Several years ago Northfield Construction completed an addition and remodeling for John and Elizabeth Schott in Northfield. The work was done to their lovely home on Fourth Street.

When my last issue of This Old House magazine came I flipped it open and there stood a photo of our work. Elizabeth wrote a good article on her home remodeling project. She identifies some of the challenges that we ran into in working on a home well over 100 years old. It was a fun project and one that made the home work for the Schott family for years and years... a goal all projects should accomplish.

Northfield.org posted on this in their Northfield, Northfielders in the news feature on Jan. 17. "... the Jan/Feb 05 issue titled Getting Gothic Right: How a pair of New York loft dwellers learned to love a country cottage. The article is not online but John has it posted on his Carleton College page (17 meg PDF)."

Posted by Ray Cox at 8:55 PM | Link

 
In October I showed progress on a home addition we were working on for Ann Meyer and Paul Ruppel in Northfield. We finished up the project just before Christmas and they were able to enjoy their new room for the Holiday season.

The room addition replaced a screen porch on the east side of their home. I think it tied in very well with this home constructed at the turn of the previous century. We worked to use windows, siding, doors, etc. that complement the historic design of the home.

We salvaged some interior trims and milled other needed trim to create matching interior wood work. Brent Hauge was the Site Superintendent for the project and did a great job handling the sometimes challenging issues that surface during a remodeling project on a 100+ year old home. Phil Olson was the Project Manager working with the owners to design, plan and manage the project.

Everyone at Northfield Construction Company enjoys working on projects like this. We appreciate the challenges of blending new and old together and helping make an older home suit owners needs. We also appreciate the fact that owners like Ann and Paul value their older home and are willing to invest the time and money necessary to create a sympathetic, lovely addition to their home. More photos in the Ruppel gallery.

Posted by Ray Cox at 2:27 PM | Link

 
We have started a new commercial building in Northfield....Oil Can Henry's. It is located just off highway #3 across from the Target store on the south side of Northfield. It is just behind the new BP convenience store and car wash that are being completed.

Oil Can Henry is a new quick change oil store in this area. They are in other parts of the United States but are just moving into Minnesota. It will be a very attractive building....it reminds me of the gas stations from the 1940's. We are using wood beams and structural insulated roof panels to create an attractive interior vaulted ceiling.

We got some pretty tough weather to start the project, but the foundation is in now. There is a full basement in this building where the oil change employees to work under the automobiles. Brent Hauge is the Superintendent for the project. He worked Friday setting bolts and base plates for the structural connections.

Watch for progress on this project in February.

Posted by Ray Cox at 5:01 AM | Link

 
We are working on a nice porch and deck addition to a home on Crystal Lake in Burnsville. We don't do a huge amount of work in Burnsville and Lakeville, but it seems the projects we do work on are very nice ones.

This project involves constructing a porch addition and deck on the rear of the home. The porch will have a nice vaulted roof structure using wood and steel beams and columns. We only have the floor joists in place at this time, but the rest of the structure isn't far behind. The folks at Professional Design Group in Northfield did the structural engineering for us.

We managed to install the concrete footing piers when the weather was more mild, but the past few days have been very cold for the men working on the project. The wind whistles in off the lake and right up to where they are working creating some cold days!

The views of the lake from this home are spectacular. I can see why the owners want to build a porch and deck to spend more time on this side of the home.

Northfield Construction Company completes several room addition projects like this each year.

Posted by Ray Cox at 5:01 AM | Link

 
Friday evening Northfield Construction Company had our annual year end get together. For the past few years we have held it in January since it just seems to busy in December. That allows good attendance and people are relaxed and ready to have a good time getting together.

We held the event at the Grand Entertainment center in Northfield this year. Friday evening two other area companies were there for their employee parties…the First National Bank and Hero Law Office. Northfield Construction has done work for both these firms and it was good to share the Grand.

Several years ago Northfield Construction Company did a huge remodeling and renovation of the Grand. It originally started life as a live theater venue, then was a movie theater for many years. It is working well as an event center now. The new owners are keeping it looking great. Christmas decorations were still up and it was a very festive place.

I have a couple of employees that have retired from Northfield Construction Company…Dale and Don. Both were here for many years and it was good that they, and their wives, could come to this year's party. It takes a lot to work in the construction industry long enough to retire…through the cold and rain, and heat and humidity. I thank Dale and Don for their years of service.

Friday was also a special day for two of Northfield Construction Company's current employees. January 14th is a birthday for Jodi, our Financial Administrator, and my son Tristan. Tristan was out of town, but we gave Jodi a cake.

We had a cold evening for our party, but people made the effort to attend and have a good time visiting with each other. I thank all employees for another year of service to Northfield Construction Company.

Posted by Ray Cox at 1:58 PM | Link

 
In the January 7th issue of the The Business Journal (Mpls/St. Paul edition), both the Northfield Construction Company and RayCox.net blogsites were featured:

Companies start blogging for sales, dialogue

The owner of Northfield Construction Co. Inc., Ray Cox knows the success of his business depends heavily on how well he communicates with customers.

Frustrated with the stale format offered by traditional Web sites, Cox started a Weblog at www.northfieldconstruction.net two years ago to better connect with current and potential clients.

Web logs, more commonly called "blogs," are Web pages where an editor, or blogger, can post news, opinions and personal comments to which readers can respond. Many liken blogs to interactive diaries, though Northfield Construction's site doesn't publish comments from outsiders.

From both a relationship standpoint and a sales-lead perspective, blogging has helped Cox's business tremendously.

"Virtually all we do is custom work for people," said Cox, who is also a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. "In that respect, from our Web page, you get a feeling that we're very personal and understanding. ... That comes forward in a blog." continued...

Posted by Ray Cox at 11:05 AM | Link

 
My youngest daughter, Diana, turned 21 last Wednesday. Diana is our New Year's baby from 1984, winning the Northfield New Year's Baby Derby that year. It hardly seems possible that our little New Year's Baby is 21 years old already!

Posted by Ray Cox at 5:10 AM | Link

 
We are close to finishing up work at the Cannon Falls City Hall remodeling project. There has been a significant amount of additional work on this project due to concealed problems with the building. The city knew there were some problems to deal with as part of this project and they have handled them well.

I want to give a good "Atta-boy" to the Northfield Construction Company Site Superintendent, Mike McKeag. Mike has done an excellent job managing the project. He was really challenged to figure out a way to economically repair the damage under the existing windows. This repari work required removing rotted flooring, repairing the structural joists, and installing new flooring....all without damaging the existing windows.

The license center has been occupied by the city for a couple of weeks now and people are starting to get used to coming to this new city hall location.

The exterior siding work is just about completed. The building looks very nice and should serve the community well for many years.

Posted by Ray Cox at 11:38 AM | Link