Adirondack Cottage on the Lake: Part 1

(Frozen) Lake View from Property

Let's call this project 'Adirondack Cottage on the Lake'. Construction began this winter after demolition of the existing 50s ranch home on the property. In future posts, I'll discuss the design- a refined Adirondack style featuring wood beams, stone details, and shingle siding that focuses toward the lake with a special glass feature in the double-height living room. We'll also get into how we decided to lay out the different indoor and outdoor "rooms" in relation to each other and the site, as well as the environmental review process, and the decisions that were made to remove the existing home from the property and start fresh and how the town was glad we did.

But for now let's just look at COLD weather, blue sky photos of the crew beginning to form the basic shape of this new one-and-a-half-story home aside the frozen lake.

Foundation and First Floor Framing - View from Lake

Foundation and First Floor Framing -View from Street

First Floor Exterior Wall Studs in Place (tree in front yard saved!)

Wall Sheathing and 2nd Floor Walls

Roof Rafters and Beams

Now that they are beginning to construct roofs, it will start looking more like the drawings soon...

New House After a Fire - Framing

Tilting Up The Back Kitchen Wall

Framing is complete at The New House After a Fire including the front porch and the future room over the garage. Here are some photos of the progression of first floor deck framing and then first floor walls, then second floor deck framing, then second floor walls, and then trusses, roofs and dormer.

First Wall Up in Place at Gable End

Back view with 1st Floor Exterior Walls in Place

You can see the cantilevered balconies jutting out the back of 3 of the bedrooms on the southwest. The windows have been installed and you can see the higher ceiling dining room and kitchen has transoms above the glass door and kitchen sink feature window. They were framing the back deck yesterday - and then it will be time for interior and exterior finishes.

Front View now with Mud Room and Garage begun on left

Beautiful Exposed Trusses ready to be installed in Kitchen

Timber Trusses over Kitchen and Dining

Kitchen Sink Windows

Eating Nook Corner Windows

Two Car Attached Garage

Future Room Over the Garage

Lots of windows toward the back view from the Master Bathroom

View from Second Floor overlooking into Foyer Entry

Back (Southwest) View of House

Back View showing Garage and Mud Room Additions

Front View of House

Family House on the Lake- photo update

Demolition and repair work has been going on at the The Family House on the Lake.

Footings have been poured for the west bedroom addition, as well as the east Pantry upgrade. Forms are set for pouring concrete foundation walls. Electrician is coordinating with the power company to relocate electric panel/weather-head where lines come in. And plumber is coordinating pipes from well. Alot is happening! Here are some photos:

Forms for foundation walls for bedroom addition (right)

On left, foundation walls for Pantry Room, which was only on piers before

Old Stone Foundation meets new poured concrete foundation

Second Floor ceiling stripped and ready for next steps

Dusk at the Lake House

Family House on the Lake: Demolition Begins

Demolition of the Roof and Screened Porch

Demo work uncovers crumbling stone foundations

Work has begun at the Family House on the Lake. First some interior work was taken care of, like permanently installing and raising a steel I beam up flush into the Living Room ceiling. This beam was put in by members of the family a while ago when they were concerned about the under-sized floor joists above their heads flexing too much for comfort when people walked around upstairs. It has been a bit of an eyesore with bright orange strapping holding it up there for years, but now it's up nestled among the joists and ready to be covered with a finished ceiling! They will have to tell future generations that it's even up there, once it gets hidden!

Excavate an old tree stump to make way for the addition

Demolition and excavation work is quickly accomplished with machines. Next the footings for the addition will be poured, and concrete will be added to shore up the old stone foundation, where needed.

See the previous post on this project to view the "before" pictures:
cwb-architect.blogspot.com/family-house-on-lake.html

And stay tuned for more progress and, eventually, after/completed pictures!

