Arlington Heights, IL, June 03, 2014 --(PR.com)-- An award-winning basement finishing firm has just arrived in New England, promising to beat up moisture and water damage with their innovative waterproof wall and subflooring system.

Matrix Basement Systems of New England - an offshoot of their Illinois-based headquarters - will be stationed at a new office in Hopedale, Mass. Recently named as one of the Big50 Remodelers by Hanley Wood and Remodeling Magazine, the company is geared up to help homeowners fight basement water problems in areas of Boston, MA and Providence, RI.

Nick Richmond, President at Matrix Basement Systems said: Over the years weve had a great number of inquiries from the New England area, especially with regards to our waterproof wall panels. New England is unique in that waterproofing is paramount for basement projects - the ground retains a lot of moisture and without proper attention this can cause a big headache for homeowners. Now we have a local office, were perfectly placed to ensure basements are not only a convenient and useful space, but dry and comfortable. After all, thats the number one priority for any underground space - it needs to be usable above all else.

Matrix Basement Systems of New England will be installing the Matrix Basement Finishing System a Basement SIP (Structurally Insulated Wall Panel) and Raised Subflooring System - which is designed to protect basements from flooding or damage to drywall products due to water. Mold, mildew and structural damage are all potential side-effects of groundwater; which is why the firm has worked to provide a product that can protect against this. The company guarantees the product is 100% waterproof, mold proof, and mildew proof with other added benefits like thermal insulation too.

Vice President and Co-Founder Brian Barrick said: Waterproofing and preventing moisture from impacting a basement is the biggest concern of every homeowner - and rightly so. It can cause considerable damage to a basement space; some of which is irreparable. But what makes our product so groundbreaking is the attention to other finer details. The Matrix product is eco-friendly, non-toxic and energy-efficient. That means that homeowners have the ultimate peace of mind that it will not only do the job, but tick every desirable box as well. With our product, your basement will stay cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and save on energy bills. Its seamless and paintable too - so the final decorative touches are far superior to drywall. Matrix Basement Systems is the largest basement finishing contractor in the Midwest, with offices in Illinois, Michigan and New England. Their Boston office is now fully operational.

About Matrix Based in Arlington Heights, Illinois, Matrix Basement Systems, Inc. is the largest basement finishing contractor in the Midwest. Founded in 2009, Matrix has provided homeowners with a non-toxic, energy-efficient, waterproof, mold proof, paintable wall system that is quickly and easily installed, and protects basements from water and moisture damage for years to come. Matrix has brought dry basement environments and great basement design services to more than 1,000 homes across the Chicagoland, Detroit, and New England areas. The innovation of successful entrepreneurs Nick Richmond and Brian Barrick has not only impacted residential construction, but their recent launch of Matrix Manufacturing, USA is the Midwests biggest producer of Basement SIPS, MgO-Board, Tyroc Subflooring, and Panel Lamination services. With more than 100 employees spread across multiple locations in Illinois and Michigan, Matrix Basement Systems is a leader in the basement remodeling industry and will continue to be an innovator in green building and home performance materials.

Contact Information: Anne La Francis Matrix Basement Systems, Inc. 847-290-8000 1435 E. Algonquin Rd. Arlington Heights, IL 60005

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Basement Finishing Experts Arrive in New England

It's almost painful to shell out hard-earned money for some home projects. Unlike adding a new deck or remodeling the kitchen, replacing a sump pump is hardly cause for a party.

But that's precisely the kind of job you need to invest in occasionally, if you want to keep your home in good shape.

Bowing to that reality, and hoping to inspire homeowners to plan any necessary maintenance they've been putting off, my team compiled a list of dull but important home improvement projects:

10. Gutter cleaning. This involves ladders and getting your hands (and everything else) dirty with leaves and other gunk. It's unpleasant, especially if you do it yourself, but you'll have a bigger and more costly problem to deal with if clogged gutters and downspouts cause water damage outside and inside your home. Of course, you can always decide to hire a reputable gutter cleaner or handyman for the job.

9. Window installation. Replacement windows can set you back thousands of dollars and even though they make your home more comfortable, reduce energy usage and are easier to clean than old-style windows, it's likely the neighbors will look right through your efforts.

8. Foundation repair. Who wouldn't rather spend money on new furniture instead of on a fix for fissures or cracks in basement walls? But ignoring wall cracks, separations and crumbling concrete won't sit well if you want your home's basement, crawl space or slab to properly support your house.

7. Removing mold. Mold can cause serious respiratory problems. Make sure to hire a reputable company to inspect for mold and to remove it. Don't just paint over mold.

