I enjoy every type of project I work on, but one of my favorites has to be the treehouse I built last year as an 11th-birthday present for Cate Wolfe of Granite Bay. I constructed this treehouse according to Cate’s own specifications. She drew pictures of how she wanted it to look, and I took it from there. It’s 6 feet square. The floor is 8 feet off the ground and the roof tops out at 14 feet. The project includes a ladder, a single-chair hammock underneath the deck and a swing floating from a beam that extends off one side. I used pressure-treated wood for the structure and supported it wi ..read more

Be Sure Your Mirror Is Hung Securely As soon as I’d hung this 4-foot mirror, the glass pulled out of its frame. The reason: The 1/4-inch screws in the ready-made frame were too short to hold the heavy mirror. This is a common problem with mirrors you buy already framed. You can’t know if the screws are adequate unless you remove them — usually not a practical option. Depending on the thickness of the frame, screws should be 1/2 inch or longer — the longest that will fit. As a caution, after I’ve hung a mirror, I let go slowly to make sure it’s securely attached. This is how I prevented damage ..read more

Whether you’re looking for a place to store your tools, your gardening supplies, or your holiday decorations, building a shed can be a great solution. You’ve probably seen sheds on display at Home Depot or Lowes, but aren’t sure if you want to put the whole thing together yourself. Maybe you just don’t like the look of those modular sheds and would prefer a custom design to meet your specific style or storage needs. Once you decide to build a shed, you face a wide range of options on how to go about it. If you don’t like the do-it-yourself sheds from the store but aren’t sure where else to sta ..read more

Today’s home buyers want open floor plans, high ceilings and lots of light – features builders are providing. But not everyone is looking to buy a new home. If yours is older and boxy, but you’d prefer brighter and more spacious, and your walls cannot accommodate any more windows, we suggest an affordable and often beautiful fix: skylights. Skylights are essentially windows tucked into off-the-wall spaces that add light, expand your home’s closeness and create a natural ambiance in your room. They come in many sizes and styles or can be custom-crafted to exactly fit your needs. You can put sk ..read more

Granite Bay House Doctor can repair or replace fixtures, toilets, water heaters, appliances, garbage disposals, faucets and valves, showerheads, plus more… Brandolino prides his business success on knowledge of the industry, and also his great customer service skills. “I am in too small of an area to not care for my customers, and I am isolated here in Granite Bay, and I have to be on the ball, and make things happen for them,” Brandolino said. Brandolino works closely with clients from start to finish on projects including design aspects. “Walking into a kitchen, I can visualize the end pro ..read more

Gone are the days when you plunked a new TV onto a console and plugged it in. While modern flat-screen TVs usually come with small stands, more homeowners prefer the flexibility of a set that’s mounted on a wall. Hanging a TV is not a difficult job to do yourself, but there are some decisions you’ll need to consider: 1. First, before you buy your TV, make sure it will fit in your space. Even if you aren’t restricted by a cabinet or the length of your wall, you do have to match your TV screen to the size of your room. If your space is small, a huge TV will overwhelm it and you won’t be able to ..read more

We get many calls from homeowners asking if we can repair their redwood decks. Often the answer isn’t what they want to hear. If only the deck boards are damaged, we can fix them. But, usually, by the time you notice rotting on top of your deck, it’s too late to save the structure. The primary reason is that visible damage generally means the substructure – the deck’s support – is too far gone to keep. There are occasional exceptions, but safety is always the foremost concern. For example, recently we repaired a deck floor on short notice for a family that wanted it to look good for a graduat ..read more

In this split-level home, a railing cut the kitchen off from the lower level family room. The owners wished to remove the railing to create an open concept floorplan where they could move easily between the kitchen and family room. At the same time, Brent was able to reroute the ventilation to bring more heat to the family room. [See image gallery at www.granitebayhousedoctor.com] Brent started the project by removing the railing, as well as the narrow shelving in the wall that served little purpose. He was able to use this space to route ventilation down to the floor where he ran it ..read more

Granite Bay House Doctor, Brent Brandolino, will be hosting this month’s mixer together with the Granite Bay View. Please join us for this event and meet Brent Brandolino. The post Brent Brandolino Hosts Granite Bay Mixer first appeared on Granite Bay Licensed Contractor ..read more