McReynolds Designs

09/24/2026

Had a nice lunch today downtown at Dove’s Nest, followed by a walk around the corner to What’s Poppin’ Texas for some flavored popcorn and some candy. Fall is definitely in the air!

09/11/2026

08/29/2026

Yesterday was the beginning of another major milestone at our house. Once again we had Radford Renovation work with us, and this time it was to level the laundry room. This space was the original location of the rear porch which was reached by the back doors of the kitchen and the hallway. During the 60's, the sheriff and his wife built an enclosed addition in place of the porch. I think it may have been a t.v. room of sorts.

When we moved in two years ago the floor was sort of level - in the area closest to the house. It dropped down towards the rear wall a total of 4" or so. The doors never easily closed unless we had several days of rain and the ground swelled enough to lift the walls up a bit. Nice!

This space was immediately converted into our laundry/mud room and we had always intended to have it leveled and renovated into a nicer space. I was fully expecting to see a wildlife graveyard when they opened the floors, but thankfully only saw dirt.

Once the floors were cut out and removed, the foundation guys were able to start lifting the rear wall back up so they could install the new level floor framing beneath it. Once that was in place we laid a 6-mil v***r barrier and then installed batt insulation between the floor joists. This is the only area of the house to have floor insulation now. The 3/4" plywood decking was glued and screwed down (the glue helps to prevent squeaking), and another layer of plywood will be laid on top to give a really solid surface for the new ceramic tile. Next week we'll pull off the old beadboard ceiling and cruddy paneling on the walls, correctly wire the room for outlets, and put new beadboard on the walls and ceiling. We plan on using a clear coat on the ceiling, painting the wall beadboard white, and then paint the brick walls a light yellow. More to come!

08/25/2026

Yesterday I had a contractor over at my house and he asked if the owners were fixing up the house across the street. I took that as a compliment since I’d designed it to look like a historic home. I responded that it was actually new construction and that there was still a way to go before it would be completed.

08/21/2026

For the first time in at least 50 years we have grass along the rear “L” of the backyard. Up until now, there was layer upon layer of crushed granite driveway surface. With the addition of my parents' house we added pavers from the house porte corchere all the way around to the side driveway at the rear of the property. Now my parents will be able to park and walk across the pavers all the way to their house.

I have to thank Israel Solis and his family for all of their hard work. He hand dug all of the trenches for the new irrigation zones and was joined by his wife and daughters who helped him spread 20 yards of a compost/sandy loam topsoil, laid the w**d barrier and mulch around my parents’ house, laid the pavers and finally sod. They did an excellent job and I’d highly recommend him.

(Captions in the photos)

07/31/2026

Yesterday we received the C.O. from the city for my parent's house. Over a period of 34 years I have designed more than 1,200 residential projects of all types, but I'd never GC'd one. I reached out to two of my builders for advice, Jonathan Celli of Johnson Custom Construction, and David Yowell of David Yowell Construction LLC. Both were generous with their advice and subs, especially Jonathan, who told me what I needed to know when I needed to know it - and we talked a lot! I'd like to thank everyone who participated in this project:

Lupe Chavira started things rolling with his precise skills at rough and final grading by clearing the site and getting it ready for Canales Construction Co to set forms and pour the foundation. Having the boom of a concrete pump truck extend over my house will be a sight I will never forget. RCS Enterprises is an engineering company that I have worked with for 25 years, and they provided the structural design and inspections. The house framing materials (studs, joists, rafters, etc.) were purchased from Texas Building Supply, as well as all of the exterior siding and trim. Steven Sprague of TBS fielded many calls and questions from me about the materials. The interior trim was purchased from McCoy's Building Supply.

The framing and exterior trim (cornice package) was constructed by Armondo Ruiz who came down from Greenville with his crew. They spent a lot of days battling an unseasonably wet spring to get the house dried in. The exterior work itself took a whole week because of all of the detail. GMF Roofing installed the shingles and did and excellent job. The HVAC was provided by AirView out of Van Alstyne, and I'm pretty sure this was the furthest south they'd ever gone for an install. The electrical was installed by Miguel Contreras out of McKinney. He had done all of the work on the renovation of my personal home so I naturally hired him for this job as well. The plumbing was installed by Rockwater Plumbing. They, too, had done all of the plumbing on my personal home throughout our renovation of it.

Seve Rocha in McKinney runs a sheetrock company who did a bang-up job on the drywall, tape, bed, and texture. Everybody who came in after they were finished remarked on how well the job was done. All of the cabinets were built and installed by Peel Cabinets LLC. They also installed all of the interior doors and trim, as well as the LVP flooring. Speaking of doors, our doors and windows were supplied by Advanced Window Systems. The windows are wood double-hung so they can be painted to match our house. The exterior doors are custom made wood doors which look original to the Craftsman period.

Hats off to Radford Renovation who did an awesome job painting both the interior and exterior. The outside was especially challenging because of the amount of time it took to prep new construction. Many days (and World Cup Games) were spent working to make this house look like it's 104 years old. Laurencio Garcia from Arlington did an amazing job installing the tile in the shower as well as the backsplashes. Hanson Home Consulting performed the energy tests and were fast and professional. Pineda Granite & Marble LLC did a beautiful job with all of the quartz countertops.

I have to say that the city inspectors were great and offered advice when it was needed to get from one inspection to the next. I really hope that I haven't missed anybody. If I can be helpful with phone numbers and referrals, don't hesitate to reach out to me.

07/31/2026

The Craftsman Cottage part 6.

07/31/2026

The Craftsman Cottage part 5.

07/31/2026

The Craftsman Cottage part 4.

07/31/2026

The Craftsman Cottage part 3.