OUR HOMES | HOME & GARDEN
Nip and Tuck – HOUSE LIFT REMODELER Can Make The Old Homestead New Again BY TERRANCE GRIEP | PHOTOS COURTESY OF HOUSE LIFT REMODELER A sag here. A protrusion there. An unseemly wrinkle—a dozen, or a hundred. One feature too big, another too small. An accident, a defect, an infestation. If these blights appeared on your visage, you might consider a facelift; if these blights appeared in or on your house, you might consider a House Lift. “House Lift started in 1991 as a glorified handyman service doing smaller jobs,” remembers president and co-owner Randy Korn. “By the time my dad and I purchased it in 2004, the company had become a large residential remodeler completing all types of construction. We have done whole house remodels up to $650,000 and even built several custom homes up to $1,000,000.” House Lift’s website expands on this notion: “From the initial planning, through creation and design, to the successful completion of your remodeling project or home addition, House Lift has the extensive experience and expertise to make your dream home a reality.”
Toward this end, House Lift enjoys a kind of home remodeler home field advantage of sorts. “While we work throughout the Twin Cities, 80% of our jobs are within seven miles of our office in Southwest Minneapolis,” Korn notes. “This means we are experts at handling the challenges that remodeling older homes often presents.” The home field advantage, in addition to developing a expertise, can result in catching other teams’ rebounds. Notes Korn, “On more than a few occasions, we have been called in to fix major remodeling mistakes done by other contractors.” This expertise has led to a specialized series of frights that border on the Lovecraftian. Korn narrates, “There are always unknowns when you are working with older homes and the surprises you will find when you open up walls and ceilings.” The work can lead Korn and company through a different kind of terror within different kinds of walls. “Some of our greatest challenges now have been with getting permits,” says Korn. “What used to take one Continue on page 170
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LAVENDER JUNE 2-15, 2022
