Work Done and Materials Used
The Remodel
We worked with the architect to develop a plan to remove most of the existing load bearing walls on the first floor to help open the area up, while also providing some modern amenities like a mudroom, a first floor bedroom with a full bath so in-laws could potentially move in sometime in the future, and a chef-style kitchen with an open floor plan, precisely as our clients always dreamed of.
Because the home was built in the early 20th century, it was a challenge to add modern necessities like central air, proper insulation, and to get everything level and square so the finishes would turn out nice.
We had to use a high velocity air conditioning system along with the current radiant heat and boiler system they already had. The high velocity system allowed for us to run a lot of the duct work needed in small cavities and avoid building bulkheads and taking up precious floor space.
We decided to use 2 inches of closed cell foam to insulate the entire house since it was constructed of stone with furring strips fastened to the mortar joints. We could not frame out all the walls because this would mean taking away from tons of floor space throughout the entire home. So we airsealed the home nicely to provide sufficient r-value to bring the home up to current building codes.
Because this house was built of stone and plaster walls, it was a lot easier to hide slight imperfections when it was originally built. But not anymore. So we went through the entire house to level floors and walls and make sure everything was square for our finishes to come out as expected.