It is now officially the end of the summer and we have been reflecting on the last few months. We have had a busy summer over here at River Valley Construction. We have had the pleasure to work on a wide variety projects for some great customers. We have been keeping busy building new decks, fence installs, finishing basements, laying concrete patios a kitchen renovation and even a bath remodel. What follows are a few Facebook Posts featuring samples of our recent work.

Continue reading Summer is over! →

Remodeling Cents: What to do… Rebuild or Update that old deck

We get this question asked often. Its not an easy question to ask mainly because it deals with what you as the home owner perceives as a honest budget and what the desired look you are going for.

First I would like to point out if your deck is over 10 years of age you might want to consider replacing the entire deck do to a few major issues.

1. Post in the ground tend to rot and need to  be replaced

2. Building practices change and updated codes may require new safety measures.

3. New deck materials can offer and extended life to a new deck.

I do however realize that there are many of us that live in a budget strapped world and would like to potential save the deck they have or possibly just keep the substructure. I can certainly understand and have been there myself. The truth is the main structure of the deck is about a quarter of the total labor and material cost. Majority of the deck cost are in the decking products themselves and the railing.

I always advise a good inspection of the existing structure to be evaluated by a qualified installer before you reuse the substructure. If its cost saving your going for, I suggest looking at the decking and railing products and make sure your main structure is sound.

Happy building

* check out our DIY” Assist Program”- we help you build with confidence

Hey Folks……. Now that 2013 is upon us, it’s a good idea to start planning any home renovations that you want done in the early spring. There are many different reasons to renovate a home, but remodeling tips that allow a home to appear larger are among the most important. Changing the amount of space in a home is difficult, but rearranging space within a home is much more affordable. It is also sometimes possible to make a room more efficient and therefore seem larger or to use lighting and other minor changes to give the appearance of more space.

Compliments on your remodeling efforts are always a welcome payoff, but nothing beats seeing your home value rise as a result of your hard work. It can be tricky to determine which home improvement projects are worth the sweat and which aren’t. To gain the most from your improvements, select projects that do more with what you already have.

Here are Weaver’s Top 6 Recommended Upgrades for 2013

1. Create a home office- If the recession has taught us one thing, it’s that you have to be prepared for anything. A well designed home office could be the answer
2. Focus on affordable beauty- While everyone wants a beautiful kitchen, the days of professional-grade kitchens went bye-bye when home equity loans became tougher to get! You can get still a great look without spending an arm and a leg.
3. Tile and Backsplashes upgrades are in- Formal mosaic tile is on the way out, taking its place are glass/stone/tile mosaic composites creating backsplashes in contemporary settings.
4. Cool Color Palette- 2013 will find mild and smooth color everywhere as it blends the right amount of chocolate, grey and a touch of green.
5. Living In Your Home Longer- a growing trend to help aging baby boomers safely “grow old” in their homes, for as long as possible utilizing certified aging-in-place specialists (CAPS). Watch for easy kitchen and bath upgrades to enhance functionality, comfort and safety based on Universal Design.
6. Healthy Home, Happy Living-Green and sustainable design is here to stay. The number one trend for 2013 will be to create a healthy living environment, free of toxins and harsh chemicals. More and more upgrade trends include the use of low VOC materials to improve indoor air quality, testing combustion safety, and radon mitigation.

The single most important remodeling tips that everyone should follow is to develop a realistic budget and stick to it. Budget problems during remodeling can be disastrous, often derailing progress and creating undesirable results. Individual rooms may benefit from different remodeling strategies, and there are many tips available for specific areas of a home. Overall, planning ahead is the key to a successful remodeling project no matter what the scale or design. … That’s the real trend of 2013!

What is your home remodeling project for 2013?We can help!

Hey Folks………. Looking to change or upgrade your living space? Adding trim can help you to match the style of your home whether going for a classical, craftsman, or a simple look. Trim can be elaborate or can remain quite simple

Molding and trim make an Impact from baseboards to crown molding, these details add width, depth and height to a boring room. One of the primary characteristics distinguishing a attractive room from a basic box is the attention to molding. In the cheapest construction, moldings will be minimal and undersized.

