With kids it can be a real challenge to organize and store all their belongings.  Between coats, shoes and school backpacks your house can become very disorganized and cluttered.   A  good solution to this problem is to have an area in the house to store all their belongings in an area that is close to the door and easy to access.  Many homes have an area near the garage that is called a mud room.  This can be a small room or hallway that has room for storage. Some house have a laundry room or utility room that can be used as a mudroom.

mud room bench

There are many ways to add storage to an area even if  the area is small.  Simply putting coat hooks on a hallway wall or along a stair way can help organize coats. To dress it up bead board can go on the wall  below the hooks and a shelf can be placed above the hooks to store hats or gloves.   For homes that have more room storage lockers or cubbies are a great way to store items that are used every day.  They can be simple with inexpensive  paint grade wood or more elaborate  with doors or custom wood trim.  A bench with storage shelves under it is a good way to have a place to remove shoes and store them.  Lockers can be built so that each person in the house has a separate storage area.  To store small things, drawers are great idea and will be a good addition to your storage space.   Lockers can store shoes on the lower section, hang coats on hooks and have shelves for school supplies and outdoor clothing.  Cabinets can be installed to store things out of sight.

There is a way to organize the clutter to fit any budget.  A good finish carpenter can build your storage with a custom look and ideally  suited to your specific needs.  With a little imagination almost any area of the home can be used to store everyday items that seem to get scattered every where in the house.

mud room lockers

clothes hooks with cubbies

kids storage cubbies

hall way coat hooks and cabinets

cubbies in mudroom

bench with bead board and coat hooks

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The last year I have worked with many clients and have been able to transform their homes. I want to thank all of you that have had me work on you homes. I gain pleasure in helping people improve their homes and make them more livable. Your home is your biggest investment and a place where your family spends the most time together. I am thankful that I have been able to work with many families this past year and help them enjoy their homes more. I wish you the best for the next year and hope you enjoy your homes.
I hope you take the time during the holidays to be with your families and enjoy what is the most important to you. If we all think of what is the most important to us, and live our lives with those ideas in mind, the world will be a much greater place.

Bedroom window seat with built in shelving

It seems that you can never have to much space  to organize and store items in a room. You want the room to be attractive and it also has to be functional. There are many ways to increase the storage in a room. If the room has a closet, you can add more shelving to better utilize the space. The shelving can be fixed in place or you can use adjustable shelves that mount on a track. Many bedroom closets are setup with one closet rod with a shelf above it. Most people do not need that much storage for tall clothing. A good way to increase the storage area is to divide the closet with part of it being for  long hanging and the other half divided with two closet rods for shorter clothes.

Along the walls of a room built in shelving can be installed, giving  you an area to store things and act as a display case.  The shelving can be designed to fit any size and need. Doors can be put on the built in shelving to hide the storage area or

Built in shelving

you can leave the shelves open. The shelving can also tie in with the design of the room by using trim work, such as bead board, in the shelving and along the walls of the room. Crown and base molding can continue across the shelving to give it a nice built in look.  Another idea is to install a small ledge above wainscoting or board and baton wall treatments for a place to set picture frames or other decorations. A popular and simple idea is to mount a shelf on a wall with crown molding under it, hiding the fasteners and dressing it up.

Custom shelving unit

crown molding shelf

Aluminum porch railing

With the coming of winter weather, I have had a few clients want to add a stair railing to their front porch.  They are concerned about people slipping on their steps when the snow flies. This got me looking around at houses and I am surprised at how many houses do not have a hand rail on their front porch steps. Slipping on stairs is one of the most common residential injuries. With the aging population it is more important than ever to ensure that stairs are safe and easy to climb.

Fortunately it is fairly simple and affordable to add a stair rail to a set of steps. There are more choices then ever before of low maintenance materials to build the railing with. Vinyl is the lowest cost option and can be a good choice. It comes in white and off white colors. With a quality manufacturer it will be very durable and strong. Composite railings will give you more design options than vinyl, comes in more colors and has a more secure feel. With composite railings you can use composite or metal balusters, giving you a custom look. It is more expensive than vinyl and better products come with a 25 year warranty. Metal railings are a very good choice and come in either aluminum or iron. Aluminum railings come in several colors and are the lowest priced metal railings. Iron railings are stronger than aluminum and you have more color options and styles to choose from. The better metal railings are galvanized so they will not rust and have a baked on powder coated finish for durability.

Which ever type of railing you use it needs to be properly installed to meet building codes, for your safety. It needs to be installed securley so that it will have a solid feel and withstand years of use. For a professional stair builder the stair rail will go in quickly and give your home the peace of mind that your stairs are safe to climb.

