March 1st, 2009
Welcome to our new home on the vast internet. We are physically located in Plainfield, Vermont. Please enjoy looking over our projects below. For more information about who we are and what we do navigate this website by clicking on the links below.
We design, build, and renovate throughout central Vermont – staying close to home for most projects and traveling a bit for others. We’ll be building our site as our work grows – so please check back and be sure to contact us to start planning for your green construction, renovation, or timber frame project. Check out the categories to the right for more information on our work – and we’ll be updating the posts below with snapshots and information from our most recent adventures in green building.
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December 30th, 2011
To state the obvious, what a disaster. The house is a 3 family rental. It belongs to clients who I have worked for over the years doing small projects to make the apartments nicer for the tenants. Luckily there were no tenants when the flood happened. Unluckily we were 2 weeks away from doing a medium sized renovation when the flood happened.
When the Winooski overran it’s banks the houses on this street were filled with water up to the 1st floor windowsills. The basements were of course full, and in this house the heating oil tanks tipped over and an environmental cleanup was necessary. We filled 5-6 20 yard dumpsters (the big long ones). Luckily the town paid for trash removal. The basement is about 100 feet long and was basically full of stuff. It took weeks just to clean the place out. Then came the power washing and treatment for mold and drying. After all that was over we finally started rebuilding. I am amazed by the fact that it seems that everyone has stayed put. I would have expected more people to just start over somewhere else. Maybe it is the community spirit that kept everyone going. People were handing out free lunches and coffee for weeks. Youth and church groups were everywhere helping out. Thanks to the Mennonites from Morrisville! They saved the homeowner thousands of dollars by providing hundreds of hours of labor for free.
flood mess
flood cleanup
drywall and insulation removed
finally, light at the end of the tunnel
new high efficiency boiler to replace ancient oil boiler
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September 29th, 2011
Locally milled pine timbers and rafter stock. V-groove ceiling boards and metal roof. Steel brackets for post bottoms fabricated by Bauer Fabrications in Waterbury, VT.
porch and cob house
timber detail
rafter tails and timber
timber in progress
sunny windy day cutting timbers
porch assembly
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September 2nd, 2011
Adding on a bedroom, mudroom, bathroom and den area. 6×8 entry/porch on the front.
in progress
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August 16th, 2011
We recently traveled to Tinmouth, Vermont. The occasion was Solarfest. It was a a very engaging weekend. I gave a timber framing workshop and had a great time chatting with other people about solar collectors, composting toilets and hempcrete. One of the other highlights was riding an electric bike.
woodshed frame from Solarfest
dicussing the merits of using timber screws
working on a rafter pair
talking about tools and technique
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June 4th, 2011
We are currently working on a farmhouse renovation in Washington, Vermont. Tearing off the old cracked and rotten clapboards and adding housewrap and foaming all of the window and doors around the jambs and foaming in places that did not get insulated well when the cellulose was blown in 10 years ago. We are saving the trim in a few areas. It is amazing how well old growth spruce that is covered in old oil based paint lasts!
One challenge with this kind of job is what to keep and what to tear off. The other big challenge is working with how the old structure has moved and shifted to bring all of the areas together nicely when the scope of work does not include re-leveling and squaring the whole house!
When it is complete the house will be painted in it’s classic barn red color.
exterior renovation complete
front of old farmhouse with new skin
turning the corner
power planing down the edges of old board sheathing to flatten it out
what the farmhouse looked like before
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June 4th, 2011
The customer wanted to add a dishwasher and update the kitchen a bit but did not have the budget to redo the whole kitchen. We came up with a solution for about 1/3 the price. We changed out the sink base and added new Cambria counters. They chose a top mount stainless sink with a shallow bowl because they are tall and don’t like to stoop over the sink. They also chose a stainless dishwasher which matches the counters well without clashing with the white stove. We also added a new outlet and updated to GFI outlets and added a tile backsplash. We were able to keep all of the old built in upper cabinets and one of the lower cabinets (with a little alteration). I think it all came together nicely and fits fairly seamlessly.
