As the leaves finish their brilliant Autumn show and the snow starts to fly we here at Sobie Company wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season! Our projects continue to chug along regardless of the weather change, and we wanted to remind our readers and customers that the best way to praise our past, current, and future work is to leave us feedback online. We have several different methods for leaving feedback, such as yelp, facebook, manta, and here on this blog. Your feedback does wonders for our company. It helps new customers choose the right company (US!), it helps our craftsmen know what they’re doing right, and it helps the whole company take pride in the difficult projects we undertake on a daily basis. Leaving feedback is simple to do, free, and good for everyone. Please visit the social network page buttons located below to begin the process. If you take a minute for us, we’ll take one for you!

Wishing you the best as the seasons change! Thanks for being a customer of ours!

Contact Sobie Company TODAY

For Best Quality Service & Flooring Expertise!!!

616-698-9800

Sobie Company is known in the construction industry for quality work in interior finishing. Sobie regularly works on a full range of projects, from small commercial projects through multi-million dollar commercial projects.

We are very proud of our ability to do custom decorative restoration work. At the Grand Rapids Civic Theater, we had to custom pour decorative flourets and medallians to match what the timeless craftsmanship found in the building.

We have expertise in the following specialties:

• Construction
• Exterior Finishes
• Interior Finishes
• Flooring
• Fireproofing
• Plaster

We have scanned in a two part article where we were featured in the Grand Rapids Press. Read About It in Our Projects Page

Contact Sobie Company TODAY

For Best Quality Service & Flooring Expertise!!!

616-698-9800

Benefits of hardwood flooring:

1.  Hardwood Flooring is easier on your feet. This is especially important if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking or entertaining or both.

2.  Hardwood Flooring is warmer on your feet. Tile draws heat away, so they feel colders, especially in the winter.  Of course, you can get radiant heat underneath tile, but this definitely costs extra.

3.  Hardwood can help make your space look larger, esp if it’s the same type and color as the hardwood in the other rooms. By using the same surface and color it makes your space more cohesive and your eye flows from room to room giving the illusion of more space.

4.  Hardwood is currently in style. Just take a look at all the kitchen magazines and you’ll see how prevalent hardwood is.

5.  Hardwood flooring is USUALLY LESS EXPENSIVE than tile flooring. This is especially true here in Northeast and Mid Atlantic.  Don’t be fooled by going to a store and looking at the prices…it will probably look like hardwood is more expensive than tile…but remember, these are the prices for the materials and not the labor.  The labor for tile is a lot more than the labor for hardwood, so when you add labor and materials together, USUALLY hardwood is less expensive.  This of course depends on which hardwood and which tile and condition of your floor, but this is a good rule of thumb for the colder climates.  (Note, in warm climates, labor for tile is lower so this equation may flip flop).

6.  Many people think hardwood flooring is easier to clean and maintain. Many people complain about how the grout gets dirty and all the dirt gets trapped there, and you don’t have the same issues with hardwood.  Of course hardwood can dent and scratch over time, and you may want to refinish them every 10 yrs or so.  But, I will say this is often much better vs. tile that cracks.  Once tile has cracked, there is very little that you can do about it.  Once you refinish your hardwood floors, they look like new again.  Plus, you can change the color if you like.

Benefits to Tile Flooring:

1.  Tile flooring is waterproof.  (or extremely water resistant). So, you don’t need to worry about water spilling at the table or extra water by the sink or if one of your appliances has a major issue or just leaks a bit.  You also don’t need to worry about who’s cleaning it because these floors are close to indestructable.

2.  Tile flooring has many design possibilities. You can get really artistic and fun w/ designs by putting things on a diagonal, using multiple sizes/shapes, adding inserts and/or adding borders.  Also, if you have mid-tone wood cabinets, sometimes it’s easier to find a tile that works since you want to have a nice contrast vs. the color of the cabinets – either go significantly lighter or darker…having too much of the same wood or color looks boring.

