Dream Room Becomes a Sun-Drenched Reality

A chance encounter with a happy Talmadge Construction client was all the impetus this La Selva Beach homeowner needed to begin giving life to her remodeling ideas. With the Talmadge design-build solution, four months is all it took to spring from imagination to reality:

How to people find out about Talmadge Construction? One La Selva beach homeowner got her referral at the beauty shop! "I was getting my hair done, and I overheard the woman next to me talking all about her remodel - saying she thought she hit the jackpot with her contractor," she recalls. "She was so happy I had to ask her who did the work . . . and the rest is history!"

This homeowner had been dreaming of adding a TV room/sunroom addition to the back of her single-story beach home for five years, but didn't know exactly where to begin. Talmadge Construction's design-build turned out to be the solution she was after. "You know how you live in a place a long time you get ideas . . . lots of ideas. Well, in our twenty years in our home, we had never done a remodel. We met with Jeff and clicked right away. I know you're supposed to, but we didn't even talk to other contractors."

Designing solutions
The home sits on the short side of a large, L-shaped lot, and because of setback requirements, the maximum size of the new room could only be 260 square feet. The homeowner shared all her ideas with architect Danielle Grenier in a six-week design phase collaboration that guaranteed the addition would suit their lifestyle and needs. "We planned for everything," the client states. "I knew I wanted a fireplace, but the room is so small, at first it was hard to know where we could put our furniture. So we started playing with window placement, and worked out all the problems and questions in advance."

She loves the details Danielle worked into the room, like the contrasting border on the tile floor, the unobtrusive yet useful built-in shelving, and the flat-panel television over the fireplace. Heavy French doors open to the brick courtyard outside, and windows all around bathe the room in light from sunrise to sunset. The result is a cozy space that still feels spacious and inviting - a fantastic place either to watch a movie inside or to watch the many birds playing outside.

Especially important to this homeowner is how well the exterior of the new room meshes with the existing house. The new roof and exterior finishes are a perfect match to the original. "Look how the new siding blends in with the old - seamlessly," she happily points out.

Professionals All The Way
She was impressed with the speed at which the project took shape. "Construction only took about two months," she recalls. "They are just so good at what they do, it all fell into place. They only took two days off the schedule because of rain and still finished on time."

Most importantly, though, was the high level of professionalism from everyone involved in the remodel. "Everyone here working - even the subcontractors - were wonderful, very professional. Really nice and considerate; we were living here during the project, and I noticed and really appreciated that they were never rude and never used any bad language. Plus, they cleaned up every night, so you could go walk around and look at the project. There was nothing left to deal with in the end - they took their dumpster away and left it clean."

This happy homeowner is looking forward to working with Talmadge Construction again in the future. "I just love it - we're enjoying the new room thoroughly. We're always in this room now; it's like living on your patio. We've had a summer and a winter in here now, and it's always comfortable to be in. It has great light - even when it's rainy. Now we're talking about doing the kitchen . . ."