sink/faucet detail
dishwasher view/new base cabinets
detail of tile/counter
stove area
counter view/old base cabinet
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April 16th, 2011
Built-in cabinet job for a restaurant in Montpelier. Building and installing cabinets, liquor shelves and floating shelves for the back of the bar in a local restaurant. This job was done on a very tight schedule. Only
1 1/2 weeks start to finish! Used solid maple doors for the glass front wine cabinet and Purebond formaldehyde free plywood for the other doors and the cabinets. Shelves constructed from pine and painted black with Benjamen Moore Aura paint.
detail of carcass
3 tier liquor shelf detail
3 tier shelf detail
glass front wine cabinet/glass shelf
liquor cabinets with locks
floating shelf detail
floating shelf detail
overview of bar
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March 26th, 2011
This month has been a steady progression of small jobs with a few periods of rest and enjoying the snow! We have been working on a built in closet bypass door installation and a partial kitchen remodel. The kitchen client wanted a dishwasher so we removed the old metal sink base and replaced it with a smaller sink base and dishwasher. The new counters are Cambria. The backsplash is subway tile. Pictures coming soon.
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February 10th, 2011
Here are a few pictures of a simple platform bed designed and built on site for a single mattress.
side view
top view
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January 28th, 2011
detail of floor to ceiling corner shelf
site built cherry vanity top/sink
Dual flush toilet from Kohler. Easy to clean base. Vermont slate tile. Beadboard wainscoting.
Renovation of half bathroom in progress. Bathroom is about 4′x4′ with a 2′x2′ little alcove in it. The sink above is in the little alcove. My favorite thing about this style of toilet is how easy they are to clean since the base is all one solid plane. Have also installed 12″ Vermont slate tile. The new wainscoting is clear pine painted white.
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December 31st, 2010
shower trim
shower head
classic subway tile detail
towel bar/tile detail
built-ins in plumbing access panel
sink/mirror detail
Renovation of full bathroom. White subway tile for tub surround and wainscoting. Black stripe continuous around the room.
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August 25th, 2010
The main project this past month has been a 32×34 outbuilding designed to keep cars, firewood and tools out of the elements. There is a fully enclosed space at the rear to store sound gear. The enclosed structure is stick framed, while the outer walls are built up post and beam (not timber frame) with lags and timber screws for fasteners. There has been some change from the plan such as moving the overhead door. Now we are waiting on spring to get the siding for the upper part stained and installed.
siding and loft windows installed
detail of hybrid construction
getting supports ready for ridge beam
side view - storage room area
storagebarnport from front
plan view drawing
side view drawing
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July 25th, 2010
This great little heater unit is made by a company called Envi that we installed in a small (6×7) mudroom addition from this winter. It has a built in thermostat and works as a convection unit, drawing cool air from below and sending it up to create a circular air flow and maintain a consistent room temperature. We also put in a well insulated and air-sealed entry door in a stairwell to replace a cold and drafty old hollow core door. The door trim is fir to match the existing older trim. True Colors paint store in Montpelier did a fantastic job doing a stain match to the old varnished trim.
small heat, small space, small budget...a good match
therma-tru replacement door
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July 11th, 2010
This addition was on a pre-civil war cape. The inspector dated it by the rafters, which were 4×4 timber that was sawn on a vertical blade mill instead of a circular saw mill. The old rafters were 3′ on center. Andy reclaimed the rafters to make a bunk bed for his kid. We framed the new roof up with a structural ridge. The eave wall rests on the old 8×8 timber plate. The original bedroom had a small footprint and was built in a kneewall space so it had very tight headroom which required the owners to get out of bed at the end. In addition they had a 5′ tall closet that was about 2 feet square. Now they have an additional 80 square feet with 6 feet of headroom. The two new closets are 82″ tall, 24″ deep and 44″ wide.
