Muddy Spring Weather Calls for the Perfect Mudroom

April showers bring May flowers…and mud.

Here in Upstate New York, we wait impatiently for the snow to finally melt and the sun to shine again, taking us out into our yards and gardens, ready to make the most of the spring. But with this return to the great outdoors comes the inevitable mess of nature. When it’s time to come back home from our outdoor revels, we track in grass, leaves, and mud, needing places to store our wet umbrellas and raincoats, boots and bags.

That’s why every home needs a good mudroom. A mudroom with ample storage provides a crucial stopping point for the mess of the outdoors before it can infiltrate your carpets and furniture. 

Families especially can benefit from these designated “in and out” stations, which offer homes for all the abundant “stuff” of childhood–lunch bags, sports equipment, backpacks, shoes, hats and gloves, and now, masks and hand sanitizer. 

A mudroom is a simple upgrade to your home that truly benefits everyday life. Take a look at some of these beautiful examples of mudrooms we have created for our clients, and give us a call if you’re ready to corral, organize, and streamline your home for better living.

 

 

An Award-Winning Historic Renovation

At Schrader and Company, we pride ourselves on the range of construction and renovation projects we happily undertake for our clients. But it’s safe to say that historic remodels hold a special place in our collective hearts. 

These types of renovations require a genuine appreciation for historic detail, a respect for the time and techniques used in the initial construction, and a keen design eye to make it all come together in one cohesive final result. The rewards for our team, and for the homeowner, are worth every minute of hard work.

In this Project Spotlight, we look behind the scenes of an extensive historic renovation that recently won the Capital Region Builders and Remodelers Association  “Best in Building” Award for Best Historic Remodel of 2020.

This renovation work involved the removal of some existing rooms and spaces that simply didn’t work for the homeowners, and the addition of several new spaces and targeted improvements to the original home.

We removed a free-standing, two car garage, a masonry side porch, family room with a large stone fireplace and chimney, the existing kitchen (with a small loft area above) and a first floor bathroom.

We added a new kitchen, a Jack & Jill bathroom, new windows, new siding and exterior trim, and new roofing shingles. Beautiful coffered ten foot ceilings create visual interest and amplify the spaciousness of the rooms. Cabinet Designer Robert Page created plentiful custom cabinetry for placement throughout the home.

The ultimate goal of the renovation was to improve both the aesthetics and functionality of the home while maintaining the historic feel of the structure’s original time period—the mid 1800s. 

Project Planner Brian Taber and Interior Designer Brooke Stollery worked with the clients to make decisions and selections that would achieve these goals, and preserve the historic charm while addressing some of the typical challenges that older homes can present. For example, the new basement floor level in the addition was much lower than the existing basement floor. This required some significant shoring work with steel reinforced concrete. Project Manager Mike Atwood and the field team worked tirelessly to bring the project to fruition.

The renovation also presented opportunities to maximize space and functionality. The mudroom shares a wall with the new great room, and a two-sided cabinet allows for wood to be passed directly from the mudroom through the cabinet to the great room, eliminating mess and making it easier for the homeowners to enjoy cozy nights by their woodstove.  

“These clients are great decision-makers with a true love for their home. They were a pleasure to work with from start to finish,” says Brian.

“They have expressed to us that they feel an incredible sense of peace in their newly renovated home. We couldn’t ask for more than that.”

 

The Future Looks Bright: Meet the Young Talent on Our Team

level surface

At some point in the last decade, you’ve probably read a think-piece or heard a news story about the downward trend of interest in careers in the trade industry. 

Fewer and fewer young people are picturing a future in the skilled trades, and that brings about serious questions about who exactly is going to build America’s homes, plumb the pipes, wire the electronics and HVAC units, and generally fix what gets broken in our country in the decades to come.

While the nation at large might wring their hands at the decreased interest in the trades industry, here at Schrader and Company, we see a crop of passionate, committed young people who strive to hone their craft to the highest of levels. These newest members of our team already demonstrate an elite level of skill, professionalism, and talent. We believe in encouraging the interest of young carpenters, and providing opportunity for them to grow, gain hands-on experience, and make a good living. 

We sat down with the newest and youngest members of Schrader and Company to ask them about how they got started in their chosen field, what they’ve learned on the journey so far, and what advice they might have for other young people just starting out.

Their thoughtful answers tell us something we all want to hear: the future of our company, and our entire industry, is safe in their capable, hard-working hands.

 

Austin S., Project Manager

I first became interested in  carpentry and building in high school. I took a lot of fine woodworking classes and a course called “Basic Principles of Construction”, where we built a few small things and then sheds at the end of the year. I ended up really enjoying it. 

