From castle to palace, Inspired Home Expo has answers

MONTEREY >> Your home may be your castle, but home-improvement vendors from all over the Central Coast lined up Saturday at the Monterey County Fair and Events Center to tell homeowners how they can turn that castle into a palace.

The Inspired Home Expo of Monterey, a free event that continues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, features guest speakers on home-improvement topics such "Designing Rooms in Your Garden" by author/TV celebrity Steven Katkowsky, scheduled at 2:15 p.m. Sunday. Saturday's attendees heard Katkowsky on "Creating the Illusion of Size in Your 5x8 Bathroom," and Graniterock's Keith Severson, who conducted a "Patio Design" workshop.

"This is a product that is very unique it's called ICF block, and the ICF stands for insolating concrete forms," explained Brooke Lewis of Siesta Spas, a Carmel company that specializes in energy-efficient backyard hot tubs. "They build homes all over the world out of this product, but we use it to build hot tubs."

The idea, he says, is to build the hot tub using Styrofoam blocks separated by metal, then pour concrete between the Styrofoam blocks, creating "totally insulated concrete."

He then covers the insulated concrete with ornate rock and/or tile for a striking aesthetic.

"A rock and tile hot tub doesn't hold the heat, and it costs way too much energy to keep it hot," said Lewis, who sat surrounded by photos of picturesque backyard spas. "With this technology, we can now use the standard equipment that's used for every portable hot tub, and that equipment will keep big hot tubs hot. It's like putting coffee in a really good Thermos: At the end of the day you can open that Thermos and the coffee will still be piping hot."

Rows of vendors filling two indoor buildings and an outdoor corridor pitched water-conservation methods, home security systems, decorative windows, bamboo privacy hedges, landscaping, custom bathrooms and space-saving technology such as a modern-day Murphy bed that electronically lowers from a wall.

"We started our business after we built our own house because we knew we would end up looking after my parents, and also my wife's mom. We knew our little tract home wasn't going to do it," said Richard Muench, who, with his wife, Ann, started an East Bay company called Residential Elevators.

Muench figured out that building a home with vertical space costs far less in California than purchasing enough property for a spacious, one-story house.

"Because of the cost of land in California, it's cheaper to go up than out," Richard Muench said.

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From castle to palace, Inspired Home Expo has answers