Tiek Built Homes

New TBH Website!

2011-05-23T15:07:00.001-07:00

We've been working on our new Web site and we're so excited to have it up and running. Well, the blog is up and running (we're still working on collecting all our portfolio pictures). Please update your links to http://www.tiekbuilthomes.com/blog/ and follow our projects. We've got some great ones coming up along with finishing the landscaping and garage at our Holladay project.

It's all about the details..

2011-05-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about this house are all the details. It's not just the kitchen and the fireplaces that are awesome. All 2800 sqft are beautiful and enchanting starting right as you walk in the front door.

Front entry with two closets and a great spot for guests to take of their shoes.

Hallway leading to the rest of the house with floor to ceiling trim and the reoccurring shiplap overhead.

Kids bath with vintage classic feel. And hallways with built-in linen cabinets and contemporary light fixtures.

The mud room with the continued shiplap and storage space for the family. And then the door to the utility room has a custom made intake vent that goes along with the Greek key pattern above the living room fireplace.

Photos by Meikel Reece.

The perfect canvas for Caitlin Creer

2011-05-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

As we approached the end of this project, we began to realize the overwhelming task the homeowner had of furnishing this house. So we thought who else but Caitlin Creer to bring everything together. We are so excited to have Caitlin apart of this project. She so is talented and has such great style.

Here are the canvases, ready to be filled..

Living Room

Dining Room

Family Room

Girls' Room

Nursery

Boy's Room

Master Bedroom

Pictures by Meikel Reece.

Loving the White Kitchen

2011-05-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

We are wrapping up this amazing project and I can't believe this is the first time we are posting about this kitchen. This kitchen was crafted by the talented Benjamin Blackwelder. We are so happy with how everything came together and the backsplash was especially exciting. You can find something kind of like it at Contempo for $30/sqft but after a couple hours of research Steve found it for $8/sqft on overstock.com. It was an awesome find!

PS- All the paint colors turned out perfect! More pictures by the awesome Meikel Reece to come.

Time for Paint

2011-04-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

Picking paint colors can be a stressful task because what you see on the swatch is never what you see on the wall. I've found some colors in my research but it always surprises me how different colors look from house to house and room to room. That's why most the house looked like the pictures below.

Here's our inspiration picture for the family room. Posted by Caitlin Creer (more about her later :)

A sneak peek..

2011-04-19T01:15:00.000-07:00

There is something about having a cherry cabinet in an all marble bathroom. It's a great contrast. Especially when you have the talented Benjamin Blackwelder making the vanity. We used hex tile in a couple places in this house. It has a early 1900's feel.

And nothing like a 1923 original clawfoot tub to compliment the other finishes for this bathroom. If you need one of these call Mike at the Tub Doctor. He has 70+ of them and he can re-enamel them any color. If you're going to do a tub, it may as well look classy. And no, I'm not a fan of the space-wasting corner jetted tubs. They're so 2002.

And this is the kids bathroom vanity, still needs drawers. We did a 1" white ceramic hex tile with a black inlay. This yellow light fixture is going to be a perfect accent in this bathroom.

Fireplaces

2011-03-22T12:12:00.001-07:00

Generally, the finish work phase of building can just take a couple of days doing the base and case throughout the house. However, if you want a house to be done right, the finish work needs to be well designed and look as if it's been part of the house for years.

Here are two of my favorites. The Living room fireplace.

Family room fireplace.

Exterior Update

2011-03-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

Before moving to the interior, we needed to give an update on the exterior.

As a reminder, here's the before..

This is the siding going up. Using cedar verses hardy gives a more authentic coastal look.

Once painted you can see variation due to the variation in the cedar. Like a box of fine wine, with age it patinas and only gets better.

This front door turned out amazing with it's side lights and trims. Once all the trims are painted and the wood porch is framed it will really pop.

Kape Kod Kick!