I chose to pursue this career because of the enjoyment I get out of woodworking and crafting. I also knew that college wasn’t the right path for me.

Working with the Schrader team has taught me everything I needed to know to work my way up to project manager at 21. I’m still not done learning. There is much more to learn as this profession is always changing.

If you know college isn’t for you, never be afraid or ashamed of pursuing a skilled trades career. The knowledge that you take home every day will benefit you in the future guaranteed, and the skills you learn, you can use in every aspect of life.

 

Sean K., Project Manager

 My wife and I had purchased a house and started to do some large renovations to it. We hired out most of the work but I took on some of the smaller projects. Over the next couple of years I took on some larger scale remodeling projects and my passions switched from the work I was doing during my day job to the extracurricular projects I had at home.

I had graduated from college with a degree in economics and worked in the finance field for several years but I grew disenfranchised with the office atmosphere. I felt greater reward from working with my hands and problem solving on the renovation projects in my own home. I was tired of paying people to do the remodeling work I would rather be doing myself. With my wife’s support, I decided to make the jump and make a career change to learn carpentry and construction.

Working with the Schrader and Company team has put me in a great position to learn numerous aspects of the construction field.  I have been able to work on a variety of projects that have exposed me to different challenges and experiences. In a world that is going the way of mass produced kits geared to being assembled by anybody, it has been a privilege to be in a position to learn the industry from a company that still exemplifies craftsmanship.

The construction industry can be a very rewarding one. It allows for a full experience of being able to physically involve yourself in the work, but also to engage the mind when needing to find a solution to problems. There is also great enjoyment in being able to be a part of a project from beginning to end, and being able to physically see what you were a part of creating.

 

Nicco T., Apprentice Carpenter/College Student

Since I was a kid I was always building with LEGO, which led me to take several construction electives at Shenendehowa High School.

During my junior year of high school, my technology teacher  saw my interest and pointed me in the direction of the Hudson Valley Construction Tech program. Then during my senior year I was in a class to build a house with my teacher Mr. Verhagan, and I decided to apply for that Hudson Valley course. I am now starting my second semester there soon.

I could fill a page with the skills I have already learned being here at Schrader and Company for almost a year now, but I believe that the team has taught me that putting in hard work will pay off.

If this career path gives you satisfaction after looking at what you have completed after a day of work, then you should pursue this career.

 

Ryan C., Production Assistant/High School Student

I first learned of my love for carpentry and construction when I was thirteen years old building a workbench with my dad. Once I discovered working with my hands, I inherited some tools from my great grandfather and started to build things on my own, learning something new with every project.

 What made me want to pursue construction as a profession was working with and learning from my Uncle Marco, who is a very talented stone mason and an owner of Lazio Construction. He taught me about the different types of construction that I might be interested in and introduced me to Shrader and Company.

 Working with the Schrader and Company team has taught me that the area of construction that excites me the most is remodeling and new construction. I have discovered that working on site rebuilding a project or starting a new one, and doing it the right way, has taught me more about my passion for carpentry than I ever could have imagined.

For people who are interested in the trades, I strongly advise them to learn more about the many different paths in construction. Once they’ve found what excites them the most, they should get hands-on experience and they will soon discover that there is never a day or an age where you stop learning something new.

How We Keep Our Saw Sharp

Investing in our Team Tools

In the construction and remodeling field, we know how important it is to keep our tools in pristine condition. As business owners, we apply the same philosophy to the running of our company. One of the things we do to keep Schrader and Company operating at the level of excellence we always aspire to is to regularly check in with the best professional advisors.

Once a year, we meet with our attorney, accountant, insurance/financial advisor, marketing expert, succession advisor, and a fellow local business owner/advisor to dig into the topics that will make us better. We create an agenda that allows us to ask these experts our questions about the latest changes in each of their fields, brainstorm new ideas, take on constructive criticism and feedback, and set new objectives for our company.

This regular check-in ensures that we are always up to date on the ever-evolving changes to the systems that impact our industry. Our annual advisor meeting keeps us accountable to our overarching mission and business goals, and provides dedicated time from the busy pace of daily operations to think about our future and legacy.

We benefit so much from the wisdom of these trusted experts, and we pass those benefits right down the line to our clients through a more polished, seamless, and professional experience with Schrader and Company.

This is just one of the ways we “keep our saw sharp.”

 

Supporting the Future of Our Industry

level surface

Schrader and Company knows that our current success and the future of our entire industry depends upon the talents of those in the skilled trades. Without a pool of highly-trained, motivated, and career minded construction professionals, plumbers, HVAC specialists, and manufacturers, homes cannot be built or remodeled.

There have been many reports in recent years on the decline of interest in skilled trade professions, with industry leaders sounding the alarm that we all need to do more to inform and support young people who are interested in a rewarding career in the trades.