One of the easiest ways to upgrade a room is to beef up all the moldings, adding width, depth and height to the trim. Far from closing in a room, the increased framing adds depth to the walls, especially if it is painted the same color as the walls for a unified look. Interior moldings provide attitude as well as architectural interest.

Weaver’s Top list of Ideas to Consider!

· Base Moulding
· Supply and Install New Doors
· Window and Door Casing
· Bookcases and built-ins
· Paneled Walls and Wainscoting
· Crown Moulding
· Ceilings – Coffered, Tray and Beams

When adding custom trim, crown moulding tends to get the most response when people enter a room. We can work with you to design crown moulding that is right for you. Crown moulding can enhance many details in a home including walls, cabinets, bookcases, and built-in cabinets.

Ceilings can be treated with custom trim, mouldings, and beams. Coffered ceilings are created with beams and mouldings in a geometric shape to define an area. Coffered ceilings can define a room to set it apart from other rooms even if there are no walls to define the area. They can give a room a formal look but can also be used in a family room to break up an expansive ceiling. A tray ceiling added to a room with a low ceiling will give a perception of more height or grandness. Ceilings can also be enhanced with the addition of beams. River Valley Construction will work with you to determine the best type of ceiling for your space.

With a strong background in home renovations , River Valley Construction can work with you to design a moulding scheme that complements and revitalize your home. Our highly skilled team of professional tradesmen can satisfy all your needs. Each project is covered by general liability insurance. All projects are supervised by owner every day.

How Can We Help? Contact us today for a free in home consultation! See you soon.

Hi folks……If your basement is unfinished and therefore going unused it may be time for you to remodel. River Valley Construction is familiar with the many aspects of basement remodeling and will be able to assist you transform your unused basement into a modern home office, entertainment center, in home sports bar, home gym, family room or new guest room. The possibilities are completely up to your imagination! Our easy remodeling process will be able to make your vision a reality through providing:

• Basement Redesign
• Bathroom Fitout
• Entertainment Space
• Drywall Installation
• Electrical Work
• Lighting Installation
• Plumbing Installation
• Floor Installation
• Wet bar Installation
• And much, much

Remodeling your basement will not only provide your friends and family with a great new space, it will also considerably increase your home’s market value. No matter if you are looking to add a bathroom to your basement or considering doing a complete basement overhaul the helpful contractors will be able to help you regardless of your project size.

We are often asked: What is a general price for a finished basement space? We find on average a finished basement can be between $20-$30 a square foot as a turnkey package. This is largely influenced by the finishes requested. We also encourage our homeowners to consider some of the remodeling they might want to tackle on their own with our DIY “Assist” Program.To get started, call today for a free in home consultation.

Ready… Set…. Remodel: Finishing Your Basement

A finished basement is a great addition to a home. Most people think a basement remodel is one of the easiest home remodeling projects to complete. More often than not, it is actually one of the more complex projects. Basements often have water and drainage problems, inadequate ceiling heights, old sloping concrete floor slabs, no insulation, and no easy way to connect the plumbing. And most people expect the basement to serve many purposes. Often the basement is designed to accommodate work and play, media rooms, storage and craft areas and many other uses. So unless you are looking for a simple, one-room remodel, be prepared to address a number of challenges.

WEAVER’S TOP THINGS YOU MUST KNOW: FINISHING A BASEMENT

Don’t Start to Work Until You Know It’s Dry

Before you do any kind of finished work on a basement, make sure there won’t be any water issues that could cause damage. Go outside and inspect the exterior walls for moisture problems. Make sure the ground is sloped away from the foundation walls. Also, check the downspouts, if they’re clogged, it could be create a lot of moisture and bring it into the basement.

Check the Code Before You Pound a Nail

Once you have a design plan and you’ve checked for moisture, the next thing you should do is find out whether you need to get a permit for the proposed renovation. Also, make sure that everything pertaining to electrical work is done to code.

Suspend Your Ceiling Preconceptions

If you need to have access to electrical and plumbing systems in your ceiling, suspended ceiling tiles are the way to go. Otherwise, with a drywall ceiling, you’d have to create access panels.