2011-01-25T22:51:00.001-08:00

And just when I thought I'd never get over Craftsman/Arts and Crafts. I've spent a lot of time studying cape cod and shingle style to identify it's root design in order to implement them well on our current project. In it's original form it is at it's simplest and resembles many homes common in the older Salt Lake neighborhoods.

Born out of Cape Cod influence you get Shingle Style homes which are frequently done as huge coastal retreats.

Of all the homes I've snapped photos of in my "field research" I had this home on my laptop's desktop. My brother-in-law saw it one day in passing and said "hey, I painted that house" That's great cause I've referenced this home for colors, shingles, trims, etc. Now I can get the paint color matches.

And here are some other awesome EXTERIORS I've collected om my Pinterest account.

Here's a sneak peak at the kitchen. I found this article and it contained some similar details we are using. We are keeping with the traditional theme of Cape Cod throughout the home with a more coastal/casual feel.

Holladay Remodel - Exterior Before Shots

2011-01-19T00:41:00.000-08:00

This is our current project that we are extremely excited about and we'd like to post regular updates because it's been so fun to see this house transform. Plus the homeowners have put a lot of trust in me so I've been able to flex my "design muscles." It's been my 3rd baby because I've been able to design everything from the floor plan, architectural details, windows, trim details, and everything in between. So if it turns out terrible, it's my fault. But if it turns out awesome.... it's also my fault.

Here's my design of the exterior...well some of the details are inconsistent. This is where I can try everything out first. I have literally buried my head in the cape cod/shingle style homes and am now a self-certified expert on their authentic design. I'm a fan of the cape cod look and will probably incorporate it into my own home...some day. I'll post some pictures of cape cod homes I'm using as inspiration.

And this is what the house looked like as you walk up the driveway. Notice the lack of a front door... confusing.

Ah, here's the "front" door.. it's facing the side yard.

But of course, it's in Holladay so the lot is amazing with lots of potential.

The Robinsons: KITCHEN, LIVING ROOM, ENTRYWAY

2010-11-15T23:45:00.000-08:00

The Nielsons: KITCHEN, LIVING ROOM, STAIR CASE, EXTERIOR

2010-09-13T00:24:00.000-07:00

The Nielsons home was such fun project for us! They live on a beautiful piece of property and it was so great to watch this remodel transform their house into a home that blended beautifully with their surroundings and reflected their personal style.

As you can see below we took some before pictures and then created a mock up of the vision that we had for their home. We love being able to show our clients what their home will look like before we actually start the work. It gets everyone involved so excited about the project!

The Kitchen and living room turned out beautifully and have become such warm and inviting spaces for their family. The Nielsons were thrilled with the way it turned out and so are we!

All images by Meikel Reece

Benjamin Blackwelder

2010-07-09T03:31:00.000-07:00

This beautiful french style home was built by the oh so talented Benjamin Blackwelder.

Ben and I have had the good fortune to work on several projects together (Caldwell's, Stranges) and he is truly a master craftsman.

We would love to talk to you about building your dream home or just your dream kitchen!

All images by Meikel Reece

The Nielsons: KITCHEN, LIVING ROOM & FAMILY ROOM

2010-06-16T00:10:00.000-07:00

Before

After

All images by Meikel Reece copyright Tiek Built Homes

The Stranges: KITCHEN

2010-06-15T20:00:00.001-07:00

All images by Meikel Reece copyright Tiek Built Homes

The Caldwells: KITCHEN

2010-06-15T19:59:00.000-07:00

All images by Meikel Reece copyright Tiek Built Homes

New (old) home....new projects.

2010-03-10T00:40:00.000-08:00

Leaving our home on Main Street and all the work we did there wasn't as hard as I though it'd be, probably cause we are renting it and there's always something that needs to be done there. It's also helpful that our new house is like a blank canvas....literally. We bought the home from a bank who had sprayed the whole interior white before listing it for sale. They didn't leave anything unpainted, they even painted over cover plates...rookies.

This picture was taken a couple years ago when the previous owners first tried to sell. The house lends itself to traditional colonial, so we'll play up those details as we remodel to give it more personality.

