With final clean-up finished, and building inspections approved, the renovations are complete.  The project wrapped right on schedule, and just in time for the coming holiday season.  Let’s take a look around at the finished product.  Before and afters are provided where available.

A reverse persepective before and after.  The living room area has a much more open feel with the partition wall removed and lighting recessed.  The expanded windows in the dining room flood the area with natural light.  

Speaking of the Dining Room….Once a dark, drab, cartpeted family room, the space has been completely transformed with the addition of new, larger windows, hardwood flooring, and finishes.  The hanging table lamp adds distinctive character and pulls the room together nicely.  

Before and after shots of the foyer and stairs.  How many differences can you find?  The newel post and handrail were stripped and refinished.  Beyond looking great, the restored woodwork hearken the original elements of the house and stands in tasteful contrast with the new finishes througout.

The landing was previously a choke point, as the stairs narrowed to meet the hallway above.  When the upstairs was reimagined, both the stairs and hall were widened.  

Originally, this narrow hallway was the access to two small bedroom on the left, a third bedroom on the right, and the full bathroom at the end of the hall.   

Two smaller bedrooms were combined to create a master suite, complete with a walk through closet opening to the bathroom.  While transforming this space, opportunity was taken to improve attic insulation above.  Proper insulation, especially in the attic, creates a more comfortable living space and pays dividends in the form of energy savings for years to come. 

A final Client meeting will be scheduled in the coming week to exchange project related documents including permits, product information, warranty information, and a copy of the dumpster recycling report.  Sorting and recycling allowed us to recover 14,573 pounds of building materials, or roughly 98% of the total trash created on this job.  

Well, that’s about it.  We at R. Craig Lord Construction would like to thank the Cuthberts for the opportunity to do this project and for allowing us to share their experience via this blog.  

To our readers, have a happy holiday season, and look for our next job blog starting in January!

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Light fixtures arrived on site earlier this week and were promptly installed by the electrician.  Other final electrical tasks, such as installing switch and outlet cover plates, were also completed.  With the fixtures in place, the rooms are really starting to feel finished.

In the upstairs hallway, the Energy Guardian attic hatch cover is installed.  Though simple in its design, the insulated cover functions wonderfully for stopping air leakage to the attic.  The cover has an R-30 rating, so it has the same insulating properties as the new insulation we installed uniformly in the attic.  It is equipped with handles to easily gain access to the attic.

  The bathroom fan, which was previously “vented” directly into the attic insulation, is now properly vented to the exterior via a dormer wall.  It’s a small task, but it helps avoid some big problems associated with unwanted moisture in the attic.

The painter has also been hard at work this past week.  In addition to the door surround, the stair risers and trim are freshly painted.  The contrast of the brazilian cherry treads and white risers is really sharp.  Perhaps inspired by this, the Cuthberts chose to have the stair’s handrail and newel post stripped of paint and refinished.  That project is still ongoing, but the early results look promising.  

Next week will be a short one with the Thanksgiving holiday.  With only final inspections and a thorough clean-up left to complete, there’s a good chance we’ll be wrapped up before the turkey!

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As of yesterday, the floor installation is complete.  The floor still needs to be dusted and cleaned, but it already looks great.  Gary did a really nice job modifying the closet doors to accomodate the finished floor.  By trimming the doors to compensate for the existing slope of the floor, a consistent gap was created.  Not only is this more pleasing to the eye, but it also ensures proper clearance for opening the door.

New stair treads were installed to match the tone of the brazilian cherry floors.  The natural wood risers will be painted to match the existing trim and will provide an interesting visual contrast to the treads.  The painter is scheduled to return early next week to complete the risers, as well as some minor disturbed areas, including the front door surround.

Changing the front door was a priority for the Cuthberts.  Beyond the aesthetic appeal of the door, there was an issue of functionality.  The previous door (above left) was a bit narrow and likely would have caused problems for moving furniture.  The new door(above right), which the Clients picked themselves, is wider and contributes well to the curb appeal of the home.  This improvement, combined with changes made to the interior stairwell, will be much appreciated come move in day!

After opening the front wall to remove the existing entrance door, Gary uncovered some interesting framing.  The “jack stud” in Gary’s hand is actually a composite of original 2×4 pieces, foam, and wood furring strips.  Not exactly standard issue for a structural member of the door frame.  Amusing though.  Blocking at the door’s threshold was also found to be deficient, so replacing the front door turned out to be a really good idea. 

From the interior, we can appreciate the improvements made to the structure.  The door opening was widened for the new door, and properly framed with an adequately sized header above the door to distribute the load of the exterior wall above. 

In the past few days, most of the house was primed and painted.  And with that, floor installation got underway yesterday.  In the newly expanded master bedroom, the brazilian cherry floor is nearly complete.  There’s a lot more flooring to go, but we can already begin to appreciate the dramatic new look the floors will bring to this home. 

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Over the weekend, color selections were finalized.  Judging by the visual evidence, careful consideration was given to shading in each room.  Now that the painter has his palette, he can get started as early as tomorrow. 

In the upstairs hallway, new pull-down stairs were installed.  The old stairs were eliminated due to changes in the configuration of the hall. 

