This event typically draws over 10,000 visitors from Greater Ann Arbor — including Chelsea, Dexter, Grass Lake, Manchester, Milan, Saline, Ypsilanti and beyond. The show is a unique opportunity to discover local remodeling and home & garden resources. Bring your questions and meet contractors and service owners personally to help advance your home and garden dreams. Builders, landscapers, garden suppliers and lifestyle enhancement providers await you.
Admission is $5 at the door for attendees who do not have a free ticket or admission pass. All we ask is that you stop by the Acheson Builders booth and introduce yourself. (You’ll find us in the main building, right side. We’ll be the ones with the custom cabinetry and wall panel of featured projects! )
Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds is at 5055 Ann Arbor-Saline Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48103 — Directions/Map (opens in new window) — Located between Ellsworth and Textile Rd. about 2.5 miles southwest of I-94.
This home, located at 617 Northside Avenue in Ann Arbor, will be available for an in-person tour during the showcase event.Provided by Siobhan Findlay
WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI — From bungalows to historic designs, Washtenaw County residents have no shortage in the variety of homes they can tour this weekend.
The BRAG Showcase of New & Remodeled Homes., from noon to 6 p.m. Oct. 15-17, allows participants to explore 10 homes in-person with one $10 ticket.
Homes available to tour include a Summit Street Folk Victorian home crafted by Riemco Design + Build. The house, an updated 140-year-old home, features hand-crafted cabinetry, built-in bookshelves and Brazilian Cherry flooring.
Other featured design companies include Alpha Design + Build, Pulte Homes and Forward Design Build Remodel.
Tickets are available at any of the homes open for in-person tours and are valid for all 10 homes throughout the three days of the event. COVID-19 mitigation policies differ for each home, but can include social distancing, temperature checks and capacity limits.
In addition to the 10 homes available for in-person visits, participants are also invited to join five virtual tours from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 16. The tours, which take place on Zoom, include designer presentations and the opportunity to ask questions. Participants are encouraged to pre-register.
Some remodelers are also offering private showings to discuss remodeling plans. The showings, which will are on Oct. 17, can be booked online.
The homes available for in-person tours are:
124 West Summit Street, Chelsea: remodel by Riemco Design + Build
411 Chandler Street, Chelsea: new home built by Riemco Design + Build
4800 Chestnut Springs Drive, Genoa Township: new home built by Chestnut Home Builders
1025 Spring Trail Court, Brighton: new home built by Pulte Homes
617 Northside Avenue, Ann Arbor: remodel by Forward Design Build Remodel
6445 Ford Road, Superior Township: remodel by Alpha Design + Build
49420 Mapleton, Canton: new home built by Pulte Homes
2952 Timber Glen Drive, Ann Arbor: new home built by Pulte Homes
3229 Roslyn Drive, Pittsfield Township: new home built by Pulte Homes
4244 Rolling Meadow Lane, Pittsfield Township: new home built by Arbor Farms Development LLC
The goal for this project was to fully update the home and add features for aesthetics and livability. Twenty years earlier we had added to this home on two floors, and remodeled some of the rooms. At that time, this couple was young and, with limited resources, needed to reduce the scope of work to meet their budget. Now more established, they wanted to do some of the things they had set aside and upgrade other parts of the house that had been on the “hoped for” list for a long time.
The homeowners had ideas and inspiration photos. They employed an architect, Susan Haifleigh, of Diamonte Design, to help plan the functionality of the Kitchen and other areas. Interior designer Leah Raitt, of Leah Raitt Design, was consulted on style, materials, colors, and more.
Jim Acheson of Acheson Builders Inc. was tasked with synthesizing the ideas into concrete buildable drawings with all the details and proportions, and then getting the work done. Acheson Builders repaired, replaced, reconfigured, redecorated parts of every room and the house as a whole — from lowering a large section of the basement floor, to adding decorative cresting on the peaks of the roof. Some rooms and parts of the home had a total makeover, including a completely gutted and remodeled kitchen.
