A beautiful custom home represents a large investment of money, time and resources. Someone who has decided to make that investment wants the home to present its best features. These can include not only architecture and landscaping but also lighting. Don’t leave lighting as an afterthought, instead we encourage you to consider it early in […]
Best Kitchen Design
Congratulations to Mike Blake Custom Homes. Their kitchen entry was selected as a 2016 Star Awards – Best Kitchen Design Finalist! There were many entries in one of the most prestigious categories in the competition. Mike Blake Custom Homes kitchen design, finish out and people impressed the out-of-state guest judges and resulted in their entry […]
Pot Filler Faucet
Recently at Mike Blake Custom Homes we installed a pot filler faucet above a 36” gas cooktop. Initially I thought why in the world would anyone really need a pot filler. I mean how many pots of water are you going to carry to the cooktop anyway? Well now that I have one of my own […]
Bidet Toilet Seats
Bidet toilet seats – Mike Blake Custom Homes At Mike Blake Custom Homes I am frequently asked to investigate a range of products. I recently investigated bidet toilet seats for a client and I was so impressed that I installed a bidet seat in my personal home. You’re probably asking yourself – what’s that. Bidet seats utilize […]
Best Wall Sheathing – Zip System
At Mike Blake Custom Homes we understand that one of the biggest obstacles to achieving superior energy-efficiency is air leakage. Air leakage is the unintended movement of air into or out of a building enclosure. This is caused when the materials that comprise a building’s air-barrier system are ineffective. The United States Department of Energy reports […]
Hardwood Flooring Part II
Wood floors come in a rainbow of colors to fit any décor. You can achieve unique, one-of-a-kind looks with custom stains and finishes. The possibilities are endless. Today’s wood floors come in more than 50 species, both domestic and exotic, spanning the spectrum of color options, hardness, and price ranges. No matter what the look […]
How to Pick a Hardwood Floor
At Mike Blake Custom Homes we are always helping customers with the pros and cons of choosing hardwood floors. Part 1 of this article will deal with the three main types of hardwood floors to consider. Each type is available in both an unfinished and a pre-finished version. Unfinished flooring must be job-site sanded and finished […]
The Best Safe Rooms and Storm Shelters
Recently I was going through my YouTube station and was astonished to see that one of our videos had over 100,000 views! Of course that was a big surprise but what was even bigger was the subject manner – storm shelters/safe rooms. Thinking back or the last several years there has been a steady increase in interest. So […]
Tornado Protection: What did we learned from 2011 tornado’s
The recent “Journal of Light Construction” took a look at the damage inflicted on new wood frame homes by the April 2011 tornado’s in North Carolina and Alabama. According to analysis by the National Weather Service nearly 95 percent of tornado’s are rated EF0, EF1, or EF2; these weaker tornado’s produce winds that a well-built home should […]
How to Pick the Best East Texas Builder or Remodeler
In 2003, the Texas Legislature created the Texas Residential Construction Commission(TRCC). Its primary goal was to register builders and remodelers, establish minimum construction and warranty standards and assist consumers with dispute resolutions. In 2009, the Texas Legislature decided to Sunset the regulatory agency because of it lacked enforcement authority. In other words it passed many […]