6. Toilet repair. Resist the temptation to close the lid on those icky issues. If a plunger won't take care of a clog, or you're unable to take care of a perpetually running toilet yourself, contact a reputable plumber.

5. Insulation. It's easy for the insides of your attic and walls to be out of sight, out of mind. But it's important to invest in insulation if you want to be comfortable at home and wise about your energy spending.

4. Sump pump. Failing to maintain your sump pump and backup battery could lead to many more dollars eventually draining from your bank account.

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Living Smart: Unglamorous home projects

A well-preserved felt banner, reading Asbury, Hood River, lies folded on the floor of what was once a Sunday school room of the 100-year-old Methodist Church, left behind 15 months ago when the church closed its doors.

I need to get that back to them, said Claudia von Flotow, the buildings new owner, who began interior demolition in April. No tenants have yet been lined up but von Flotow hopes to rent out the sanctuary and north room spaces as early as this fall.

Changes done in the 1950s are going away, and something that was covered in the 1950s is coming back.

The warren of offices and classrooms will become office and restroom space in the north section, and the old folding room divider, while salvaged, will be replaced with glass walls.

Most importantly, the false ceiling over the office area is gone, exposing the dark wood bead board, a vaulted ceiling that Claudia von Flotow calls stunning.

It needs a little bit of work, but not a whole lot.

She said the building will need more roof insulation and some structural reinforcement.

There are a lot of structural problems but nothing thats not worth saving. There is craftsmanship in every corner of this place. As anyone would say who appreciates craftsmanship and history, you gotta preserve it.

She will install a mezzanine partway over the north room, offering a closer view of the bead board, as well as views of the Columbia River through new north-facing windows.

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Reverent Remodel: Asburys new owner respects, yet transforms, the former church

Partial Basement Remodeling In Bellerose, Queens
This Basement Was Flooded From A Burst Radiator Steam Line. We Replaced The Line With 1 Inch Copper, And Re-framed The Damaged Wall, Installed Insulation And...

By: 96 pro contractors

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Partial Basement Remodeling In Bellerose, Queens - Video

In recognition of National Historic Preservation Month, Edwardsvilles Historic Preservation Commission will showcase some of Edwardsvilles historic buildings in a series of articles during the month of May. HPC encourages owners of historic buildings to donate copies of photos and historical information to HPC and/or the Madison County Historical Museum so future generations will have access to these valuable research materials.

The Hoehn Block

216 North Main St.

Its unknown when the original building on this site was completed, but in 1890, the owner, Jacob Hoehn, decided to significantly enhance his investment property next to the Madison County Jail. It was first announced that he was planning an addition to his building, but it can be deducted, based on later articles in the Alton Evening Telegraph, that he either removed the old building except for the basement and foundation or perhaps kept a two-story addition at the back of the building and added a new two-story front. In either case, the result was a much larger business house or a block as they were then known.

An article in the Alton Telegraphs Edwardsville news column on September 18, 1890, said, Mr. Jacob Hoehn, the proprietor of the Windsor restaurant on Main street, is going to remove the frame part and put a two story building in its place. The proposed addition is to be modern in every respect, plate glass and iron pillars will constitute the front of the first story. Work is to commence at once, and will be ready for guests the day court opens next month.

The following week, the Telegraph reported, The old law office of G. B. Burnett, now of St. Louis, and which has lately served as a dining room for Jake Hoehns Windsor restaurant, was put on rollers Saturday, and followed several other Main street buildings over into the Second ward, (where) it will do duty as a dwelling house.

There is today a basement under only the front portion of the building which probably reflects the size of the original building on the property. Unlike other business blocks in Edwardsville, this building is only one storefront wide, but there was ample room for other businesses in the back and on the second floor.

Jacob Hoehn, born in 1843, was a Civil War veteran who immediately after the war went into the hospitality business. He ran numerous saloons and restaurants before moving in 1895 to St. Louis where he took over the operation of a resort. In the early 1900s, he returned to Edwardsville where he had many real estate investments, including a subdivision in Glen Carbon and rental houses on Hoehn Street in Edwardsville, as well as his Main Street property.

Before moving to St. Louis, Jacob and his wife, Katherine Schramm Hoehn, lived on North Main Street near their businesses. When they returned, they moved to 459 Vandalia Street. The couple had six children but by the time Jacob passed away in 1910, only one, Matilda Hoehn Yates, was still a resident of Edwardsville.