We will be gutting the kitchen and enlarging it.

These stairs will look much better when they are done in hardwood with a carpet runner. No offense shag carpet that raps around the treads, skirt board and everywhere else.

So we're still in phase one if the remodel which is moving a couple walls, cutting a pass through in a wall, adding can and art lights, and painting. Next phase...hard wood floors and a new kitchen....hopefully soon.

Good Things Utah!

2009-10-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

Be sure to check out Steve on Good Things Utah. Click here to go to the video.

Official Web Site!

2009-10-05T20:10:00.001-07:00

The Tiek Built Homes official Web site is up and running! Click on the link below and check it out.

Tiek Built Homes Official Site

Vintage Bathroom Take 2

2009-10-03T14:17:00.000-07:00

If you haven't noticed already, I'm a big fan of turn-of-the-century style bathrooms. This bathroom is my 2nd attempt at this type of bathroom with a less than $5,000 budget. I like this paint color a lot more than the green we put in our bathroom. This color is Silver Sage from Restoration Hardware.

The bathroom started out as a standard master bath built in the 90's. It was small, had a worn out looking shower surround, linoleum, and a insignificant vanity.

Initially, the homeowners wanted to put a tub in here. After marking it all out there just wasn't enough room to make it work comfortably. We kept the same layout but switched the vanity with the toilet, that way the vanity was on the side with more room. We also put in a bigger shower base and tiled the walls and floor. Lighting was key for this bathroom. The sconces add prestige and highlights the vanity space. The can light in the shower brightens up the space as it reflects off the white subway tile. These seemingly insignificant changes to the lighting is what really makes this bathroom seem larger and much more luxurious. We reused the original mirror. Almost any glass shop can cut holes in it for mounting sconces. Adding the sconces and holding the mirror off the wall a couple inches added some needed interest.

The homeowner picked out the vanity from Costco. I think it was a good find, especially since they sold out in a couple weeks and there are none left in Utah. I was a little worried about it being a more antiqued piece with all the bright white tile and trim, but I think it works because it stands out more as a piece of furniture.

Our bathroom final pictures

2009-10-02T20:45:00.001-07:00

This project has been completed for several months but renters moved in before we had a chance to take pictures. As a reminder, here are the befores and it really was a disaster. Not only did it have a leak and mold was starting to show but it felt so small and awkward with the washer, dryer and tiny shower. And now we love it's layout and wish we had this bathroom and it wasn't just in our rental but still totally worth it.

And if you're interested on what kind of price tag comes with a bathroom remodel like this (even with it's narley rough plumbing work) it is only around $5,000. If you only have so much to spend, you don't have to compromise style. For example, I found the vanity at Lowes for $200 and it included the sink and counter-top.

Bathroom Remodel

2009-09-28T19:43:00.000-07:00

We recently remodeled this bathroom for some great friends of ours. They had problems with their shower pan leaking and ruining their wood floor and causing other internal damage, not to mention mold to growing.

So one thing led to another, as it usually does, and we were tearing it all out and starting over. Just for the record, I really wasn't pushing for tearing it all out. We had some cheaper alternatives, but the homeowners saw it as an opportunity to change it up.

This bathroom's unique blend of traditional and modern turned out awesome. We combined the natural elements of travertine stone, traditional cabinetry, and modern tiles and fixtures.

Final pictures

2009-09-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind on my posts but I thought I'd finally post the final pictures of this exterior remodel we did several months again. Be sure to check out the before pictures if you haven't already.

New Kitchen

2009-06-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned, I like taking home inspirations from the houses in movies and this was one of my favorites. Well, not my favorite movie but my favorite kitchen from the movie "Something Got to Give." Apparently, there are a lot of people obsessed with the home from this movie. Here is a picture of one of the many kitchens inspired from the movie set.

And this is our version...

Cabinets are designed and built by Ben Blackwelder. Ben brings his experience and style from his roots in the East Coast, and Utah welcomes it.