Add Some Warmth at the Baseboards

Baseboard heating is an excellent choice for a basement. Normally the basement is the coolest room in the house, so choose a heating method wisely.

Don’t Forget Your Egress

If a room will be used for sleeping be sure it has an egress window to the exterior. It’s not safe to sleep in a room with only one exit.

Recessed Lighting is Your Friend

Recessed lighting is great for basements since you don’t want fixtures hanging from a low ceiling. Because there’s limited natural light, basement lighting is essential to brighten up the place.

We hope to see you soon!

Remodeling That Make Cents.- Increase the effeciency…. not  size

As our lives change so do the needs of our home. Older homes tend to have cramped space and do not typically fit a modern lifestyle. If you can reorganize and equip your home for maximum utility, you may not need to blow out the walls to gain square footage. Our informal, modern lifestyles of today are better suited to open floor plans and kitchens that open into adjacent living spaces. If your needs and ideas about your home are constantly evolving, reconfiguring interior space may be the perfect design solution to fit your home.

      Weaver’s Top Interior Renovations

• Improved home office space for work and play
• Remove the parting wall to create more flow from room to room
• Create a luxure suite feel between master bath and bed
• Combine space to create a Jack and Jill bath to fit a need
• Remodel your home to help you grow with your family needs with universal design concepts

We understand that universal interior space redesign is the most efficient and cost-effective way to get the home of your dreams without building an expensive addition. With a more efficient floor plan, your home can be transformed into a space to fit your lifestyle. A detailed in home consultation by River Valley Construction will often reveal opportunities that were not immediately apparent. In many cases, your home is full of untapped potential: excessive hallway space, odd closet configurations, undersized or oversized rooms and poorly laid out circulation are all waiting to be transformed into more livable, usable space. Often a home does not need more space – just better space, and that’s where you can truly benefit from interior space reconfiguration!

Contact us before you consider your next remodel! Your Project is Our Passion.

Do It Yourself projects are a great way to improve your home! Home repair and maintenance should not be an overwhelming thing. We’ve all had to deal with peeling paint, lose doors, broken fence boards, rotting wood, leaky roofs and you name it. Many of you have seen bad repair jobs too. Many home owners try to manage improvements on our own, mostly for the financial reason; the general response we hear is …

“we do it on our own to save money, mainly because we just don’t want to pay someone else to do what we can or think we can do”.

It is perfectly normal to think like this as we all want to save money and sometimes we just prefer to do things ourselves. The most important part of maintaining a home is by participating in an Investment Protection Plan to help take care of small things before they turn into big things. This is the one area that we should not neglect or it will only cost more in repairs, frustration, and inconvenience.

As with a lot of things in life, sometimes all we need a certain bit of information, assistance, or someone to help you say, “yeah!, I can do that”. Friends, do I have a program for you, River Valley Construction developed a simple program for those of you looking for some professional hands on advice. We can help design, select products, develop a schedule, acquire trade professionals and even help with the general labor you may not want to handle.

The Big Question….. What Can I Take On!

The big question now is how big a project do I want to take on? Well, we feel anyone has the ability to handle most projects; it usually comes down to time and money along with, how big is the project? A tool shed in the backyard, mulching beds, repair drywall, caulking windows? Probably doable, but a room addition to the house, you might consider getting a builder.

You should consider a few questions:

• How much time can I commit to the project?
• How handy are you with basic tools and equipment?
• Are expecting to have friends and family help or do you need to hire Helping Hands?
• What is the general budget for your project?
• How many trade professionals are involved?
• Are you comfortable Permitting and scheduling the job?
• Do you have the ability to pick up material?

Your answers to these simple questions will help understand where you need the most help? We are excited to ASSIST you with your project. River Valley Construciton truly believes you have the ability to complete any project with a little help giving you the bragging rights at your next neighborhood cookout!

Okay…. So What Is All This Help Going To Cost Me?

