Friday 29 June 2012

Lakeside Interiors Turns a Corner

This post has nothing at all to do with home renovations but I'm sure that some people in my audience would like to know what the heck I've been up to lately.
Those of you who know me personally know a great deal concerning what has happened over the past two years, but not all and as for the rest of my readers, I will attempt to bring you all up to speed.
At the beginning of July 2009, my beautiful wife of 11 years, Gidget, who had suffered with kidney disease most of her young life, took a turn for the worse. We were informed that she would be on dialysis beginning in June of that year and remain on it until she received a kidney transplant at some undetermined point in the future.
At that time, since my Gidget required round the clock care and refused to leave our home to be in a nursing home, I was forced to virtually shut down all operations of Lakeside Interiors in order to personally care for her.
To make a very long and unhappy story short, my Gidget lost her battle last May of 2011 and my world ended.
A month and a half later, my best friend, Terry Dunster, who we had lived with and cared for, for years, died as well.
Through some oversights and legal wranglings, the estate, managed to end up with everything that we had worked so hard to establish, our home, my place of business, everything.
By the time all this had transpired, I had nothing left, so I moved to Kitchener to spend time with my son Jason and his wife to be Carrie-Lynn, working at starting over in that area and trying to re-invent myself.
During that time, I met a beautiful girl, my Rayshelle, and was in the process of re-establishing my company in Barrie to be near her when I started to go blind from cataracts.
The type I have is a fast moving type and  I was told that it would be a year before I could get the required surgery in the north of Ontario so we were forced to part and I returned to Windsor to get the surgery since wait times are drastically reduced here.(my surgery here is scheduled for the beginning of July).
Exactly 2 days after arriving back in Windsor, I had a "significant heart attack" and following two surgeries for that, I'm back.......but I still can't see much yet until July 9.
So to make a long story short, I'm back, I'm here in Windsor, and I'm busy building Lakeside Interiors to be everything I set out to make it before all this started!
Ok, now to get to the corner and the turning of it!
A few days ago, I was lucky enough to find the teachings of Marcus Sheridan of TheSalesLion.com and I ordered his free E-book.
This is, without a doubt, the most comprehensive guide to turn your business around that has been written to date!
You will not believe the change it will make in your life, I can't believe the simple principles that Marcus teaches that can completely change the way you do business if you just take the time to read them!
I can't say enough about  Marcus' free E-book and the change it can make in your life, if you own a business or you're self employed or you work for a company......this book will help you, just read it, it"s free!
This guy is a genius! Not because he's saying anything different, but because he can explain what he's saying so that anyone can understand it!
I've embraced the principles that Marcus teaches and I'm beginning to implement them as quickly as I can, one thing at a time.
You'll notice changes in the blog such as a totally new look, a bunch of new pages being added to the site, this blog will now be coming out with new content every Sunday and Wednesday, as well, there is now a newsletter that will be emailed out to customers and subscribers every Sunday and articles will be written by guest authors as well as by me.
Those are just a small sample of what's coming, if you'd like to know more about what to expect from Lakeside over this summer......READ MARCUS' BOOK!!!


This article was published by:
Keith McGorlick,
Author, Blogger,
Home Improvement Expert &
President of, Lakeside Interiors
Windsor, Kitchener & Barrie Ontario
226-787-5835 or,


Sunday 24 June 2012

Basement Renovation Money-Saving Tips in Windsor, Ontario

Summer has arrived here in Windsor, or as we call it here…..construction season! Many families here are considering a variety of DIY projects around the house, one of the most common is to expand useable floor space by renovating an unfinished or partially finished basement area. Here are some money saving tips that we use in the industry to reduce cost, increase useable space or improve appearance of the finished product. I hope you can make use of one or more of them in planning your project.

 · Make use of wasted space under the lower end of the stairway leading into the basement. Consider roll-out bins or shelves to hold laundry or other supplies.

 · Finish off the floor if your plan is to incorporate a family room or home office. If the floor in your basement is concrete, decide on the flooring you will use; laminate or engineered flooring, or carpet.

 · If you decide on carpet, and your floor is smooth, carpet and padding can be easily tacked down and stretched directly on top of the concrete. It’s important to know that once the carpet is stretched that it will lay flat across the entire floor. An uneven floor will cause the carpet to be unsupported underneath any low spots. If you prefer not to go to the expense of leveling the floor properly, then glue the carpet down, otherwise the carpet will wear much quicker in the unsupported areas.

 · If you decide on laminate or engineered flooring, you will have a great looking basement. The material and installation is more expensive than carpeting a floor, but usually cheaper than using a ceramic tile. Laminate is essentially saw dust and glue, made under great pressure and a lot of heat. The finishes on laminate are very tough; the floor is sturdy and wears very well – and good for high-traffic areas. Engineered flooring is essentially made by laminating a thin layer of hardwood flooring to the top of thin plywood and will wear similar to actual hardwood flooring of the same wood, however since it is plywood, it will resist warping under the high humidity conditions generally found in basements.

 · If part of your basement renovation includes a bathroom, time and costs can be cut if bathroom fixtures are located near existing plumbing. This means designing the bathroom floor plan close to the main waste-vent stack and house drain – with reduced cost involved in the installation of underground pipes.

 · When deciding on small bathroom design, it is easier and less complicated to arrange the bathroom fixtures along a line on one wall. Check local codes for plumbing and electrical requirements for your project.

 · Always remember when planning for ANY basement project that wood must NEVER touch concrete, under ANY circumstances! Concrete is inherently porous and absorbs small amounts of moisture directly from the ground under itself and will eventually rot any wood touching it. Any wood product which must be touching concrete, such as the base of a wall, should be installed with a gasket under it.

If you would like advice concerning your summer project or you would like a cost estimate for a project you are considering, please dont hesitate to contact us.

 Lakeside Interiors dedicates a portion of its profits to the community we work in by using our skills to assist the elderly or underpriviledged free of charge. If you know of someone in your area who could use our assistance, please let us know.

This article was published by:
Keith McGorlick,
Author, Blogger,
Home Improvement Expert &
President of, Lakeside Interiors
Windsor & Barrie Ontario
In Windsor, call 226-946-9651 or,
lakesidewindsor@gmail.com
lakesidebarrie@gmail.com