeling Show brought you
by Edge Construction. The website edge Construction Company dot com.
That's all one word, Edgeconstruction Company dot com and on
over there. Because we are likely, at say more than likely,
we are definitely going to talk about some recent projects
at edge Construction. Again the website Edge Construction Company dot com.
You can play along at home. Also while you're there,
check out the links Pinterest, Facebook, and especially the howslink
(23:25):
from Edge Construction Company dot com. Really really cool portfolio there.
You can see a lot of projects at house from
Edgeconstruction Company dot com. Also some recent stuff up at
Edge Construction Company dot com. They're toping number six, So
eight six three six three three four to three that
number six three six Edge talking about kitchen remodels, some
of the big picture stuff I was telling you during
the break And this is not a joke, Mike. One
(23:46):
of my favorite topics, whether it's kitchen, but especially kitchens,
but any room is a lighting and lighting is and
I don't know why I find it's so cool, but
it's it's fascinated me From the first time you ever
brought up how important lighting was to a remodel. But
it is a very important aspect of any remodeling job,
isn't it.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Well, it's really weird. You know. We we do a
lot for the builders in Dane County. That's another side
of our company. We do interior trim and and we
frame a bunch of houses for them. And I'm always
shocked at I think they're not putting off lighting even
new houses. Uh. And when we go back in sometimes
to houses that are even five years old or relatively
(24:28):
brand new, as far as I'm concerned, a lot of
times we're adding lighting and I'm like, geez, you know,
what are you doing here? Let's uh, we have the
technology to do this. There's this new thing called l ED.
I don't know if you've heard that.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
I've heard something about these leads leads wise.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Yeah, yeah, I mean you you have known more about
LED lighting, especially in our early in our relationship. Is
that we were talking about you had him, you had
him in your house already? Yeah, yeah, I was.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
I was an early adopter. I for all the reasons
that we see is just the you know, they're amazingly efficient.
They voltage, all the stuff that I that I love
about them, think too, what you mentioned about, you know,
some of these newer homes and not providing maybe enough
lighting options or enough light. The great thing about light
is you can always scale it back very easily by
(25:17):
just turning a knob or sliding down a fader. That's
one of the very few places where you make a
decision about design where if you want to alter it
very easily as time goes forward, you can easily change
those those lights quite quite simply.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Yeah, and so just to give the two minute version,
we from our side, we think of lighting and layers, right,
so we we talk about led. We have to figure
out a different name to call these can lights. But
they look they look like a recess light, but they're
they're not. It's an l light. And the big advantage
(25:53):
to me is the whole bottom of that fixture is
the bulb. It's the fixture, and so you got a
really wide cone. It spreads out nice, so you end
up not having these kind of dead spots of light.
So our starting point is we think in terms now
of we want to daylight these spaces, especially the common areas, kitchens, bathrooms,
(26:16):
great rooms, things like that. We want to be able
to light the heck out of it. When we first
really made the transition of these type of light fixtures
for background lighting maybe six seven years ago, the dimming
was following along behind, but it wasn't great and so
we had a lot of complaints the lights are flickering
(26:36):
and things like that, and it was really not the fixture.
It was the dimmer that has been solved now for
four or five years now. We put them everywhere. We
put dimmers, like you said, to be able to control it.
Nobody wants day light all the time. It's not like
you're gonna be rebuilding a motor in your living room.
You need all this ladder or operating on your kids
(26:57):
or something. So yeah, just being a control it is
really big.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
I think I got can lights. And then since their
flight called pan lights maybe like a like I was,
I jotted it down even like.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Call the pan lights. Is anybody going to know what
we're talking about?
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Probably not? Well now after today they made very well.
Be that. The other thing too, with with with light
and LEDs is I think, and you know this stuff
better than I do. Different light temperatures, and I think
for folks who may be hearing LED. Yeah, looms and
those things too oftentimes think of oh I've seen those before,
(27:35):
they're very blue, where they're very not the case anymore
at all.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
I mean, if you really like that blue, you're insane
if you do. I remember why my wife bringing home
bulbs and going, I'm sick of buying bulbs, and I
you know, we had the curly cue ones. What were those?
The cfl Yeah, those were kind of annoying. And then
and then anyways, she brought home in the first LEDs
and they were that blue color and I felt like
(27:59):
somebody was hitting me in the with a hammer. Basically
when we put them in, it wasn't gonna work. But anyways,
now you can you can pick your flavor, right, you
can pick daylight, you can pick yeah, you can pick
your intensity and the color. Some of those pan lights
pan lights have actually they all have a little transformer.
(28:21):
Because LED operates off of a transformer. It converts the
power coming to the light into a into a usable
thing for that fixture, dulls it down. But anyways, you
can actually have a switch on those on those little
transformers and change the intensity of your light. So you
can change the color you light. Now, it's not it's
(28:42):
it's not like flicking a switch. You've got to pull
your fixture down, reach up and adjust your transformer. But
I thought that was pretty cool too. It's an upgraded fixture.
We actually have people that are tech savvy that requests this.
By the way, it's not as rare as you think
might think it might be. Most people pick like a daylight,
like a whatever, three thousand loom, and that's that's kind
(29:03):
of where where it's at, and then being able to
control it. The advantage in how much power it uses
gets gets overlooked. I think sometimes you know, people think, well,
I want to never have I don't want to have
to change bulbs for twenty thousand hours. And that may
be true. We haven't got there yet. I hope it's true.
(29:24):
No reason to believe it's not true. But when we're
doing a kitchen remodel before LED, I would say, well,
we're gonna have to get two or three new circuits
up to that kitchen, which means we've got to get
home runs from the panel all the way to the
kitchen and can be a real pain. With LED, they
I don't want to say they use no electricity. But
(29:45):
it's almost like that, so we can put a lot
more on a circuit we can and with no danger.
