Great Finds

Art Lenard Hill Country Integrity Homes, Kerrville, Texas

Custom home builder Art Lenard has been using radiant floor heating systems from WarmlyYours for about 10 years in a number of his homes and has enjoyed very good success with them. “We don’t require much radiant heat in Texas hill country, but clients enjoy the ability to heat their bathroom floors,” he points out. “We’ve also done kitchen floors and living rooms.” Lenard’s clients also like the fact that they can set their thermostats on timers so that they wake up to toasty warm bathroom floors.

WarmlyYours offers two radiant heating systems: TempZone is designed for use under tile, natural stone, and hardwood flooring; Environ II can be used under carpet and floating wood flooring. Consisting of a Teflon-insulated copper alloy heating element sewn to a fiberglass mesh backing, TempZone measures less than 1/8 inch thick and can be embedded directly into thinset cement. The SmartStat programmable thermostat allows up to four setting changes per day. WarmlyYours. 800.875.5285. www.warmlyyours.com.

Michael Cook Heritage Homes, Stevensville, Mich.

Custom builder Michael Cook has found an innovative way to elminate expansion cracks on inside wall and ceiling corners in drywall installations by using the Magic Corner from Trim-Tex. This co-extruded vinyl product combines rigid PVC flanges and a flexible PVC center to provide an adjustable inside corner joint that accommodates expansion between the drywall panels without damage to the wall surface. It comes in 250-foot rolls, which allow long, straight runs to be installed without butt joints.

To prevent dented entry doors, Cook has turned away from steel. “In place of steel entry doors, which used to dent all too often, we now use Therma-Tru’s Smooth-Star door,” he says. “This fiberglass door offers good panel detailing, while resisting dents and dings. It also doesn’t rust or corrode.” Featuring rot-proof jambs, brickmolds, and mullions, the doors are constructed of compression-molded fiberglass and have a smooth, paintable surface.

Trim-Tex. 800.874.2333. www.trim-tex.com.

Therma-Tru Doors. 800.843.7628. www.thermatru.com.