Entire House
$500,000 to 1,000,000
Grand Award Winner

Brief explanation of the project including scope and retail price

This was our third renovation for these owners in this house. We bumped up the third story of their Dutch Colonial to add two bedrooms, a playroom and a bathroom. A wrap around front porch was added at the front, a side porch with mud room was added off the pantry and the back of the house was extended to add a large eat in kitchen with a wet bar. We demoed an old powder room and moved it approximately 10’ forward. We also rebuilt two sets of stairs in front of the house, added front and side walks and built a patio at the rear, all with flagstone. The total project cost approximately $675,000.

Unusual constraints or challenges and Creative solutions to the challenges

First Floor

In order to create the large eat in kitchen at the rear of the house, the engineer required a huge flitch beam to be installed across the middle of it to support the existing master bath and sitting room.

The installation of a hydronic heating system on its own zone keeps the kitchen area warm and saves energy, but was very challenging to install.

An existing side porch with a concrete slab and stone foundation was carefully augmented with a new wood front porch to create a finished L shaped porch. Careful attention was taken to match the stone and the trim details.

This was our first client that wanted a substantial amount of custom wood countertops in the kitchen. They selected walnut and we learned a lot about the pros and cons of wood counters versus stone, solid surface and stainless steel.

Third Floor

There was much more engineering required to complete this job than we anticipated. In order to support the new floor we had to add two 4” steel columns down to the first floor foundation to support a large new header on the east side of the house. (See attached third floor framing plan.)

In order to dry-in this third floor pop up as quickly as possible (to protect the finished floors below) we had to have all our ducks in a row. We accomplished this by designed and had fabricated off site all structural beams, floor trusses and structural wall panels. This saved us at least one or two weeks during which a bad storm could have compromised the house.

To expedite access to the new third floor and to limit wear and tear on the existing home, we built a temporary staircase from the back yard to the third floor.

We had to remove the existing third floor AC system, reinstall it in the new attic crawl space and add a new heat pump zone to condition the new third floor

Overall results of the project

The renovated house has excellent spaces for all seasons and occasions for this growing family: a welcoming eat in kitchen to gather and to entertain, two new bedrooms, a bathroom and a playroom for the kids, a neighborly front porch and a durable rear patio. The homeowners are very happy with all the new well engineered, designed and built parts of their home.

Technology

The homeowners’ goal was to add two bedrooms and a bathroom for their growing family. The existing layout of their home dictated that the only solution was a third floor pop-up. To minimize risk and improve the energy efficiency of this new third floor, we decided to use structural insulated panels and other prefabricated structural members to allow us to complete the tear off and close-in of this new space in less than two weeks! The final construction cost (including a wrap around front porch, a patio, and a kitchen extension in the back) was $675,000.

There were several challenges to overcome on this project. Due to design challenges and permit delays we had to tear off the roof in late winter.

The walls were constructed of Structural Insulated Panels (SIPS). SIPS added insulation value (R-19) compared with traditional 2x4 walls (R-13) and also added structural integrity. They allowed for prefabrication of the four dormers. Most importantly, the SIPs reduced site time and helped limit the home’s exposure to the winter elements. Higher material costs were offset by lower labor costs.

We completed the project in our budgeted 6-month time frame and our best compliment came from a neighbor who said that the new third floor looks like it was part of the original home. The new third floor is not only incredibly well built, but adds substantially to the insulation value of the entire house. It’s acts like a wool cap. The savings in energy usage over the long term, compared to stick framing, will be substantial for the homeowner.