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Fight COVID-19 with Copper, Brass, Bronze

FIGHT COVID-19! GET A QUOTE ON A COPPER, BRASS, OR BRONZE COUNTERTOP AND SINK TODAY!

Fight COVID-19 and other dangerous pathogens with a copper or copper based alloy countertop and sink, where germs and viruses are likely to gather and linger. It is well documented that copper and copper alloys such as brass and bronze kill viruses and microbes on contact. This natural ability to fight pathogens means that unsealed surfaces are self-disinfecting and will destroy COVID-19, as well as other viruses including stomach illness producing noroviruses and bacteria. These properties have been put to use since ancient times, though the scientific reasons for its efficacy have only come to light much more recently. Here are some quotes from the American Society of Microbiology addressing some of copper’s amazing properties:

Unsealed copper countertop with integrated sink. Unsealed copper destroys viruses and other microbes on contact.

Copper countertop with integrated sink. Copper is known to kill microbes and viruses such as coronavirus and more. Get a quote on a custom sink or countertop today!

  • “Rapid inactivation of human coronavirus occurs on brass and copper nickel surfaces at room temperature (21°C).”
  • “…noroviruses are destroyed on copper alloy surfaces.”
  • “…copper alloy surfaces could be employed in communal areas and at any mass gatherings to help reduce transmission of respiratory viruses from contaminated surfaces and protect the public health.”
  • “…highly infectious nonenveloped viruses that are resistant to environmental stress and impervious to many cleaning agents, are destroyed on copper and copper alloy surfaces”
  • “Copper alloys have demonstrated excellent antibacterial and antifungal activity against a range of pathogens in laboratory studies.”
  • “In this new study, human coronavirus 229E was rapidly inactivated on a range of copper alloys (within a few minutes for simulated fingertip contamination) and Cu/Zn brasses were very effective at lower copper concentration.”

Source: Human Coronavirus 229E Remains Infectious on Common Touch Surface Materials
Sarah L. Warnes, Zoë R. Little, C. William Keevil
mBio Nov 2015, 6 (6) e01697-15; DOI: 10.1128/mBio.01697-15

Custom Bathroom Countertop & Sink. Copper kills viruses and microbes on contact

Copper countertop with integrated sink. Copper is known to kill microbes and viruses such as coronavirus and more. Get a quote on a custom sink or countertop today!

This Copper Bar Sink with Diamond Apron Front is both antimicrobial and beautiful.

FIGHT COVID-19! GET A QUOTE ON A COPPER, BRASS, OR BRONZE COUNTERTOP AND SINK TODAY!

Texas Lightsmith and COVID-19

Texas Lightsmith

Yes, we're open!

We are currently open for business and we have resumed full production as of 05/04/2020. Deemed an essential business, Texas Lightsmith is operating under the current guidelines set forth by the Governor of Texas and the Austin Mayor. We have COVID-19 safety measures in place for our employees and are not currently scheduling office meetings with customers. Should any policy changes occur which affect this full production mode, we will post new information as soon as possible. If you have any questions about your order or potential order, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone or email.

Avoid crippled supply lines and problems from lack of inventory

Avoid crippled supply lines and problems from lack of inventory

The coronavirus has severely disrupted supply lines across the globe. As we have been for 25 years, Texas Lightsmith is here to offer a solution for your custom lighting, range hood, and sink needs as well as many other products. All products are made entirely in our facility and very little of our material comes from outside the US. We are ready and waiting to help solve any availability issues you may be experiencing due to this international crisis.

As always, Texas Lightsmith continues to produce the highest quality products right here in Austin, TX and ship them worldwide. Place your order now and you won’t have to worry about shipments from overseas or other problems this situation is creating for many of our competitors who rely on foreign made goods.

Current Lead Time: 5 to 7 weeks.

Please contact us for a quote.

