Project Progress

Couple of projects are moving along or have just finished.

The Kitchen renovation/blowout I wrote about in my May 4 article (below) is done. These are outside pictures while they finish painting the inside. The beige pic is "before", the green is "after. It is close, but subtle moving of the back door, exchanging the slider for a French door and adding efficient and larger windows really opened it up. The real proof is in the inside, which I will post when it is completely done.

The Dormer (also below) is now framed out and sheathed. A huge LVL beam let us open the whole room up, and the 1" exterior insulation stops the thermal bridging of the studs and gives us an R-20 wall. The area below the high awning windows is to be opened up to the hall below, though it is tempting to keep it for the attic room! One thing to watch out for with an adjacent gable pitch is to put in a significant "cricket" to guide the water flow away (far right).

Marc (MPF Construction in Abington) is a good builder. This is probably the 4th project I have done with him in this area.

And the Rear sunroom/front porch addition in Ambler is tearing it up. fully closed in, looking great. The contractor, Jon Domers, is a young guy new to me but has turned out to be a very contientious, smart and forward looking builder. I am really lucky to have guys like these on my projects.

Here we used U-.29 windows from Integrity, a combination of spray foam and fiberglass isulation in the walls and ceilings, and even R-30 in the floor. The windows on the left are tall but the sill is high enough to allow furniture, while the ones on the right are lower for a sunroom effect at the south-west table area. The room is light filled with a great view to the to-be-landscaped back yard.

The center gable is a bit shallower than the existing roof, but has to coordinate with the 2nd floor windows. The interior view and feeling is just great when you stand in the room, however. The center is set up for a specialty tile backboard and hearth, and a woodstove. Also, we used standing seam metal for the pitches we could see (front porch and rear gable), and EPDM for the out-of-site flat roof.

Row houses!

Row houses are cool. Our first one was in Roxborough. I learned plastering, electrical (cross yourself, close your eyes and connect the wires...) and resisting the Devil when my neighbor bought new vinyl windows while I rebuilt the original wood ones.

They are also a real PitA. With everything in America growing bigger, they have 30" front doors, 30" halls, 7'6" ceilings, postage stamp back yards, plumbing from before time began and electrical systems that defy comprehension.

That said, they are usually affordable, have great neighborhoods, lower fuel bills, proximity to active urban life, and fewer rooms to furnish.

That said, they could use a couple more rooms to furnish and to stick the kids in or to have friends over.

In the rowhouses I have designed new or renovated, the common issues are: new rooms off the back, a new kitchen and maybe a PR on the main floor, laundry upstairs and a person-sized bath on the upper floors. Oh, and throw in a roof deck for the fireworks. I have also deepened the basement (not for the faint of heart!), replaced the front brick facade and cleaned up the Living room-to-kitchen visual axis.

In a new home in the Italian Market, this axis gave us an archway to the dining room, large pass-through at the kitchen, and large windows opening the a deep back yard. Nice if you can get it, but a cool growie or sculptural element on the back garden wall can be rewarding as well.

For adding new rooms to the back, the typical one is over an already expanded kitchen. The structure is already there and it is a logical place for a bedroom, bathroom, office or what have you. It usually depends on the existing bedroom and bath layout what you can do there. The other cool thing is that since they are so simple you can go very modern or very traditional and have it work.

For a deck, use either the next floor up rear room roof, or, if you want an additional bedroom or family room there, add stairs to the main roof. That's where the view is! All in all, it is a cross between a sailboat and a Rubik's Cube, but with care you can open things up a bit and make the (cozy) home of your dreams.

Now is the Time to Build!

What?!?

What I mean is, there are several good reasons to do your project now.

· Despite the recent gloom, many of us still have seen long term appreciation in the values of our homes, so additions may well give you the value you are looking for while not out-pricing your neighborhood (if carefully planned).
· Life goes on regardless, the kids grow, need room, living spaces just don’t work for your lifestyle anymore. In many cases, the neighborhood you are in is terrific, and a careful addition will allow you to stay. If you need it, you will get the value out it.
· If you could benefit from the addition, renovation or expansion, so will others, so the resale value and saleability of your home will be improved. That said, do not do an addition for speculation; do it because it will enhance your home and life.
· If well planned and executed, you will get better use and pleasure from it than the stagnant or dropping stock market!

At Black Dog, our approach is to be practical, beautiful and as cost-effective as we can. This does not mean cheap, since building is always a significant investment. It means the design is well thought out, not excessive and suits your requirements.

That’s value.