Sample flooring and a stair tread are moved out of the way for now.  The Cuthberts chose a Brazilian Cherry finish that should look beautiful throughout the house.  The existing wood floor is the home’s original sub-floor.  Upstairs, the well worn wood had been obscured by wall-to-wall carpeting.  The new floor can be installed as soon as the painter is finished, likely by the end of the week.

Checking in on Friday morning, we can see that the siding installer has come and gone.  He did a really nice job wrapping the windows to match the existing building.  Apart from the stickers in the windows, you can’t detect any disturbance.

Window casings, sills and baseboard are in place in the new dining room.

Upstairs in the new master bedroom, closet doors are installed.  Installed true to the level, the gap at the bottom reveals a bit of slope in the exising subfloor.  Gary will have to make some careful modifications to the door to ensure it will open properly when the new floor is installed. 

Elsewhere in the house, new pull down steps for the attic are ready to be installed.  The Cuthberts are busy making final color selections for each room, and the painter should be ready to start early next week.  ?

Thanks to the miracle of his iphone, Gary is able to supply us with a progress shot as he works;

Vinyl siding has been removed to allow for installation of the new windows.  Building paper is applied to the exterior sheathing to act as a vapor barrier behind the siding.  Additional flashing is applied around the window opening to prevent leakage.  Later the same day, I checked in to see the progress for myself.

By the end of the day, all new windows are installed.  The original siding was preserved towards the peak of the roof.  Upon closer inspection, we can see that building paper was not installed under the siding.  As a result, it will be removed, papered, and reinstalled from the bottom up.  The siding contractor is scheduled for the beginning of next week, so the remaining siding will stay in place for now to protect the wood sheathing below. 

Inside, we can see that the drywall subcontractor has been busy taping and spackling.  The new windows offer a nice view of the street and really open up what once felt like a small room.    

Elsewhere in the house, sheetrocking continues.  Trim is scheduled to arrive on Monday, so Gary will have another busy week installing trim in anticipation of the painting to follow.

The Cuthberts join Craig and Gary to discuss the job’s progress and go over the schedule for the upcoming week or two.  Floor selections have been made, and a sample layout will arrive next week for final approval.  The insulator is setting up for installation as they speak, with drywall to follow immediately.  Window delivery is expected early next week, so everything is pretty much in order.

Gary looks on as the group compliments his work on the wall pictured above.  Skilled saw work and attention to detail was required to taper the studs used to make the wall plumb (vertical).  Although the work will soon be covered, the extra effort will insure a uniform finish when drywall is installed.  

As the meeting concludes, the insulator is off and running (as well as one can run on stilts i guess).  Decking will be installed in this area for attic storage. ?

Previously, I detailed how the ceiling joists were replaced over the master bedroom and closet, thus allowing for proper insulation.  Well, this is the other half of the story.  The photos above show the ceiling above the Bathroom and Guest Bedroom.  The ceiling in these rooms are not in our scope of work, nor was the attic, but the insulation situation was cause for concern. 

Concern #1:  The insulation is a rock wool bat installed between 2×4 joists.  This type of insulation has an R-value of 3.5 (basically, R-value is a measure of resistance to heat transfer, or how well it holds heat in; the higher the number the better).  At a thickness of say, 4 inches, the R-value is 3.5×4=14.  This value assumes that the insulation is not compromised by gapping or product deterioration.  In this case, I’d be willing to take the under.  Modern building standards for attic insulation is R-30, so this is clearly below par.  This whole area represents a weakness in the thermal boundary between the conditioned space below and the unconditioned space in the attic.  As you can imagine, this thermal bypass causes heat loss in the heating season, and heat gain in the cooling season.  Long story short, it’s a waste of energy and a waste of money accordingly.       

Concern #2:  Look closely at the picture above.  See the pink insulation in the center of the triangle.  It’s different than the rest of the insulation up here, so it must be pretty important, right.  Or maybe it’s just hiding something.  Keep that in mind, and we’ll come back to it shortly.

Proposed Solution:  Several insulation options were explored for properly insulating the attic.  Ultimately, it was agreed upon to remove the remaining insulation and replace with new fiberglass bats that will match the R-value of the new work over the master bedroom. 

Follow Through:  Decking was pulled up, old insulation removed, and the bays were vacuumed to remove any remaining dust and debris.  Now, remember the pink insulation in question earlier?  Under it we found a bath fan!  Bath fans are important because they remove moist air out of your house…except when it’s not vented.  In this case, no ducts were installed to the outside, so the moist air simply blew into the attic.  Less than ideal.  Easy fix though; we’ll just add a duct and vent it through a side dormer without disturbing the roof.   ?

It’s Friday morning, and the electrician is finishing the “rough” installation.  In the guest room, opposite the master bedroom, we’ve created a separate bathroom entrance.  Opening the wall required moving some existing outlets, but will not affect the functionality of the room otherwise.   

During the electrical walkthrough, the Cuthberts chose to err on the side of caution and install a second cable jack in both the master bedroom and the living room.  Doing so will allow them more flexibility with furniture placement in the future.  

Understandably, additions to the electrical plan are one of the primary generators of change orders on our jobs.  When the walls are opened up, it makes the electricians job much easier.  As a result, the cost to the Client is much less than modifying finished work.  Anticipating for future use makes good financial sense, and avoids disruptions down the road. 

Well, the electrician should be wrapped up shortly, so inspection will be planned for Monday, with insulation soon to follow.?