#81 Countertop Confusion! Help!

For those of you that geek out on types of construction, engineering, and building materials this episode is for you! On this episode you're going to learn what an ICF home is, why it's becomming more popular and all the beneficial properties it provides. We welcomed Dave Phelps, owner of ICF Homes of Virginia to give us all the ins and outs of ICF building.  To contact Dave or see photos and videos of these homes visit https://icfhomesofva.com/ To reach one of us: Steve Rudin; [email protected] Steve Iltis; [email protected] Shannon Vestal; [email protected] And, as always [email protected] to let us know what you want to hear, products you want to know more about or have a building or design question you want answered. Rate us, subscribe, follow and all that!

Yes, that is true, however we do age and with that, mobility declines, vision becomes weaker, and soon it all goes to hell in a handbasket!  On this episode we are going to talk about aging in place! That means staying put where you are whether it's a condo, single family home, townhouse or barndomineum! The place you will be living independently as long as you can. If you plan to build a new home or remodel the one you are currently in there are so many great products and designs these days to make your space more comfortable and user friendly. Thanks for listening! Have you subscribed, followed and shared the show? Give us a rating and let us know what you think! Email us for your thoughts and ideas! [email protected].  

If you are building a new home or remodeling your existing one, most cities throughout the country require building permits. If you are one of the lucky ones building in rural areas or in a county that only requires a few permits then just smile and enjoy life while listening to this episode!! Those of you in the city, here's a person that can make your life so much easier!!! Joining us today is Ramie Elizondo, owner of Permit Pros. She is a permitting professional whose entire job is working to get you that permit in an expedited fashion. With her specialized running shoes, JK, she is online pushing the paperwork or when needed showing up at the permit office with a smile and handling the issues. Money well spent!! Thank you Ramie! Ramie Elizondo            832.715.1781            [email protected] Have some ideas for the show? We've received several suggestions from our listeners and have recorded episodes based on those suggestions! Those will be coming soon! I haven't seen any ratings or reviews lately! Please, share a little review for us and let everyone know what you enjoy about our show! We've loved hearing about it through emails so share it with all of our listeners!  [email protected]      

Ever had a tee time scheduled and mother nature has other plans? No worries!! Play that round of golf in your simulator room! The bonus? You can play Pebble Beach, Pacific Dunes, Whistling Straits and more right from the comfort of your home.  Golf simulators have seen tremendous advances in the past few years. To discuss all of that and more we took our show on the road and traveled to Craig Nomes' house, regional salesperson for Full Swing. We had a blast trying out the simulator and practicing our putting on the latest putting green! Interested in a simulator or do you have a client interested? Craig is more than happy to have you visit his home and give it a try. Craig Nome    713.256.4497      www.fullswinggolf.com  Be sure to rate us, subscribe and follow the show!  You can reach us at [email protected]  

When it comes to building a custom home, just remember, this is a prototype! It's never been built before! With that being said, the inevitible will happen and that's what we call a change order. This isn't always a bad thing and those two words more often get a bad wrap! Today the three of us discuss what change orders are, why they happen, ways to try to avoid some of them and why they have an associated cost to them.   Want to contact us? [email protected]  Steve Rudin aka The Builder, [email protected] Steve Iltis aka The Home Designer, [email protected] Shannon Vestal aka The Interior Designer, [email protected] We love hearing from you so keep the comments and show requests coming!! Be sure to follow, subscribe, rate and share the show!

No, this isn't a "self help" episode and you are on the correct podcast! Today it's all about controlling your lighting, tv's, speakers, and ceiling fans! Find out how to provide adequate hallway and step lighting during the night that is motion activated! What about figuring out what type of recessed lighting you need, not to mention what color temperature!! Let's not even get me started on WALL CLUTTER! You'll just have to tune in to find out what that means. Joining us to discuss all of this and more is Adam Henry with Capitol Technology Group. Adam and his team design, engineer, program, install and maintain smart home technology and commercial control systems. Their new showroom is not only beautiful but is an educational experience.  Contact Adam or someone on his team!  www.capitoltechnologygroup.com  Phone: 281.204.8300  Be sure to subscribe to our show! Share it or share an episode you think a friend might enjoy! Want to contact us? [email protected]  

No custom home build or major remodeling project is possible without plumbing fixtures, bathtubs, toilets, sinks, door hardware and cabinet hardware! The overwhelming feeling you get when your builder gives you this list of items and tells you to go make selections for each of them is almost unbearable. That is why you need a great supplier and even more importantly a friendly, knowledgable sales associate to guide you along the way. Enter Chadney Alvarez with Baths of America! Chadney has been my salesperson for the past several years and I couldn't do my job without her! Well, I probably could, but it would add so much time! On this episode Chadney shares with us her process to help clients make all these selections while also addressing the budget. If you are in the process of making some of these decisions you will want to visit Baths of America! Two locations to choose from! Chadney Alvarez     [email protected] Enjoying our show? Have an idea for an episode? Shoot us an email at [email protected] and let us know! We love hearing from our listeners. Share, subscribe, follow and rate us!  

Keeping up with design trends is one thing but then you have to figure out the materials that you're suppposed to be using! Countertops is one of the selections I get asked most about. What should I use? What's the difference between quartz, quartzite, marble, granite, porcelain and this new product called Dekton? What's the most durable? Least maintenance? Joining us to answer these questions is Camila Castaneda with Cosentino. The Cosentino Group is a global, family-owned Spanish company that produces and distributes innovative, sustainable and high-value surfaces for the world of architecture and design. A visit to their beautiful showroom is a must before making your final countertop decision. 1315 W. Sam Houston Pkwy. N., Suite 150 www.cosentino.com Have a question or idea for the show? [email protected] Subscribe, share, rate and follow!  

We've touched on this subject in a previous episode however, we are hearing that word on the streets is people are still wondering the best way to go about this.  Today we put Rudin on the hot seat to share with us the different approaches you can take in gathering a list of builders to talk to and then ultimately selecting one of those builders.  Have you subscribed to the show? Shared it with friends? Rated it? Please do all of those!  Steve Rudin [email protected] Steve Iltis [email protected] Shannon Vestal [email protected]  

It will be if Johnston Waterproofing is on the job! On this episode we are joined by Jeremy Johnston, owner of Johnston Waterproofing. He's going to share with us all the ways to keep water out of your house! This is not only your doors and windows, but includes balconies and much more. Find out what disasters can occur and some you might not even know about for years!! Thanks to all of our loyal listeners and those of you that are new to the show! We'd love to hear from you! Contact us? [email protected] Have you rated us? Subscribed? Shared? What about our Instagram page? Are you following us?