Blog

Minnesota weather isn’t easy on a house. Winters here are cold, summers are hot and humid, and the temperature swings in between put stress on a home all year long. The layers behind your siding, the wall assembly, is what’s managing all of that: keeping water and air where they belong, no matter what the […]

JLC readers may be aware of the “Perfect Wall”—a wall design by building-scientist Dr. Joe Lstiburek of Building Science Corporation that, in a phrase, “keeps the outside out and the inside in.” All the control layers for water, air, vapor, and thermal energy are placed outside the structure. That means there is no insulation in the […]

A recipe for a 100+-year exterior cladding solution Open-joint cladding systems have been getting a lot of attention from architects, in part because they allow the addition of texture and depth to walls. On a recent project, I had a lot of fun designing the exterior façades, as I was no longer limited to the […]

Recently, our company began what was initially a large kitchen remodel on a turn-of-the-last-century home, but as sometimes happens on a lot of older homes, we encountered some significant structural issues as we started to pull things apart. There is always pressure to keep costs down, and when unexpected problems arise, that pressure increases. Yet, […]

Welcome to the future of remodeling, where AI tools enhance how we envision, plan, and execute major projects. AI tools—today, not tomorrow—empower remodelers to bring greater focus, efficiency, productivity and profit to their work. What is AI in Remodeling? AI in remodeling refers to the integration of artificial intelligence technology to improve the design, planning, […]

What metrics should we use to evaluate and define the quality of our housing. On a Monday morning, a message from my Architect friend, Steve Baczek, posed the question “What the best house in America looks like? What metrics would you use? Which metrics would you prioritize?” The question is similar to the ones we […]