We frequently get asked by our readers in the Tucson area who we used for what. So here you go - a list of contractors, workers and the like that we recommend in case you are restoring a mid century modern home in the Old Pueblo.
Realtor
Monica Yrigoyen, Realty Executives
Monica worked tirelessly for us to help us find The Gist Restoration, and we cannot recommend her enough. She understood exactly what we wanted, and since she is a Tucson local (born and raised!), she knows what neighborhoods have great mid century homes, and what pockets of town to find a great home to restore. Monica is funny and knowledgeable, and most importantly with a realtor, she listens. We looked at nearly 100 homes with Monica, and if you are looking to buy or sell, she's a great person to contact.
Monica worked tirelessly for us to help us find The Gist Restoration, and we cannot recommend her enough. She understood exactly what we wanted, and since she is a Tucson local (born and raised!), she knows what neighborhoods have great mid century homes, and what pockets of town to find a great home to restore. Monica is funny and knowledgeable, and most importantly with a realtor, she listens. We looked at nearly 100 homes with Monica, and if you are looking to buy or sell, she's a great person to contact.
Contractor - Architect
CONTRACTOR:
John Faulkner, Arizona Custom Builders
John and his crew did the majority of the demolition, electrical, bathroom and kitchen remodel. We cannot say enough nice things about the guys from ACB - they understood our vision and our budget, and executed everything we wanted in a timely, professional manner. Be forewarned, however - it may take some time to get an appointment scheduled with John, but that's because they are busy...and that's because ACB is good at what they do.
ARCHITECT:
J. Chris Evans
Chris is one of Tucson's authorities on mid century modern home design, and has extensively studied Tom Gist's architecture and designs. If you are interested in building a MCM home here in Tucson, or if you need design plans for a restoration or a permit pull, he's a great resource.
John Faulkner, Arizona Custom Builders
John and his crew did the majority of the demolition, electrical, bathroom and kitchen remodel. We cannot say enough nice things about the guys from ACB - they understood our vision and our budget, and executed everything we wanted in a timely, professional manner. Be forewarned, however - it may take some time to get an appointment scheduled with John, but that's because they are busy...and that's because ACB is good at what they do.
ARCHITECT:
J. Chris Evans
Chris is one of Tucson's authorities on mid century modern home design, and has extensively studied Tom Gist's architecture and designs. If you are interested in building a MCM home here in Tucson, or if you need design plans for a restoration or a permit pull, he's a great resource.
Flooring - Tile - Paint Stripping - Custom Cabinetry
FLOORING:
Tile Renaissance, LLC
Tile Renaissance was charged with the daunting task of grinding and finishing the brick and concrete slab flooring, plus pouring the concrete overlay in the guest suite. Although some of the color matching was not perfect (which is nearly impossible to do with a ground concrete slab), they did an excellent job restoring the brick floor, and everything was done on time and in a professional manner.
TILE:
Fritztile
Although we installed the floor tile for the bathrooms ourselves, the folks at Fritztile made it very easy to do so. If you can calculate the square footage of the area you need covered, their discontinued terrazzo tile is a steal at $2.99 a square foot. Although the local Fritztile rep (in Santa Fe, for those of us in Tucson) recommended some commercial installers, they were comically expensive and rather disinterested in doing our job.
PAINT STRIPPING:
Harwood's New Life Wood and Metal Stripping
If you're looking for someone who can cleanly and effectively remove paint and restore the wood in your MCM house, Donna and Steve are the only gig in town. Steve works extremely clean when he is on site, and if you stop by their shop, you can see why they are the best. For the delicate Philippine Mahogany that is in our house, there is nobody else to contact. We will warn you - they are NOT cheap, but they are very, very good at what they do.
CUSTOM CABINETRY:
Patterson Fine Woodworking
Tim Patterson and his son are the only woodworkers in town who are familiar with Tom Gist's cabinetry. Tim will search far and wide for the exact veneer, the right grain, color and texture for your project. Patterson may not be the cheapest, but you will get EXACTLY what you want. For restoring a Gist bathroom or kitchen, there is nobody else who understands what Gist was going for. Even better - Tim is a fantastic listener, and really gets the needs of his clients.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE:
Although they did a proper job removing the paint from the adobe and building our new brick wall on the east side of the house, we hesitate to recommend Tellez Masonry for masonry paint removal and other masonry jobs. Their workers made a COLOSSAL mess that they did not clean, and numerous attempts to contact Tellez after the fact to increase the height of our wall went unreturned. We nearly had to hire a cleaning crew for the mess left on windows and floors. Sadly, they really are the only ones who will even bother doing paint removal from adobe, so you may have to hire them anyway.
Tile Renaissance, LLC
Tile Renaissance was charged with the daunting task of grinding and finishing the brick and concrete slab flooring, plus pouring the concrete overlay in the guest suite. Although some of the color matching was not perfect (which is nearly impossible to do with a ground concrete slab), they did an excellent job restoring the brick floor, and everything was done on time and in a professional manner.
TILE:
Fritztile
Although we installed the floor tile for the bathrooms ourselves, the folks at Fritztile made it very easy to do so. If you can calculate the square footage of the area you need covered, their discontinued terrazzo tile is a steal at $2.99 a square foot. Although the local Fritztile rep (in Santa Fe, for those of us in Tucson) recommended some commercial installers, they were comically expensive and rather disinterested in doing our job.
PAINT STRIPPING:
Harwood's New Life Wood and Metal Stripping
If you're looking for someone who can cleanly and effectively remove paint and restore the wood in your MCM house, Donna and Steve are the only gig in town. Steve works extremely clean when he is on site, and if you stop by their shop, you can see why they are the best. For the delicate Philippine Mahogany that is in our house, there is nobody else to contact. We will warn you - they are NOT cheap, but they are very, very good at what they do.
CUSTOM CABINETRY:
Patterson Fine Woodworking
Tim Patterson and his son are the only woodworkers in town who are familiar with Tom Gist's cabinetry. Tim will search far and wide for the exact veneer, the right grain, color and texture for your project. Patterson may not be the cheapest, but you will get EXACTLY what you want. For restoring a Gist bathroom or kitchen, there is nobody else who understands what Gist was going for. Even better - Tim is a fantastic listener, and really gets the needs of his clients.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE:
Although they did a proper job removing the paint from the adobe and building our new brick wall on the east side of the house, we hesitate to recommend Tellez Masonry for masonry paint removal and other masonry jobs. Their workers made a COLOSSAL mess that they did not clean, and numerous attempts to contact Tellez after the fact to increase the height of our wall went unreturned. We nearly had to hire a cleaning crew for the mess left on windows and floors. Sadly, they really are the only ones who will even bother doing paint removal from adobe, so you may have to hire them anyway.