It just doesn't use that much powers. They don't create
the heat like some of the other things did, and
so there's just not many drawbacks.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Some of that too plain to design. Is that you
think of back in the day, you know, whether it
was complex FLUORESCENTCE or incandescent before that, is that that
power draw that you didn't really want a light that
was available to be And it sounds almost wastefully to
say it. One that was on twenty four to seven
with LEDs. There are and maybe I'm wrong on this
(30:20):
for as part of design, and obviously get up the
middle of the night. Who I've heard of folks want
to get up to get a little midnight snack or something.
Having a light that's just that's on to kind of
maybe light the light the floor so you can kind
of see where things are, light under the counter. That's
not as crazy as it used to be. As a
matter of fact, we talk about the cost to.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah, if your dad would have.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
I'd be standing right now because I still wouldn't be
able to sit my.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Who left the kitchen lights? Yeah, Yeah, that's a great point.
We have a lot of customers, a lot of homeowners
that we worked for that say, you know, we we
have found that the under cabinet lighting that's LED two.
We put dimmers on that also, and you just can
have a low level of light like it's a you know,
it's nice. It's kind of a safety issue. When you
get used to it, you really appreciate it. That's what
(31:08):
we do at our house. I really like that too.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
It's a and it's a it's a cool little thing. Again,
and you mentioned Dad's you know, I think I think
uh or it's to this day even though even though
again we have led everything, my son leaves a light on,
I still have to give him come on baked into
the DNA is like turn the light off. You're talking
this morning with Mike Twoech, owner of Edge Construction. The
(31:32):
website Edge Construction Company dot com. Great website, great resource.
Head on over there. We're going to talk about some
recent projects and just a moment again the website Edgeconstruction
Company dot com. Make sure you're checking out the links
as well, the Facebook, Pinterest, and especially house again that
all at Edgeconstruction Company dot com. But think about doing
some re modeling really is to get a hold of
Mic in the team. All I get to just pick
a phone, give them a call six O eight six
three six three three four three. That number easy to remember,
(31:55):
spells out edge six three six edge E the g
e more if the Homer Modeling Show is next year
A thirteen ten do wu ib a. This is the
home Remodeling show brought to you by Edge Construction Online
edge Construction Company dot com. It's all one word Edge
Construction Company dot com. Great website and resource learn more
about Edge construction. We're going to talk about a recent
remodeling project. It's the log cabin main level remodel. Check
(32:19):
that out again head on over edge Construction Company dot com.
They're TWELP number six so eight six three six three
three four three that number six three six edge. Before
we wrap up though and get to the get to
that that really cool kitchen because I think it kind
of ties in a lot of what we talked about today.
Just we think about kitchen remodeling, what typically is kind
of that impetus big words today, what's kind of the
(32:39):
thing that for most people that kind of get them
to say, you know what now is the time to
remodel a kitchen? Is it the upcoming holidays with visitors?
Is it? We just can't take it anymore?
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (32:49):
What is it? I mean? It's everything from tires on
trucks right like they go bald, you got to replace them.
Kitchens just will last. Those big ticket items, the kitchen,
the bathrooms. They sometimes get left left undermodeled for a
little too long. Sometimes sometimes it's the it's just I'm
(33:10):
sick of looking at it, or it doesn't serve my
my family. We have, we worked for people now that
there there there's a subset of people in this world
that are fantastic cooks. I married, well married one of them,
and they are pretty specific on what they like and
what they want. And then you have the last group
(33:31):
which drives a lot of remodeling, and it's the entertainers.
But you know they're they're kitchens. So much happens in
that kitchens. It's a natural place to congregate. When it's
not working well. For that, I think it's a problem.
I'm also shocked at sometimes how maybe maybe the flooring
has gone bad, and then that that spurs you to
(33:53):
look at other things too, So it could be a
myriad of reasons.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
That you mentioned to that that like, you know, the
congregations when when and I know the answer to this,
but I'm going to play dumb uh when you're meeting
with the designer. Is that part of the process, as
I like, are we looking into where are people going
to be sitting and seeing or standing and kind of
the flow of that, not just the workflow, but called
(34:18):
the entertainment flow of that space.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Yeah, you bet. You know it's in certain houses, right
you know, if you've got a smaller house and there's
only room for gally kitchen and there's not there's some
things we can do, you know, and the designers will
talk you through this and we'll we'll figure out ways
to open it up and make areas for people to congregate.
(34:43):
And that when we're designing, that's that's a lot a
lot in our thought process. You know, we're drawing things out,
whether it's a lower level, great rooms, any common area,
even back outside the house back yard. We're looking for
areas that people can congregate. And the kitchen has just
gotten uh many times home owners ago. We want an
(35:03):
island and we need you know, we got three kids
and we need room for five life like, that's the
biggest thing. If we can get that, we're gonna be happy.
And you know, a lot more goes into it than that,
but that might be that start of the process.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Talking this morning with my two egg owner of Edge Construction,
you think about doing some remodeling, give but call six
O eight six three six three three four three that
number six three six edge. The website Edge Construction Company
dot com. That's all one word Edge Construction Company dot com.
Is we're talking about kitchens, uh one that I've been
looking at for a couple of weeks. So I've got
a million things that I was going to ask you about.
(35:35):
It's such a cool, cool project as a log cabin
kind of that main level remodel, a kitchen, bathroom, some
other spaces that was remodeled in there. And one of
the things, and I think you and I have talked
about this before, but I didn't notice it until recently,
which is over the stove is is oh yeah, there
is that a shelf? Is that a what is There's
(35:57):
like a really cool little decorative yah piece? Okay, what
is that now? And what led to that?
Speaker 2 (36:05):
That actually is an option from so these cabinets came
from our new friends up north Great Northern. They're probably
our newest supplier. We've been with them a couple of years,
but now we're they've taken over a fair amount of
our of our cabinets and uh, this is something that
they offered as like a place to put spices and
(36:28):
things while you're cooking. So it's just a there's a
wood cabinet that has a fan in it over the
stove and then a couple of couple of doors up there,
and then it's got a little shelf that was built
out and that was just something that that that that
all came that was built from the from our manufacturer.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
So very cool.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Uh cabinet company up in Northern Wisconsin, Rever rib Blake is.
