Custom Kitchens

Creating more space with a beam replacement

Low beams limit your space. This is a pretty typical problem that can be solved by a knowledgeable builder.

The first thing we do is find out if the beam bears any weight. If so, then we will reinforce the ceiling with temporary walls. This allows us to get the beam out so we can install the new beam - in this case, we installed a new larger beam. To do so, we cut a gap in the ceiling joists to fit the beam. Then we installed and framed in studs on the ends to support it.

Don’t let low beams or small rooms hold back your home’s potential. Professional builders can help you design new layouts for the home you’re in!

Custom range hoods: The mantle of the kitchen

We just couldn’t wait for paint to show you this custom range hood. The hood over your stove serves a couple useful purposes in your home:

A good range hood vents outside, keeping cooking odors from invading the entire house. I know steaks can smell nice, but it’s no fun to smell broccoli you cooked yesterday when you walk in the door

The hood also serves as the centerpiece to your cabinet design and even your kitchen depending on the layout. A well crafted range hood can have the same effect a stylish mantle has around the fireplace in your living room.

We will make sure we get back to you with more photos of this kitchen centerpiece once it’s painted like the cabinets, which were also installed by our team.

From water damage to dream kitchen!

This kitchen was remodeled by us after taking some serious water damage. A “water loss” is what your insurance company calls it when water destroys a part of your home. It can come in through a leaky roof or from a busted pipe and if it isn’t caught, it can unfortunately ruin large areas of your home.

This is why homeowner’s insurance is so crucial. Your insurance company will send in a mitigation team to dry out the area that was effected and from there, you can work with an experienced builder to begin repairs.

In this home, we worked with the homeowners to to not just bring their kitchen back, but to help make it a kitchen they will love for years to come. Here, we started from the ground up - selecting flooring and trim with the homeowner, then counters and cabinets, like the gorgeous cabinet set around the refrigerator! Speaking of refrigerators, we then helped them with appliances and finally the sink, faucet and backsplash!

Working on the interior design with the homeowners is the best way to not just give back your space and quality of life, it’s the best way to improve it and turn a home nightmare into a dream kitchen!

Custom flooring and shoe

We’ve replaced the flooring, added new shoe moulding and done some painting to bring this old kitchen back to life! The dark floors and paint balance well with the cabinets and appliances to make the home look warm and inviting!

Floors are more than just another surface, they set the tone for any room because they occupy most of the space your eye sees as it passes over the room, so the color of your floors make a huge difference in how the furniture, decor or cabinets are perceived. Take a look around your home and see how your floors influence the feel of each room!

Custom pantry shelves to meet your needs

Pantry shelves in older homes is almost always terrible! Afterthought shelves - or worse, flimsy wire ones! You need room and support! Here’s a custom pantry we are working on now.

There’s plenty of shelf space here for everything and - look close. The supports are anchored to the framing of the home, so they don’t need to touch the floor. That leaves a ton of uninterrupted space for water jugs, dog food bags, storage totes and other odd-shaped items that we throw in our pantries.

This small update is affordable and can be made completely custom to fit your needs! Shoot us a message to get started.

A basement living room for a student

Loving where you live is a concept many of us have gotten more familiar with in the last year. This basement went from a concrete, dark room to a beautiful space.

This week, we’ve posted about the other rooms, but today, we are checking out the main room. This main room has a place for cold drinks, counter space and a ton of room for a young student to live at home or really anything these homeowners can imagine. From the lights to the carpeting and the walls, all the work was done by our team, who have now finished over a dozen basements in the last year and a half.

Please check out our other posts this week for the bedroom and study from this basement project. We are really proud of the work our team is done and would love to inspire new basement projects!

A Cute Custom Kitchen Remodel

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This cozy kitchen remodel includes new, custom cabinets, brand new counters, a new sink and faucet - not to mention we matched a window sill trim for a beautiful garden window. The white and grey really pops with the rich reds and browns from the floor and overall, this is a kitchen that will put a smile on your face as you walk into it. Very proud of the work here!

One of my favorite remodels

This beautiful remodel is a house that we worked on a year ago. It was a classic, older home with small rooms, which the homeowner wanted to open up and make more modern. These jobs always have issues and considerations that come with the age of the home - this is why you need an expert for this type of remodel.

In this project for instance, we worked very closely with some of our partners and craftsmen. I designed the kitchen on my computer with advise from the homeowner and the custom cabinet expertise of Nate Shaver at Grant DesignYard . We had the kitchen planned, but then we discovered there were sagging joists in the floor. Fixing joists individually is something I’m used to because I have a background in water and fire damage.

Once that was fixed, we had ServiceMaster Restore come and soda blast the bricks while we built the cabinets. We had a custom bench made, which was cushioned by Stitches Fabrics.