Here some of the details that you may need to take advantage of any of the five tours by Acheson Builders of the Victorian home that it has remodeled — twice!
Team Acheson will Zoom you through this property in a live virtual tour, where you will be able to ask questions and participate — as part of the BRAG Ann Arbor Builders Association “Showcase of Homes 2020”. Check this space for details.
See what a difference a small addition can make for a modest ranch home that was just too cramped for a growing family – especially in the public spaces such as the front entrance, the kitchen, and the dining area. A four-foot-wide addition along one side of the home made a world of difference!
More Room, Please
Now there’s room for larger family gatherings in the dining room, multiple cooks in the expanded kitchen, and via a small bump-out at the front doorway along with the side addition, the foyer has room for receiving (or sending off) a whole family-full of excited children and grandchildren, instead of the one-at- a-time space by the front door as in the past.
What About That Porch?
After remodeling: slender columns, sidelights, stonework, rails, and four-foot home extension on right side.
We dressed up the front porch with columns, sidelights at the front door, and beautiful stonework for the stoop and front steps. We also made it safer for coming and going with gentler steps, and an added custom hand rail all around. The new sidelights by the front door add interest as well as more light in the foyer.
AFTER: Kitchen remodeled, open to dining area.
AFTER: Dining area leading to kitchen.
What About the Cost?
The entire project was done on a carefully controlled budget. We encouraged the client to carefully focus on keeping her selections for cabinets, counters, tile work etc. within budget, while still maintaining an upgraded style. She did that very successfully!
In Sum:
We maintained the original lines and architectural features such that the addition is indistinguishable from the original home. The changes look like there have been no changes — as if the house was always as it is now!
Fire engines and fire fighters on scene at this home in Dexter, Michigan prior to second outbreak.
Fire!
Fire is supposed to confine itself to the fireplace, but in this home in Dexter, only one year old, flames reached out of a defective fireplace to engulf the middle section of this home. The owners escaped unharmed, and the fire was extinguished, only to reignite less than 24 hours later (again without injuries).
Where it started: the burned out fireplace after fire spread to entire center portion of house.
Rebuilt fireplace and living room.
Acheson Builders came to the rescue (after the Fire Department of course) and planned out and conducted a campaign of removal, clean-up, and reconstruction of only the damaged portion, carefully following insurance company-provided inspectors’ professional Structural Engineering Report.
Beyond replacing damaged structural elements such as roof joists and rebuilding the whole middle section — with a new fireplace — the entire house required new interior finishes.
Work Completed
The new trusses are in, the walls put back together, paint and custom finish work throughout completed so now the owners can once again, shuck off their outdoor duds in the new four-cubby mudroom and gather around the indoor-outdoor fireplace to once again enjoy their beautiful home.
This event typically draws over 7,000 visitors from Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Dexter, Grass Lake, Manchester, Milan, Saline, Ypsilanti and beyond. It features many examples of local remodeling and home & garden resources.
As in years past, Acheson Builders is pleased to offer you gratis admission coupons — get into the show free! All we ask is that you stop by the Acheson Builders booth and introduce yourself. (You’ll find us in the main building, right side. We’ll be the ones with the custom cabinetry and wall panel of featured projects! ) Just CLICK HERE to open a printable image for tickets OR download this PDF for printing — and we’ll be seeing you at the event!
Custom Cabinets with Alder Veneer — photo: Detroit Free Press
Custom Kitchen Cabinets and Island by Acheson Builders — photo: Detroit Free Press
Jim offers a homeowner remodeling ideas.
Custom cabinetry on display at Acheson Builders’ Home Show booth.
Whether building a new home or considering remodeling your existing abode, Acheson Builders has a time-tested design & build process for you to take advantage of. Come to the Home Show to see case study examples from the many homeowners we have helped!
Fire broke out, was thought extinguished, then returned at this Dexter home.
Progress Restoring Fire-Damaged Home
Good news! The Dexter, Michigan home that suffered a fire earlier in 2017 is nearly rebuilt and restored.
