veda's.room...

modern brick design...

2012-03-08T14:05:00.000-08:00

We have talked about brick wall systems in previous posts. Here I would like to take a minute and look at some of the possibilities in designing with brick. If you look you will find it is hard to find examples of unique applications of the brick module. Brick construction is easiest when it is placed on the ground and regimented in pattern and form. A square object does not want to be a curve or an acute angle you might think; however, there are examples of designers and architects re-thinking the medium of brick masonry construction and form. Of course the roman arch was the first such reworking of the square brick module (along with the invention of concrete) and it revolutionized building design in its day. Take a look at the examples I have pasted below and leave your thoughts. Modern brick design is a challenging and potentially fruitful endeavor.

Pictures after the jump...

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unique stairs ...vertical inspiration

2012-03-07T12:47:00.002-08:00

I know this may seem like an odd sentiment for a component in a structure, but one of most exciting elements in a building are the stairs. The dynamic of vertical movement and the elegance that can come from its form can be truly inspiring. Stairs have long been one of the most creatively unique design elements in a building. From Michelangelo's famous winding staircase in the Vatican Museum to Carlo Scarpa's Olivetti Showroom stair, architects and designers have been fascinated with moving people up and down in elegant forms for centuries. In this vain I would like to pass along some potentially inspiring, if not as famous or elegant as Scarpa's and Michelangelo's, interpretations of the stair.

Pictures after the jump...

concrete... beautifully cast

2012-03-06T13:05:00.000-08:00

Concrete is one of the defining materials of modern architecture. The advance in steel technology and, specifically to concrete, reinforcing steel spawned a new age in architectural form and aesthetics. The early masters like Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright redefined architecture for the 20th Century and beyond. Such masterpieces as Wright's Falling Water and Louis Kahn's Salk Institute have inspired generations of designers since their inception. Kahn's masterful manipulation of the concrete medium has shown us that this building material can be so much more than a utilitarian element (for pictures follow the links).

The beauty of concrete as a building material is the dual character of being a man-made construct, but having some of the same natural characteristics of a material like wood or stone. Concrete has a degree of natural variance in its composition and color that gives it a more natural quality, than add to this the ability to transfer any texture from the concrete form to the finish surface of your wall and you have a system that can vary widely in its aesthetic appearance. Concrete also has the ability to contrast with almost any building material; of course care should be taken to not just assume any two materials are meant to be used together. You can see in the examples provide in this post that many great architects have used concrete to an exceptional degree to express form, light, and material.

Concrete does not conform to the siding definition that has been the topic of our current series of posts. However, as a wall system it has some similar characteristics to dimensional stone and brick mass wall systems that we have already discussed. A concrete wall has great thermal mass qualities, as well as extremely useful structural properties. Steel reinforced concrete walls and floors can be made fairly thin and cost effective wall systems, and concrete also provides superior acoustical control. Any concrete wall exposed to the elements will need to be designed sufficiently thick in order to control moisture infiltration and still may require waterproofing on the interior. There are complex system alternatives to pure poured in place concrete such as sandwich panel walls. However, for most residential construction that opts for exposed concrete walls, these systems are not frequently used. Also, one of the real downside to any mass wall system is that if is essentially a barrier wall and will require maintenance to ensure that any joints in the wall are sealed with sealant, and that the integrity of the sealant is still sound.

brick...classic or modern

2012-02-22T14:24:00.001-08:00

Another installment in our continuing series on siding options for your home. In this post we will discuss brick and its usefulness as a siding for your home.

When I think of brick as an exterior material I almost immediatly go to the college campus buildings (Collegiate Gothic Architecture), or Post-WWII suburban homes, or even Southern colonial homes. Brick as an aeshthetic material can be difficult, especially if your aim is to creat a unique piece of architecture and not a traditional style. Brick, in my opinion, lends itself to nostalgia. There is a warmth and familiarity and a sense of the past when you see a brick facade.

Brick has been on our building tradition for a very long time, and was part of our technological progession from caves to built dwellings. Brick started out as essentially sun-dried mud, and eventually has evolved into the modern and expressive building material that it is today. All bricks are unitzed pieces of masonry that are bonded together with mortar to create a contiquous system. Laying brick is a labor intensive process is part of the reason for the expense of installing brick on your home.

Brick has some of the qualities of dimensionsal stone that we have discussed previosuly, but with less cost that stone because it is manufactured and mass produced. Brick can be made any many different sized and colors and can even be custom-shaped for a special project. Of course, if cost is a concern (and when is not?) standard brick sizes are your best bet. Some of the general drawbacks with brick is it can efloursece (click the link to learn more). All brick is susceptable to freeze-thaw cycles that can damage the face of the material and all the mortar joints will have to detailed correctly as they have a huge impact on the life of the wall.