I think it's on the moon or something and were
there once, right, it was, I was, I had to
take a plane now I did. It was. It's not
that bad, but it was a box. But they do
a beautiful job making cabinets. And one thing I really
(37:07):
like about them is so many of the companies that
make cabinets now are you know, it's literally somebody at
a computer and putting things in and the assembly line
takes off and CAD makes you know, the CAD driwings
import into the CNC machines. And this is a lot
of hands on and what we're seeing are when when
(37:27):
eight people touch this cabinet on the way out, they're
going to notice if something's wrong with it. They're going
to notice if they're missing something. And so I think
there's there's a little more craftsmanship involved.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
And this There was a kitchen bathroom also done as
part of this was was the lower level also is
there is We did.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
A whole bunch of stuff in this house. And this
is one of those that when you see the befoors
and afters, it's like, doesn't it's hard to even tell
if you're in the same place. Yeah, we did flooring
on all levels. We did there's kind of on the
side of this kit you know, log houses actually are cool,
but they're a little weird. They're almost always weired. And
(38:06):
so there's a bedroom behind this kitchen and a laundry
room behind this kitchen, and I don't think the pictures
can do justice to what we did in those two rooms.
There was also a bathroom, like you mentioned, so kind
of a small bathroom but really turned out great the laundry.
I'm sure the pictures are on here somewhere. That was
really unique. It kind of stretched the length of the
(38:28):
kitchen right behind that stove, So I don't know if
there's a way to find that, but anyway, it's in there.
I know we did it. But yeah, there's a lot
of work that we did in that kitchen.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
And it's great about it too, is you know, with
some of the you know, modern appliances enable to kind
of stat like it's a really efficient use of space
and it's a really nice space as well. Definitely check
that out, check that project out. Going to set on
over to Edge Construction Company dot com. That's all one word,
Edge Construction Company dot com. It's the log cabin main
level remodel. But thinking about doing whether it's your log cabin,
(39:01):
maybe you're thinking of getting a little bit more of
a ronstick look, maybe you're looking to go a little
more modern. Maybe you're just saying, you know what, this
space just isn't working for us anymore. It's a great
day to call Mike and the team at Edge Construction.
They're teleph number six so eight six three six three
three four three That number six three six Edge and
of course the Homer Modeling Show brings you the edge
Construction brings you the Homer Modeling Show. Also, Homer Modeling
Show can bring you edge construction as well. Here I'm
(39:22):
thirteen ten w u Iba
This is the home Modeling show brought to you by
Edge Construction. The website Edge Construction Company dot com. All
one word Edge Construction Company dot com. Great website and resource.
Learn more about edge Construction. Also some links there, How's Pinterest, Facebook?
Really good resources. Been thinking about doing summer modeling. All
I gotta do that is pick up phone, get a
call at Edge Construction six so eight six three six
(00:20):
three three four three that's six three six edge. What
I mentioned the website Edge Construction Company dot com. It's
always fun as the as the young folks say, to
peruse such as the such a site. It's really cool
to see the work that they do at edge Construction.
Also that link to hows from Edge Construction Company dot
com is a fantastic resource. And joining us this morning
is the owner of Edge Construction, the one and only
mister Mike Twag. Mike, how you doing this week? Good
(00:42):
to see you.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I feel like we have another word that would go
I think.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Now, have your grand kids used the term skibbty to
you yet?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
No? Or is that one I need to brush up?
Speaker 1 (00:53):
It's apparently what I hear Madson, my son will say
skibbety sigma oh hi io riz, which is short for charisma.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
It Scott Risk, all right, I get. I'm not sure
about the other one.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
So it's I don't know what it is, Mike, this
is this and that's the fun part.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
He's given me the word, but he's not clue into.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
My wife Christina will say matt'son last or something and
she'll just say skimmy, ohio and like woggle.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
It's like stamp done.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Did she agree or disagree?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
But whatever was? Yeah, so I probably should write these
down here, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Because yeah, you'll hear them. You will definitely hear them.
It's good to see you. And as we get through
kind of getting working our way through summer and folks
kind of looking ahead, I know, towards the holidays, and
I know when it comes to holidays, entertaining comes into play,
company guests hanging out in the kitchen. We're going to
talk about some big picture remodeling trends when it comes
(01:53):
to kitchen remodels, and I just kind of I saw
some notes about the colors for cabinet tree for example,
in a kitchen a lot of white. But you had
mentioned stain cabinets are are becoming very popular.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, it's so there's a I myself have a white kitchen.
I mean, we got I don't know, caught up in it.
It's so easy to do a white kitchen, and I
don't think that that element's ever going to go away
because it just kind of goes with everything white and black.
You sort of can't go wrong, right If you're going
to mix other colors, it gets a little tougher. And
(02:31):
so the white panted cabinets, I mean, you go back
one hundred years, there are a lot of white kitchens.
Fast forward to a few years ago. We started doing
a lot more custom colors, and if you look through
our website, go to the kitchen portion of the portfolio page,
you're going to see you're going to see probably about
a third white, a bunch of custom colors, and the
(02:54):
stain cabinets creeping back in. So some people just call
those wood cabinets, but they're an actually, I mean, but
our painted cabinets are a really good quality cabinet. There
it's a maple cabinet underneath the paint. So you don't
want to use a lesser wood under there just because
nobody can see it, because maple is a good hardwood.
It's really stable. Paints well, it's super smooth. A lot
(03:17):
of advantages to them.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
I've got to ask you about that then, because I
think one of the things that was oftentimes able to
be avoided with painted cabinets, the fact of what the
materials they are made of. One of the things that
I know with you and working with you over the
years and talking with you at edge construction, is you
think of cabinet's how much abuse they take, especially kitchen cabinets,
(03:43):
just because you know it looks great, because the paint
on it looks great. You really want to make sure
that what's being painted over is a solmentary you mentioned
would and that all the hardware and everything associated is
really high end stuff, don't you You.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Do and painting, doing a really good job of painting
something like a cabinet is kind of a complicated process.
