Finish Work

Solving problems is what finish carpenters do!

You think wrapping gifts is hard? Check out how we “cope” with this corner!

This is a particularly tough spot to install base trim of the tiny corner created by the wall section. So, there are basically two ways to make two pieces meet in an inside corner:

1. You use a miter saw to cut both pieces at a 45 degree angle to make your 90 degree corner. Most DIY and handyman jobs go this way and they usually fill the gaps with putty or some other ugly solution.

2. The other method is “coping.” Coping, in this case, is a little different than coping with gift wrapping. Coping is basically when you cut the shape of the base trim profile out of the back of the piece that overlaps the corner. It will get the two pieces lined up almost perfectly. Once we were done lining it up, we just needed to cut one piece to match the shape of the base trim. Once that little piece was slotted into place, the corner was done!

Coping takes more skill but results in a much better corner that retains the shape of the trim - it looks consistent and classy - just like the gifts you wrapped!

A smart looking home office in Okemos

The desk, wainscoting, cabinets and the overhead stationary organizer here represent what finish carpenters do best! These features come together to create a beautiful aesthetic, set off by the layered crown molding and hardwood floors. This goes beyond simply putting a room together - this is what loving the home you’re in looks like!

Our company specializes in finish carpentry and our real passion is high end trim carpentry like the den you see in these photos. The wainscoting and crown molding is the work of our Owner, Jesse Zischke and Bryan Janes, of Bryan Janes Construction, a company we work with regularly on new construction homes. In the 20+ years we’ve been in business, we’ve put together great relationships with some of the best craftsmen in the trade.

If you’re looking to treat yourself or a loved one to transforming a room a room you love like this one, give us a call and we will get started. Designing the perfect space could be the perfect gift!

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 built-in bench in new construction home

We have installed and painted this built in for an entry way in a new construction home. All that’s left is for the homeowner to select hardware. This built-in feature is great for taking your jacket off, hanging it up, then sitting down to take off your wet shoes. You can then store the shoes under the bench.

These sort of built-in features are great for existing homes too because we can build them in our warehouse, away from your home and then install them in a day - no hassle, no construction zone in your house - it’s like ordering from Amazon, but this is made in America by serious craftsmen!

New Construction Stairs in Mason!

We’ve completed the stairs in the new construction home we are working on in Mason! The stairs came out perfect. A new home is always fun, but stairs are something we can also remodel in an existing home. In many homes the stairs are right in sight of the front door and set the first impression that guests have when they come into your home. An update or remodel can not only make that impression a beautiful one, but also remove creaky stairs, make steep staircases safer, we can resurface worn stairs with great, new options … there’s so much we can do. If your stairs just don’t look right to you or if they’re worn down, give us a call and have them remodeled by a team of professional finish carpenters, trained create safe, beautiful stairs.

Another finished basement coming together!

Another finished basement is moving along. With the drywall up, you can finally see the shape of this new part of your home come to life! It’s exciting for homeowners because looking at drawings and estimates doesn’t have the same feeling as seeing the concrete and cobwebs replaced by walls! Imagine what your basement could look like.

Jackson Staircase: After the homeowners move in!

A staircase can be the centerpiece of some homes. You walk into the front door and there it is. How does it look? Is it a reflection of your family’s style and taste? Staircases require an experienced finish carpenter - the type of professional who can show you options you may not have known were possible with your stairs. Don’t settle for less in your home.

These stairs here were from a Lansing home we worked on just as things started to open. The entire staircase, spanning three floors, was built by our team. It’s one of our favorites and it showcases what we are capable of!

We love when we are called back!

We had a former client call us back to do more work in their Okemos home. This time we added a room’s worth of finished basement to their property! Adding space is a very popular choice right now and I think this will help you not only add value, but also add to your quality of life in the home.

Customs Stairs and Balusters with Storage

Custom balusters like these can add a unique element to your home. It’s a small expression, but a noticeable one for friends and family who visit. Custom work like this is done by a finish carpenter.

As the name implies, finish carpentry is the final step in the remodeling process. It involves the installation of finish woods and trim. A finish carpenter installs features like crown molding, baseboards, windows, stairs, and other design elements. Focus and detail are important skills a finish carpenter needs. Other tasks that you might hire a finish carpenter to do would be to build and install custom cabinets, stairs, and decking.

While Zischke Builders is a general contractor, the heart of our business, for years, has been finish work. With a couple of experts on staff, we are often sought out by customers and other contractors for our finish work and have been recognized as the best in the Lansing area.

Custom Entertainment Center built for Dewitt family

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It’s our personal movie theatre, bringing us closer together as we binge a Netflix series or watch our favorite movies. It’s a place to lay down challenges to our friends and family in our favorite games. It’s a place to hang out, to snuggle or to just relax. It’s your entertainment center and it should suit your needs.

This built-in is a custom design for a client who wanted an entertainment center installed that could neatly house gaming consoles, movies, board games and a large, 65” flat screen! Now that it’s installed, their finished basement is complete and ready to be moved into. I know it’s going to be a cherished part of their home.

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If you didn’t know a contractor could offer custom, built-in shelving like this entertainment center, take a look through our posts and you will see that we can offer entryway benches, built in book shelves and basically any other feature you can imagine. The best part is that during these times, we make it simple. We come by and measure the area, then we don’t have to come back to your home until we are ready to install. We do all the work at our facility so your home isn’t a construction zone. It’s an easy way to get something added to your home.

The Staircase Finished!

This beautiful staircase is finished and stained. In this home and in many others, the staircase and balustrade (the rail and balusters) are the first features guests see as they walk in.

A handsome balustrade like this can set the tone for the entire home, which is why I love working on them. This balustrade includes hundreds of individual pieces which were planned out and cut for exactly their part of the finished product. The bends and joints cut and refined until they fit perfectly and the Newell posts expertly placed and secured to hold it all together for decades to come.

I’m proud of this work and wish I could see it when the tape is taken up and the homeowner moves in. Thanks to Bryan Janes Construction for bringing me in on this project.

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!

Built-in Features: A luxury YOU can afford!

We recently finished this built-in bookcase/ cabinet combo on a home we have been working in. There are a ton of great benefits that come along with having a built-in feature installed in your home.

1. They free up space in your home and also dedicate a space toward something you truly enjoy - that could be an entertainment area, a book case or even storage.

2. They tie in with the trim and baseboards in your room or home to truly make the built-in feature look like a part of the overall design of your home. I’ve installed quite a few in my own home and always get compliments from friends who come over!

3. They are inexpensive. A built-in feature like this bookcase/ cabinet combo costs about as much as a high end piece of furniture and will last much longer than a similarly priced piece of furniture.

Zischke Builders specializes in finish carpentry, including built-ins. A specialist can even tie your existing trim into a new built-in feature - so it pays to hire the right person for the job.

If you’d like to explore getting a built-in feature in your home, call (517) 242-4353 or email zischkebulders@gmail.com to schedule a free estimate. We can even facilitate estimates online in order to maintain social distancing.

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