A brick wall can be a simple wall system that consists of several layers (wythes) of bricks tied to together with mortar to "glue" them into a solid wall; this is a mass wall system. The benefits of a brick mass walls are similar to those discussed in our dimensional stone wall discussion; a mass wall has thermal mass that helps regulate the termperature inside your home. Another benefit of any mass wall is that it provides excellent acoustical separation from the adjacent space; whether you live next to a noisy street or have neighgors close by, a mass wall might be the right choice to block out the sound. Be aware, however, that mass walls are more expensive that cavity walls (discussed below) due to the shear amount of material it takes to construct them and make them structurally stable. Some of the drawbacks to a mass wall is that it can be hard to keep water from infiltrating the system and the wall takes up more space than a conventional wall. The freezing and thawing of moisture inside the wall can cause the wall to fail, so careful planning will need to be taken to plan the thickness of the wall to account for moisture penetration and drying time. Also, in a tight floor plan, a mass wall may not be an option unless you are willing to give up space on the interior of your home.

The modern use of brick as a siding material would be its use in a cavity wall. This application is a more recent use of the material than its mass wall ancestor; this wall system is similar to the system used with siding materials we have already discussed (wood, composites, metal, and manufactured stone). In a cavity wall the brick veneer will have to be hung off the backing structural wall. While this will add to the structural requirements of your stud wall or block wall, a cavity wall configuration will also provide some increased benefits to water infiltration (due to rainscreen principles) and total insulating value (because you can add rigid insulation in the cavity if you desire) of the wall. If you are going to use a brick veneer for your siding, then I would highly recommend implementing a rainscreen wall. The benefits will be worth the extremely minor amount of additional work and cost it will take to upgrade. The cost, however, for either wall system is going to be more expensive than your composite siding ro manufactured stone.

Whatever you do, please don't use the fake brick sheathing you see at the store. You are not fooling anyone, and it does nothing to evoke the feeling of substanance and permanence that is meant to be fealt by using a heavy masonry product. It's like the wallpaper my parent had in our basement of the forets. Really? I know it was the 70's, but all you had to do was turn your head to the right and the actual forest was right there. I wonder what my kids will scratch their heads at?

Finally I will leave you with a famous (in architecture circles at least) quoute from a very famous Architect, Lois Kahn. The quoute is in context of the nature of materials and that materials should be used for what they are intended and not superficially artifaced. Anyhow...enjoy!

“To express is to drive. And when you want to give something presence, you have to consult nature. And there is where Design comes in.
And if you think of Brick, for instance, and you say to Brick,"What do you want Brick?"

And Brick says to you, "I like an Arch."

And if you say to Brick, "Look, arches are expensive, and I can use a concrete lentil over you. What do you think of that?"

"Brick?"

Brick says: "... I like an Arch"”

--Louis Kahn

natural stone siding... rockin' it

2012-02-20T16:58:00.000-08:00

This is part of our continuing series on siding materials for your home. In today's post we will talk about natural stone. Natural stone can be an elegantly magnificent choice for a wall system for your home. When natural stone is used for modern building purposes it is often called dimensional stone because the natural material has been processed from the earth and reformed in some manner to be used as a building material. Stone consists of various types of natural rock extracted from the earth; granite, travertine, and limestone are just some of the more popular choices.

A stone wall can be a simple wall system that consists of stones and a mortar to "glue" them together; this is a mass wall system and has been in use since antiquity. Some of the benefits a mass wall has compared to a more modern wall system (discussed further below in this post) is that a mass wall has thermal mass, doesn't require a structural wall to hold the stone, and can be fairly simple to build. Some of the drawbacks to a mass wall is that it can be hard to keep water from infiltrating the system and the wall takes up more space than a conventional wall. In a tight floor plan a mass wall may not be an option unless you are willing to give up space on the interior of your home. Another variation of using this material for a wall would be a Gabion, but I would like to limit our discussion to walls that are intended to create tempered space isolated from the exterior.