Constantine IV sink, stainless steel and brass

the Constantine IV Single Basin Kitchen Sink

Inspired by European design – but made to your specifications with American craftsmanship, the Constantine Collection features brass and stainless steel. See more >>

Custom Range Hood 4, L

This custom range hood, based on our Range Hood #4, L, is enhanced by the added Crown #2. Customization of design, material, size, shape or general design shouldn’t add to your lead time. See more >>

Range Hood #4 L onsite photo

Custom Range Hood #4, B

This customized version of our popular Range Hood #4, B is shown in Medium Copper. We made this right here in the USA, without having to wait for a foreign source.
See more >>

Range Hood #4-126
Constantine IV sink, stainless steel and brass

the Constantine II Double Basin Kitchen Sink

You don’t need to wait for European or SE Asian supply lines to resume. We can build this custom Constantine II Double Basin Sink from brass and stainless steel, right here in the USA. See more >>

Constantine IV sink

Constantine IV sink, stainless steel and brass, installed

Constantine IV sink install photo

Nickel Silver Range Hood with pot hanger

Texas Lightsmith & Bradshaw Designs Collaboration Item: Nickel Silver Range Hood with pot hanger

Collaboration Item: Range Hood

Texas Lightsmith & Bradshaw Designs Collaboration Item: Range Hood

Collaboration Item: Range Hood

Texas Lightsmith & Bradshaw Designs – Nickel Silver Apron Sink

Collaboration Item: Sink

Texas Lightsmith & Bradshaw Designs Collaboration Item: Range Hood

Collaboration Item: Range Hood

Texas Lightsmith & Bradshaw Design Collaboration Item: Nickel Silver and Brass Range Hood

Collaboration Item: Range Hood

Range Hood #4-126

Range Hood #4-126

Range Hood #4 B. Medium Copper customized with a #16 Hammered Border in Medium Nickel Silver

Range Hood #13, customized

Range Hood #13, customized

custom Range Hood #13 in Medium Copper. Hammered body with strapping in Venetian Oil Rubbed Bronze on Copper. Smooth Crown # 2 and Border #7.

Private Residence 4 - Range Hood 19

Private Residence 4 – Range Hood 19

Private Residence 11 - Chandelier 11

Private Residence 11 – Chandelier 11

Amber mica diffusers; medium copper.

Range Hood #4 L onsite photo

Range Hood #4 L onsite photo

Range Hood #4 L, Dark Bronze

Constantine double basin kitchen sink

Constantine double basin kitchen sink

Constantine double basin kitchen sink

Single Basin Hammered Apron Sink in Nickel Silver

Single Basin Hammered Apron Sink in Nickel Silver

Hammered Apron Sink in Medium Nickel Silver

Basket Weave Apron Front Single Basin

Basket Weave Apron Front Single Basin

Basket Weave Apron Sink in medium copper

Range Hood 25B

Range Hood 25B

Range Hood 25B

Crab Repoussé Apron Front Single Basin Farmhouse Sink

Crab Repoussé Apron Front Single Basin Farmhouse Sink

Crab Repoussé Apron Front in burnished copper

VH 43D

Custom VH 12 C, dark copper

Custom VH 12 C, onsite photo

custom vh 2

Range Hood 43, Potomac Designs

Range Hood 43, Potomac Designs

Range Hood 43, Potomac Designs

Range Hood 7C. onsite in a custom fire finish.

Range Hood 7C, onsite

Custom Range Hood #24

Custom Range Hood #24-48

VH24-48; Custom Copper finish; Soft Distressed; standing seams;

Range Hood 51

Range Hood 51 in Stainless Steel

Range Hood 51

Custom Order Process

How does the order process work for custom products from Texas Lightsmith? Join us this month as we feature this handy infographic of how the custom order process works!  

Repoussé

This month’s blog topic is the on the art of Repoussé.

Repoussé is an ancient skill used in metal craft to create beautiful images in malleable metals. The term Repoussé is derived from the French word pousser, “to push forward.”  The techniques of Repoussé are found worldwide from ancient times, such as the gold mummy mask of Tutankhamun,  to today, as demonstrated in the Statue of Liberty.

The repoussé design is created by raising the image from the back using special hammers and chasing fine details from the front.    Bas-relief (low relief) repoussé is often confused with a mass production process of “rolling” or “stamping” designs into metal with special forming machines. This kind of imprinting a design into metal does not typically result in the fine detail associated with genuine repoussé, and doesn’t allow for cost-effective intricate one-off custom designs.

Texas Lightsmith artisans are skilled in this venerable process to create unique one of a kind functional art products. Watch the video for inspiration on how to incorporate repoussé into your Texas Lightsmith project.

Collaboration: Greer Interior Design

We love our designers and how creative they are. This month we are spotlighting this incredible kitchen update with Austin’s own Greer Interior Design. This range hood is our number 4  in Non-Directional Stainless Steel with Burnished Brass Strapping.