Exterior facelift

2009-05-20T12:47:00.000-07:00

This is a home we are currently remodeling in Lehi. The owner wanted to give her home a face lift so I started my usual thought process of drawing out what I thought would look good.

However, I've found google sketch to be a much more effective way to show a homeowner how their home could look.

Once we've painted and her new windows have been installed, I'll posted the final pictures.

Bathroom

2009-05-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

Here's quick bathroom remodel we did a few months ago. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera on demo day so here are some awful pictures from my iPhone. However, I guess it makes the after pictures that much better.

After: New tub, tile and facet.

About

2009-05-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

Tiek Built Homes was established as a means to do what I already loved to do, but have more influence and support a family. Because I build and remodel homes for a living, not just as a hobby, I'm always seeking new information, design, and innovations to make each home I work on much better and personable.

I graduated BYU in the Construction Management program and I have over 10 years experience in the construction industry.

I feel what makes me unique from other contractors is my experience and eye for design. I enjoy helping homeowners redesign their current homes - from restructuring the layout to choosing tile, paint, and trim that are be harmonious with the style of the home. I specialize in building new homes and restoring traditional style homes. Using the latest technologies, I can create a 3D model to better visualize the final vision of your dream home.

-Steve

About

2009-05-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

You, me and Dupree

2009-05-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

Contact

2009-05-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

Basement Finish

2009-04-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of a recent basement that we finished. The blue paint is the one we found at Noah's (as discussed in previous post) and I am really pleased with out in turned out. And more importantly, it was exactly what the homeowners wanted.

Inspiration - it's not stealing

2009-02-25T10:11:00.000-08:00

The best way to get what you want out of a new home or a remodel is to do research on stuff already done. You'll find as you weed through magazines certain things will pop out, whether it's the trim style, color on the walls, tile, or whatever. Some of the best ideas have already been done and all you have to do is do a little digging. It's funny where we find some of our ideas. My wife found our yellow/gold paint that we used in our kitchen in a Pottery Barn magazine (although they don't look the same in these pictures). And it happen to be one of the colors in their Benjamin Moore Collection, and they even give you the color.

TV shows and movies are full of cool houses. Movie/TV makers pick cool locations to do their filming cause it's more interesting. I'm sad to admit that I've seen a couple episodes of Desperate Housewives with my wife because of the traditional style homes, it's not like I'm addicted. Also, I like "You, Me and Dupree" because it's funny and I like their little bungalow house they live in. Reminds me of a home in Sugarhouse. Unfortunately, I couldn't find pictures of the kitchen and the bedroom picture was too scandalious. But notice the colors and moldings.

For our basement bathroom we have been looking around for inspiration and again found something in Pottery Barn, but nothing they were actually selling. the hex tile floor. I love the old school tile and I even found some closer up images of an octagon and dot tile on this Fixer Upper web site. Although we'd prefer the hex tiles, the oct and dot are only $2.50 sqft at the Home Depot, you can't beat that price for vintage.

We next found the paint color for bathroom when we went to a friend's birthday party at Noah's in Draper - thanks Preston. And although it can be tempting (but sometimes necessary) to try to color match by looking at 2 inch square paint chips, it's rarely the color you expect when it's on an entire wall. Whenever possible get the exact color by asking for the paint code or color. I've knocked on some doors asking homeowners for the paint color of their homes and I've even gotten samples from a few. Anyway, I called Noah's for the color they used in these hallways and sitting areas and I've even ended up using it in a basement we are currently finishing and it looks great! The color is "Meditative" by Sherwin Williams, it rocks...if you want blue. By the way, when doing a paint color like this a flat sheen looks by far the best. Yes, it's harder to paint and it's a bit more high maintenece, but you'll achieve the look you want from the magizine or movie you found it in. It's all about the sheen.

Bathroom Remodel

2009-02-10T12:55:00.000-08:00

One of my recent personal projects is our basement bathroom. It had some mold problems that could not be ignored. Although there are a few possible cosmetic fixes like just replaces the dry wall or taking out the shower and replacing it with a shower insert, they just aren't worth the cost. If we are going to put any money into it, we wanted to make it right. So we gutted it and have plans to completely rearrange the bath. There will be a tub along the back wall, the toilet will go where the shower was, and the vanity will replace the washer (and the washer/dryer will find a place in the garage).