The modern use of stone as a siding material would be the use of dimensional stones in a cavity wall. This application is a more recent use of the material than its mass wall ancestor; this wall system is similar to the system used with siding materials we have already discussed (wood, composites, metal, and manufactured stone). In a cavity wall the stone veneer will have to be hung off the backing structural wall. While this will add to the structural requirements of your stud wall, a cavity wall configuration will also provide some increased benefits to water infiltration (due to rainscreen principles) and total insulating value (because you can add rigid insulation in the cavity if you desire) of the wall. If you are going to use a dimensional stone veneer for your siding, then I would highly recommend implementing a rainscreen wall. The benefits will be worth the extremely minor amount of additional work and cost it will take to upgrade. The cost, however, for either wall system is going to be expensive. The amount work it takes to extract, refine, ship, and install stone as a siding material is quite onerous, and your budget will take the brunt of this work.

Now that we know some very basic differences between the types of stone walls, let's talk about aesthetics. Stone has always been one of the more beautiful building materials. There is an intrinsic quality to stone. We understand stone innately. Stone has been used as a building material for thousands of years. When local stone is used it can evoke a sense of place and a timeless nature; a sense of place in that the building that uses the local material literally comes from the place it is built, and this connection is deeply understood and felt. The use of the material in this manner connects with the earth and springs from the earth all at once. When an exotic stone is used (material transported form another place on the planet) the material can seem other worldly, but yet the material stills feel natural and familiar. This duality in feeling I think has helped to create some spectacular civic and residential architecture. These qualities of duality, permanence, familiarity, etc. are what make stone such a desired building material and such an ageless addition to our palette of material and form in architecture.

For more proof, you should click on this link to read about this wonderful project Scotland.

manufactured stone...friend or foe?

2012-02-14T15:27:00.000-08:00

Cultured stone should mimic real stone construction.

This is part of our continuing series on siding products for your home. Manufactured stone is a fairly new product. It has risen to prominence in the "McMansions" of the early 21st century. Manufactured stone (or cultured stone, or technically "adhered concrete masonry veneer") is essentially a concrete masonry product finished to look like quarried stone (real stone mined from the earth). Concrete is poured into a mold, and then the appropriate amount of color and texture is added to create a product that looks like its associated real stone counterpart.

If I put my personal bias aside, this product does have a broad appeal and some aesthetic qualities for use on your home. However, when this product is overly used, used in way that defies the laws of gravity, or used in a manner that highlights the material as a fake stone, the application can feel unnerving and tacky. Manufactured stone can provide the feel of permanence, sense of place, and mimic the beauty of natural stone if used tastefully. I would suggest using the material exactly like you would be forced to use real stone. Use it as a base to build the rest of your home from. Real stone buildings are thick by necessity and manufactured stone is only a few inches thick so don’t highlight the fact that manufactured stone is of lesser substance. Using manufactured stone as a surround for thin columns is an application that feels uneasy. Using the material in large swaths is great, especially in a modern design, but if you are going to suspend this product off the ground than you better be bold.

Same home as above. Nice use of stone in thick walls.

The other issue you should be aware of is that this system appears to be prone to water damage if not installed perfectly. With all building systems, time is what determines the ultimate success of new building technologies. Manufactured stone has not been around long enough to know if this type of building component will fail when applied to a home for 50 years. As I alluded to earlier, new residential construction over the last 10 years has seen a boon in this type of siding system and I would caution you in using this product. See here for a great article from an inspection expert regarding some issues that have cropped up with the installation of manufactured stone. The problem is that manufactured stone is applied to a wall like stucco (essentially glued with mortar to the outside of your wall). If any water makes it past the face of this system then you are trapping water in your wall and, in turn, creating the potential for mold, mildew and rot. Before installing manufactured stone on your home please ensure that either you or the contractor hired to install this product follows the guidelines provided by the Masonry Veneer Manufacturers Association. Their website is here.

You see a ton of this with manufactured stone.

And more of the same.

And more...

Please don't ever do this...

metal siding...not just for the shed

2012-02-13T12:16:00.000-08:00

Another post in our continuing series about siding. This time I'm here to talk about metal siding. Now, metal siding can be tricky aesthetically. It can be done in a way that works, and it can be overdone like some cheesy, pseudo-industrial pub that no one really wants to hang out in. When this siding material is used appropriately it can be a stunning and durable choice for siding.

