Short answer
We build screened porches and remodel kitchens in Oak Ridge, a northwest Guilford town incorporated in 1998. Since then many former tobacco farms have become upscale subdivisions, and Census QuickFacts puts the median owner-occupied home at $529,300 with 92.2 percent owner occupancy, the highest value in our area, so outdoor rooms and kitchens need to be built to the standard of the house.
Porches built for big back yards and long summers
Where a lot carved from former farmland is open to the sun, an uncovered deck is hard to use from June to September. Screening a porch under a roof framed into the main house adds shade, keeps out insects and becomes an outdoor living room. We size posts and beams for the roof, run the ceiling for fans and lights, and pick screen systems that can be replaced panel by panel.
For owners who want the room year-round, glass and HVAC turn it into a sunroom, at a higher cost. Our porch versus sunroom guide compares the two. Porch roofs also have to shed heavy rain; normals at Piedmont Triad International Airport show about 44 inches of precipitation a year, so we size gutters to suit. Either way, we plan wiring for fans, lights and an outdoor outlet before the ceiling closes in.
Kitchens in late-1990s homes at the top of the market
Point2Homes puts the median build year at 1997. Kitchens from that period in larger homes often have a decent footprint broken up by a wall between the kitchen and family room. Removing it, with a flush beam where the wall carries load, creates the open layout most owners want, and the old wall line becomes a natural spot for a longer island. New cabinets to the ceiling, a larger island and better lighting complete the change.
County permits, private wells and the academy district
Oak Ridge permits come from Guilford County Inspections, which serves the town under contract, and on the county schedule, starting early doubles the fees, so we wait for approval. Homes on private wells should know that a USGS survey found the county's highest well-water radon in granite areas of the northwest, and the state recommends testing. Oak Ridge Military Academy, dating to 1852, anchors a National Register district. The town is 15.2 road miles west-northwest of Greensboro, about 22 minutes.