To that, Schrader and Company supports multiple local scholarships for high school graduates to encourage them in their pursuit of their skilled trades career goals.

Schrader and Company was part of the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Rotary Committee to establish and create criteria for the “BHBL Rotary Skilled Workforce Scholarship”. The 2019 winner, Justin Stiles, is now working for a local HVAC company, and is continuing his education and training. The 2020 recipient was Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake graduate Brendan Flynn.

The Peter H. Schrader Construction Industry Scholarship, awarded annually, is given to a Scotia-Glenville high school graduate who has expressed interest in a career in the skilled trades and has demonstrated the strong work ethic prized by our company founder. 

 We also have a new field team member for the summer, Nicco Tebbano, who recently graduated from Shenendehowa High School and plans to go to HVCC for Construction Technology in the fall.  We are enjoying working with Nicco, and helping him build his on-site skill set. Nicco was recently interviewed by CBS Channel 6 News about the work experience he is gaining this summer with Schrader and Company.

We want to do whatever we can to attract and support new talent in our industry. We believe there is both a great need and opportunity for young people to enter into the trades for a very rewarding career.

Meet Our Newest Team Members!

Interior designer choosing a baseboard

We’ve had some wonderful new additions to our Schrader and Company team in 2019. Meet some of the new faces behind the scenes of our award-winning projects. We hope you’ll get to know these talented new employees very soon!

Brandon Madigan – Apprentice Carpenter

Born and raised in the Scotia-Glenville area, Brandon graduated from Scotia-Glenville High School in 2006.  After earning a Business Management degree from the College of St Rose, he pursued a career in the technology field.  However Brandon couldn’t quite shake his passion for carpentry and quickly became the handyman of his family. We are delighted that in 2018 Brandon decided to trade in his computer for a full set of carpentry tools and embark on a full time career in home remodeling and construction with Schrader and Company. We could not be happier to have Brandon as part of our team.

In his own time, Brandon enjoys spending time with his wonderful wife and two children. He’s an avid outdoorsman who loves hunting, fishing and camping on Brant Lake. Brandon has a passion for animals, and has two dogs, two cats, two goats, and several ducks and chickens.

 

Erin Loiacono – Staff Accountant

Erin joined the company in 2018 in an official capacity, but this is not her first time here. She will be familiar to many of you as Peter and Christy Schrader’s daughter and Silas Schrader’s sister. While attending school, Erin worked first in the office and as soon as she was old enough to use power tools (a milestone she found more exciting than reaching the age old enough to drive) she was out working on job sites. Her career path took her elsewhere for a time, and she is thrilled to be back.

Erin has had the benefit of seeing the company from another side as well, as a client. When Erin and her husband made the decision to purchase the beloved home of Erin’s grandparents, they knew that there were more than a few updates and changes that were both necessary and desired to create the setting for the dream of their family home. They also knew there was no better team to entrust with their dream.

Erin loves reading, crafting and art projects. She enjoys wandering around in the woods, through the snow, or along a lake shoreline. But mostly, Erin loves turning to her two small children and enjoying their experience of the above activities.

 

Mark O’Lena – Project Planner

As a retired Airforce Veteran, Mark has had the opportunity to travel the world while serving our country.  Mark is passionate about history and architecture. He enjoys restoration projects, renovations and new construction.  Mark has a great habit of elevating the organizations he is a part of. Mark brings to us an extensive background in project planning and design, and we look forward to all of the talent and insight he will bring to his new role as a project planner.

Mark enjoys everything the northeast has to offer–hiking, boating, skiing and more. You might catch Mark riding through the area on his motorcycle or venturing on long treks through New England. Mark recently joined the world of CrossFit and has competed in a number of open competitions. He can be found cheering the loudest at his kids’ events and embarking on new adventures with his family.

Who We Support and Why: Charlton Historical Society

We love being an active part of our community and sharing with you the organizations and philanthropies that matter to us.

The Charlton Historical Society is one such organization, and because of the good work they do, as well as the fact that it is home to some of our valued Schrader and Company team members, we count them among our favorite local philanthropies.

The mission of the Charlton Historical Society is to promote and encourage original historical research, disseminate educational material on local history, and cooperate with educational institutions to gather, preserve, display and make available for study materials and records relating to Charlton History.

Learning more about our local history is always a positive thing. It links us to our neighbors and connects us to our roots. 

One of the ways we support the Charlton Historical Society is by sponsoring their Charlton Heritage 5K. We’ve enjoyed being a sponsor since 2013. Proceeds from the race go right back into the Charlton Historical Society to support their continuing good works. 

To learn more about the Charlton History Society, you can visit their website.