The first tenant of the new Hoehn Block was Rorig Jewelers who within a year sold out to T. E. Gontermann. The new business was another jeweler, but in addition to pocket watches, Gontermanns could fit their customers with eyeglasses. They occupied the ground floor of 216 North Main Street until 1895 when they moved to a new building on the court house square. What followed was a succession of both businesses and residents. For many years the second floor was divided into a private apartment plus several sleeping rooms which sometimes became offices.

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Hoehn Block home to bank and pool hall

Toronto, ON (PRWEB) May 26, 2014

A high quality service at an affordable price, VIP Classic Moulding has developed a reputation in the city for applying sophisticated and innovative home solutions combined with a functional approach that means the best bang for a buck.

VIP Classic Moulding offers installations in communities such as Vaughan, Markham, Toronto, Richmond Hill, Maple, Aurora, North York, Thornhill, Mississauga, Oakville, Milton, Woodbridge, Brampton, Ajax, Oshawa, Burlington, and Barrie among others.

Crown moulding can make all the difference when a property owner is trying to give their room that little something extra to add balance. This doesnt mention the added bonus that it has been known to increase property value by up to $10,000.

The company can be reached by phone for those that want to schedule a free Pot Lights Installation estimate and/or Crown Moulding Installation estimate. VIP Classic Moulding has earned the attention it has received for its superior service in comparison with what their competitors are offering. The thousands of customers the company has serviced in the past ten (10) years would agree as well.

Via their website, one can take a look through the companys high quality work to get a better idea of what VIP Classic Moulding can bring to your piece of property.

VIP Classic Moulding offers a varied selection of crown moulding options including solid wood, MDF, plaster, and PVC. Each one of these options come with their own elegance and charm, and the company will work with you to ensure that what you choose is the right option for your property.

Give a new look to your home with crown moulding that you wont regret. VIP Classic Moulding offers a selection of products that one cant find in stores. You know youre getting the best when you invite VIP Classic Moulding into your home.

In addition to crown moulding, VIP Classic Moulding has developed into a multi-disciplinary practice that encompasses not only ceiling design but also incorporates the design and installation of pot lights, hardwood, MDF trim work, wainscoting, painting, and full basement finishing and remodeling.

Committed to their clientele, VIP Classic Moulding have established themselves in the Toronto area as the go-to company that will ensure you are covered from design through to implementation with the best product for the best price.

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VIP Classic Crown Moulding & Pot Light Installation Offers Services In Toronto

Restaurant's footprint to triple; $1.4M renovation expected to be completed by mid-July

By Melissa Simon

msimon@times-standard.com @Melissa_Simon on Twitter

A construction crew readies the Fourth Street Eureka McDonald's location for a new building on Friday.

After a $1.4 million renovation, a larger McDonald's will rise in place of the old one on Fourth Street this summer, city officials said.

"The format of the new building was different, and my guess would be that it was easier to just tear down the old one," said Eureka Chief Building Official Brian Gerving.

Eureka Community Development Senior Planner Kristen Goetz said McDonald's approached her regarding the remodeling plans in late 2013. She managed the project through all the design reviews and permit process.

"Since they wanted to change the building by removing the basement and making the footprint of the new one bigger the old one was about 1,260 square feet and the new one would be about 4,316 square feet the permit need to be updated," Goetz said of the original permit, which dated back to 1971. "In addition to that, they need to add a coastal development permit because they're in the coastal zone which covers pretty much west of Broadway up to Myrtle."

McDonald's eventually obtained the building permit, coastal development permit and conditional use permit through the city's Community Development department with a little help from the City Council, according to Goetz.

"This permit process was a little more involved than others because the original conditional use permit approved by the Planning Commission was appealed by an adjacent property owner and it then went to the City Council," Goetz said. "The council upheld the Planning Commission's original decision and then the property went through the design review."

Link:
Fourth Street Eureka McDonald's being remodeled, should be open by July

WINDSOR, Colo. (AP) A dozen years ago, Kristie Fisher drove up to the 13-acre property in rural Windsor with her husband and smiled. All her dreams, even her foolish ones, seemed to be coming true.

Fisher was a city girl whose parents were divorced when she was 8. She spent a lot of time in apartments. She would think about what it would be like to have room, or even a wide-open, peaceful space where car horns were muffled by the wind. Then she would dismiss those dreams as folly. That, she told herself, would never happen.

Yet there she was with her husband, with the sky above and the mountains to the west, and she could picture it all. She pictured where their new home would eventually go after they lived in the smaller house for a few years. She pictured kids riding dirt bikes and having their own adventures in the fields. She pictured her own hair salon in the basement of that new home that would allow her to work and raise her kids herself.

