Making Places

Bay Area Construction Costs

2007-03-20T15:05:00.000-07:00

Hanley Wood, the publishers of Remodeling Magazine have come out with their annual cost vs. value report for 2006.

No surprise, the cost of construction on the west coast is more expensive than the national average, and construction costs in the Bay Area are some of the highest in the country. Remodeling costs in the Bay area run 20% to 25% more for the same projects executed elsewhere in the country.

But, the return on your investment in construction costs is also higher in the Bay area. For typical remodeling projects, the nation average is that you can expect to recoup 60% to 80% of your investment in a higher resale value for your home if you sell within 24 months of completing the remodel. In the Bay Area, you can expect to recoup 80% to 128% of your investment! That's good value!

The single best investment you can make is simply to replace old windows with new double paned wood windows. An investment of $13000 in new wood windows will result in an increase of value of $17000. That is 128% return on your investment. Not only that but you'll save on your power bills, too.

Remodeling your Kitchen and bathrooms also remain very good investments in the Bay Area, with expected returns of 104% to 126% depending on the extent of the remodeling and the quality of the materials used.

These numbers suggest that making improvements to your home are still a good move financially, even in the current real estate market. And, even if you don't plan on moving withing the next 3 years, in my opinion, it's always a good investment in your quality of life.

More press coverage

2007-02-26T11:06:00.000-08:00

The remodeling project featured on HGTV was recently featured in the San Francisco Chronicle. It's an interesting article about adult children moving back into their childhood homes. Three of the photographs, of the Miller-Schaefer house, Living Room and Bedroom are used to illustrate the story.

Permits

2007-02-21T16:09:00.000-08:00

Exciting news: our project in Fremont has a permit! General happiness and dancing in the streets! (But watch for traffic.) We've been in "plan check" for what has felt like a very long time. But now, with our intrepid contractor already on board, we'll be starting construction in about two weeks.

The project is an addition to a 1960's era ranch house. We're enlarging the Master Bedroom and the Dining Room and adding a Study, Family Room and half bath. Construction should be wrapped up before Christmas, perhaps before Halloween. It depends on weather, availability of subcontractors and material lead times.

Recently Completed

2007-02-11T11:30:00.000-08:00

With pleasure, I'd like to present some pictures of a recently completed Kitchen Remodeling. Below is a general picture of the Kitchen. The floors are bamboo. The cabinets along the back wall and side walls are clear maple. The cabinets at the island are stainless steel.

Below is a picture of the Kitchen looking from the back door. The counter at the left and straight ahead is soapstone. The counter on the island is Zodiak.

The cabinet pulls and knobs are hand crafted from recycled glass and recycled aluminum by an artisan in Seattle. The Jade gas cook top, has been set lower than normal. The tops of the gas rings are flush with top of the counter. This is lower than a normal installation. The island counter is also 2 inches lower than a normal counter. Doing these two things resolved some ergonomic problems the owner, who is on the shorter side, had with the old Kitchen.

Website Update

2007-01-18T09:05:00.000-08:00

The website has been updated to include the project featured on Small Spaces Big Style. The new page includes a problem statement, description of the solution and some photographs I took.

Yes, we are quite proud of this project. It was on TV, which was a kick, but most importantly, the owners love it. It accomplished all the things we had set out to accomplish and it looks and feels terrific.

We recently completed a kitchen remodeling project in Union City that we are also quite pleased with. We are hoping to meet up with the clients and take some pictures for the website soon.

Small Spaces Big Style Success

2007-01-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

Do you remember the little eyeball character from the movie Monsters, Inc.? Remember how he was always being edited out of the company ads? Well, just call me "Mike". I was edited out of the Small Spaces Big Style segment that featured my project. Too funny. My project was the first on featured.

But it is all good. My clients did a marvelous job representing the ideas we were working with. Their kids really are just that darling. The place photographed very well, indeed. I am quite happy with the way things turned out.

Here's the link to the Small Spaces Big Style episode site: linky goodness!

What a great way to kick of 2007!

Mark your calendars: Locicero-arch on HGTV

2006-12-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

The episode of HGTV's Small Space, Big Style featuring a project of ours has been scheduled.

Mark your calendars! The episode will be broadcast on January 4, 2007 at 6:30pm, Eastern and Pacific Time.

Here's a link to HGTV's episode description:
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_hssbs/episode/0,,HGTV_22676_47307,00.html

We're pretty excited about this. It even sounds like an excuse...er, REASON to buy a DVR.

Locicero-arch on HGTV

2006-10-30T15:15:00.000-08:00

Our project is slated to be included in episode 408 of HGTV's Small Spaces, Big Style. Episode 403 just aired, so we should be on air in about 5 or 6 weeks, I think. The producers said they would let us know when an air date has been set.

We wait with bated breath.

The picture here is looking from the fire place alcove toward the Kitchen. You can see pretty clearly in this picture the effects of raising the ceiling up into the old attic space. The ceiling height varies from 9 feet to 16 feet at the highest point. The room feels huge, though it's only really 14 x 22.

Locicero arch + design on HGTV

2006-09-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

We're pretty excited here at L:a+d. We recently participated in the filming of a segment of HGTV's Small Spaces, Big Style television program. They're filming 3 seasons worth of progams this summer, so when this will make it to the air hasn't yet been determined. But we'll be sure to let everybody know.

The project is one we finished about a year ago for David, Dawn and their kids. It was a full flat gut to an Edwardian flat in San Francisco. We re-arranged the rooms inside the envelope and opened up the ceilings into the attic space for a real sense of volume. The project managed to graciously accommodate a family of 4 [now with an additional one on the way] in 940 square feet. Oh, and the cats. Did I mention the 3 cats?

The picture here shows the fire place alcove of the Great Room. Note the custom bench, one of 3, the custom shelves and the "preview" window between the hall space and the alcove on the far left.

Making Places - the first post

2006-07-13T11:14:00.000-07:00

This blog is intended as a vehicle to describe and explore ideas about making places. The author is David Locicero, architect and owner of Locicero architecture + design in Emeryville, CA.