Metal siding can be a great siding product if used and installed correctly. The main issue with metal siding is it typically is more complicated to install than your wood siding or composite siding. Metal siding will most likely require you to build your exterior wall with the rainscreen principle in mind. Most sidings, and the wall they enclose, are built with a face-sealed system, and if water gets past the paint or caulking then you have the potential for water damage to your house. A rainscreen wall, in principle, is a better wall system for the long-term health of your structure. Metal siding is very low maintenance (compared to wood and composites) and can be extremely durable over the life of your home. One area that you need to be careful is in choosing the gauge, or thickness, of the metal siding. If you go too thin (i.e. less money) on the gauge of metal siding you will get oil canning. Oil canning will happen less with corrugated or ribbed metal siding than it will with flat panel profiles due to inherent strength in the corrugated profile of the material. Metal siding is also not recommended in marine environments and can rust if either left unfinished or damaged; exposing the metal to oxygen and water (know as oxidation with causes the metal to decay) will cause rust.

The beauty of metal can provide an industrial, modern or rustic aesthetic to your home. Be careful about the proportionality of the panels or ribs to the size of your home. The examples in this post all use proportionally small profile corrugation in order to make the repeating pattern fit the scale of their respective home. These applications create, in my opinion, a great texture to their respective buildings and a feel that is both permanent and familiar. I think metal siding can be a great alternative to create either a modern or more familiar traditional aesthetic.

The last thing I will point out is that metal siding can be a good choice for a product in terms of environmental friendliness. Some of the metal siding products out there are from mostly recycled content, but the real key is that metal siding has a longer life-span than most other building materials. Metal siding can also be completely recycled when it is no longer wanted or in working condition. No siding product approaches wood in it's environmentally friendliness (wood is a carbon sink), but sustainability is not only measured in the amount of carbon it takes to make a product or how much the product holds, but also how many times it has to be replaced. The life-span of a product is a key cog in the wheel of sustainability.

composite siding...it's everywhere

2012-02-09T13:28:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our continuing series. Composite siding materials are all over the map, both in range of options and their ubiquitous use. In North America, if I had to guess, I would say this is the most widely used form of siding today (see here, here, and here). Composite siding ranges from wood composites, fiber-cement composites, recycled materials, and much more. The reason I see why these systems are so popular is due to their low cost, versatility, and wide variety of styles. These systems will buy you a reasonably priced siding option, but it will not provide any distinct aesthetics.

Composite sidings come in so many different varieties, it's almost all you see. Composites have been made to replicate all traditional wood siding installations. Before we had modern wood stains, wood siding was painted to keep moisture and pests out. Now, most painted homes you will see are actually composite materials painted to look like traditional wood siding installations (this is why if you are going to use wood, don't paint it). Composites are cheaper and have some benefits over wood when painted. Here lies the kicker, you really must paint these products. Some come in pre-finished options, but they are generally more expensive and don't offer an exceptionally wide variety of choices. These products also need to be painted in order to keep moisture out of your wall and out of the product. Any moisture that gets into these products usually causes irreparable damage to the siding and to your home and the siding will have to be replaced. Regular maintenance and proper installation are essential to keeping your home value up and not spending more money than you need over the life of your home.

Aesthetically you will hear claims that these materials are just as nice as real wood siding, and I take exception to that claim. If you want to paint your wood siding then composite siding is comparable to wood, but even then when you see the two compared side-by-side there is still a substantial difference in the aesthetic quality of wood over composites. The human eye can quite acutely sense the difference between a natural product and one that is man-made. This is also apparent in "fake stone" products versus real stone products. Some of the more intriguing applications of composite sidings are panelized options. These eliminate the trick of making them look like a wood product and instead reveal them as modern, man-made materials. A general theme in my design flavor is that buidlings have more impact on us artistically when they are honest about their use of materials and the way they are built.

Before (more interesting)

After (like everything else)

Environmentally, composite sidings can vary in their impact. Wood composites offer some of the same environmental benefits as wood siding. Specific products and their impact on the environment will have to be discussed based on their individual basis due to the large variety of products that fall under this category.

P.S. - We will not discuss or recommend vinyl siding on this blog due to it's incredibly harmful nature. A product that lasts forever, as any self-serving industry might claim, is not a good thing! I urge you not to use vinyl siding, and if you already have vinyl siding please recycle it from the list provided here. To learn more about PVC's and vinyl go here.

wood siding...warmth and weathering

2012-02-09T10:01:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our continuing series. Today we will look at wood siding generally. I will get into specific woods and their use at another time. Wood siding is often times the most desirable choice for the exterior of your home because people have a connection with wood that evokes feelings of warmth and comfort. Wood is an inviting material, but it is also a choice that requires lots of TLC to keep it looking lovely after a few years of dealing with mother nature. Wood siding, generally speaking, has some key benefits and shortcomings.

