Porches and Exterior Remodeling

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With an active family of five, a love of their neighboring surroundings, and a kitchen dining area barely large enough to comfortably accommodate two adults, the time was ripe to remodel or move.

This was not the first remodeling project that the customer had undertaken; it was the largest and potentially, the most disruptive though. Logic seemed to dictate that after completing the addition of a detached garage for the two family vehicles, a new driveway, and extensive landscaping by the owner to house if financially feasible, their preference was to remodel and add the additional and very necessary space.

The scope of this project included updating the cabinetry in the galley kitchen, adding a large informal family dining area, and converting the existing one car attached garage into a family room that would connect with access from the front and rear of the house. Further, the owner desired to transform the mundane exterior of the house into something completely different, without having the obvious appearance of being added on to.

The existing attached masonry garage was demolished to the floor and footings. To maintain symmetry with other sidelight details prevalent around the house, the large glass block window present on the side of the garage was preserved for re-use in the new addition. Beginning where the existing garage ended, a 19'x18', masonry crawl space foundation was added to the back of the house to accommodate the new rear entrance and dining area addition. All of the existing Chicago Pink brick masonry veneer was removed from the garage and from what would later become the interior, demising wall, of the addition. The brick was reclaimed from the demolition for reuse to match that of the existing dwelling. Over the front entrance, the wing roof was removed and the rafter structure was preserved to accommodate a new hip roof that transitions into the new gable at the front of the family room. To match the existing floor heights of the rest of the first floor and to accommodate the HVAC in the family room, a sleeper floor was installed over the existing garage floor. To add balance to each side of the house, the fixed light picture window flanked by two double hung windows in the living room was removed and a bow window and hip roof was added to match the new bow at the front of the family room.

Due to constraints of the budget, full masonry veneer around the entire addition was impossible. Careful consideration was given to the articulated elevations of the front and rear of the house with regard to the masonry details. Brick meets with brick. Quoining of the bricks, found at the corners of the existing house, was incorporated into the new construction as was the addition of two porthole windows with cut stone, key stoning at the front and rear elevations. On the unarticulated elevations, 4" lap clear cedar siding was installed as the exterior finish. The walls and rafters were all hand framed. WeatherShield, aluminum clad, double hung windows were installed in the addition.

A new roof, gutters and down spouts, cladding of the fascia in aluminum on the entire project, and the removal of the aluminum awnings add to the seamless transition created between the existing conditions and the new construction.

View More Projects
Exterior Project 1 - Exterior Project 2 - Exterior Project 3