Jeff Seal

 

     

    

This past Wednesday, our class went to tour upscale homes designed and built by Jeff Seal.  The two homes we toured were at 4104 103^rd Street and the other one was a few blocks from it.  The belief in quality and attention to detail was evident in both houses.

     The house on 4104 103^rd Street is a four bedroom, four and a half baths, and Mediterranean Villa styled house.   Some of the features not found in regular homes were a fire sprinkler system, French casement windows, a central vac system, and twelve foot ceilings.  Details such as symmetry, barrel vaults, real wood floors, and different layouts of the firebrick abound in the house.  Custom pieces of furniture and built-ins are a standard feature in his homes.   The most fascinating element in the house was the barrel vaulted brick ceiling.  This is not a typical ceiling treatment done in a common house.  Taking cues from customary French architecture design, no baseboards are used in the house.  The outside was just as exquisite as the inside.  How he approached supporting the Juliet balcony made both an architecture and artistic statement.  The simple visual homage to a villa church’s bell tower made a thoughtful statement.  A detail that was noticed later on after looking at pictures for the cover was the mortar joints underneath the Juliet balcony.  Some of the joints were intentionally recessed deeper to give the house an aged looked in keeping with a Mediterranean Villa house showing its age.

     The other house was much, much bigger in house size and lot size.  It consisted of two master suites, two bedrooms upstairs for the boys with a bathroom for each.  The house is going to have three laundry rooms, a two story piano room with a balcony overlooking the space.  The foyer contains the double bridal staircase and a prayer room.  Both houses incorporate the groin ceiling as one of the many types of ceiling used in his houses.  Since the house is in the early construction phase we had a chance to see the components of the structure.  Six inch wide studs are used to build the wall instead of two by fours.   This house also incorporated many variations of recessed ceilings in addition to the mentioned groin vault.

    The field trip to a couple of upscale houses showcased attention to detail and quality materials done by Jeff Seal.  The house located at 4104 103^rd Street contained unexpected surprises, unique applications of various materials, and fire safety measures.  The other house had much going for it already even though it was still in early stages of construction.

References

(1)   Notes from field trip

(2)   www.jeffsealhomes.com

Collins Tile and Stone

     

     This journey took us to Collin Tile and Stone store located at 4715 Clovis Highway.  It was started by Tim Collins and his wife, Ava back in 1984 out of their home garage.  The tour included the current showroom, the slab storage area, and the new showroom back storage area that housed more of their slabs of rock.  Their specialty is granite, marble, travertine, limestone, various types of tile, engineered stone, & laminates.

     When we toured the back operations each of the various machines were discussed.  The first machine that was viewed is called the (Gravellona Machine Marmo) GMM Bridge saw.  This saw moves back and forth on a track and can cut at an angle while the table holding various sizes of slab can spin 360 degrees to accommodate any type of cut necessary.  Two of the most recent machines added to the production line is the CNC machine which stands for Computer Numerical Control.  Through the acquisition of the CNC machines creation of intricate shapes, increased availability of profiles and patterns of edges was made possible.

     While there Tim also talked about the different finishes that can be put on a stone.  They are polished, honed, and leathered.  The polished is typical finish that is seen everywhere.  Then there is the honed finish.  The finish is usually a matte or satin.  Commercial floors are an excellent choice for this type of finish.  A leathered finish is achieved by running a high heat source such as a blow torch, across the slab so that flakes of stone pop off.  After a slab is chosen, templates of the pieces are arrange onto the slab in order to check how the veining of said slab will look inside all the cut-out pieces.  A new engineered stone product that has just come out was shown to us while on the tour also.  It is called Cambria.  The new stone requires no sealing, polishing, or reconditioning is needed.  Countertops can be just washed with warm water.  Its creation comes from natural quarts.

     On November 1 our journey started at the showroom of Collins Tile and Stone business.  A company that was started back in1984 with his wife, Ava, inside the garage of their house.  The GMM Bridge saw and the CNC machine were viewed while getting a tour of the production line.  A polish, matte, or leathered finish can be put on a stone.  Templates are used to determine the best usage of the veinage of a slab.  Cambria is a new engineered stone that has hit the market.

References

(1)   Notes from field trip

(2)   www.collinstile.com

(3)   www.rgnytiles.com/cambria/

Leftwich Chapman Flooring

     

     Our journey this time around took us to Leftwich Chapman Flooring store located at 5417 50^th Street.  The owners are Larry Leftwich and Jo Chapman.  Both have over twenty-one years of experience in the flooring industry.  Their business has been at this location for nine and a half years.  Ten employees currently work in this location.  They also have seven to eight crews out in the field doing various installations.  The products offered in their showroom are carpet, tile, wood flooring, and rugs.

      In the wood flooring section we learned that placing them in the bathroom is a definite no no.  Kitchens are doable but extra steps and precautions will need to be made.  Leather and bamboo flooring was shown as a possibility.  On the leather flooring, Larry pointed out that felt pads placed on the bottoms of furniture to prevent tearing.  Exotic woods are a popular choice of flooring in the West Texas area.  One of the things to consider in choosing wood floors is the finish and the Janka Scale.  This measures the force necessary to embed a .444-inch steel ball to half its diameter in wood.  It’s also the industry standard for gauging the ability to tolerate denting and normal wear imposed on the various species.  Doing a darker stain or choosing a hand-scraped style makes for a happier client in the long run.

     The carpet and tile sections were a variety of great ideas.  One of the new things that carpet manufacturers is adding depth to carpet.  Also choices in pile cut, colors, and patterns have been added.  In tile, the newest technology to hit this field is digitally photographed images produced surfaces.  Glass tile is a popular item right now.  Mixing the glass or metal with stone is taking off right now too.

     There is experience, knowledge, and a pulse on what items are hot at Leftwich Chapman Flooring store.  Wood is ranked according to the Janka scale.  Wood floors do not belong in bathrooms but can work in kitchens providing there is extra precautions are made.  Adding texture such as a hand-scrapped look blends the denting and normal wear into the finished product easier.  Digital photographs are the latest thing to impose onto tile slates.  Glass and mixing it with stone or metal is a hot item right now.   

References

(1)   Notes from field trip

(2)   www.leftwichchapman.com

(3)   www.countyfloors.com/about_janka.html