More specifically, recently a good friend and neighbor passed away unexpectedly. Events such as this cause us to look back and remember our relationship with a friend. Our first meeting was 22 years earlier. He had been given my number by a colleague at work that we had worked for. When he called we went through usual list of questions and answers that our intended business required. Arriving at directions to his home I then asked if he would mind me stopping in right away. No, not at all, he said.

I walked over and knocked on his door. This caught him a little by surprise because only 3 minutes ago we were on the phone with each other. What we didn’t know at first was that we were new neighbors because our family had just moved in kitty corner to his. We were both amused by the coincidence. And that is how I met Jon Pipe.

Admittedly my main concern was to acquire a new client for our roofing business. At the time our main focus was exterior renovations in the Watertown and Jefferson county areas which required a constant flow of new customers. Usually referrals from past customers worked best and here was a prime candidate. But now there was the added fact that we were neighbors. Could a business and good neighbor policy blend well enough?

Apparently so, in fact I would say we actually became good friends. I give the credit to Jon mostly. He had a knack for drawing you out with his engaging personality. Perhaps it was his own career choice as an art teacher that taught him to do so. More than likely it was just part of him already that helped make him a great teacher. Regardless, he was able to make everyone feel good about themselves. It became a pleasure to stop in occasionally to just chat with him about whatever was the topic of the day.

Over the years we did nearly everything that was done in or on his home. As our business grew into other avenues he was always supportive. In his kitchen is the first engineered hardwood floor I ever installed and that was also where my son Jon mixed the entire tub of epoxy grout for the tiled counter top too soon and we had to work like mad men to get in on before it set up. Both caused a bit of stress at the time and became a source of humorous comments later.

No problem was insurmountable and a job well done always resulted in a welcome pat on the back. All of his intended projects were pretty well thought out before he called, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t entertain a fresh idea. I remember one call to simply add a closet turned into a major overhaul of the master bedroom with vaulted ceilings and expanded dressing area.

Certainly as a client Jon will be missed. But more so, the ‘hood has lost a good homey and many have lost a good friend. One of the few that many would say, Thanks for being a part of our lives.

You can Google search the topic and will find numerous websites offering their twist on the best advice. Remodeling groups will bias the advice towards their own members, listing services will lean towards their contractors and of course contractor sites will give advice that point to them as the best choice. Obviously my advice would be to call Cook Contracting, LLC for a safe reliable renovation.

How about getting other people involved? Any contractor you are considering should offer references or at least have them readily available if you ask for them. Call a few of them and ask questions to find out what it is like to work with each prospective candidate. Did they start and finish on time? Was the work completed as promised? Where the materials and techniques up to the specifications provided? The important questions to ask are the ones that you would most likely be concerned about yourself. Some are more concerned with staying on budget; some prefer a tight schedule while others want the best possible job when finished.

To paraphrase an old maxim,
“You can have it cheaper, quicker, better. Pick two.”
Think about it and you’ll realize you can’t have all three.

Don’t forget to trust your gut. We so often prefer to ignore our instincts in an effort to reach our goal. The homeowner in court mentioned that she saw and ignored a number of red flags that should have stopped her. The price was low enough, the start date was soon enough and she wanted to be in her new kitchen more than she wanted to pay attention to her intuition. Remodeling is a big decision, don’t be rushed to act if your gut say’s wait.

Maybe you prefer an expert opinion. Man’s best friend is purported to be an excellent judge of character. Assuming your dog isn’t overly aggressive, or at least has been recently fed, have him or her sit in when you meet with prospective contractors. I’ll leave it to you to judge the reliability of this advice, but I’ve been told more than once that we were hired because the dog liked us. I’m pretty sure it worked out for these folks because they did have us back for additional remodeling work.

And let’s not forget proper insurance. Ask for proof and verify it. Get a certificate of insurance mailed or faxed to you and call the agent listed to verify liability and workman’s compensation coverage before work begins. It’s your home, let’s not risk it.

A major development took place in the year 1824. An English inventor Joseph Aspdin invented Portland cement. He made concrete by burning grounded chalk and finely crushed clay in a limekiln till the carbon dioxide evaporated, resulting in strong cement.