New Lighting Brochures are Here!

We are proud to announce the much anticipated launch of our brand new lighting brochure! They are hot off the printer and ready to be shipped to our amazing clients! Want a copy of our NEW LIGHTING Brochure? Email Us or give us a call and we will send you the new brochure!

Celebrating Grilled Cheese Day

Here at Texas Lightsmith we love great food; even if it’s simple.

To celebrate grilled cheese day we would like to share our simple yet favorite grilled cheese recipe filled with local Texas ingredients. 

2 Slices of Mrs. Baird’s Texas Toast (lightly buttered on all four sides)

1 or 2 Slices of HEB American Cheese

Directions:

Place desired amount of cheese in between two slices of buttered Texas Toast. Place newly constructed sandwich in a warm skillet until outsides are golden brown and cheese is melted.  If you desire to take simple up a notch add a side of cool guacamole to dip your tasty Grilled Cheese Sandwich into on a warm spring day.  

 

About Makeup air

About Makeup air

The exhaust air that your range hood fan removes has to come from somewhere.

Most homes have several exhaust appliances. They can include:

  • a bathroom fan (40 CFM to 200 CFM),
  • a central vacuum-cleaning system (100 CFM to 200 CFM).
  • a clothes dryer (100 CFM to 225 CFM),
  • a combustion appliance that vents outside (gas-fired or oil-fired fireplace, water heaters, furnaces, boilers, wood stoves; 30 CFM to 50 CFM),
  • a room heater (40 CFM to 100 CFM),
  • a vented water heater (50 CFM),
  • the range hood fan (303 CFM to 1266+ CFM)

Energy efficiency includes sealing all places where air can get in, but making it hard for air to enter presents some challenges when it comes to ventilating exhaust. Air must get in to replace the air being removed, and heaters and air conditioners are not always up to it. When an exhaust appliance removes air from your house, an equal volume of air must enter. In older homes, the leaks and drafts present would supply any necessary makeup air. In newer or more energy-efficient homes, there aren’t enough random air leaks around windows, doors, and mud sills to make up the exhaust air. Makeup air is then pulled through water-heater vents, clothes dryer vents, or down wood-burning chimneys, a phenomenon called backdrafting. Because the flue gases of combustion appliances can include carbon monoxide, backdrafting can be dangerous.

Solution

In this example, the makeup air is pulled through the hood in the duct on the left and feeds into the exhaust air through a register in the front of the hood.

makeup air is pulled through the hood in the duct on the right
The register is both functional and decorative.
makeup air feeds into the exhaust air through a register in the front of the hood
range hood with built-in makeup air register

Makeup air register

range hood with built-in makeup air register

range hood with built-in makeup air register

Makeup air duct

Makeup air enters through the lower duct as seen here

range hood with built-in makeup air register

Functional and decorative

range hood with built-in makeup air register

Often exhaust air feeds into a separate area, not through the hood. In this case, while the hood fan control still triggers the makeup air fan and damper, the makeup air enters the house elsewhere. 

makeup air feeds into the room through a register placed elsewhere in the house

The Broan passive makeup air damper is controlled by the power to the exhaust fan. When the range hood is engaged, the damper opens and air is allowed into the house. The air is not conditioned or heated. In this situation, the exhaust air is often “pre-conditioned” in a space such as an attic or basement area, to be somewhat of a “buffer zone” for the incoming outside air. Air enters this space near the furnace or a/c intake register, and is then filtered and heated or conditioned to enter the living space through the duct.

Most rules of thumb say makeup air supply temperature should be within 10 degrees of the room temperature. So if, in the winter you heat your house to 65 degrees, your makeup air supply temperature should be at least 55 degrees. For this application Fantech makes a makeup air system MUAS that heats and filters and heats the makeup air before it enters the house.

Texas Lightsmith of Austin Awarded Best Of Houzz 2019

Awarded by Community of Over 40 Million Monthly Users, Annual “Best of Houzz” Badge Highlights Home Design Professionals with Top Ratings

Austin, Texas, January 24, 2019 – Texas Lightsmith of Austin, TX has won “Best Of Customer Service” on Houzz®, the leading platform for home renovation and design. The innovative custom manufacturer was chosen by the more than 40 million monthly unique users that comprise the Houzz community from among more than 2.1 million active home building, remodeling and design industry professionals.

