A CONTRACTOR’S HEAVEN

A trio of remodelers completely refinish a house owned by a contractor for the ORA Home Tour

By Cliff Newell

The Lake Oswego Review, Oct 29, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

VERN UYETAKE / lake oswego review

Home remodelers Brandon Keyser, Jason Ball and Al King completely rennovated Keyser’s West Linn home for the Oregon Remodelers Association Home Tour this month. The three are proud of their work, especially of the light and bright kitchen.

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The dynamic home remodeling trio of Brandon Keyser, Jason Ball and Al King was wondering which of their many fine projects to exhibit for the recent Oregon Remodelers Association Home Tour.

“Our one in Vancouver was the one we really wanted,” said Keyser, a general contractor for 13 years. “It’s beautiful. But it was too far away.

“We thought about it some more, until I finally said, ‘What about my house?’ It was easier because I didn’t have to deal with a homeowner. My only sacrifice was that I had to let my wife drive my truck.”

Why not, indeed? Keyser’s home is beautiful in its own right, and what’s more, Keyser said, “It’s paradise for a contractor.”

“Apparently, it’s a contractor’s heaven,” Ball said.

That’s because it is located near two highways, Paar Lumber, SH Logging and has lots of room for the trucks and tools that Keyser uses in his business.

Still, you don’t have to be a contractor to consider the house on Alderwood Drive to be paradise. Keyser and his partners King, a master cabinetmaker for 35 years, and Ball, an interior designer, to produce a dwelling fit for a king or carpenter.

The judgment on that comes from an excellent source: Keyser’s wife Stacey.

“Stacey said, ‘This is what I would have done but didn’t know how to do,’ “Ball said. “That’s about as nice a compliment as you could give.”

Keyser said, “We wanted to add the touches that would make someone say, ‘Wow, this is really cool!’“

But first a huge amount of work had to be done. When Keyser first purchased the home he loved the location, but he wasn’t too crazy about the actual house. So he and his comrades did an almost complete remodeling job.

The word “almost” is used because Keyser did decide to leave a firewood storage bin made of out fine rock from Montana. He proceeded to remodel the house from top to bottom and make it up to date. King and Ball made it beautiful.

“Brandon tore off the whole roof and reframed the house,” King said. “It was a huge project.”

“Our goal was to make it more usable,” Ball said.

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