It's a two or three stage deal budget wise. Actually,
painted cabinets are more expensive, quite a bit more expensive,
could be as much as twenty or thirty percent or
more if you get into custom colors. And I think
(04:20):
that people are usually surprised by that. They're thinking, like
you know, that richness of wood is something you've got
to pay for. Well, actually, that's that's underneath there. It's
covered up, and it's it's easier to do a stained cabinets,
so our manufacturers price those a little better. I don't
I want to say they're like on a budget, but
I think you know, design always comes first. If somebody
(04:41):
really wants something, we are not in the business of
talking you out of that. We want to find ways
for that to fit into the design. And so I
understand the move towards the custom colors. You know, if
you're on our side, it all becomes like, Okay, we've
done ten white painted cabinets in a row kitchens and
(05:02):
I don't want to say we get sick of it,
but it'd be nice to be doing something different. Then
all of a sudden, those custom colors rolled in. Maybe
three years ago, we did an oak kitchen. I don't
remember which one it is, but I remember how much
I liked it just when we were installing because it
was dark. You know, the the oak cabinets have a
(05:24):
lot of flavor. They've got you know, a lot of
grain showing through. Oh boy, I forgot how nice this is.
We've got one up on there from a not too
long ago. I think it was a hickory, kind of
a rustic hickory or older. It was actually in a
log home, so that's the reason it was probably picked out.
But it was really pretty much so a lot of
(05:46):
times those stained cabinets can can be really attractive.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
That log cabin one.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
By the way, I'm talking about in a minute.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
But one thing I'm going to ask you about when
we talk about woo are stained cabinets? Are we talking
about do they make veneers for that like type? Are
their products like that out? Not that you want to
go with that, but isn't I asked, because I know
a number of years ago, probably ten years ago, I
don't even know if we talked about it on the
show or off the air. A friend of mine h
south of here. I had visited him and he had
(06:13):
recently had his kitchen done.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
And did they reface or he had like a full full.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Kitchen redone, but like the one cabinet like it was
like almost like a like a wall, like a sticky
plastic to make it look like would And I remember
at the time asking you about that, and you kind
of are like, oh, that's not a good thing. I'm
going to tell you a little. Uh, this is a
follow up to that story. Uh, it's did not hold
it just like just like you like you had projected.
(06:41):
Is that that's not really what you want done.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah, we've you know, the durability thing is something we
need to talk about because okay, well, well not to
pick on the refacers. I think there is a place
for that, and there's there's been one or two times
a year we'll recommend something like that. But you know,
in order to put a you're still putting a fair
amount of money into those cabinets if you're going to reface,
(07:06):
and so you're basically that the idea is you've got
this kitchen that maybe don't like the style or the color.
Things are outdated, but they're extremely good shape. Like you know,
all your your hinges are in good shape, the cabinet
door is in good shape. Everything is in good shape,
the boxes are in good shape. We're just going to
go over the top of that with something. And usually
you you had mentioned families can be tough on kitchens.
(07:28):
Usually by the time you're ready to do something, you
know you're the drawer glides are falling apart, there's there's
there's just the wear and tear is really showing. I
do want to I want to talk about durability from
a standpoint of painted versus stained. Yes, now, having the
painted cabinets, you cannot be like O. C. D about nothing,
(07:53):
no imperfections, right. The problem is when you when you
when we order these cabinets and they come out of
the factory, it's got this really smooth, sprayed on finish
that was you know, baked on in the in the facility.
It's like a finish that's really hard to replicate out
in the field. So we got pretty good at doing repairs.
(08:13):
But you know, kitchens take some abuse and so things
are gonna get dinged up. Things are gonna it's it's
gonna happen, and you're it's gonna happen your custom colors,
it's going to happen to your painting cabinets with the
with the stain cabinets. I do think there's an advantage
there to durability. It's just not as noticeable if you
(08:34):
put a little scratch, maybe you can stain mark it,
you know, and ninety percent height it even even areas
around like a sink where it's constantly getting wet and
maybe the finish gets a little bit older, it's fairly
easy to just do a light sand and spray a
new Polly on top of there. So the the durability
is a thing you should think about if if you
(08:55):
if you were going to be bothered by the tiniest
little inferfection, maybe that's not the way to go. So
we as we talked that about it, would you be
bothered by other times?
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Not As somebody that's more than familiar with tiny imperfections,
I just let it that. As we talked then about
about kind of finding that that right finish for the
for the right lifestyle. Is that part of that conversation
with me, you know, when you're sitting down with the
designers and as a homeowner kind of talking about the
type of person you are, not only the look you
(09:24):
want to achieve, but but asking something is do do
these type of things bother you? Because maybe going with
a solid white cabinet might not be the best best
design options or at least to know what you're.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Getting into, right, So yeah, I think a good designer
is going to take you through that process. And uh,
people now fall in love with the pictures they find online.
So if you know, we've had people look at that
not the elder cash and go oh, you know, I
want that, and in the end not end up with
it because maybe you follow through this whole design process
(10:01):
and you think, well I really like that kitchen, but
not in I don't have the right house for this,
you know, like you do need you do need a
certain style to go with that.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
The the advantage to the you know you talk about
the white, I'd say white versus the custom colors, there's
an advantage there endurability, just because it's it's it's you know,
white is white. It's easier to repair versus a custom color.
That when you when you paint over the top or
try to repair on something like a custom color, we
call it it flashes. As we call it flashing. It
(10:35):
means you can if you're standing in the right light,
maybe you get off on the side, you can see
that little spot that and so we're trying to avoid
that stuff. I do think people are much more careful
with with these. And you know, it's like a new
car anyways, you're going to be You're not going to
set a rock on the top of a new car,
right You're gonna you're gonna take care of it.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
So it's it's interesting you mentioned you called flashing.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
What's the flashing?
