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Dave Pikor: Portrait of an Artist A 7 Year Remodel of an Old Dilapidated Schoolhouse is a Labor of Love & Professionalism
By Robert E. Martin
Dave Pikor of
Capitol Home Improvements is one such professional. A true 'artist' in every
sense of the word, Dave specializes in all phases of carpentry and his forte' is
ceramic tile installation for kitchen, bath, and living areas.
After cutting his teeth in the profession in Chicago for 23 years, Dave moved to
Saginaw seven years ago in order to get away from the big city rat race. He
came upon a dilapidated old school house, fell in love with the huge trees and
expansive space surrounding it, and made the decision to purchase the property
as his home. As the photos on the cover of this issue and the ones displayed
herein attest, the transformation has been methodical, carefully thought out,
and ultimately breathtaking. When
asked what he feels distinguishes him from others in his field, Dave cites his
varied experience. "The thing that I feel sets me a little bit apart is the
different applications that I've seen," he comments. "I've worked on everything
from high rises to mansions and have seen a lot of different materials that
people use for artwork that are not common. This lends to building your
education as you go along. If you touch upon all different areas, it makes you
multi-faceted as opposed to many commercial tile setters that spend all their
time setting quarry tile." So
how did Dave get involved with his own home renovation project?
"Coming from Chicago where homes are four-feet apart, I didn't want to buy a
place in the city because I felt it would be the same thing all over again. When
I first came to Saginaw I was driving up the streets on the edge of town,
because when you move to a new place you want to look around. I came upon this
place, which used to be the Thomas Paine School. It quit operating in the 1940s
and was in receivership. Ironically, a cabinetmaker by the name of Miller used
half of it for his shop and his family lived in the other half. But more than
the structure, what appealed to me were the oak trees, which must be 150 years
old, coupled with the fact there were no fences." When
Dave first set foot in the structure his immediate reaction was 'Oh my God!'. "I
made a verbal offer and then retracted it right away and made a lower one when I
viewed the interior. I kind of knew what I was up against, but I managed to
purchase it for what the property was worth. If anybody else had bought this
place it would have been bulldozed, but I always wanted to tackle a complete
renovation. It was my dream to do it and I felt it would bring a little bit of
recognition to my budding business at the time." The
first thing Dave tackled on the renovation was the roof structure. "Previously
two huge chimneys were in front of the building and water just sat on it and the
material underneath became a sponge as the integrity of the roof was lost over
the years. So I looked at reframing the roof and making sure everything
underneath was solid. It took a few months to reframe from the inside rather
than the outside, as I had to shore up everything that was bad. I replaced a hip
on the whole side of the house and from that point worked on the outside decking
and the re-roofing." "After that it was mostly dealing with the interior foundation, stripping it out, getting your floors in place where they were damaged and rotten. Some had sunk three or four inches so I had to bring everything to level before any finish work went in," Dave continues.
"The
next step was the masonry work. I had to tighten the brick walls and window
frames before they would accept windows and deal with the insulation. >From that
point on it was mostly replacing all the single windows and then refurbishing
the existing wooden windows, which were magnificent, large, and spacious. You
wouldn't believe that this place had a drop ceiling and two furnaces hanging
from the rafters that were bowing them. It was like tacking Pandora's box on a
huge scale." Dave
and his wife lived in an apartment for 18 months before they could make their
new home habitable, and then portioned the areas off that they worked on with
plastic.
According to Dave, the windows dictated where the partitions had to be. With a
masonry structure, he didn't want to change the window openings around, so
figured he would make bedrooms on one part leave the other half of the house
wide open, as he enjoys entertaining friends & family. The first floor is alone
is 2500 square feet.
While Dave concentrates primarily on tiling, he also enjoys carpentry, finish
work, and small cabinetry work. "When you're working on kitchens and baths you
always encounter a little electrical, plumbing, and heating work, so actually I
have three or four trades wrapped into one. I've always understood that a good
carpenter is multi-faceted and can execute all different types of work," he
notes. "For
example, I've restored Victorian porches, built basic decks, and usually take
about 15 power tools with me to any job, mainly specialty routers and edgers.
When you match wood into round columns it has to be cut exact and precise, but I
love a challenge." When
asked what his most unusual project was, Dave recalls a remodel that he did in
the Highland Park area of Chicago. "Everything that went into that place was
high end each facet was laid out by the owner to myself, yet with my input as
far as what would look good and how to lay it out. He used Mexican tile,
embossed tile, and worked with items you don't usually see on a day-to-day
basis." "One
of my nicest projects involved cutting skylights into a kitchen and revamping
the ceiling with specialty cypress wood. Usually people know what they want in a
remodel job, but I'm the artist that comes in and fine tunes their desires and
puts them into perspective." "I
take my responsibility seriously," states Dave. "If somebody gives me their job
to do it isn't a question of giving me money, it's a question of them giving me
their trust. I firmly believe in never betraying that trust. By law you need to
deal with people in a fair and open manner." Do
most people have an idea of what they want when they contact Dave?
"Most people do know what they want, but they're not certain if it's going to be
the right material. I usually end up answering a lot of people's questions in
terms of whether they should do patterns, or if they've seen their ideas
anywhere else. I always want the customer to pick the colors, because it's not
my house and it's their money. And I want their input. But if something they
want to do will look askew, I'll certainly let them know my opinion to come up
with a solution positive to the project." And
what's the biggest misconception people harbor about working with tile? "A
lot of people think they can do a project themselves by watching a video or
reading a book," reflects Dave. "And yes, you can, but you don't know what the
results will be. There are some people in a hurry to get a job done, slap it
down, and get in and out. For example, a lot of guys don't take the time to
butter the back of the tile before setting it into the mortar, yet that's the
most important step in the process. If the mortar isn't wet enough to bind 85 to
90 percent of the back of the tile, or if you mix the mortar too dry so the tile
is only sitting on top of it, it won't bond. That's a major priority - getting
the mix right." "Saginaw's been a good area to me," concludes Dave. "The customers I've worked for have been very loyal and called me back a lot for repeat business, which keeps me going through the winter months. For a person that's only been in this area for seven or eight years, I've managed to survive, and of course, this little project of my own has kept me very busy in my spare time."
If you have a home
improvement project you'd like to speak with Dave about, feel free to phone him
at 233-5294 or 781-6884. You won't find a more affable, friendly,
or professional craftsman/artist in the business.
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