As I've already mentioned, the impact that wood siding can have on your curb appeal can be substantial. Because we have an emotional reaction to wood, it's choice as a natural exterior finish (read: unpainted) will have an enormous affect on the perceived value of your home and it's subsequent curb appeal. You can stain your wood siding in a wide array of colors. Wood siding can also be stained in a finish that ranges from transparent to opaque (essentially a clear finish to a "you might as well have painted it" finish). I would not recommend painting your wood siding because there are other products better suited to that aplication if you want to paint.

The pictures shown in this post are cedar and redwood siding. These selections have the benefit of being naturally decay and pest resistant. Not all wood species have these properties so choose carefully. No matter what species of wood you decide to use, no wood can resist the damage done by the sun. In fact, almost no siding material out there can withstand the sun's UV rays forever. You will have to maintain your wood siding to keep it looking fresh.

Finally, one of the lesser known benefits to any wood product is it's low embodied energy. This basically means that wood products take very little energy to manufacture (log, cut, dry, ship, etc) and wood has the unique benefit of being a carbon sink. As long as the wood siding is not burned, and is recycled or re-used, after it's life as a siding product, the wood actually stores carbon instead of creating carbon emissions, because as we all know, trees take in carbon dioxide to grow and release oxygen as a byproduct. In that sense, wood products actually help reduce your carbon footprint.

let's talk about siding...

2012-02-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

I will be doing a series on siding over next few days or weeks. This is what I will be covering in the next several posts.

The different types of siding products and their appropriate applications.

How the size and style of your home should affect your siding choice.
What are the different options for protecting my home from the weather with siding.
Design ideas on using different siding options.

You can read my original primer on siding after the jump...

It is very important to me not just to focus on the interior of your home in this blog, but to also think about the exterior and how this can relate to the overall sense of place that we want to create with your home. An extremely important part of your home is the siding you choose to put on your house. Lets look at the big picture first.

A clean, consistent, contemporary look.

The siding on your home has a profound effect on the aesthetic, or curb appeal, of your home. A home that has not carefully considered scale, composition, and context in the choice of siding materials can hit or miss when it comes to maximizing your curb appeal. Some sidings need to be painted and the color can seem like the more important decision, but I would argue that the type of siding you choose can have just as much impact as the color you choose to paint it.

The contrast and warmth are dynamic.

Another issue to consider is the way the siding functions to protect your home from the weather. This is, after all, the reason we all don't sleep under the stars. Your siding on your home is your first, and too often your only, line of defense against Mother Nature's worst. Understanding what siding system(s) work best in your particular part of the world is vitally important to the success and long term value of your home.

Lastly, the type of siding you choose (as does any building material) has a profound impact on the environment. Vinyl siding is one of the worst products you can put on your home; from the manufacturing process to the demolition pile, vinyl is not a recommended product. Any building material that tries to claim itself as a no maintenance product is probably not telling the truth. A home takes upkeep just like any other man-made thing that we expect to sit out in the weather for 50 plus years.

Not risky, but a beautifully executed aesthetic.

Have any of you considered re-siding your home? Have any of you done it? I would be interested in your experiences or your anxieties. Leave a comment if you have a story.

Thanks for reading.

bathroom above is not pie in the sky...

2012-02-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

If you live in a home with only one bathroom, like I do, then you may dream of adding a second bathroom. As a man that lives with two women (wife and daughter) I know the desire for a second bathroom first-hand. Wow, can that be a wait in the morning, and our daughter is only 4! Sometimes we don't always have an ideal space for our bathroom and as a reader asked...

"I would love to add a second bathroom on the second floor of my house. I have no idea where to start. How much would a modest bathroom addition cost? What are the major things I should consider before jumping into the project? Any ideas?"

Well, bathrooms on the second floor can be tricky, but the key is to locate your plumbing. As a rule of thumb bathrooms are some of the most expensive rooms in your house (based on dollars per square foot). There are many reasons for this expense (and also many ways to minimize that expense), but the main factor is the plumping pipe. Running plumbing pipes is expensive and can be hard to install in a renovation project. You will need to hire a professional to install the water lines and waste lines, and the less plumbing pipe you need to run the less expensive the work will be both in time for labor and cost of material.

For my own sake I am not going to suggest how much a project like this will cost. You can find many contractors in your area that should be willing to come to your home for a "free in-home estimate". This will give you a much more accurate view of the cost of your project in your location. Please take the advice in this blog as a tool to empower you to make an informed decision.

Another decision that can greatly impact the cost of your project is the type of bathroom you want. Do you really need a second shower? Is a shower and a bathtub necessary? Are you looking just to add a half-bath? Think about the needs of your family, but also how this addition will impact the future re-sale value of your home. A three bedroom home with one bath is not as attractive to potential buyers as a three bedroom with a half-bath or even two bathrooms!

