WEIRTON - The Tri-State Home and Garden Show will be getting the star treatment this year.

Organizers have announced the annual event, to take place Friday through March 16 at the Serbian-American Cultural Center, will include an appearance by HGTV personality Casey Noble.

Noble will appear at the Tri-State Home and Garden Show from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday to meet guests. She was a contestant on the fifth season of HGTV's "Design Star" program, and more recently has been featured among the cast of HGTV's "Design on a Dime" and the Travel Channel's "Hotel Impossible."

The Tri-State Home and Garden Show is being sponsored by DeNoon Lumber, Weirton Medical Center and Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration. It is being organized by Beyond Marketing, with assistance from the Weirton Area Chamber of Commerce and the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce.

"The Tri-Sate Home Show is the event we look forward to sponsoring every year as a way of thanking the Ohio Valley for the tremendous support they have shown us for the last 50 years," Clay Croskey of DeNoon Lumber stated. "Presenting a designer of Casey's stature really is exciting for everyone involved with the show."

The Tri-State Home and Garden Show will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 16.

The show will feature more than 80 area vendors showcasing their products and services in a face-to-face setting with more than 5,000 guests expected in attendance throughout the weekend.

It also will include a Business After Hours for members of the two chambers of commerce from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday.

Excerpt from:
HGTV star to appear at Home and Garden Show

Whether your home has suffered a tiny bit of smoke damage or complete fire and water destruction, or damage from this brutal winter, the cleanup process can leave you overwhelmed.

It is the kind of horror story thousands of homeowners every year tell.

Steve Westervelt, a homeowner, says, We had little bit of a rain back in May and during that time our sump pump failed and we had about four inches of water throughout the finished basement downstairs."

The water damaged Steves drywall and carpet.

Steve says, The restoration company that we worked with did an excellent job because they took pictures of everything they were going to take out for repair. That kind of helps because sometimes you just kind of forget what you had and what was taken."

Cleaning up water and smoke damage quickly is important because if left untreated, the damage can become a bigger problem, costing more money to repair.

Companies that specialize in remediation and restoration are staffed with professional technicians who have extensive experience use heavy duty equipment to help remove mold, mildew, smoke and odors from your home and belongings.

Kenny Cochran, Owner of Restoration Company says, "It's very important when you have a major fire or flood and your contents are being packed out of your home that the company doing it does complete photographic inventory, bar coding, scanning of all contents so it can be tracked from start to finish from the home to the restoration facility and back into the home."

Angie Hicks, from Angie's List, says, When going through the items that you might have lost in the fire or flood, you first need to access what their value was, how much it would cost to replace them because that's going to help you make some of these decisions a little easier. Obviously the sentimental things are going to be a lot tougher. But that sofa you paid $1,000 for, if it's going to cost $800 to repair it, you might just want to go ahead and get a new one."

A fire or flood can leave you feeling desperate for help, but homeowners should still research contractors thoroughly and get estimates in writing.

See the original post here:
Angie's List: Home improvement

(March 6, 2014) The weather in Indiana is causing massive amounts of home problems, from flooding to broken pipes. That means restoration companies are very busy.

We are drying out the structure of this house from a frozen pipe near Greenwood. The pipe busted and flooded this entire house from top to bottom. It caused probably 40 thousand dollars damage, said Kenny Cochran, the CEO of Moore Restoration.

According to Cochran, most home water damage doesnt come from heavy rain or melting snowbroken water pipes are usually the culprit.

Many water pipes are inside exterior walls, close to the cold temperatures. So without good insulation, they can freeze, he said. Then, when they start to thaw out, they expand and rupture, and theyll flood a whole house, a building a school or a hospital. Weve done all kinds of commercial work over the last 90 days. We are open 24/7, 365 days of the year.

In the case of the Greenwood home, it was a second-floor pipe that split in the main bathroom. The pipes were in the exterior wall, exposed to the cold weather and wind. The water even flooded through the floor.

I expected to find some water up in the light fixture on the first floor. And sure enough the water from the busted bathroom pipe leaked into the next levels light fixtures, said Scott Montgomery, director of emergency services at Moore Restoration.

The family of the flooded home will have to stay elsewhere for two to three months, but at least insurance is covering it. The best money-saving tip after flooding, is dont hire someone coming to your door offering their services. Then can take your money and take you for a ride.

Its best to know the restoration company that you are working with. Do a little research with the Better Business Bureau, Angies List, places like that to know they are an established, reputable company and not a fly-by-night place working out of the back of a station wagon, Cochran said.

You should also get a detailed price quote in writing before work begins. But keep in mind, some de-construction may have to take place to fully assess damage. The company should also check for mold and prevent it from forming. And just because things feel dry doesnt mean they are. Its a process to make sure there is proper drying.