Best of HOUZZ 2019: Service

Best of HOUZZ 2019: Service

The Best Of Houzz badge is awarded annually, in three categories: Design, Customer Service and Photography. Design awards honor professionals whose work was the most popular among the Houzz community. Customer Service honors are based on several factors, including a pro’s overall rating on Houzz and client reviews submitted in 2018. Architecture and interior design photographers whose images were most popular are recognized with the Photography award.

A “Best Of Houzz 2019” badge will appear on winners’ profiles as a sign of their commitment to excellence. These badges help homeowners identify popular and top-rated home professionals in every metro area on Houzz.

“We are honored by Houzz and by our growing community of customers, as this “Best Of Houzz 2019” award reflects the highest level for client satisfaction by the Houzz community,” said Chelsea Puckett, communications director for Texas Lightsmith.

“Best of Houzz is a true badge of honor as it is awarded by our community of homeowners, those who are hiring design, remodeling and other home improvement professionals for their projects,” said Liza Hausman, vice president of Industry Marketing for Houzz. “We are excited to celebrate the 2019 winners chosen by our community as their favorites for home design and customer experience, and to highlight those winners on the Houzz website and app.”

Follow Texas Lightsmith on Houzz 

About Texas Lightsmith

Texas Lightsmith began in 1995, with the mission of providing a source for excellent custom lighting, while offering the widest array of metalworking techniques to allow for unlimited design possibilities.

Over the years Texas Lightsmith has developed into a multi-faceted company with several specialties. Our primary business focuses on the complete production of residential range hoods, sinks, fireplace screens, chimney caps and, of course, lighting, both residential and commercial.

Keeping the work local and the quality high have been critical to our success. Texas Lightsmith does not support the outsourcing of U.S. work to underpaid foreign labor. Keeping the work in house allows us to keep close control on quality and the details essential to making custom work. All Texas Lightsmith products are handcrafted by metal smiths at the Texas Lightsmith studio in Austin, Texas.

About Houzz:

Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish – online or from a mobile device. From decorating a small room to building a custom home and everything in between, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community empowered by technology, Houzz is the easiest way for people to find inspiration, get advice, buy products and hire the professionals they need to help turn their ideas into reality. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., Houzz also has international offices in London, Berlin, Sydney, Moscow, Tel Aviv and Tokyo. Houzz is a registered trademark of Houzz Inc. worldwide. For more information, visit houzz.com.

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Eddie Ross & Edgewood Hall

We collaborated with Designer Eddie Ross on his stunning butlers pantry on his epic historical renovation project Edgewood Hall. Edgewood Hall is sure to be not only a showplace but a crowning achievement in the brilliantly creative career of Eddie Ross. 

2018 Southern Living Idea House: Austin

Southern Living Idea House 2018 has hit the stands!

2018 Southern Living Idea House: Austin

The cat is finally out of the bag! We can finally talk about our long awaited reveal. Southern Living Idea House 2018 has hit the stands. It was a pleasure working with Meredith Ellis Design & David Wilkes Builders again on this fabulous transformation. The 2018 Southern Living Idea House in Austin is by far the best we have seen from Southern Living. This year the Austin Idea House featured our Range Hood # 7-46 in stainless steel with a Non-Directional Burnished Stainless steel finish. Body details include “Steamer Trunk” strapping with “Arrow Head” ends and decorative rivets paired with our Border #22 (details feature stainless steel strapping and decorative rivets).

Photo Credit: Southern Living Magazine & Meredith Ellis Design

In The Press: Gray Magazine No. 40

Texas Lightsmith Collaborated with  Chef & Author Sara Dickerman and her design team at Bellan Construction & Chadbouren + Doss Architects to create the perfect custom sink. As any cook knows washing full sized sheet pans can be a challenge in residential kitchens. This custom sink was a single basin trough design with incorporated drain board in burnished brass. 
https://www.texaslightsmith.com/san-marcos-sinks/

Welcome To The Constantine Collection

We would like to welcome you to our “Constantine Collection” line of custom sinks. The Constantine Collection is inspired by European style sinks, old word design, and new world functionality. All of our Constantine Collection allows for individual customization to include towel bars, removable accessories, integrated back splashes, and multiple metals. Visit The Constantine Collection from Texas Lightsmith to see all the amazing combinations we have created and to get a quote!

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