Porch Restoration

We recently started working on a restoration job for a home built about 1892. The porch was originally built with square cut nails and all the spindles and columns were turned by hand. Time has taken its toll on the porch and we have started deconstruction, saving as many of the elements as we can to be restored and used again. We will post photos of the progress on our Facebook page and show how we are able to save the old elements and reuse them in the reconstruction.

The objective of this type of restoration is is to provide new solid construction that will last another 120 years and still have it look like it is over 100 years old. We love these types of projects and the unique chanllenges they provde.

Completed Foundation

The foundation and drain system work is completed and we have moved onto framing the basement and building the new stairs. If feels good to have the basement "space" in and move on to making it part of the home. We have added several pictures to the album on our Facebook page.

Basement Addition Progress

We poured the final sections of the new foundation yesterday. It is a big milestone on these projects. I sleep better at night knowing that the house is on is permenant foundation once again. I've added several photos to our Facebook page album for the job. The next stage is building the drain system that will keep the basement dry. We are adding full drain under the entire floor. I'll post photos of the drain system this next week and talk about how it works.

Warmer Weather is on its way

The spring weather has kept the ground wet and prolonged the ski season and made for adventurous working conditions on our projects. It looks like warmer weather is going to prevail over the next few weeks and summer is on its way. The basement addition in Park City is moving along nicely. We will finish pouring the foundation this week and begin installing the drain system. We will add more pictures to our Facebook page later today. Other projects are also moving forward. We are building a large retaining wall and landscape in Springville, and will be starting a historic restoration on part of a home in Provo soon. We are also beginning the preliminary work on remodeling another home in Provo and adding an elevator. We appreciate your continued support and interest in our work and projects. If you have been thinking about starting your project we still have capacity to add additional work to our schedule and would be pleased to take care our your home building and remodeling needs. Thank you for your patronage and for all who have expressed their interest in our services. The first of our summer BBQ series is this Saturday April 23. The Address for the BBQ is 359 N 200 E American Fork, beginning at 1 pm. Several of you have already sent an RSVP and we appreciate all you who want to attend but have conflicting plans. We will have other events throughout the summer that are available to all our friends and clients and hope you can make it to some of them.

Progress on the Basement Addition

We have most of the basement excavated and started forming the fisrt sections of the new foundation walls. We will pour the fisrt sections today. Progress has moved along steadily hampered only a little by the spring weather. It has been a challenge to get remove the excavated soil with the ground outside so wet. I have added several photos of the progress to our Facebook Page. We will continue to add additional photos to the album on Facebook as we progress.

Fruit Heights couple locked in battle with homebuilder, city - ksl.com

Fruit Heights couple locked in battle with homebuilder, city - ksl.com


This a KSL story about a couple whose home is failing because the builder cut corners and materials to make an extra buck and the city turned its head the other way. I wonder how many other homes are having similar problems and the owners don’t know what to do.

It is a sad commentary on the building industry. There is a distinct lack of craftsmanship in homebuilding today. Too many builders are more interested in how cheaply they can build a home and still charge top dollar for them rather than building a home that will last for centuries. All too often we are called in to repair failing homes that are only a couple of years old because they were poorly built to begin with. I hope the homeowners are able to get both the city and Richmond America to do the right thing and stand behind their work.

Our driving force at Harper & Company is a passion for our craft and our commitment to quality. We stand behind all of our work and know our clients will never have to worry about their home developing problems caused by poor construction practices and materials. One of our specialties is performing historic restorations. In the older structures we work on you can see the care taken by the craftsmen of decades and centuries past. We are committed to building new homes toady that will still be beautiful and functional homes in a hundred years and stand the test of time.

If you have any questions about your home’s integrity please contact us.

Basement Finish Article

This is a neat article about how you can make your basement a more functional and welcoming part of your home. It fits with the basement addition project(s) we have and are building. Enjoy.

Out of the Darkness: Transforming a Dark Basement Into a Light, Open Living Space - Basement, Design

To better integrate this downstairs space into the home and make it more than just a basement demanded some bold spatial manipulation from architect Joe Eisner...