Typically well dry out a structure in three to five days, after a major water loss. Thats why we have big air movers, said Cochran.

Read the original here:
How to fix your flooded home

When they moved to the Heights in 2012, Jeff and Blair Ainsworth were drawn to the charm, centralized location and sense of community.

After purchasing their home at 718 E. Ninth St., the couple started an eight-month renovation that transformed their 1920s two-bedroom, one-bath bungalow, adding a bedroom, bathroom, 10-foot ceilings, family room and an office that doubles as a playroom for their young daughter.

"We wanted to show people you could take a small house and make it livable and functional for a larger family," Jeff Ainsworth said. "We wanted to make sure it was a place we could live in for the next 10 years."

The Ainsworths' home will be one of six in this year's Houston Heights Association Spring Home & Garden Tour.

The tour will kick off with the 20th annual Candlelight Dinner and Auction on April 4. The tour, scheduled for noon to 6 p.m. April 5-6, will showcase a variety of traditional and contemporary homes.

The other homes of the tour are as follows:

The "vintage modern" home of Dr. James Flowers and Michael Beard at 401 W. Ninth St. is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1928, the red-brick building served as a neighborhood grocery store.

The 409 W. Eighth St. home of architect Palmer Schooley and his wife Mary has been redesigned to be modern but also blend with the neighborhood. The home has a solar porch at the entry and large garden in the back.

Bobbie Knox Echard's home at 1005 Oxford is a cottage built in 1896 that has undergone major renovations and in 2012 received a community improvement award for residential restoration from the Houston Heights Association.

Susan and Jeffrey Bell's home at 1448 Height Blvd. is known as "the house with the blue gate." Built in 1912, the two-story home was updated in 1993 and 1998 and has a wrap-around porch. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Homes.

Read the original here:
Eclectic mix in Heights home tour

Joel Goyette and Margaret Cooley walked into the open house for a two-bedroom 1920s Craftsman in Berkeley, California, and knew theyd found their dream house. So did 10 other couples.

Having lost out in two bidding wars, the couple decided to try to connect with the sellers over more than money. Neighbors had told them about all the restoration work the owners had done, including five weekends stripping interior doors down to old-growth Douglas fir. They learned how close-knit the neighborhood was, with "meals shared, tools borrowed" and how "people overall looked after each other," says Goyette.

So when they sent the sellers their bid, they included a two-page personal letter. They wrote about how much they appreciated the home's character and the hard work the sellers had put into it, that it would be their first home, and how much they valued being part of a close community. Since Goyette had made a foodie connection with the sellers when they saw him ogling a bookshelf of cookbooks, "we couldn't resist sharing our plans to construct a masonry grill in the backyard and build a thriving social community with friends and neighbors," he says.

The couple raised their offer by $25,000 during the ensuing bidding war. It wasnt the highest bid, but it was the winning one. We were told that our letter made a big difference. The sellers felt a connection to us, says Goyette.

Goyette and Cooleys experience shows the value of writing a love letter when pursuing a home. These letters can be so effective that some sellers agents try to intercept them to keep the focus on price. Nearly four in 10 home buyers facing off against other bidders included a love letter with their offer last year, according to national real estate brokerage Redfin. In multiple-bid situations in 2013, Redfin found, bids with love letters were 9 percent more successful than bids without a letter.

For a buyer billet-doux to have the greatest impact, children may be pressed into service. Kris Paolini, a Redfin agent in Rockville, Maryland, recalls one bidding war in which his clients included not just a letter from themselves but a note from their teenage son. He mentioned how great it would be to live in the same neighborhood as his two best friends.

Including a picture can also help tip the odds. San Diego real estate agent Cheree Bray recalls one deal in which her clients beat out an all-cash offer after noting in their letter that the spacious backyard would be an ideal romping area for their two young boys, and included a family photo. The seller was choosing between an investor who wanted to tear down the home and build a new house, and my couple, who wanted to live in it just like she had, says Bray.

Just don't go too far, like the pregnant woman who offered her first-born child as a namesake.

Love letters arent solely for bidding wars. A few years ago, Seattle real estate agent Ryan Halset was helping a woman sell the home in which she had raised her family. The list price was $375,000. A single bid arrived from a young couple offering $350,000; it included a letter saying how much they hoped to be able to raise their family in the home.

The seller insisted on accepting the offer, despite Halsets advice that she at least counter. She wanted to give the family a leg up, says Halset. For some sellers its about being able to drive by every few months and feel good about whos in your home that gave you so many memories.

Read the original:
Dearest Seller: Your Home Is Like a Red, Red Rose

Published: Wednesday, March 5, 2014 at 8:42 a.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, March 5, 2014 at 8:42 a.m.

A coastal restoration project aimed at an area of south Lafourche outside the levees is seeking federal support.

