What Made This Project Hard
- The family originally came to Landis with a long list of ideas: a second-story addition over the back of the house, a rooftop deck, an opened-up kitchen, new central heating and cooling, even removing a chimney. Once real budget ranges came back for each piece, they made the choice to focus on the basement and garage first and revisit the rest later, a common and practical way to phase a big renovation.
- Finishing the garage as real living space meant solving a water problem before anything else. Like the rest of the basement, it sat below grade, and the exterior foundation wall had no real waterproofing to speak of.
How We Solved It
Landis began with a Feasibility Study that mapped out budget ranges for the family's full wish list, second-story addition, roof deck, kitchen, and basement alike, so the homeowners could see real costs before deciding what to build now versus later. Once they chose to move forward with the basement and garage conversion, a separate design agreement carried the project through Design Development and Construction Documents, including a preliminary zoning and historic review specific to their property. Inside, the finished basement came together with stone counters in the rec room and laundry room, faux ceiling beams, a barn door, and dedicated lighting for the storage and utility areas, turning what had been unfinished space into rooms the family actually uses.
