By Matt Henke, Builder I have been using an iPhone since the very beginning, and I still have yet to lose the wonder of all the amazing things it can do. It’s baffling that I can pinpoint my friends exact location and even be notified when they leave their current location. I’m amazed that I can tell my phone to schedule an appointment with a client for a specific date, place, and time, without touching a button. I’m in awe that I can get real-time traffic conditions plotted on my map to allow me to change my re-route....
read moreBy Matt Henke, Builder We have no less than eight bikes in our garage. It probably has something to do with the fact that we have six kids. And that does not include the scooters, skateboards, balls, bats, and tennis racquets. You can do the math…but I digress. For the longest time the only bikes we had were ones that we had handed down to us from a good friend. They were far from new, but they had good bones. These are the kind of bikes you would want on a BMX track. Very solid. So we didn’t mind that they weren’t...
read moreBy Matt Henke, Builder I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon cutting large holes through the sides of my buddy’s laundry room cabinets. Yes, this was on purpose. Until a few years ago, his dryer exhaust exited the house. But they added a closed in porch so now all that lint and exhaust was mucking up the porch. And with Mother’s Day furniture headed into that space, the exhaust had to be re-routed. That’s where I came in. We ran it through the back of the cabinets and out the side of the home. It took a little doing,...
read moreBy Matt Henke, Builder My kids love this little dessert place near our home called Yogo Bowl. Think Baskin Robbins with frozen yogurt. A dozen or more flavors of frozen yogurt and dozens of toppings to go with it. What kid wouldn’t love that? Or adult for that matter? Personally, I’m not a fan, but I’m pretty sure I’m an outlier. A big part of the draw for a place like Yogo Bowl is the “choose your own adventure” element that permeates. You, the customer, get to begin the adventure with a blank palette....
read moreI like singing in the shower. I like to belt it out, nice and loud. But unlike many of you it’s not because I’ve got golden pipes. Just the opposite. I like to belt it out because it drives the kids crazy. There’s nothing more fun than for me rip a falsetto version of one of Whitney Houston’s classics. And there’s no accompaniment strong enough to drown out the tunes I’m producing. But for the rest of you Kohler has come out with a nifty little device called Moxie that could make your shower...
read moreYou definitely don't need to become an expert in building practices and building science,
read moreBy Matt Henke, Builder Move or remodel? That is the question. And I hate making decisions. Not to mention this has real consequences. Many of us live in neighborhoods where we feel safe, in close proximity to schools that we love, and near to shopping and parks that are convenient. Yet the reality may be that our fixtures and appliances are out-dated, and we could use more space. We want to have our cake and eat it too, but it seems untenable. We could move, even build our dream house, somewhere close to the places and people we value. But...
read moreBy Matt Henke, Builder For many of us, “sequestration” is new to our vocabulary. It has only been in the past few weeks that it has repeatedly made headlines. To clarify, sequestration refers to federal budget cuts to discretionary accounts. The military and Medicare are a few of the largest budgets hit by these cuts. There has been much talk about what the cuts mean for consumers. It also begs the question, what does it mean for home-building? It really depends on who you ask. For builders providing homes for military and federal...
read moreBy Matt Henke, Builder “I like it…I just don’t know what to call it.” I often feel like that when I look at homes. That’s why a site like Houzz can be particularly helpful for creating collections or idea-books. But it can also be helpful to have shorthand labels for themes or styles you like. This can make getting oriented to architects, builders, and interior designers much quicker. Do you like modern, contemporary, rustic, traditional, colonial, ranch, Tuscan, cottage, craftsman, or a unique blend of several?...
read moreBy Matt Henke, Builder I watch a lot of junior high girls basketball these days. Not because I have a natural interest in it; I have a paternal interest in it. It can be painful, watching arms flail and shots fall painfully short. But every once in a while something magical happens. One of the players breaks free with the ball and sprints for the far basket. Incredibly she is all alone and scores an easy lay-up. Giddy with excitement she turns to discover she is the only one celebrating. She has just scored in the wrong basket. Sometimes it...
read more
Designed by North Austin Web Sitemap XML Sitemap