There was a delay in the quartz counters, so we temporarily installed an alternative counter so the homeowner could celebrate the holidays.

The bottom line is that a major project involves a ton of people and the contractors you meet with should have the experts on hand, or the connections to experts, to make your dream projects come true. I’m proud of this kitchen and all the work we do and I’m glad to work so closely with so many incredible craftsmen and small businesses around Mid Michigan!

A Fantastic Home Remodeling Job! Kitchen, Dining, Floors and More!

Anyone that tells you a remodel will go flawless is lying. There are too many variables and unknowns in a large project that only get revealed during the remodel. The best we can do is expect the unexpected and be ready to switch gears at the drop of a hat. That’s why you want somebody like me with decades of experience who works with only the best professionals in the business.

We recently finished a huge kitchen/ dining room remodel. The homeowner had been wanting to remodel the space since they moved in during the 1980’s. I felt super proud and thankful that they chose to go with my company. They’d seen our work on Facebook and I think that is what set their heart on using us.

They wanted to go with a more modern style cabinet design that had to be pretty custom in order to accommodate filling the existing cubbies in the brick wall. Luckily, I have a close relationship with Nate the owner of Grant Designyard. We set up a meeting with the homeowner and together were able to come up with a design that fit their kitchen.

I was able to sketch a design on the computer based on what walls they wanted removed to open up the space and with their approval, we were off to the races.

The homeowners wanted to save a little money by doing their own demo work so we of course worked with them. They had had a pretty significant belly to their dining room floor so the first thing we had to do after demo was sister in floor joists next to the bowed ones. This resulted in such a quiet and sound floor that the homeowners decided to have us do it to every floor joist throughout the kitchen and living room as well. This was perfect for the ¾” hardwood to come into the living room and dining room and for the vinyl tiles going in the kitchen and entries.

From there, we moved to the insulation and drywall.

Next was the paint and priming followed by new, more modern trim to compliment the new kitchen.

We spent a lot of time with all the subs on site putting our heads together to make sure everything turned out smoothly. This would allow us to finish the project without after-thought trim pieces or any cover-ups. For example, the custom vent in the back of the cabinet. We had Servicemaster come in and soda blast decades of build up from the brick wall while we got to installing cabinets. Nate had to do some meticulous install with the cabinet pull installation. He fabricated a custom jig to router out the doors and drawer fronts so the handles would sit flush.

From there it was pretty much down hill getting the flooring installed, the final trim up and everything painted.

The Quartz counters got pushed back just before Thanksgiving and since the homeowner was having company, we had my countertop guy build an entire kitchen of laminate tops to temporarily go in. He also installed a sink and faucet for a week when the quartz showed up.

The tile backsplash came next with the appliances and range hood installation.

We got the place all cleaned up and the final touch was a custom made bench seat by In Stiches custom fabrics.

The transformation is absolutely stunning. As with any remodel, there were some hiccups, but experience allows us to come up with creative solutions and push through any hurdles to get to the desired outcome.

Anyone that tells you a remodel will go flawless is lying. There are too many variables and unknowns in a large project that only get revealed during the remodel. The best we can do is expect the unexpected and be ready to switch gears at the drop of a hat. That’s why you want somebody like me with decades of experience who works with only the best professionals in the business.

If you are interested in a project like this, call (517) 242-4353 or email zischkebuilders@gmail.com and I will get you a free estimate. Let’s get to work.

Income Property Made Easy

It’s hard to believe this started as a raw, unfinished basement, but here it is now - a living space, a potential supplement to the homeowner’s income, and a place somebody can call home. If you’re interested in creating income space in your home, we can get you on the path and set up - starting with a free estimate. Give me a call at (517) 242-4353, message me here or email zischkebuilders@gmail.com

A Kitchen Saved From Frozen Pipes

When a pipe burst this winter, it ruined this kitchen. Everything down to the very studs had to be removed. It’s an unfortunate danger of cold climates and I wish people didn’t have to face it. When they do - they need professionals to make things right and restore order to their home. That’s where my team and the great people at Servicemaster Absolute Home & Restoration Services come in.

Once the damage was mitigated by Service Master’s team, my team was able to come in, work with the homeowner on their ideal kitchen redesign and make it happen.

With very little hassle, we were able to install new cabinets, counters, floors, trim and drywall with fresh paint.

I’m proud of the work we did here (look at the before photos) and proud to work in a business where we can help people get back to their lives after disaster strikes.

If you find yourself the victim of a burst pipe or other water damage, call Service Master. If you need restoration work or just a good, old fashioned remodeling - call (517) 242-4353 or email zischkebuilders@gmail.com

Beating the Box Stores for the Customer

I’ve got a beautiful kitchen for you today just in time for the leftovers to run out 🤓. I also want to show you this kitchen because it’s a testament to how working with professionals can actually save you money at times.