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, lash, I remember years ago I had a anybody
that's ever had a car that's been an a fender
bender and they do the repairs. You learn a lot
about like like paint and because I had no idea
and yeah, like my thing was always like, well, all
the you know, you drive a maroon, Chevy whatever, specific,
they're all gonna be the exact same color. And you
can they could just pop that piece off, paint it,
(11:23):
slap it back on. It's gonna look great. But there's
so many different variations in color and time, and you
know the environment that it's been in. Blending that stuff
in is a is a real is a real It.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Is a real trick. And so I'll give you a
couple of painting trims. We just had one. Uh, the
next one is sheen she So that is a that
is really it comes into play. So my the painters
that work for us are our guys. They're they you know,
anybody can go into the store and buy the same paint. Sure,
(11:55):
but getting that, getting that that finish that and a
lot of times it's spraying it and then dulling it
down to get the schine to match. I'll give you
another paint term now, Skipper. So what do you think
Skipper means? I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Even the other two I could have maybe guessed at Skipper.
I've known.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
So if you and I are painting in a room
and you missed a spot, I'm gonna say, hey, Skipper,
I get over there, fix that spot.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Like when you're painting with a roller, you go up.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
You can do this with your wife. Skipper.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
By the way, and I know we talk a lot
about obviously electricians and carpenters and and their different roles.
Painters we have. I don't think we've ever talked about
how does that work with with edge construction, like do
you work with specific crews? And where we have been
guys and the guys.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Our house painters, and uh it was, you know, probably
one of the one of the best decisions we we
we made. We have we have two very good painters
that work for us. And I've been painting my whole life.
I like painting. I'm in this business where I get
to work at it and perfect it, and it's embarrassing
(13:09):
how much better they are than me really good. And
if you've ever had your house get a really professional
paint job, I mean, I think it makes us much
difference on the look of your house as almost anything else.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
This guy from this old house that does as you
were mentioning a paint you ever watch what's his Uh,
I'm not even gonna to morrow. Yeah, I know his face.
That's why I had to show you that. For folks
that don't know, I just showed Mike a photo of
because we're both big fans of this old house. I
watch him as we talk about paint and specifically, you know,
areas like a kitchen where you really want a really
(13:44):
good job people that know how to paint and have that.
It's it is a real that's a real skill.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
It's amazingly it's it's a skill set that you build
your whole career, just like carpenter or anything else. And
you know, when we start talking about products, I'm with
our people and I'm sure other professional painters, it gets
really specific. You know. We like the the I've talked
about Sherman Williams before. We use about eighty percent Sharan Williams.
(14:14):
And there's a reason, I mean, there's there's six or
eight different levels of paint in each category, and we
have tried all of those, and we there's reasons our
people will pick one or the other and and they'll
notice when there's a formula change and start complaining and whining.
But yeah, that that is a that to me, a
(14:36):
professional paint job is really worth the deal.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
And anybody that's ever tried to paint on their own nose,
it's it's.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Well, there are some pretty kind of painters, but like
I said, it's it's so different when you have I
think it's different when you have somebody really.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Good as I we've my wife has tried though oldest
painted out her. It's yeah, I wish I had a
camera in the studio to show everyone. Your face out
doesn't often go well. Talking this morning with Mike two
Egg of Edge Construction, talking about some big picture kitchen
remodeling trends. I talked about cabinets, a little bit about painting.
We'll talk about some of the more more of the
(15:11):
aspects when it comes to kitchen remodeling, some of those
some of those big picture things to think about when
it comes to your project. By the way, I've been
been to the website. Yet head on over there now
Edge Construction Company dot Com. Great opportunity take a look
at some of the recent projects they've been working on.
Edge Construction again that website, Edge Construction Company dot Com.
Twelve number six so eight six three six three three
four three that number six three six Edge. More of
(15:34):
the Homer Modeling Show with Edge Construction is next year.
I'm thirteen ten do wuiba. This is the Homermodeling Show
brought to you by Edge Construction online. Edge Construction Company
dot com. That's all one word, Edge Construction Company dot Com.
There teleph number six so eight six three six three
three four to three that number six three six Edge.
Talking this week with Mike two Egg of Edge Construction
(15:54):
about kitchen remodeling, and before the breakout, we were talking
a little bit about cabinets, and cabinets are one of those, uh,
one of those things that you really want done right
for a number of reasons. You want them to last
because you don't want to buy new cabinets ever. But
the other thing that's kind of a bummer is if
they're not high quality or well built, they don't last
(16:15):
as long, which means they oftentimes end up in the
junk pile, and that's not a not a great place
for them. The best thing is, you know, talk about
and I feel sometimes like it's it's kind of like
a co opted buzzword, that term sustainability. It is important
when it comes to longevity and the availability to you know,
(16:39):
is it's a win win. Think about quality cabinets are
that are not only never not going to end up
in the landfill, but they're also going to last and
perform a long time. Sustainability is an important part of
some of this. It is.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
But I you know, okay, what makes a product green? Right? Yeah,
We've talked about this a million times, but like, to me,
the greenest product the world is a one hundred year
old maple floor and houses in downtown Madison. We're refinishing
those floors and I mean they have more than one
hundred years left in them. I mean, like, how do
(17:12):
you get greener than that? It was it was cut, once,
it was made, ones, it was installed, ones.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
It doesn't have a sticker on it, Like this doesn't
have a green sticker.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
No, you're right, or you know you mentioned cabinets. Well, okay,
there's part of the under that big umbrela of sustainability.
You say, well, we can use recycled materials. Well, particle
board is theoretically it can be a recycled material or
they'll use basically what would be waste material. And I'm
not saying that's bad. I'm just saying I don't love
(17:42):
it in cabinets. Okay, very few cabinets, by the way,
don't have product board in them in some real shape
or form. The MDF medium density fiberboard. I mean, we
have tried to stay away from that stuff in our cabinets,
but it's even crept into our manufactur is just in
little waves, not in big waves, in little waves, and
(18:03):
so it's you know, there's not much I can do
about it, but it's it's it's heavy, it misbehaves around moisture.
There are reasons to not use it. But anyways, I
that's that's uh here or there, and then you start
looking at so really one the first thing to talk
(18:26):
about with sustainability is like you mentioned longevity, because okay,
if you put in a if you design a kitchen,
well the chances are that more people are gonna like it,
and twenty or thirty years from now, somebody might the
chances are higher that the new owner at that point
is going to go, Okay, I really like this kitchen.
