{"id":245020,"date":"2012-04-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-04-27T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/house-calls-the-old-house-lovers-resource-guide\/"},"modified":"2012-04-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-04-27T07:00:00","slug":"house-calls-the-old-house-lovers-resource-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/house-calls-the-old-house-lovers-resource-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"House Calls: The old house lover\u2019s resource guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

The courtship between homeowner and tradesman sometimes requires a matchmaker<\/strong><\/p>\n

por Michael Bueno <\/strong>

\"House<\/a>
Replica windows by San Diego Sash. (Photo courtesy San Diego Sash)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

In the spring a young woman\u2019s fancy turns to thoughts of… kitchen remodeling. <\/p>\n

No, wait, I didn\u2019t get that quite right. <\/p>\n

In the spring a young man\u2019s fancy turns to thoughts of kitchen remodeling\u2014and the young women who are also thinking about kitchen remodeling. But let\u2019s not forget the not-so-young. Women as well as men. And the baths.<\/p>\n

Okay…In the spring, nearly everyone is thinking about remodeling\u2014something.<\/p>\n

Even people who have just remodeled. Even people who thought they were so over remodeling. The sun comes out, the rain stops, and the next thing you know there\u2019s an orange extension cord running across your floor. You wake up to the sound of power tools, and the smell of sawdust fills the air. Hope, like a leaky roof, springs eternal. <\/p>\n

So in recognition of this season of sawing, here is my highly personal resource list, comprised of people whom I\u2019ve written about in this column, as well as people I\u2019ve worked with or who have worked for me. Of course, this doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re right for you\u2014you may have different priorities, a different communication style, and different ideas about what comprises quality work and a reasonable price. <\/p>\n

Some homeowners are looking for the Wal-Mart remodel\u2014OK quality at the lowest possible price, whatever the social, political and ethical ramifications. I prefer to work with people I like and trust. It\u2019s an old fashion idea, one that goes along with the old fashioned house in which I live. But whether or not you agree, your renovation relationship will be more successful if you hook up with people who understand the unique challenges of working on older homes. <\/p>\n

Chimeneas aut\u00e9nticas<\/strong>
\nJim Crawford is a third-generation chimney guy, \u201ca vintage fireplace aficionado.\u201d He\u2019s also a bit of a raconteur, and can fill you in on the history of tile in San Diego. Crawford is your go-to guy if you\u2019re looking for someone to replace a few tiles, steer you to the right source for antique tile, identify your tile or restore your fireplace. Phone: 858-274-6134. Website: authenticfireplacesinc.com.<\/p>\n

Frank\u2019s Appliance Service Center<\/strong>
\nIf your gas stove is smelling ominous, your burners aren\u2019t firing up or a knob is missing, Frank Jimenez can fix it. There are other companies that restore vintage stoves, and sell completely restored works of art from the 1920s-50s, but if you\u2019re looking for someone local who can quickly get your stove up and running again, call Frank. Phone: 619-298-3872. Cell: 619-200-2632.<\/p>\n

Heath Farrell Carpentry<\/strong>
\nHeath is a carpenter and contractor who does wood window repair, installs replica windows when the originals can\u2019t be saved, and takes care of other carpentry problems unique to 100-year-old houses. He regularly installs windows for San Diego Sash. Phone: 619-787-5814.<\/p>\n

Laird Plumleigh<\/strong>
\nIf you want a modern interpretation of classic arts and crafts tile, Laird Plumleigh\u2019s your man. He designs and manufactures field tiles, trim and decorative borders, landscape tiles and Moresque tiles. Plumleigh is located in Encinitas, offers tours of his studio, is a native Californian and surfer, and his tile is infused with a spirit of present-day California as well as the past. Laird Plumleigh Studios is located on 1550 Gascony Road in Encinitas. Phone: 760-942-6051. Website: lairdplumleigh.com. <\/p>\n

Dise\u00f1o del paisaje de Raymond Shaw<\/strong>
\nThere are people who you hire to put plants in the ground. They are gardeners. Then there are people who you hire to decide where the plants go, where the garden structures go such as fences, gates, gazebos, paths, bricks and walls, as well as how the hardscape and plants can work together, in perfect harmony, with you and your house. Those people are landscape designers and Raymond Shaw is one. He lives in North Park, has a background in graphic design and teaching, draws colorful, detailed plans that are suitable for framing and is up-to-date on the latest in low-water gardens. Phone: 619-696-9179. Website rayshawlandscapedesign.com.<\/p>\n

Schuette Painting & Decorating<\/strong>
\nKurt Schuette has a historic house, lives in Mission Hills and understands the travails of owning a home of a certain age. He\u2019s also got a good eye for color, an easy-going manner and good communication skills. Schuette does both exterior and interior work. You can trust him not to mess up your woodwork after it\u2019s been laboriously refinished, a skill many other painters lack. Phone: 619-298-2476. E-mail: mail@kurtSchuette.com.<\/p>\n

Steve Fox Plumbing<\/strong>
\nWhen you have a water leak, it\u2019s always an emergency. But when it\u2019s the day before Christmas Eve, and the City has just turned off your water because of a leak at the meter, it\u2019s a special emergency, with a bow on it. When I found myself in that situation last December, I turned to the Service Directory in \u201cSan Diego Uptown News\u201d and called Steve Fox Plumbing. Steve rode up the street on a white stallion\u2014okay, it was a service truck\u2014and dug around in the mud at my curb until well after dark. All that really matters is that I didn\u2019t have to face a grim Christmas with a bucket. He also gave me a nice key fob in the shape of a heart. Phone: 619-286-6325. <\/p>\n

San Diego Sash<\/strong>
\nWood windows can last virtually forever\u2014provided you maintain the paint, finish and putty. If it\u2019s too late for that, if your wood windows are rotted, termite-ridden, bowed, racked or beyond repair, call San Diego Sash Co. Proprietor Shawn Woolery can build authentic replicas of your wood windows, as well as replicate wood trim and doors, from his modern shop while using vintage equipment. San Diego Sash is located at 435 West Bradley Ave., Suite D in El Cajon. Phone: 619-944-8283. Email: shawn@sandiegosashcompany.com.<\/p>\n

Van Dusen Millworking<\/strong>
\nWhat makes a Craftsman bungalow unique? The woodwork: the doors, windows, baseboards, mantels, bookcases and china cabinets. People will tell you how these architectural elements are irreplaceable, and to a degree they are, but if you are serious about it, you can get replicas built and installed that will fool everyone but the experts. William Van Dusen has been restoring old houses and garden structures for decades. Van Dusen will help you figure out what your missing bookcase doors looked like and build new replicas to the same specifications. Phone: 619-443-7689. Email: william@wvdmillwork.com. Website: wvdmillwork.com.<\/p>\n

Verre Designs<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s really rare to find leaded glass still intact in old San Diego houses today. That\u2019s not because it was never there, it\u2019s because leaded glass is fragile, heavy and people over the years tended to throw it away, rather than repair it. Lisa at Verre Designs was trained in Europe, has a nice personal esthetic sense, and can replicate broken or missing art glass as well as design something completely unique for your remodeling project. Phone: 858-220-3282. Email: lisa@verredesigns.com. Website: verredesigns.com.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The courtship between homeowner and tradesman sometimes requires a matchmaker By Michael Good In the spring a young woman\u2019s fancy turns to thoughts of… kitchen remodeling. No, wait, I didn\u2019t get that quite right. In the spring a young man\u2019s fancy turns to thoughts of kitchen remodeling\u2014and the young women who are also thinking about […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":244776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"House Calls: The old house lover\u2019s resource guide","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}