Walls where removed and the stair rails where installed in their place

Many homes when they are built have walls on the sides of the stair. The walls create a closed in feeling and make the home feel smaller. The walls are usually built to save money, as sheet rocked walls are cheaper than wood stair railings. I have remodeled many Utah homes where the walls have been removed and stair rails are put in their place.  I have found that the cost to upgrade to a stair rail, costs less than what the home builder would have charge to put the railing in when the house was being built. It seems that home builder like to make a big profit on upgrades to homes.

The process of removing the walls and installing the stair rail is a task that take only a few days to complete. There is very little mess made during the remodel and you can continue your normal home routine.  The railing can be prefinished before it is installed so that you will not have and stain or oder fill your house.

The transformation will make a dramatic change to the look and feel of your home. The richness and warmth of the stair rail will add value and comfort to your home. Your home will feel bigger and the opening between the different floor levels will be opened up. A skilled carpenter will make the whole process go smoothly and make you wish that you had remodeled your stair way sooner.

Old Stair Rail

I recently finished a stair project in a home in the Salt Lake valley. The home has some very nice details in it and it is in a great neighborhood. The stair rail is is the focal point of the entry wall and it was not making the statement that the home owners wanted. Instead of tearing everything out and starting over, we saved the stair parts that the owners liked and replaced everything else. This saved money and made the remodeling project go faster. We replaced the white wood balusters with new wrought iron balusters. The new balusters

have an oil rubbed copper finish that matches the hardware in the home. The simple procedure of exchanging the balusters completely changed the look and feel of the stairway. It updated  the home and gave it a contemporary look. The entire remodeling project was completed in a few days.

maple rail with white balusters

Utah maple stair railing

Alder rail with metal balusters

box newel and metal rail

Provo stair rail

Saratoga Springs stair rail

wood stair rail with end caps

Salt Lake City wood stair rail

Draper Utah stair rail

West Jordan Utah wood stair rail

Salt Lake custom stair rail

Utah custom stair rail

custom stair rail in Utah

Utah stair railings by Apex Carpentry

www.apexcarpentryinc.com

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hidden deck clip

You do not need to have screw heads spoiling the look of your deck. Most decks are attached with either nails or screws. This can cause your deck boards to crack and the heads of the fastener shows and can be hot to walk on. With composite decking, the screws are more noticeable than in wood and detract from the look of your expensive deck material. Fortunately, there are are several ways to attach deck boards without using exposed screws. Many manufacturers of composite decking have boards with grooves on the sides that allow you to insert a clip into the groove and then you screw the clip the joist. The clips space the deck boards at the correct gap and they are hidden between the two boards. For solid wood decks or composites that do not have a groove you can create a groove with a router or biscuit joiner.   You can then use the deck clips on your material. I recently installed a deck in Utah using this method and the instalation took longer that if the boards were pre-grooved but this particular manufacturer does not make grooved board. Some of the hidden fasteners can be attached with a nail gun that drives the screw into the joist for a big time saver.

Another method of attaching composite boards is to use a special screw that comes with a plug the color of your decking. The screw is counter sunk and the hole is covered with the plug. When you are done the plugs are barely visible. This is a great method of attaching the decking on stairs or handrails. With the great looks of tropical wood or premium composite you do not want to spoil the look with screw head showing. with the many types of hidden deck fasteners any deck can look its best with hidden screws.

composite fence

I recently installed a fence for a Salt lake homeowner. The homeowner wanted the look of a wood fence but not the care and maintenance that goes along with a wood fence. After careful research and comparing all the options we choose to use a composite fence from Fiberon. The fence has the look of a wood fence but the durability of a composite. The color of the fence is varied like wood but it does not require staining or sealing. This particular fence has a twenty year warranty and is strong like wood. 

Many home owners have used composites on their decks and are learning that it makes great fencing as well. For those that do not like the fake look or the fragile nature of vinyl fencing this is a great alternative. The fence installs just like a regular wood fence and is built to last. There are many different designs that can be created with composite fencing to give you a unique look and add value to your outdoors. There are several manufactures of composite fencing, each with unique design elements and colors. With composite fencing you do not have to worry about rotting or splitting wood. The color is built into the product so you never have to touch it up. Composite fencing has the weight and feel of wood. It will not squeak and feel hollow like vinyl fences or become brittle and crack. A properly installed fence will withstand heavy winds and all the elements that nature throws at it. For a durable fence that looks like wood a composite fence is a great choice and will give you years of good looks and increase the value of your home. Composite fencing is ideally suited for the extreme weather that Utah experiences. You will not have to worry that your kids will break it when playing ball around it.

trex composite fence