Pekel Construction & Remodeling, and its president, is recognized as a leading authority and spokesperson for the remodeling industry. Our president, David Pekel, a Certified Remodeler, has been a professional resource to many media outlets both locally and nationally. Some of these include; Women's Day Magazine, Good Housekeeping Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Lifestyle Magazine, M-Magazine, Milwaukee Home Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, all of the major local consumer reporters for radio and television, the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel, the Waukesha Freeman, and the CNI Newspaper group.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sunday, Sept. 12 2004
Basements aren't what they used to be

BY NICHOLAS FRANK

Lurking in the dark, dank depths of many homes is ... a bright, cheery expansion of living space? According to David Pekel, president of Pekel Construction & Remodeling, Inc., the term "basement" is seriously out of date. Yesterday's naked concrete floors and walls are becoming today's fully functional living space.

Pekel knows what he's talking about. His design/build firm recently won a Milwaukee/ NARI gold award in the Residential Interior Under $100,000 category for a lower-level remodel that nearly doubled the usable square feet of an existing home. "We don't call it a basement remodel. We call it adding another level to the house," Pekel said.

At first glance, the room could easily be mistaken for a bright and airy kitchen. Light streams in through sizeable windows on one wall, with recessed illumination on a small kitchenette. Wall sconces cast a bright glow on a combination carpet and tile floor, and light-toned woodwork lends elegance to the staircase and pillars.

The key to the success of the project, according to Pekel, was the company's philosophy that the lower level shouldn't feel like a separate part of the house. "Everything downstairs matches everything upstairs," he said. "From the cabinetry to the trim to the railing to the doors and the hardware, it feels like a natural extension of the home."

The lower level not only matches the rest of the house, it functions like it. Beyond
matching woodwork, the lower level now contains an extra bedroom, a full bathroom, a kitchenette, an exercise area, a gaming area and a home theater. To avoid that stuffy old basement rec room feel of the 1960s and '70s, the rooms are well lit with an artful combination of natural and recessed lighting. "We used lighting alternatives so that it doesn't feel like a cavernous space or a basement," Pekel said.

A lower-level remodel project running at a cost of "under $100,000" might seem like a lot of money, but Pekel said this isn't the case. "In the big picture," he said, "lower-level remodeling is more cost-effective than putting an addition onto the home. People are starting to recognize that when they find out the cost of adding on a family room, that going to the lower level may make better economic sense for them."

But remodeling isn't always about the money. "People are doing this for their own family and for their personal satisfaction and quality of life," Pekel said. Pekel believes this project won a gold award because his firm takes pride in learning what the customer wants and expects. Once the details were worked out, strict attention to matching the new rooms with the existing rooms made the project a success for everyone involved.

"This home was on the Milwaukee/NARI Spring Home Improvement Showcase tour, and everyone who visited the project site said they couldn't believe this was a remodel," Pekel said, "They felt it was always there, and that's the benchmark of the type of work that we do. And we have a very satisfied customer."

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