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

Blue House Next to the School - Raising the Roof!

The roof over the existing family room has been ripped off so we could add new spaces above in what was only a low, unfinished attic space. Here's some photos showing the progress. (and you can look at the previous posts on this project here: building-up-at-blue-house-next-to-school

Front view - FR roof ripped off

Back view - FR roof ripped off

You can see that the new roof is an un-symetrical pitch. This little trick gives us more head-room under the roof,  while keeping the outside look of the house's massing and roof shape fairly traditional from the front. With the new 7' tall back wall, the master bathroom and dressing area can each have a sunny window and a view out among the treetops.

New Steeper Roof creates living space

Interior of new Master Bedroom

Interior of new Dressing and Master Bathroom

Attic space before raised roof

Family Room - picture window (right) will become glass doors to New Screened Porch

Sometimes good ideas happen in the field, and that happened here. My plans built straight up, meaning the exterior walls for the new master dressing and bathroom were directly above the walls of the existing family room below. After the roof was ripped off, the contractor called to pitch an idea - he could add a little more space to that new dressing room, if we could extend the new floor over outside air for a 4' space between the two additions. I did the math, and we all decided it was a worthwhile change. Now the existing mudroom door has a covered entry. (just to the right of the ladder in pic below).

Dressing Room area connected to Bedroom Addition