It was designed really well. Uh, that's not a reason
(18:47):
to get rid of it, right, because of a certain
percentage of the ones that we do are perfectly serviceable
kitchens that people just don't like. The next step is
the is how well those products are made that you're
going to use. So if you are using to a
lower end laminate floor, that's a ten or twelve year
floor usually okay, not very green. I don't care if
(19:10):
it has a big stamp on the box. I don't
think it's green. It's made with a lot of recycled material.
I don't care that that to me is something that
has to be replaced in ten or twelve years. Is
not green. Where else are we? Oh, stone cart tops? Okay,
now we're talking a product that's gonna last a long time, right,
(19:30):
And I'm down the list.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
With that, and idiot you think about that stuff and
kind of having that perspective. It's interesting too about the
importance of design is I think a lot of times
we think of the substance of what these things are
made of to kind of distill it down and the
reality is it can be the greatest stuff if it's
not designed well and and have that thought. It may
very well be a perfectly serviceable kitchen remodel. But in
(19:54):
thirty years, if that remodel wasn't well planned and thinking
about good design, somebody may come in and say these
are great everything, but it just doesn't it just doesn't function.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Yeah, and it makes sense, right if you have a
poorly designed kitchen and a really well design kitchen, the
materials are kind of the same. I mean, like you're
not You're not necessarily spending less money on the materials.
So it's it's good to put some thought into that
design and and and some effort and into that design.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
You know, we were talking at last segment about paint
and that we don't it's probably not gonna take a
ton of time. But one of the notes I saw
talked about some choices for kitchen renovations. Uh, VOC free
paints and finishes and conies. Do we get folks that
are requesting that, are those volatile organic chemicals free or
is that.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
A yes, it was it was. I think it's something
everybody's ware. But luckily the manufacturers have been aware of this.
Also so there there's not a lot of eocs and
in any of the products that we use. I mean,
you know there there's there's that that has really changed
(21:00):
over the years. And the paints and the and the
and the Polly's and the stains. Okay, you know we
use we don't use the oil based stuff anymore. We
don't use uh, they're just not not as harsh. So
they've found ways to make a good quality product and
use low VOC materials to make them. That has bled
into In fact, you might get more VOCs off something
(21:23):
like the plywood underneath your floor than you would now
off of a flooring choice because you know there are
glues and binders that puts that stuff together and in
theory that takes a certain amount of time to be
bleed off. But but those are now water based products also,
so like like I said, it's it's become less of
a problem. But there are people that are very sensitive
to that, and we'll want to see what level are
(21:47):
are that are you using and are there alternatives? And
then for us sometimes that's their their choice. If you
want to use what I would call an in for
your product, something that might not last, but as lower
VOCs because that you're sensitive that that that is a
choice you gotta make.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Am I wrong in that? So? When I was younger,
we had our carpet redone in our house, and I
remember had that real strong chemical and I still love
that smell. Mic I'm going to tell you we had
the carpet done at our house and it was not
that it was the low.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
New car smell.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Yeah, it's there is something and literally the new cars
smell there. So but it's it's good.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
I'm really assuming that you know. That's another yeah side
of manufacturing that you know. I don't know if it's regulated,
but the uh, the consumer has regulated these things, yeah,
to where that's more important and people just don't want
to deal with it.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
See, it's good to hear. As we talked this morning
with Mike two Egg, owner of Edge Construction, think about
sorry that conversation. All I gotta do is pick a phone,
gimme call six so eight six three six three three
four three that number six three six Edge and of
course the website Edge Construction Company dot com. That's all
one word, Edge Construction Company dot com. We did your
conversation with Mike two egg. Next as the Homer Modeling
Show with Edge Construction can use right here on thirteen
(23:01):
ten WIVA. This is the Homer Modeling Show brought you
by Edge Construction. The website edge Construction Company dot com.
That's all one word, Edgeconstruction Company dot com and on
over there. Because we are likely, at say more than likely,
we are definitely going to talk about some recent projects
at edge Construction. Again the website Edge Construction Company dot com.
You can play along at home. Also while you're there,
check out the links Pinterest, Facebook, and especially the howslink
(23:25):
from Edge Construction Company dot com. Really really cool portfolio there.
You can see a lot of projects at house from
Edgeconstruction Company dot com. Also some recent stuff up at
Edge Construction Company dot com. They're toping number six, So
eight six three six three three four to three that
number six three six Edge talking about kitchen remodels, some
of the big picture stuff I was telling you during
the break And this is not a joke, Mike. One
(23:46):
of my favorite topics, whether it's kitchen, but especially kitchens,
but any room is a lighting and lighting is and
I don't know why I find it's so cool, but
it's it's fascinated me From the first time you ever
brought up how important lighting was to a remodel. But
it is a very important aspect of any remodeling job,
isn't it.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Well, it's really weird. You know. We we do a
lot for the builders in Dane County. That's another side
of our company. We do interior trim and and we
frame a bunch of houses for them. And I'm always
shocked at I think they're not putting off lighting even
new houses. Uh. And when we go back in sometimes
to houses that are even five years old or relatively
(24:28):
brand new, as far as I'm concerned, a lot of
times we're adding lighting and I'm like, geez, you know,
what are you doing here? Let's uh, we have the
technology to do this. There's this new thing called l ED.
I don't know if you've heard that.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
I've heard something about these leads leads wise.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Yeah, yeah, I mean you you have known more about
LED lighting, especially in our early in our relationship. Is
that we were talking about you had him, you had
him in your house already? Yeah, yeah, I was.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
I was an early adopter. I for all the reasons
that we see is just the you know, they're amazingly efficient.
They voltage, all the stuff that I that I love
about them, think too, what you mentioned about, you know,
some of these newer homes and not providing maybe enough
lighting options or enough light. The great thing about light
is you can always scale it back very easily by
(25:17):
just turning a knob or sliding down a fader. That's
one of the very few places where you make a
decision about design where if you want to alter it
very easily as time goes forward, you can easily change
those those lights quite quite simply.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Yeah, and so just to give the two minute version,
we from our side, we think of lighting and layers, right,
so we we talk about led. We have to figure
out a different name to call these can lights. But
they look they look like a recess light, but they're
they're not. It's an l light. And the big advantage
(25:53):
to me is the whole bottom of that fixture is
the bulb. It's the fixture, and so you got a
really wide cone. It spreads out nice, so you end
up not having these kind of dead spots of light.