The East Leeville Marsh Restoration and Nourishment Project is one of several local projects vying for federal money this year through the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act, known as CWPPRA,

It would be the first restoration project aimed at the tiny fishing and oilfield hub in the wetland.

Todays Leeville is different from 100 years ago when the town bustled with trade in the shade of old oak trees. The hardwood, sprawling orchards and most of its population have been replaced by water and marsh.

Its the last standing in a series of lesser known population centers created as early Lafourche residents slowly retreated inland starting with the Hurricane of 1893, according to Paul Chiquet, branch administrator for the Lafourche Parish Public Library System. Chiquet curates a museum at the Galliano Library documenting the areas history.

The shrinking sliver of land that is todays Leeville sits about 10 miles south of the parishs ring levees. Flooding has become more frequent through the years, and today its home to a few dozen permanent residents.

Natural forces and industrial canals hastened the erosion of surrounding marshes. Water is always encroaching, submerging the towns cemeteries, and a few days of stiff wind can push water to the road in places, said Don Griffin, owner of Griffins Marina in Leeville.

Janet Rhodus, of the non-profit Launch Leeville organization nominated the restoration project during this years competition for CWPPRA money.

Generally, CWPPRAs task force allocates between $30 million and $50 million for construction of coastal restoration projects each year.

Read more here:
Federal money sought for Leeville restoration work

The former Hungry Bunny building got a face lift last week and is on track to be home to a new downtown business this spring.

Metal panels and the faade were removed Feb. 26 from the building at 254 High St. The windows and fixtures have been sent to Cleveland for restoration. Saras House, a home dcor and design services business, will move into the High Street building April 1, with a grand opening planned May 1.

Sara Vallandingham, owner/curator of Saras House, said she started exploring options for moving from her current Bridgewater Falls location last summer, and the renovations happening in downtown Hamilton caught her eye.

Hamilton has so much momentum, she said.

Vallandingham said the new building will be more conducive to the stores products, which include re-purposed furniture, recovered trinkets, and bath and body products by local businesses Lah V Dah and Grace Green. Nine Lives, a line of custom, recycled lights and furniture by Vallandinghams husband, Dave, will also have more room to shine in the new space.

Saras House, which turned two years old in February, worked with CORE Fund architect Mike Dingeldein when the Hungry Bunny building became available last November. The building size and store were an ideal match, Dingeldein said.

We needed to find a small-scale store to get in there, Dingeldein said.

The CORE Fund is a nonprofit formed in 2012 to provide nontraditional loans for residential and commercial development projects in Hamilton. The fund provides lower-interest capital with lengthier payback terms than traditional business loans to applicants that qualify.

The CORE Fund spent $150,000 for the Hungry Bunny building, according to Dingeldein. While the Hungry Bunny has had some tenants on its first floor, Dingeldein said the three-story mixed use building has been empty for the past five years.

Any time Hamilton can land a quality tenant like Saras House, which will support and complement Sherry Armsteads retail mix at Art Off Symmes, it is a plus, said City Manager Joshua Smith.

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Home decor shop coming to downtown Hamilton

These are the original antique library chairs that are in our catalog. Those are the original antique tables that we have replicated, says Gary Friedman as he walks briskly through his home in Californias Marin County, passing low-slung brown leather chairs and unpolished wood tables. Friedman is the public face of RH (RH), formerly known as Restoration Hardware, and its guiding spirit. He has many dreams for RH, but the essential one is to create an endless reflection of hope, inspiration, passion, and love that will ignite the human spirit and change the world. Thats the companys vision statement.

Friedmans official title is chairman, chief executive, creator, and curator. He has an official moneymaking philosophy, too: You have to find people who believe what you believe, he says. If they believe in your taste, style, the way you do things, you can create an incredible business. He wears a brown woven bracelet with the word Believe. So do some employees.

Friedman, 56, is also wearing slim-cut khakis, shearling-lined high-tops, and a slate blue cashmere hoodie. Hes cheery and perpetually tanned and stubbled, and he drinks raw coconut water most mornings. His villa has views of the Golden Gate Bridge from almost every room, an architectural feat that required the builders to remove 330 truckloads of dirt from the site. The interior, designed by Friedman and his former wife, consolidates everything RH aims to be. The company no longer sells Quakenbush nut bowls, Boston Ranger pencil sharpeners, or anything else meant to evoke a simple, virtuous American past. It summons the elegance of a salvaged estate: perfectly worn, possibly haunted dining tables, English club chairs in taupe linen, Italian gas streetlights. Friedmans house is all neutral colors, unfinished wood, distressed leather, and Belgian linen. Flowers have to be green or white; books in his library are supposed to be cream-colored.

When Friedman joined Restoration Hardware from Williams-Sonoma as CEO in 2001, the company was near bankruptcy. Now his ambitions for it are vast and expensive. Friedman is planning grand stores in high-income Zip Codes across the country. So far the response from customers and investors has been enthusiastic; sales have been growing more than 20percent a year since 2010, shares are up 50percent in the past year, and analysts expect it to be profitable this fiscal year.