Lastly I would suggest that your other main consideration be what space you are displacing by adding this extra bathroom. Many homes use space inefficiently and this means a half-bath could be squeezed into an underutilized space. The great thing about bathrooms is that you don't need (or even necessarily want) windows. This means a bathroom can be tucked into a space in the middle of your second floor in an area that is underutilized. And, if the bathroom is on the top floor, all you have to do is add a skylight and you have a great value addition to your home.

windows are great...but not when they leak

2012-02-01T21:28:00.000-08:00

One of the easiest fixes to our homes that we can do to save money is to make sure that the seals around our windows are not compromised. If your window has even a slight leak around the edge of the window then you could be loosing hundreds of dollars a year. I know this sounds cliche, but trust me it is not. I recently experimented in my own home and so far this winter we have saved just about $300 in 4 months. It is amazing that this small amount of maintenance can have such a large impact on your money.

Here's what you want to do. Go to your favorite home improvement store and pick up some exterior sealant and a caulking gun. Find that transition at the exterior of your house where the siding meets the window trim and make sure that this transitional area is sealed up nice and tight (see the first link for help on this). This should prevent any air leakage you are experiencing around your windows. This works in warm, cold, dry and humid climates; really anywhere you want the temperature or humidity level to be different inside your home than it is outside.

Do you feel a draft in your house in the winter? You may want to feel around the edge of your windows to see if you can feel cold air coming in. Was this helpful? Make sure to click on the links for even more helpful information. And as always, please leave your comments below.

feedback...

2012-01-31T21:26:00.000-08:00

I would really love some feedback from anyone reading this blog. I have received some really great comments regarding the material on these posts and I want to open this up to anyone reading this blog. I have heard that keeping the post short is appreciated as I know we all have a very limited time to read for fun. From now on I will be attempting to focus the subject matter of my posts. There is so much to talk about, and the subject matter can be completely intertwined, that sometimes the material can loose it's focus.

Also, I would like to start profiling people's projects. How you interpret this is really up to what you are looking for as a user of this blog. Have you completed a project and want to highlight your achievements? Do have a home project you have been thinking about and are looking for free professional advice? Are you somewhere in-between? Don't worry if it's a small project or a big one. You would be amazed at how simple (and cheap) some of your home design solutions can be.

Please leave any suggestions you have for adjusting the content of this site to better suit your needs in the comments section below. I would much rather discuss design ideas about specific projects than my general thoughts on design. The work is so much more rewarding when there is a real outcome involved. If you do have a project you would like me to highlight or provide advice on, again, please leave a comment below and I will get in touch with you personally.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers,
Levi

opportunity knocks, on your garage door...

2012-01-25T17:18:00.000-08:00

Nice garage adaptation with glass garage door.

I recently posted about adaptive re-use and utilizing under used space in your home to increase the value of your home. Continuing this theme, and about adapting (or renovating) your garage specifically, there should also remain a sense of beauty in your house. If you have a view from your garage you should use it. The connection to the outdoors in our homes is vital to the value of our home, but also vital to our personal well-being.

Your garage conversion lends itself to great opportunity. It provides the possibility to connect to your environment because the opening that has been created there is a natural place for accessing a view or creating a physical connection to nature. In this pre-made structural opening you have a chance to create a place, not just a space for storage.

Ok...you want ideas. Keeping the garage door is a completely viable option. Be careful about the ceiling space this will utilize. You will notice that there aren't any lights above where the door retracts so if you keep the door lighting from the ceiling will be an issue. The other issue about your standard garage door is they are minimally insulated. You may have to add insulation to make an inviting space to hang out in. Also, the tracks and motor are not the most attractive pieces of decor for your house. A glass garage door can be an amazing addition that provides a view and allows for an operable wall (essentially) when the weather permits. Again the same issues as above, but lighting will be less of issue and the temperature in the zone will be more of an issue. The glass garage doors are not exceptionally warm zones in the winter.

Anybody got any large wheels laying around?

Another option could be simply to add some windows and a door, or a sliding glass door. The post "adapt, re-use, increase the value of your home..." had pictures from a project that used two large doors with glass. These provide operable openings, but don't have the ugly track and motor that go with a garage door. Another amazing, more expensive option is NanaWall. NanaWall is a system that you see in many high end residential projects (see picture below) because of the seamless transition that can be created from interior to exterior (whether the doors are open or closed).