Our basic program starts with a site visit. We discover a general scope with labor “Helping Hands”, material, commitment hours and trade professionals and the project details you would like us to handle. Do to the flexible nature of our “ ASSIST” program, we have developed rates that are both manageable and budget friendly. We will be there with you every step of the way.

Initial Visit – Project Discovery – Hour – $45

Initial Permitting – Management – Hour – $75 ( plus 25% to permit fees )

Hourly Rate – Management – Hour – $45 ( 2 hour min.)

Hourly Rate – Helping Hands – Hour – $28 ( 4 hour min. )

Delivery – General – Miles – $25 – ( combine with labor )

Special Trades – Management Fee – 25% – ( add 25% to trade rate )

Materials – Management – 25% ( add 25% to material cost )

Investment – Protection Plan – General – Year $200

“Helping Hands” is our general labor crews, ready to help you with your home improvement needs! Special Trades and Materials are paid the same day services are complete.

If you have a project in mind, give us a call we would love to discuss it with you. For more information please call us at 240-674 6750.

We know its not exactly rocket science but when considering a new fence there are several items you should consider to ensure your investment in time and money will not only fit your needs today but into the future as well. We know a well-constructed attractive fence can greatly enhance the value and appeal of any property before undertaking your fence project, here are a few important considerations;

RVC’s 8 major considerations for your fence project

1. The main function of the fence
   • security
   • boundary
   • confinement
   • noise reduction
   • privacy
   • decorative appeal
   • Materials used
2. The exact location of the property line
3. Any land use easements (right of use granted other persons who require passage through your property in order to access their own).
4. Any underground utilities present
5. Local zoning laws and building permit requirements
6. How plans will effect neighbors
7. Future family needs ( kids, animals, friends )
8. Gate locations and size

Here are some basic fence types of fencing to consider. The terminology for fences can be confusing. Below is a list of fencing types in the Maryland area.

Board by Board- Also called “Side by Side”. It is exactly how it’s described. Pickets are placed next to each other and nailed. This is a good privacy fence but you can see between the pickets up close. We do hundreds of these a year and they are one of our most common fences. These can be done using 4 or 6 inch wide pickets 6 to 8 feet tall.

• Board on Board- This fence is installed with a gap between the pickets and then a cover picket installed over the gap. This is the most private fence. These can be built using ONLY 6 inch wide pickets. The 4 inch will split! We can install this fence in a 4,6 or 8 foot configuration.
• Shadow Box- These fences are great for properties that are in very high wind locations. The shadow box fence has staggered pickets placed on each side allowing wind to blow directly through them. Looking head on, you can’t see through this type of fence, but at an angle, you can see directly into yards, If you’re looking for privacy, this is not the fence you want. These do make great inner fences around gardens and pools.
• Custom Fencing- We can build almost anything customers can come up with. We have built many custom fences tailored to our customer’s wants and needs. Call us on these types of fences.
• Ranch Board- This is a fence that is basically posts and 2×6 slat or runner boards stack 3 or 4 high. These are usually used to keep live stock contained and are a safer alternative to barbed wire.
• Spaced Picket- This style of fence allow wind to flow freely between pickets; cementing posts is not necessary, but recommended. This style is simple to build out of components and easy to install if delivered in pre-built panels. Spaced picket styles of wood fence have a traditional appeal and have been very popular in the states for decades. Usually 4’ to 5’ height.
• Cedar split rail fence- This is one of the most cost effective styles for defining boundaries, decorating property, and fencing in livestock and horses. Split rail fencing is also one of, if not the easiest style of fence to install making it an ideal project for the do-it-yourselfer. Posts are typically set directly in the ground approx. 30″ deep with concrete. Wire fence is often used for added security or protection.
• Chain Link- These are the old fences we grew up with. They last forever but do not give you that great curb appeal that a wood fence does. We can get this in a lot of different colors that are coated using a colored rubber material.

Above is just a few of the fencing types we install. If you see something that’s not there, just call us and we will custom build what you need. Remember to check out our gallery of the fences we install. We put up new pictures as we build new fences on our website www.river-valley-construciton.com. Let’s make yours one of them. Call or Email our team for further information! (240) 674 6750