Jake Stangel for Bloomberg Businessweek

RHs store in Boston, which opened last April, is set in an 1862 Beaux-Arts building originally constructed for the Museum of Natural History. It is four stories and 40,000 square feet, with fully staged bedrooms and living rooms and dining rooms, a library, cinema room, billiard lounge, nursery, and conservatory. A glass elevator modeled after one built in 1893 moves between the floors. There is a 24-foot-tall steel replica of the Eiffel Tower (found in a flea market and not for sale) and a vintage lightbulb tester thats been turned into a minibar ($1,995). The cash registers are hidden in cabinets. The store is three times as large as RHs older one in Boston, and if it does as well as the first luxury stores, it could have sales per square foot that are three times as high.

Other stores will be even bigger, with wine bars and restaurants, performance spaces, courtyards, and rooftop gardens. All will have free valet parking. RH says average sales could be $30million a year per store. No one has ever built stores like this, Friedman says. RH has opened five so far and will eventually open 60 to 70 in North America, replacing its 62 existing ones. Friedman calls them design galleries.

Retailers are struggling to find ways to bring more people into their stores. I wish more of them were doing things like this, says Matt Nemer, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities (WFC).

Friedman opened an RH contemporary art gallery in Manhattan last November and says hell introduce an RH guesthouse in the city by 2016. Hes started a small music label thats signed three groups. Hes announced RH Atelier, a clothing and jewelry line, and RH Antiques and Artifacts, a collection of one-of-a-kind pieces. Much of the money for these projects will come from RHs advertising budget, says Friedman. Even if art never becomes a very big business, but it renders the brand more valuable, thats what you want to do with marketing, right? he says.

The timing of RHs experiment seems fortunate so far: Many companies doing well these days cater to increasingly affluent customers. Friedman has a reputation for getting people to buy what hes selling. Hes the one who put working kitchens in the center of Williams-Sonoma (WSM) stores, changing how Americans shop for pots and pans. He also turned Pottery Barn into the Gap of home furnishings, offering reasonable design at affordable prices. Hes a creative genius. He is that guy, says David Strasser, an analyst at Janney Montgomery. Either you believe the transformation makes sense or you dont. So far the evidence is that its pretty powerful.

Read more from the original source:
Restoration Hardware CEO Gary Friedman's Luxury Retail Ambitions

by Joe Flanagan, 13News Now

WVEC.com

Posted on February 26, 2014 at 3:07 PM

Updated today at 3:56 PM

VIRGINIA BEACH -- Ever wonder who has the job of cleaning, restoring and refurbishing homes and buildings after fires or floods?

I trained with restoration professionals from Serv Pro in Virginia Beach. General Manager Justin Johnson and I worked at one house that sustained about $70,000 in damage from a frozen pipe.

"This used to be a full kitchen. We've had to remove the cabinets, remove the tile, we had to take up some of the floors so that way we can dry the sub-floors underneath. We had to remove some walls that were heavily saturated," said Project Supervisor Ryan Disler.

It takes a special person to walk in and do restoration work.

"It's not for everybody. We've had people that have come in and worked a couple days and just said, you know, this isn't for me," said Johnson.

Serv Pro helped clean up after an arson fire at Royster Presbyterian Church in Norfolk -- a project that lasted a year and a half and cost o$1.1 million.

See the original post:
Joe's Job: Home Restoration Professional

The Attorney General's office has filed a lawsuit against a restoration company that victims say took their money and didn't follow through.

Tony Lopez can look around his 45-year-old Montopolis home and see plenty of things that need repair.

"My cabinets need fixing for sure," Lopez said.

He says it was appealing when two people representing themselves as Castro Property Restoration told him free government money was available to restore his home. All he would need to do is sign a form and pay $99 dollars. They even offered to put him up in a hotel until the work was complete.

"I said that sounds good. That sounds real good," said Lopez.

Lopez gave them $49 dollars as a deposit, but did not sign any forms. Castro representatives gave him a receipt and flyer. Lopez then did some checking. He first called FOX 7. We advised him not to pay any more money and to call the Better Business Bureau.

"He told me don't do anything. Don't sign no paper. Don't fool with them no more," Lopez said.

Rosa Fabien did pay the $99 dollars and sign the forms. She even loaded all of the contents of her home into pods the company brought out for her. But she had a bad feeling about it and unloaded all those items. She still hasn't had a chance to put it all back inside.

Fabien says Castro employees threatened her when she backed out.

"They said if I break this contract that I could go to jail and they could go to jail too," she said. "You know, I got so scared."

Continue reading here:
AG's office files lawsuit against Austin restoration company