So our starting point is we think in terms now
of we want to daylight these spaces, especially the common areas, kitchens, bathrooms,
(26:16):
great rooms, things like that. We want to be able
to light the heck out of it. When we first
really made the transition of these type of light fixtures
for background lighting maybe six seven years ago, the dimming
was following along behind, but it wasn't great and so
we had a lot of complaints the lights are flickering
(26:36):
and things like that, and it was really not the fixture.
It was the dimmer that has been solved now for
four or five years now. We put them everywhere. We
put dimmers, like you said, to be able to control it.
Nobody wants day light all the time. It's not like
you're gonna be rebuilding a motor in your living room.
You need all this ladder or operating on your kids
(26:57):
or something. So yeah, just being a control it is
really big.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
I think I got can lights. And then since their
flight called pan lights maybe like a like I was,
I jotted it down even like.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Call the pan lights. Is anybody going to know what
we're talking about?
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Probably not? Well now after today they made very well.
Be that. The other thing too, with with with light
and LEDs is I think, and you know this stuff
better than I do. Different light temperatures, and I think
for folks who may be hearing LED. Yeah, looms and
those things too oftentimes think of oh I've seen those before,
(27:35):
they're very blue, where they're very not the case anymore
at all.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
I mean, if you really like that blue, you're insane
if you do. I remember why my wife bringing home
bulbs and going, I'm sick of buying bulbs, and I
you know, we had the curly cue ones. What were those?
The cfl Yeah, those were kind of annoying. And then
and then anyways, she brought home in the first LEDs
and they were that blue color and I felt like
(27:59):
somebody was hitting me in the with a hammer. Basically
when we put them in, it wasn't gonna work. But anyways,
now you can you can pick your flavor, right, you
can pick daylight, you can pick yeah, you can pick
your intensity and the color. Some of those pan lights
pan lights have actually they all have a little transformer.
(28:21):
Because LED operates off of a transformer. It converts the
power coming to the light into a into a usable
thing for that fixture, dulls it down. But anyways, you
can actually have a switch on those on those little
transformers and change the intensity of your light. So you
can change the color you light. Now, it's not it's
(28:42):
it's not like flicking a switch. You've got to pull
your fixture down, reach up and adjust your transformer. But
I thought that was pretty cool too. It's an upgraded fixture.
We actually have people that are tech savvy that requests this.
By the way, it's not as rare as you think
might think it might be. Most people pick like a daylight,
like a whatever, three thousand loom, and that's that's kind
(29:03):
of where where it's at, and then being able to
control it. The advantage in how much power it uses
gets gets overlooked. I think sometimes you know, people think, well,
I want to never have I don't want to have
to change bulbs for twenty thousand hours. And that may
be true. We haven't got there yet. I hope it's true.
(29:24):
No reason to believe it's not true. But when we're
doing a kitchen remodel before LED, I would say, well,
we're gonna have to get two or three new circuits
up to that kitchen, which means we've got to get
home runs from the panel all the way to the
kitchen and can be a real pain. With LED, they
I don't want to say they use no electricity. But
(29:45):
it's almost like that, so we can put a lot
more on a circuit we can and with no danger.
It just doesn't use that much powers. They don't create
the heat like some of the other things did, and
so there's just not many drawbacks.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Some of that too plain to design. Is that you
think of back in the day, you know, whether it
was complex FLUORESCENTCE or incandescent before that, is that that
power draw that you didn't really want a light that
was available to be And it sounds almost wastefully to
say it. One that was on twenty four to seven
with LEDs. There are and maybe I'm wrong on this
(30:20):
for as part of design, and obviously get up the
middle of the night. Who I've heard of folks want
to get up to get a little midnight snack or something.
Having a light that's just that's on to kind of
maybe light the light the floor so you can kind
of see where things are, light under the counter. That's
not as crazy as it used to be. As a
matter of fact, we talk about the cost to.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah, if your dad would have.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
I'd be standing right now because I still wouldn't be
able to sit my.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Who left the kitchen lights? Yeah, Yeah, that's a great point.
We have a lot of customers, a lot of homeowners
that we worked for that say, you know, we we
have found that the under cabinet lighting that's LED two.
We put dimmers on that also, and you just can
have a low level of light like it's a you know,
it's nice. It's kind of a safety issue. When you
get used to it, you really appreciate it. That's what
(31:08):
we do at our house. I really like that too.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
It's a and it's a it's a cool little thing. Again,
and you mentioned Dad's you know, I think I think
uh or it's to this day even though even though
again we have led everything, my son leaves a light on,
I still have to give him come on baked into
the DNA is like turn the light off. You're talking
this morning with Mike Twoech, owner of Edge Construction. The
(31:32):
website Edge Construction Company dot com. Great website, great resource.
Head on over there. We're going to talk about some
recent projects and just a moment again the website Edgeconstruction
Company dot com. Make sure you're checking out the links
as well, the Facebook, Pinterest, and especially house again that
all at Edgeconstruction Company dot com. But think about doing
some re modeling really is to get a hold of
Mic in the team. All I get to just pick
a phone, give them a call six O eight six
three six three three four three. That number easy to remember,
(31:55):
spells out edge six three six edge E the g
e more if the Homer Modeling Show is next year
A thirteen ten do wu ib a. This is the
home Remodeling show brought to you by Edge Construction Online
edge Construction Company dot com. It's all one word Edge
Construction Company dot com. Great website and resource learn more
about Edge construction. We're going to talk about a recent
remodeling project. It's the log cabin main level remodel. Check
(32:19):
that out again head on over edge Construction Company dot com.
They're TWELP number six so eight six three six three
three four three that number six three six edge. Before
we wrap up though and get to the get to
that that really cool kitchen because I think it kind
of ties in a lot of what we talked about today.