The key is to remember that the reason you are adapting your garage is opportunity. The opportunity to create a beautiful additional space in your home for fractions of the cost to add-on. The added benefit of having a structurally ready-made opening to your home and to your budget can be breathtaking at most, but at the very least can add value to your home while increasing your livable space.

If you have a view like this from your garage, we need to have a talk.

adapt, re-use, and increase your home value...

2012-01-24T13:02:00.000-08:00

For the most part the value of your home is based on a pretty simple formula. The first factor is mostly out of our control; the supply and demand of the real estate market around you is not something you can control. Now the good news. One great way to add more value is to use more useable space. One way to do this is through adaptive reuse.

Adaptive re-use is a term that gets used in the architecture industry a lot. In my mind it essentially means to take space that isn't being used to its full potential, or in some cases not at all, and re-purposing that space into usable square footage that will have value. While the definition of this concept are intended for much broader purposes in architecutre, I like to think the concpet can be used in terms of personal property as well.

The most widely used example of this practice is turning your garage or basement into the ultimate "man cave". Or, in my future wife's dream, a craft room. A garage or basement is a great space to easily turn an expensive storage space into useable square footage that will increase the value of your home for a fraction of the cost to add-on to your house. {source}

bathroom tile is not for the faint of heart...

2012-01-19T19:12:00.000-08:00

Uses shower tile as an accent wall. Design Winner.

Ok, so my mom was asking about ideas for bathroom walls. Really, in my experience, when it comes to bathrooms tile is the right solution. Know you don't have to tile every square inch of the room and please stay away from a niche theme. What I mean by that is don't make your bathroom a trend that can easily be outdated. There are classic ideas about bathrom design that hold pretty much true through the last 100 years. I think neutral colors are best. Stay with really light colors. White or light greys are good. If you have a color scheme that is important you can pick subtle pastels (not my first choice but they can work) that are closer to white. The reason you really want to stick with neutral colors and fairly light colors are that bathroom usually have very little access to natural daylight. Unless you are awesome and have a totally spectacular skylight or you are lucky enough to live in the tropics and have and ocean view from the throne you typically don't have a lot of daylight coming into your bathroom. Keeping the colors light not only make your bathroom feel brighter, but a light colored bathroom also feels cleaner. Of course, if you're not a big fan of cleaning the bathroom then you may just want to paint everything black and move on.

Combines light tile with the warmth of wood

So...options. Like I stated, tile is really the best option for most people. It is fairly inexpensive and gives you a wide variety of finished and sizes. Alternatives to tile are acrylic sheet coverings. This is basically a plastic wall paper (not exactly, but you get the picture). These do the trick. They are easily cleaned, non-porous material, and can come pre-molded to include shelves, soap dishes, etc. These work, but also look pretty cheap (it's what I have in my bathroom and I so no judgement here, right). On the other end of the spectrum you have stone. Beautiful variations in texture and color and natural modeling. However, most of us can't afford that sort of luxury in our bathrooms. It is fairly environmentally friendly because it's not a processed material, but often times the cost to ship marble from Italy can use up a lot of dead dinosaurs. So we come back to tile. The best options is to tile your shower walls (floors and ceiling are ok too) and then pick a logical point along the wall to stop the tile and transition to a painted drywall wall. The floor is great if you can tile the whole floor, but that's not always what people want or what they can afford. The one thing you should do is this. Wood flooring can be ok in a bathroom (not the shower though) but you will have to transition from one material to the other. Transitions in materials are always tricky (think of the change from carpet to kitchen floor material) especially when you want to prevent the penetration of water through the floor. That is the key issue with any material you put in your bathroom. You need a material that can be easily cleaned, can withstand the cleaning process, and resists water penetration (because nobody wants to step out of their bath and through the floor). One other note, when using drywall in your bathroom (non-shower areas only) make sure you are using "greenboard". This is essentially water resistant gypsum board. There is also cement board you can use which is better and more water resistant, but also harder to handle and more expensive. Alright, I hope this helps. And mom, if you want me to design your guest bathroom for you I know a great place to buy plane tickets to Arizona.

If you have specific questions about your bathroom or want some design ideas, leave a comment in the comments section and we can chat about your project.