This will obviously require a lot of work when it comes to the rough plumbing but it will be worth it. I will post additional pictures as I continue the project and I will also include costs.

The bottom piece of wood really shows how bad the mold had really gotten.

There is Hope

2008-12-03T22:13:00.000-08:00

I was driving to a job in Midvale and passed by this little gem and luckily I had my camera.
Homes like this inspire me cause they remind me that it doesn't take a large home to
look amazing. I'm a huge fan of homes that have a more quaint and symmetrical look. Many homes are now built with a lot of wasted space. It's time to rethink floorplans
and be more efficient in our home designs. Besides think of all the energy you'll save...

Something Other Than Granite

2008-11-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

I like granite countertops and so do the masses. In fact you can take a crappy house slap granite in the kitchen and all of a sudden people will take an interest in it. Granite is, however, not the only way to "put lipstick on a pig." I tried concrete and am happy with how it turned out. Like granite it's interesting, dramatic, and custom. Unlike granite, concrete can be industrial, contemporary, and you can do so much more with it. Also, concrete can be much less expensive than granite if you're willing to put in the time.

Concrete can be poured and then set, or poured in place. Keep in mind
that concrete is HEAVY.

Concrete can be colored by adding color as you mix or acid staining it
after it dries. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, it just
depends on the look you want to achieve.

There a so many awsome things you can do with concrete. Check out
Concrete Exchange for some pics.

Opening up your kitchen

2008-10-08T15:09:00.000-07:00

This is like that crazy kitchen on Seinfeld, where it got so awkward leaning over and talking under the cabinets that they stopped hanging out at Jerry's. Taking out the middle suspended cabinets really opened up the space between the kitchen and dinning room. This made the kitchen less awkward and better for entertaining.

Kitchens have gotten a lot bigger in the last few years. That means for the older houses something relatively dramatic has to be done to open up the space. This can sometimes be done without tearing out and redoing a lot of cabinets, however, this is a great time to rearrange and do new cabinets. Don't let this intimidate you, cabinets really don't have to be that expensive. I'm not talking about those cheap Home Depot cabinets with the doors that never seem to sit straight, you can get solid alder or maple cabinets installed for about the same price. Also, you'd be amazed at what $.20 tile for a backsplash and under cabinet lights do.

The Vances:

The Wards:

Trim; So Underrated

2008-10-06T17:57:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest and most noticeable differences between a track/starter home and a custom home are their trims and moldings. I find this is the last thing homeowners want to upgrade. I don't blame them since many builders charge a lot for this upgrade. Many homeowners end up repainting with colors, faux textures, and glazing to upgrade their home. While all these do wonders to a house finished in the standard builder's color (beige) they look tons better next to more dramatic moldings.

Before: Living Room/Dinning Room

After:

Before: Baby's Room

After:

Curb Appeal

2008-08-26T12:24:00.000-07:00

You should never judge a book by it's cover, unless you live in a book that you mortgaged for 30 years. There are many simple ways that you can give a home a "facelift" from trim around windows to porch pop-outs. And remember you can paint just about anything, including brick.

Before:

After:

This was actually an easy remodel. Trim around the windows, porch pop out, new shingle siding on the gables, and paint (no offense white brick). I usually wouldn't recommend painting over brick since you can usually work with it, however, this house needed the color. We also added some can light in the eves and porch. It lights up the house great at night.

Vance's Home
Before:

After:

Their first porch had some issues as you can see. You couldn't even open the screen door all the way cause it would hit the overhang. Plus it was sagging and water damaged. So we cut it off and framed a simple one with thicker timber posts to give it better weight. There is nothing worse than a porch supported by toothpicks, it just looks silly.

This and a new paint job on their vinyl siding that was in fine shape and their house looks like new.