3.  If you are using radiant heat, tile will conduct the heat better. Plus, any type of tile should work.  With hardwood and radiant heat, your options are limited and you often need to buy the more expensive hardwoods as your choices have been narrowed for you in terms of what will withstand the radiant heat.

4.  Some people just prefer the look of tile. I can’t explain this except to say that some people just like tile better, or they grew up with tile and therefore just prefer it or it’s what they expect to see in a kitchen.  So for these customers, tile is best for their style.

5.  Tile won’t scratch. It’s hard so you don’t need to worry about shoes, chairs or other objects scratching the floor.  So for some, having this piece of mind is worth it.
Downside to hardwood flooring:

1.  Hardwood flooring is not waterproof, so be careful and pick up spills right away.  The good news is that if small sections are damaged by water, they can be replaced and you can refinish the whole floor.

2.  Hardwood floors will need to periodically be refinished. This is not terribly expensive and you may only need to do this every 10 yrs or so.

Downside to tile flooring:

1.  They can (and often do) crack. This can be for a number of reasons, but the most common reasons stem from poor installers and/or do-it-yourself installers.  They often don’t realize how important floor prep is, and as a result often install on top of plywood (which is a no no) and/or don’t level the floor.  Both of these will cause the tile to crack…it’s just a matter of how long it will take.  Or, over time a house can just settle a bit and cause cracks.  And, if you’re tile is cracked, it is extremely difficult (and often impossible) to repair just a few tiles without causing additional cracks in other areas).  In the long run, solid hardwood will probably last much longer – in fact, I’ve seen many homes w/ hardwood that is over 100 yrs old..sometimes over 200 yrs old.

2.  The grout gets dirty and starts to chip away. If you reseal your grout every year, this will help, but over the long run, the grout will often need to be replaced.

As seen on: http://sellingwarnerrobins.com/2011/02/kitchen-flooring-which-is-better-hardwood-flooring-or-tile-flooring/

There are natural, non-toxic, environmentally friendly alternatives to the usual wood flooring options.  Three of the most common “green” wood flooring choices are bamboo, natural linoleum, and cork flooring.  As with any home improvement plans, doing the proper research to find out which wood flooring set up is best for you is extremely important.

Bamboo is extremely fast-growing compared to hardwoods. On average, bamboo is capable of reaching maturity, at heights well over 50 feet, and is ready to harvest in five years. Additionally, since it is a grass, it is harvested again and again from the same plant. Compare that to an individual hardwood tree taking anywhere from three decades to more than a hundred years to mature, depending on the species.

Natural linoleum, or marmoleum, is made of linseed, cork, tree rosin, limestone, and jute.  Unlike typical hardwood floors, marmoleum flooring can last for forty years or more, and is much less expensive!  It is biodegradeable, non-toxic, easy to maintain, and anti-microbial.

Cork comes directly from the bark of the Cork Oak tree and is layered with zero VOC finishes and no added urea formaldehyde adhesives. Cork is highly durable, comfortable, sound, and thermally insulating.

For more information about your choices of wood flooring, visit http://www.greenbuildingsupply.com/Public/NaturalFlooring/index.cfm

In September 2006, Sobie Co. helped complete the restoration project on the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre in Michigan, and even received an honorable mention in the Grand Rapids Press.
However, even with the $10 million in renovations, some things you will see in the Civic Theatre will look exactly the same as they did over a century ago.  When the Civic Theatre opened it’s doors again, theatre-goers were in awe over the hand-sculpted medallions and florets that adorned the interior of the Greek revival.  While this might sound like a simple job, it was anything but for John Wychers, a foreman for Sobie Co. and his father Bernie.

At the Dutton shop, Bernie Wychers completed the precision work of fashioning egg and dart molds, medallions, meander and pieces they called “fans”.  While that was being completed, John Wychers and two fellow co-workers of Sobie Co. climbed up the scaffolding to put the plaster back in place.  In some cases, existing plaster medallions were painstakingly modified to become compatible with new lighting fixtures instead of being replaced by modern reproductions.

To see the full article visit Sobie Co.’s portfolio page on their website!

http://sobieco.com/portfolio.php