This kitchen is part of a much larger project, but we were able to get it finished for the homeowners for Thanksgiving. We were able to save the homeowners here some money vs a Big Box store, who they had original gotten quotes from on this kitchen.

This kitchen has the waterfall style countertop on the peninsula with penny tiles on the backside. This all goes very nice with the glass subway backsplash (zoom in and check all of that).

With the new cabinet design, we had to move a few lights so we suggested going with the new LED puck lights that look like the old school recessed lights, but they are easier to install and in my opinion give off a more natural light. The homeowner liked them so much he had us replace all the kitchen lights as well as all the living room ones.

The refrigerator also ended up right in front of a light switch, so we ran a conduit back there and put a new switch box next to the refrigerator in the panel. We also moved the stove and the associated outlet for that as well.

The Big Box store wanted to charge them about double our price for this kitchen remodel. Oftentimes, that happens because they try a “one price fits all approach” that prices a type of project without taking in the unique considerations of your home.

We have some raw edge shelves still coming in to go by the sink, but I’m just excited to show you this part of the project. We are also working on the living room, steel railing with stainless cables, and a master suite/bath remodel.

So overall, we saved the homeowners money, made the kitchen of their dreams, found an affordable solution for their lighting and we are just getting started.

If you’d like to have your remodeling dream project looked by by me and not some big box store, message me here, call me at (517) 242-4353 or email zischkebuilders@gmail.com and I will come out and give you a free estimate.

A Start to Another Custom Kitchen

It’s Friday and I have an update on a kitchen we’ve been working on. This kitchen is getting a beautiful remodel complete with custom cabinets and a quartz waterfall counter top.

We are also working on a tile backsplash that will go all the way to the ceiling. Once that’s finished, we will add some crown to make it come together perfectly.

This is why you want to hire builders who use expert craftsmen. In order to get that perfect look - that’s also functional - you need people who understand that things need to be installed in order, one after another, to achieve the cleanest look in a way that will last a lifetime. That comes from experience and an obsession with delivering quality results.

If you’d like to remodel your kitchen (or any other part of your home), give me a call at 517-819-0429 or message me on Facebook and I’ll give you a free estimate and explore what our craftsmen can do to make your home into your dream home.

New Kitchen Remodel with Vinyl Plank Included!

Here is a full kitchen remodel that we recently finished. We put in new cabinets, floor and a really nice quartz countertop. The homeowner decided to upgrade with a timeless white subway tile backsplash to tie it all together.

Kitchens are the center of the home. It’s where you make the meals you feed your family, make school lunches, where you keep old, family recipes, the beer 😉 and make some of the biggest decisions for your family.

This kitchen looks bright, clean and open. I’m happy for the homeowner and proud of the team today.

If you’re interested in having your kitchen remodeled, message me here or call 517-819-0429 for a free estimate.

Termite Damaged Home Finished and Ready!

In February, I was called to a home that had termite damage so widespread, that several contractors told the homeowners they’d have to tear the home down. Luckily, they called me. I took a look around and found that most of the home could be saved, but it would take precision and patience.

Two months later, my team saved what could not be saved! I’m so proud of everyone involved in this project. We worked with the homeowner to design a new layout. We opened up the ceilings and the floor plan. This not only made their home more modern and spacious, but it saved them money as well.

It wasn’t easy. We had to design plans to hold the siding on the house while we replaced walls underneath, we had to re-frame load bearing walls one stud at a time.

Look at the home now though. I can’t tell you how happy I am for the homeowners and how much heartache and money we were able to save them.

We can save your home too. If you’ve been told your home is beyond repair due to termite damage, call me. I’d love to come out and give you a second opinion. Message me on facebook, email zischkebuilders@gmail.com or call me at 517-819-0429.

Let’s get to work!

Custom kitchen in Michigan log home

Custom Kitchen in a Michigan log home! We had a great time making this dream a reality for our client.

Custom Kitchen in a Michigan log home! We had a great time making this dream a reality for our client.

The team really did an incredible job in a beautiful log cabin home last week! Custom counters, cabinets and very custom molding to make the cabinets appear to fit flush into the log walls (BTW, each log is a different size).

I've said it before, no corner is truly 45 degrees and no wall is 100% straight ... but in a log cabin, there are even more variables! Truth be told though, we love it. Just look at the end product!

With that said, we always offer custom counters (custom cut laminate counters can be done for less than big box store tops), custom cabinets and we work with our customers to take their ideas, add our expertise and craft something nobody else has.

If you like what you see and you're in the greater Lansing, MI area , call me for a free estimate for a custom kitchen or bathroom at (517) 819-0429 or you can e-mail me at zischkebuilders@gmail.com or you can follow me on Facebook!