08 Sep May 2018
Willis Sinclair Homes
“The Lowcountry’s Premier Custom Home Builder”
This is the engine out of our gray truck. Willis is rebuilding it in his “spare” time.
24 Gabriel Road
Lodge, South Carolina 29082
843 846 2500
May 2018
Number 51
From the desk
of Willis…
The past few months have been great for us and for Brays Island in general. Existing homes and even lots seem to be selling well and that is good for Brays Island and good for our business. It looks like it’s going to be a really good year for us all!
As usual, when an existing house is sold, there are a few things that need to be repaired. These types of home repairs are one of our specialties. Sometimes the repairs are done for the seller and sometimes for the buyer. We are happy to do the work either way and try to make it a pleasant experience for all parties involved.
Once repairs have been made the new homeowners will often want to make some changes to the home. Some may be minor, like changing paint colors. Others may be a bit more involved such as adding on rooms. Whatever the project, whether small or large, we are glad to help. We want all of our customers to be happy with their homes and enjoy their time spent on Brays!
We have been working on Brays Island now since 2006. We started out building one home for our first Brays Island customer and soon started building a second one. We then started two more homes in 2007 and two more in 2008. Then in 2009, just as we were finishing up the last of our homes under construction, we were hit by what would become known as the “Great Recession”. And it hit us hard.
The recession completely caught us off guard. We had not prepared for a time when we would not have any houses to build. We realized then that we had two choices. One, fold our business and find something else to do or, two, offer new products and services that people needed, wanted and could afford.
With encouragement from a few of our customers we diversified. We began offering repairs, renovations, remodeling and other home services. It started small and required a lot of actual, hard, physical labor from all of us. We got out on the jobs, got dirty and got stuff done. It was do or die and we chose to “do”.
In 2013 we built our first house after the recession, a modest guest house. In 2014 we started two more houses and we started another in 2015. By this time we had added quite a few service customers as well and that number is steadily growing. We now have three new houses under construction and have good prospects for the future.
We have come a long way since 2009 and I am very thankful that we were able to survive. Because we now do more than just build houses, we have many more customers than we would have otherwise. We have met some truly exceptional people on Brays some which have become great friends. When I think back now to the “Great Recession” I don’t really think of it as a bad thing. I think of it as the period of time that molded us and our business into what we are now.
The future looks bright for us and for Brays Island and I am excited to be a part of it! Let’s get to work!
Are you out of room?
Often, it seems that there is not quite enough room in our homes. There are several ways to tackle that problem.
The first and easiest, but probably the most expensive is to just buy or build a larger home. Although we can certainly help you build a new home, it might be good to consider other solutions.
This home had a small master bedroom.
Consider adding a room or suite.
Adding a new room or suite is a definite possibility in many cases. In order to have minimal impact on your existing home, it is good to have the connecting door be one of your exterior doors or perhaps a window. By using either of these, there is no impact to the structural integrity of your home nor is any extra structural support needed. The impact inside your home is also kept to a minimum.
If there is not a door, access can be cut through a wall. In this case, a bit of extra work might be needed to insure structural integrity and to reroute wiring or plumbing that might be in the wall.
The photos here show a master bedroom suite we added to a home. Access was through what was previously a window. The flooring and walls inside were virtually untouched. The cedar siding matched (once it weathered) the cedar siding on the home. We followed the details of the original home, so it is not easy to see this is an addition.
We added a master suite using the same materials as the main house.
What are other options?
Maybe you don’t want to add a room or perhaps you don’t have room on your lot. What are your options? One of the easiest is to convert a porch into a room.
This is particularly true if there is access under the porch floor. Access makes plumbing, wiring and HVAC much easier. With a porch enclosure, the floor and roof already exist making the project less complicated (thus less expensive).
On this one project, we closed in part of a screen porch and part of an open porch to enlarge a small master bedroom suite.
The result was a spacious master bedroom with a beautiful view. The master bath was large with two lavatories and even two showers.
This porch was converted to a nice Master suite.
The walk in closet had many custom built-ins. There are a number of rods for hanging clothes (some double and some single for long items). There are shelves for folded sweaters and such. There are cabinets with doors for other items and even a number of cubbies for shoes. The existing windows on the front of the house were unchanged, minimizing the impact of the job.
Could you use more room? Maybe you would like to move or remove a wall to make a large room out of two smaller ones or change room sizes. We would be happy to discuss the feasibility with you (some walls are load bearing and cannot be casually removed.)
The screened and open porches are now a spacious master bedroom, roomy bath with two showers and a large walk in closet.
If you need extra space, call us. We can brainstorm with you. Maybe you just need some built in storage units. We will be glad to help. Maybe you need a porch enclosed. Maybe you need a new room. Maybe you need a new, larger home. We can help!
The closet has some 55 cubbies for shoes, a number of rods for hanging clothes and shelves for items.
Willis Sinclair Homes
We will do our best to win your unreserved recommendation!
Call Us
Willis: 843 599 9056
Abbey: 843 599 2302
Bill: 843 846 2500
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