Just we think about kitchen remodeling, what typically is kind
of that impetus big words today, what's kind of the
(32:39):
thing that for most people that kind of get them
to say, you know what now is the time to
remodel a kitchen? Is it the upcoming holidays with visitors?
Is it? We just can't take it anymore?
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (32:49):
What is it? I mean? It's everything from tires on
trucks right like they go bald, you got to replace them.
Kitchens just will last. Those big ticket items, the kitchen,
the bathrooms. They sometimes get left left undermodeled for a
little too long. Sometimes sometimes it's the it's just I'm
(33:10):
sick of looking at it, or it doesn't serve my
my family. We have, we worked for people now that
there there there's a subset of people in this world
that are fantastic cooks. I married, well married one of them,
and they are pretty specific on what they like and
what they want. And then you have the last group
(33:31):
which drives a lot of remodeling, and it's the entertainers.
But you know they're they're kitchens. So much happens in
that kitchens. It's a natural place to congregate. When it's
not working well. For that, I think it's a problem.
I'm also shocked at sometimes how maybe maybe the flooring
has gone bad, and then that that spurs you to
(33:53):
look at other things too, So it could be a
myriad of reasons.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
That you mentioned to that that like, you know, the
congregations when when and I know the answer to this,
but I'm going to play dumb uh when you're meeting
with the designer. Is that part of the process, as
I like, are we looking into where are people going
to be sitting and seeing or standing and kind of
the flow of that, not just the workflow, but called
(34:18):
the entertainment flow of that space.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Yeah, you bet. You know it's in certain houses, right
you know, if you've got a smaller house and there's
only room for gally kitchen and there's not there's some
things we can do, you know, and the designers will
talk you through this and we'll we'll figure out ways
to open it up and make areas for people to congregate.
(34:43):
And that when we're designing, that's that's a lot a
lot in our thought process. You know, we're drawing things out,
whether it's a lower level, great rooms, any common area,
even back outside the house back yard. We're looking for
areas that people can congregate. And the kitchen has just
gotten uh many times home owners ago. We want an
(35:03):
island and we need you know, we got three kids
and we need room for five life like, that's the
biggest thing. If we can get that, we're gonna be happy.
And you know, a lot more goes into it than that,
but that might be that start of the process.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Talking this morning with my two egg owner of Edge Construction,
you think about doing some remodeling, give but call six
O eight six three six three three four three that
number six three six edge. The website Edge Construction Company
dot com. That's all one word Edge Construction Company dot com.
Is we're talking about kitchens, uh one that I've been
looking at for a couple of weeks. So I've got
a million things that I was going to ask you about.
(35:35):
It's such a cool, cool project as a log cabin
kind of that main level remodel, a kitchen, bathroom, some
other spaces that was remodeled in there. And one of
the things, and I think you and I have talked
about this before, but I didn't notice it until recently,
which is over the stove is is oh yeah, there
is that a shelf? Is that a what is There's
(35:57):
like a really cool little decorative yah piece? Okay, what
is that now? And what led to that?
Speaker 2 (36:05):
That actually is an option from so these cabinets came
from our new friends up north Great Northern. They're probably
our newest supplier. We've been with them a couple of years,
but now we're they've taken over a fair amount of
our of our cabinets and uh, this is something that
they offered as like a place to put spices and
(36:28):
things while you're cooking. So it's just a there's a
wood cabinet that has a fan in it over the
stove and then a couple of couple of doors up there,
and then it's got a little shelf that was built
out and that was just something that that that that
all came that was built from the from our manufacturer.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
So very cool.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Uh cabinet company up in Northern Wisconsin, Rever rib Blake is.
I think it's on the moon or something and were
there once, right, it was, I was, I had to
take a plane now I did. It was. It's not
that bad, but it was a box. But they do
a beautiful job making cabinets. And one thing I really
(37:07):
like about them is so many of the companies that
make cabinets now are you know, it's literally somebody at
a computer and putting things in and the assembly line
takes off and CAD makes you know, the CAD driwings
import into the CNC machines. And this is a lot
of hands on and what we're seeing are when when
(37:27):
eight people touch this cabinet on the way out, they're
going to notice if something's wrong with it. They're going
to notice if they're missing something. And so I think
there's there's a little more craftsmanship involved.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
And this There was a kitchen bathroom also done as
part of this was was the lower level also is
there is We did.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
A whole bunch of stuff in this house. And this
is one of those that when you see the befoors
and afters, it's like, doesn't it's hard to even tell
if you're in the same place. Yeah, we did flooring
on all levels. We did there's kind of on the
side of this kit you know, log houses actually are cool,
but they're a little weird. They're almost always weired. And
(38:06):
so there's a bedroom behind this kitchen and a laundry
room behind this kitchen, and I don't think the pictures
can do justice to what we did in those two rooms.
There was also a bathroom, like you mentioned, so kind
of a small bathroom but really turned out great the laundry.
I'm sure the pictures are on here somewhere. That was
really unique. It kind of stretched the length of the
(38:28):
kitchen right behind that stove, So I don't know if
there's a way to find that, but anyway, it's in there.
I know we did it. But yeah, there's a lot
of work that we did in that kitchen.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
And it's great about it too, is you know, with
some of the you know, modern appliances enable to kind
of stat like it's a really efficient use of space
and it's a really nice space as well. Definitely check
that out, check that project out. Going to set on
over to Edge Construction Company dot com. That's all one word,
Edge Construction Company dot com. It's the log cabin main
level remodel. But thinking about doing whether it's your log cabin,
(39:01):
maybe you're thinking of getting a little bit more of
a ronstick look, maybe you're looking to go a little
more modern. Maybe you're just saying, you know what, this
space just isn't working for us anymore. It's a great
day to call Mike and the team at Edge Construction.
They're teleph number six so eight six three six three
three four three That number six three six Edge and
of course the Homer Modeling Show brings you the edge
Construction brings you the Homer Modeling Show. Also, Homer Modeling
Show can bring you edge construction as well. Here I'm
(39:22):
thirteen ten w u Iba
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