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!

Major Bathroom Upgrade

We remodeled and updated a bathroom recently. So many homes in the area were built between the 60s and the 90s and many of them have the original bathroom design. Those designs were great then, but if you’re looking at that style every day, imagine what a remodel could do to update your bathroom and help you start again with a clean, neat space that feels brand new!

A Cute Custom Kitchen Remodel

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!

A Basement Apartment - Add value to your home

This home went from having the old concrete basement our kids are scared to venture into to being a bright and vibrant area for one of their children to live in, complete with a bathroom, living room and bedroom. We decided to go with an open ceiling to maximize the overhead space and sprayed the joists black to make the flooring and walls really pop!

Finishing your basement is one of the best moves most homeowners can make. If this is your “forever home,” then you create living space, room for fun, work, a gym - whatever brings more joy to your life. It could also be an investment - adding living space to your home could mean income property in the form of an apartment downstairs or just more value when you go to sell the home. A combination of those approaches could also mean providing a secure space for an older child while they attend a local college!

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.