Steel support beam raised flush in LR ceiling

Joist Hangers and Thru Bolts Installed

Before photo of Steel I beam 

Forms and reinforcing bars ready so footings for new addition can be poured

NHND to the Pond Framing Update

Front of the House - Screen Porch on left/west, Gable Roof for Front Porch

 

Lots has been happening at the New House Next Door to the Pond. The foundation for the garage is poured. The garage walls and roofs are framed. Forms are in place for pouring a large retaining wall. The front porch roof rafters and screen/sun porch roof rafters are in place. Some of the wall sheathing (which is insulated sheathing, offering continuous insulation - see former post HERE to read about CI) is being installed, as well as the roof sheathing to help keep it dry inside through all these summer thundershowers. (wall sheathing is green, roof sheathing is red) These solid surfaces help you see the shapes of the building more clearly in the photos while also starting to show the dormer design, window seat bump-outs in eating area and master bedroom, and window placement and size. You can see/feel how the light and views will be connected between inside and out as well as some of the intricacies of the massing. (exciting stuff!)

Back of the House - Dormer pops up in roof for stairway

Bump-out Window Seat in Master Bedroom Wing- Long Southern Dormer for Second Floor Bedrooms

Garage Wall poured and interior tamped down and ready for slab pour

Garage Walls & Roof Framed

Screen/Sun Porch- Looking toward Pond and Sunset Views

Stair Landing Window Frames Wooded View

Framing at the New House Next to the Pond

Here is an update on The New House Next to the Pond.

The last post (click HERE to read) showed the site work and the footings - photos of dirt and concrete without too much to help you envision the beautiful house that will be there... But now we have insulated foundation walls and the first floor system and first floor walls framed.

View from Southwest / Driveway approach

In the photo above you can see the walk-out basement room on the left that looks toward the pond. Dirt and a retaining wall will bring the grade higher than it looks now, so that the front porch will only be 3 steps up. You can see the cardboard sonotubes sticking up at the front/south and on the west. These will be filled with concrete to provide a footing for the front porch and screen/sun porch roofs.
On the right side you can see the cantilever bump-out that is part of the eating area, and then the master bedroom wing in the background. In general, you can start to see where windows or doors will be located.

Peeking into the basement through the walk-out door

 Some plumbing has been roughed in under the basement slab so that a future bathroom can be built on the lowest level. (white pipes sticking up on the right). The opening in the floor shows where the stair will connecting the levels.

North Side Elevation

 This is the back of the house. On the left is the master bedroom wing, which also is where the garage will connect into the mud room. On the right is the high spaces for the office and living room with the stair in between.

South Elevation (front)

Footing forms await concrete delivery for garage

The 24' x 36' garage is tucked behind the house. They will start building that next and then build a connection between the roofs for a dry walk from house to car.

Coming up: Second Floor framing and Roof!

Progress on Site Work and Foundation at NHND to the Pond

When you build in an established developed area, like a village, there could be municipal services that your new building can hook up to, like water supply and sewage treatment. There are enormous benefits to shared services such as these, and that's why the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards value selecting a building site in an already-developed area so highly. (Site selection can also help one minimize their transportation footprint - which this family is great at, biking to work/school/town)

This rural site doesn't have any municipal services to offer.  So the owners here have to install their own services. Here are more photos of dirt, but essential if you want to have indoor plumbing!

Temporary construction "road" to SDS area of site (follows existing carriage lane)

Raised Leach Field

Well!

House Footings

In addition the the well and septic, the footings for the house were poured. The house is placed on the site such that part of the foundation will be exposed out of the hill sloping down to the pond, so the footing needed to step down as well. In our climate zone, footings need to bear on undisturbed earth minimum 42" below grade. (or be re-bar tied into bedrock) This is to ensure they are on soil that won't freeze and heave, which would rack/move the building un-evenly, like a annual winter earthquake! Footings and leach fields may not be interesting or glamorous, (no pics like these on Houzz!) but they are probably one of the most important parts of making a rural home safe, solid, and comfortable to live in for many generations.



 

Tall Forms used (right side) where footing steps down hill