The fire, which began one night in the living room where a new gas fireplace apparently malfunctioned, resulted in no injuries but wreaked significant damage to walls, ceilings, a large portion of the roof, and to floors throughout the two-story structure.
Fire engines and fire fighters on scene at this home in Dexter, Michigan prior to second outbreak.
The damage that even a small, contained fire can inflict on a house affects more than those portions that actually burn; smoke can permeate all materials and parts of a house, and fire fighters’ water and fire-extinguishing material can cause its own unique form of destruction. This home was no exception.
Crew securing trusses and finishing framing.
For this job, Acheson Builders proposed a plan for both restoring and remodeling the house (see earlier blog report on this project), and began work in July, 2017. Initial work focused on removing damaged materials remaining after a previously hired fire-disaster company had removed drywall in affected areas. Acheson Builders unscrewed thousands of projecting drywall fasteners which had been left behind by the prior drywall removal, stripped out all smoke or water-damaged insulation in walls and in the attic, and removed wiring and plumbing that was affected by the fire.
That left . . . the odor . . .
Smoke Smell — How to Lose the Burn
Special treatment was undertaken to ensure that all vestiges of smoke damage were eradicated. This required hiring a company that specializes in deep cleaning to be conducted in multi-step process. First was a patented Hot Thermal Fog™ treatment to open up the pores in the wood (see sidebar “Makeover for Smoke-Damaged House“), followed by thorough cleaning and deodorizing with an ozone and hydroxyl treatment. After this, a sealant was sprayed over everything: all remaining exposed wood, wires and pipes, etc., to prevent any residual smell from escaping. This included the entire attic, where a lot of smell had traveled beyond the burned area.
Yet another company was employed to clear out and certify all of the ductwork, to ensure NADCA standards.
Acheson Builders then re-installed insulation in all areas where it had been removed or where needed.
Roof and Framing
Then we brought in the crane. Crane? No, we did not employ a large, long-necked bird, but brought in a construction crane for removing and replacing seriously large structural trusses for the roof in the central part of the house.
Construction crane in use during framing and roofing phase of restoration.
(Quite a few remodeling jobs could benefit by a having a crane available but cannot accommodate one, due to site features such as hills and trees; this site was well suited to use of a crane.)
Construction crane in use during framing and roofing phase of restoration.
Now the roofing has been completed, damaged walls re-framed, and new sheet rock fastened on. All exterior work is complete: framing, roofing, siding, paint — all protected and done.
New Fireplace
Installation is complete . . . a different brand from the one that malfunctioned and burned the house, thank you very much!
Basement Remodel
Extra remodeling, not related to the fire, has been undertaken in the basement. The owners decided they may as well have the basement finished (a project that they originally had planned to do a few years down the road) while we are already at the home doing other restoration. New walls are now framed and drywall will be installed by the time you are reading this. Then comes the fun work of installing all the finishes.
Next Steps
Believe it or not, further smoke odor treatment is needed — to the floors and underlayment. Once done, floor finishes can be completed. After that, tile work will be undertaken. And then there is the exterior: follow-through work includes cleaning up garden beds and re-mulching them. Even these areas were damaged by the fire, firetrucks, and initial demolition processes (before Acheson Builders had been called in).
Check this space in the near future for more updates!
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Makeover for Smoke-Damaged House
Hot Thermal Fogging as defined by CleanFax Company
“Thermal fogging most closely approximates the very small size of smoke particles, driving the particles deep inside tiny cracks, crevices and pores of surfaces, just as the original smoke deposits were created.
When properly created and applied, thermal fogging delivers excellent odor control. . . . “
Acheson Builders recently completed a major kitchen remodeling project for us. They work very hard to avoid surprises (some surprises are inevitable when remodeling an older house) and to stay within budget. The quality of the design and the work itself are exceptional. We are very pleased with the results.
Jim and Marilyn Acheson are great people to work with and the men who worked on our project, Kevin and Ben, are terrific people whom we would welcome into our house any time.
This most recent project is the third time (over a period of about thirty years in three different houses) that we have worked with Jim on a kitchen remodeling project. We have never been less than satisfied.