Modern bathroom with black tile.

cut out the trim..."reveal" some modern design

2012-01-18T23:20:00.000-08:00

Here is a simple design approach to giving your home a modern look. Fry Reglets have been a designer's staple for making modern architectural expressions for years. These simple pre-fabricated shapes for drywall construction can help you create modern interior expressions. A contemporary expression of interior walls is to create walls that appear to "float" inside the room. You can create this floating effect by creating reveals at the bottom and top of the wall (you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the linked "pdf"). Where traditional home design would have you use base molding and crown molding to cover up the imperfect transition from wall to ceiling and wall to floor, a modern design aesthetic would have this be a shadow line (i.e. reveal or open space) rather than a built-up assembly like molding.

It may be a subtle effect, but in the picture you can see how the ceiling plane feels as if it is continuous and the walls seem to float between spaces. This effect helps extend the feeling of an open plan and gives you a sense that the space you are in extends beyond the wall the separates the space. By creating this "floating" expression you enhance the wall's presence as a planer object and make it appear not so much as a barrier, but more like something that is moveable or less permanent. The great thing about this design approach is it is fairly easy to construct. The one thing I would caution is that if you choose to go this route in your design you must commit. This will have implications at doors and other openings so be prepared. I can get into the specific solutions at doors in a later post. As always if you have any questions about the concepts in this post leave a comment below.

What do you think? Is this an aesthetic that appeals to you? Is it to modern for your home? Can this be implemented in a traditional home? Where is it appropriate? It certainly fits into its context on the picture above, but what about your house? Why?

Cheers,
Levi

Get off the carpet! (carpet in the bathroom stinks)

2012-01-17T21:38:00.000-08:00

Anybody else got that disco fever?

Ok folks. Here is a post about a bad idea. Whatever you do, please do not put carpet in your bathroom. I know this may be obvious to most of you out there, but trust me, it happens more than it should. There are plenty of opportunities for warmth and slip resistance in a bathroom setting other than carpet. I don't care if you argue that it feels warm on your toes for your morning...ahem...routine. You have to vacuum carpet correct? You can't safely disinfect your carpet with bleach if you need to right? Imagine, if you will, all the little things stuck between those fibers of carpet. You wash your clothes when they get dirty don't you? Your carpet in your bathroom is getting more...soiled...then your clothes are (I hope). Now do me a favor and imagine trying to shove your bathroom carpet in your washer and dryer every week. Sound like fun?

The issue here is really about mold, mildew, and bacteria. Water is one of the biggest culprits to sick building syndrome. Sick building syndrome is caused by many factors and can be the cause of many human health problems. Viruses and mold can live in the fibrous materials in your bathroom carpet and carpet padding, and this can lead to health issues. This is of particular issue in a bathroom where the bathroom environment is constantly exposed to moisture both in liquid and vapor states. The carpet in your living room or bedroom isn't exposed to this persistent exposure to moisture (of course if it is you will have the same problems), and therefore mold isn't an issue in these areas. So, for the sake of yourself, loved ones, and me if I ever come over for a beer, please don't put carpet in your bathrooms. It just feels weird, and you might be exposing yourself to some nasty little presents.

Cheers,

Levi

dont' sweat the small stuff (paint is easy)

2012-01-16T20:03:00.000-08:00

Trust me, no one likes to paint, but when you consider what a new paint job does and how much it costs... it is well worth the price of admission. I don't know how many times I've heard of people not buying a house, not like their living room, loose out on an investment because of finishes. Ok folks, here is a secret. Finishes are cheap (click the link to find a quick calculator for paint cost...assume $40 a gallon for good quality indoor latex paint). Ok, not all finishes are cheap, but paint is cheap. If you don't like the paint color, change it. I promise you can do it. Hell, if you want you can take the can of paint and throw it at the wall and you might have an amazing looking wall (think Jackson Pollock). I'm not saying that everyone can afford granite counters, but I am saying that if you want the most impact for your dollar (and your interior needs it) a gallon of paint will go a long way.

Here are two things to consider when painting a room.

1) Light...I would say that most spaces feel better when they get enough (or more than enough depending on your taste) natural light. Please don't paint your space black if you expect to get any light into the room. The simple thing is this. Dark colors soak up natural light. An accent wall or an accent trim piece is perfect, but if you paint all your walls forest green you are in for a surprise. It's called a cave in some parts of the country.

2) Color...related to number one indeed. Color can be scary. It can be fun. It can make or break a room. This one is tricky so if you have any specific questions regarding color please ask in the comments.

Just remember, if you are renovating the house you own or looking at a house to buy. You have to remember that paint is easy. You can do it in a weekend. Painting your living room will take some work, but it will have an enormous impact on the "place you live". If you are just looking for a "space to die" then go ahead and leave it that 70's pea green color. I'm sure your friends don't mind.