The dream came true. The house is there, and so is the salon, and so are the kids. Yet the dreams changed, too. They often do.

Now when you drive up past that old house, to the new one, down the long driveway, a flurry of barks greets you as your tires crunch on the gravel. Bark, bark, bark. A lab puppy wags his tail at you from his kennel. Other dogs, which look as big as miniature ponies, seem OK with you but bark just to make sure. As you approach her house, some of the barks turn into howls that echo around all that space. Fisher says hello from her hair studio, where Lola, a mastiff, greets you and starts pawing you for a pat.

Fisher needs to finish a haircut, then she needs to check on the dogs, especially the Great Dane puppies who make messes every couple of hours. It's another busy day, even with the 10 valuable volunteers who come regularly to help. And though she loves her Big Bones Canine Rescue, she will admit that as big of a part of her life as it is now, it was something she didn't picture, or even imagine, when she drove on their new property with her husband a dozen years ago.

It's safe to say her husband, Scott, didn't picture it, either, and that's part of the problem. It takes time to run a rescue organization with more than 25 dogs, even with her impressive adoption rate. It also takes money, and that's the more immediate problem. She owes her veterinarians more than $5,000.

"The rescue organization is the only thing we fight about," Fisher said and, even then, Scott helps with pouring concrete and building kennels and remodeling.

She got into rescue the way most people do, meaning she sort of stumbled into it simply because she loved animals. When she got her own place, she got three. They were all rescues. When they moved into the new house they built down the driveway six years ago, two years after her son, Gannon, now 8, was born, she turned the old place into a boarding business.

That, and doing the hair of Floss Blackburn, the founder of the Denkai Animal Sanctuary, led to taking in a few rescues herself. She and Karen Durlin started Big Bones in January 2013, just three years after her daughter, Wynsloe, now 5, came.

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Weld big-breed rescue faces financial trouble

News The William Eckhardt Research Center and the remodeled 5757 South University Avenue will be completed by fall 2015 and January 2015, respectively.

Posted May 20, 2014 by Sara Cao

Photo: Jamie Manley

The William Eckhardt Research Center, which will house the astronomy and astrophysics department, the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, the Enrico Fermi Institute, and the new Institute for Molecular Engineering, will be open for use beginning fall 2015. The building will be located on South Ellis Avenue between East 56th Street and East 57th Street, across from the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library.

A crucial component to the design of the William Eckhardt Research Center has been to tailor the building to accommodate the diverse facilities of its future occupants, according to Amy Lee, communications strategy manager for Facilities Services.

Every time [the University] brings in a new researcher, Facilities Services gets involved because were building a new home for a new researcher that will need to be tailored to meet that persons needs, Lee said.

Because of this, construction began on all stories simultaneously, as opposed to building floor by floor as is typical, to allow researchers to visit the building and discuss their specific needs with architects.

Many of the floors will be shared between departments, and each floor features collaboration spaces in which researchers across departments can interact and work together on projects. Furthermore, the collaborative Pritzker Nanofabrication Facility, part of the Institute for Molecular Engineering, will be housed in the buildings first lower level. The facility will feature a large clean room, which will filter out the majority of airborne contaminants and provide a space in which members of various departments can collaborate on innovation in nanotechnology.

The buildings two basement levels were specially designed to mitigate vibrations that would interfere with the precise measurements at an atomic level taking place there.

The interior remodeling of 5757 South University Avenue will prepare it to house parts of the Department of economics and the Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics. The remodeling includes the renovation and expansion of the former Chicago Theological Seminary building and the development of 58th Street into a pedestrian walkway. Faculty and staff are expected to move into the building over the summer, and classes will begin fall 2014. The project also includes the construction of a modern economic research pavilion located behind the building, which is scheduled for completion January 2015.

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Math, econ buildings on new foundations

A view of the Farrar school in Farrar taken from the city cemetery across the street

School was completed in 1922 and housed first grade through 12th grades

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By DANN HAYES dhayes1@dmreg.com

The school house in Farrar is a three-story structure (with a gym in the basement) built across from a cemetery on six acres donated to the local school district in 1919.

Farrar, located about 15 or so miles northeast of Des Moines near highway 65, was completed in 1922 school started for first through 12th grades.

According to Will Conkel, owner of C & H Home Remodeling, and the volunteer building engineer

One of the classrooms inside the school with desks, chairs and equipment that were in the school when Nancy Oliver and her husband James bought the building.

for the Farrar school, the last high school class graduated in 1958 when they consolidated when the Bondurant-Farrar Community School District was formed.

Read more from the original source:
The history of haunting at Farrar