Concrete that uses embedded metal is called reinforced concrete or Ferroconcrete. It was Joseph Monier who first invented reinforced concrete in 1849. He was a Gardner who made flowerpots and tubs of reinforced concrete with the use of iron mesh.

Today one of the most exciting choices for your kitchen counter top is concrete.

Carefully formed with cast cast color inlays there are no bounds to the styles and colors in making a concrete countertop. Monolithically poured, in one piece using glass chunks and chips in a modern pattern allows the craftier to create a one of a kind piece for your home.

Too artsy? Concrete can be colored in your choice of hundreds of shades.

David Cook is one of a new age of craftier that has chosen concrete for his countertop median.

People have discovered concrete counters as an option for modern kitchens. For good reason, concrete is durable, lasts forever and can be formed into any shape . Concrete counter tops are formed using plywood and boards. The concrete is poured inside, it dries and then the boards are removed.

Color can be added to the mix or finishes can be added later, some tops have stones, coins, glass chips or metal strips installed for effect, sinks can be built right in. You are limited only by your imagination.

Fireproof and difficult to damage a concrete top will offer a lifetime of use, if damaged it can be repaired. Call David Cook and find out if your a good fit for concrete tops.

If you are looking for a new countertops in the Watertown, NY area please call us today at:

315-405-1510 or complete our online request form.

The reason we don’t normally travel this far is the drive time. But what really made it all worthwhile in this case was…. the drive time. Late September, back country roads near the Oswegatchie River and the job itself was on the waterfront of Pleasant Lake near Gouverneur, NY.

Driving up Route 11 can be rather mundane for the most part. There is the big sheep herd outside of Antwerp, with a goat herd on an adjoining pasture. That’s alright in my book. But turning off the highway you go around a curve and up, then down a hill and suddenly you’re “out in the country”. It’s almost imperceptible how your vehicle slows on its own, somehow sensing that you’ve left the rat race.

It’s a long drive, long enough for the scenery to work on your senses and become known. That’s when you first notice a little color in the leaves as they start to turn. The fields are scattered with big round bales of hay hoping to get collected soon. A red tail hawk perches atop a telephone pole and scans the field below. He’s intent on lunch and hardly notices you drive by.

Eventually your left turn arrives and you leave the painted country highway. You’ll make several road changes along the way and each one gets a bit narrower. Mores woods, smaller fields, and now and again wild turkeys. One group seemed headed up by a frantic mother hen trying to get the flock out of the road. A bearded tom saunters across. It is his road after all.

Then there is the dead end. You did see the sign announcing the eventuality just past the last intersection, but still, are these directions correct? Ah, to the right by the sign post remarking “private, owners only” and it is dirt and gravel road cutting into the forest. Up and down, twisting around this way and that as you near the lake. My truck is a standard shift 5 speed that hardly gets out of 2nd gear on this lane.

But there’s another turn, left and up a steep but short hill whose crest leaves you hoping there’s a downside where you can’t see. You hardly recover when faced with a hairpin curve leading into a gulley. Drive around another curve and straight across a swamp. Across the way and up the next hill, more twisting and soon enough you’re at the driveway. At least you hope it’s the driveway. This time it’s a grassy road, another blind hillcrest followed by a sharp curve. On one side rises a steep rock wall best described as a small cliff. On the other, a nearly as steep drop off that’s home to trees, brush and more rocks.

Rounding that last curve it is truly gratifying to see there is plenty of room to turn around. Then the view comes into focus.

Pleasant Lake is a small lake set in a forest and ringed about ¾’s with summer homes comfortably spaced. The rest of the shoreline is part of a State preserve and won’t be developed. No more than a handful of boats were on the water any time we were there. For a little bit there is no rest of the world, no wars or suffering, mortal troubles having no place here. There’s just this lake shielded by serenity, where the waters are calm and the fish bring their own bait.

On the way home the last day there is time to reflect. Certainly the job didn’t go as planned, should have been done the first day. Of course we would have had to skip the getting lost part. And there is that unwritten law that governs forgetting tools in direct proportion to distance away from home base. Or is that true? All I know is that for a little while, there was just this place.

Good Luck
Dave