dormer addition exterior
interior of bedroom before addition
new dormer interior
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May 6th, 2010
This 600 ft2 house was originally built as a camp and then added onto. Major demo work, moving and removing walls, removing carpet, repairing subfloor. Old chimney was torn out. New plumbing. Upgraded insulation in walls and air sealing on many walls. Added a bath fan for ventilation/moisture. Blocking up doors and windows. Laid a solid wood floor and tile for the bath floor and shower surround. Installed a stacked washer/dryer behind a bi-fold door in the bathroom. It was all topped off with a marble counter and stainless/black appliances. The customer noted that the solid surface stove has made an excellent small house extra counter space for cooking projects.
kitchen faucet detail
glass front cabinets
kitchen area after
kitchen/bath area before
bathroom after
looking in from front door after
looking in from front door before
bedroom after
compact laundry and shower
bath mirror
closet with bypass doors
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March 18th, 2010
We have been working on several projects through the winter. Pictures coming soon. First…
It seemed like it was never going to snow and then…tire chains are required to pull the trailer out! For the homeowner in the winter it may be “some hiking required”. Have been working on framing, capping and finishing a walk-out basement on an existing foundation. It was originally to be a whole house but the bank said no to the borrower. Luckily she was able to get financing through a special program for low-income borrowers. She will do much of the finish work. Radiant heat in the slab and a beautiful view of the hills through five 25×74 fixed glass low-E units should create a cozy home. They did. The owner is in and enjoying the view.
Currently two jobs are nearing completion. One is a small mudroom/bathroom addition inside the garage. The other is a reconfiguration of a 600 ft2 mother in-law cottage. More details and pictures soon.
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January 3rd, 2010
The second floor of this house was torn down to framing and reinsulated with closed cell spray foam. New LED light fixtures and some new wiring. Local spruce boards on the slopes and ceiling. Built-in shelving.
in progress
bed and built-ins
slope with local shiplap spruce
slope/skylight
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January 2nd, 2010
It seemed like it was never going to snow and then…tire chains are required to pull the trailer out! For the homeowner in the winter it may be “some hiking required”. Have been working on framing, capping and finishing a walk-out basement on an existing foundation. It was originally to be a whole house but the bank said no to the borrower. Luckily she was able to get financing through a special program for low-income borrowers. She will do much of the finish work. Radiant heat in the slab and a beautiful view of the hills through five 25×74 fixed glass low-E units should create a cozy home.
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October 13th, 2009
This past month has been spent in the midst of replacement windows and some renovation work on an apartment in Waterbury. Nothing that is really visually exciting enough to be photo worthy. The lack of aesthetic excitement has turned the mind toward some of the basic issues behind the work.
When refinishing a floor it was clear that our sanding was to be the last one in the life of this 100 year old floor. SO…how best to preserve this floor? What is the greenest option? I am generally a fan of the Vermont Coatings floor finish but personally do not believe that it is anywhere near as durable as an oil based poly. So the choice was made to go with the oil knowing that when this floor needs help again it will have to be torn up. That way the wood will have a much longer useful life and that seems more important than saving the VOC and petroleum action from occuring in this case.
In the same apartment there was a tub surround that had failed due to tile on drywall accompanied by failing caulk. The question in this case was should we re-tile or replace the old set up with an acrylic unit. About the same cost either way. We decided to go for rebuilding the wall and insulating it properly followed by tile with epoxy grout. That way we eliminated the dumping of the old tub and the use of a lot of extra plastic.
These are the kinds of things that go on in the background of every job.
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August 5th, 2009
Second floor of an old house converted into an office building in Montpelier. Dividing space, designing and building new access, reinsulating and general renovation. After demolition it turned out that the old rafters were grossly undersized and had about 6-8″ of deflection in them. Mike Beganyi helped with drawings and ideas for shoring up the structure. We have built all of the interior partitions and completed the stairwell. All of the interior walls are soundproofed. The space has been reinsulated to modern standards with dense pack cellulose. Windows were replaced with new Marvins.
hallway access after demo
hallway after renovation
hallway after renovation
sketch for reinforcing roof system
photo of roof truss to bulk up old roof
model of new office space walls
psychiatrist office
massage space
old painted floor before refinishing
newly sanded and refinished 130 year old spruce floor
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