Basement Access Door Installed
Yesterday the concrete cutters came to cut an entrance at the new addition in Sudbury. The foundation for the new addition was up against the original homes foundation. To make it so the homeowners can access the new basement, a section of the foundation was cut away to create a door.
To do this cut, the concrete workers used a hydraulic wet saw. This saw uses hydraulic fluid forced through 2 hoses to move the saw blade instead of a gas motor. This allows the workers to use it in confined areas without needing to worry about exhaust fumes. The saw uses a 10 ½ inch cutting blade which uses water, not only cool the saw blade, but also to limit the dust that is thrown off during the work. Due to the use of water in the cutting process the saw must be used in an unfinished area, this is why we had them cut the hole for the door before the slab for the floor was laid.
The entrance into the new basement that we cut was 90 inches tall and 42 inches wide. This is an extra half foot bigger than a normal door so that the home owners can easily move furniture into the area for storage.
The concrete slab that was removed from the foundation weighs over 3000lbs. Seeing how it cannot be removed from the addition in its current state, we will have an employee come in with a jack hammer to break it up into more manageable pieces.
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Bath Showroom
For those of you who read this blog regularly this may seem like an accidental repost but I assure you it’s not. Over the corse of the next few weeks we will be expanding our showroom. You may remember that last January we expanded the showroom to make a new conference room and more office space. Due to the overwhelming popularity of our new Bath Renovation Group we have deemed it necessary to expand it again.
This showroom expansion will move all the offices for our designers and project managers to the suite next door and we will be converting the old offices into bath showrooms. This will give our bath customers a chance to see more products at our offices that pertain to bathrooms specifically.
One exciting aspect of the new showroom is that we are expanding our partnership with Kohler to become an authorized Kohler showroom. This is a large step for us that includes being among the first receive new products and even greater discounts on products that we can pass along to our customers.
The new products that we will display will include the Kohler Parigi sink, the entire Kohler Forte line of faucets, and a new Sterling Accord shower. This new line of shower is similar to a fiberglass shower in style but unlike fiberglass is uses a new Vikrell material. This material is completely scratch and stain resistant which makes it much more durable than fiberglass, and since its prefabricated design interlocks together there is no need for caulk. This gives the Accord shower a cleaner and sleeker look than normal fiberglass showers. Also, the underneath of the shower has a grid pattern of ridges to make the shower extra sturdy. This is a brand new product that just came onto the market and we were selected as one of the first companies to be able to provide them to our customers.
Winchester Bath Remodels
Today work started on a project in Winchester. This project is going to be done in a two phase system, in which a first floor half bath and the homes master bath will be renovated at the same time. This will be completed in full before Thanksgiving so that the home owners can still celebrate the holiday at their house. After thanksgiving, we will be starting work on the homes other full bathroom and will complete it before the homeowners kids come back from college for their winter break.
In the half bath, we are doing a full gut to the studs. The tile for the new floor will be a 2inch by 2inch glass tile with 1/8 inch grout lines. With the rising popularity of glass tiles this will be a stylish selection that will also fit in well with the homes modern kitchen. Because of the limited space in the bathroom, with it being less that 4 feet wide, a 14inch Kohler Parigi sink will be installed so that people can easily pass by. This, along with a new Kohler Bancroft faucet, will keep the homes original historical feel, but in a more modern-rustic application.
The homes master bath will also be completely gutted. The current shower has an entrance which doesn’t allow steam to escape, causing mold to grow on the ceiling. This will be removed and the 1950s tile on the wall will be replaced with an 8inch by 24 inch ceramic tile. This elongated tile choice is not only fashionable but also creates less grout lines which will make the shower easier to clean.
Paint and Floors About to be Installed
The addition in Beverly is moving along at a good rate. The walls in the new area have all been insulated with R-38 insulation to make it energy efficient and help lower the homeowners energy bills. The plasterers come and hung the dry wall and the cement board in the bathroom. The trim has been put up on the walls and it has already been primed. The new attic space has been sealed off from the second floor and the ceiling has been hung.
The Painters will be going back over to the house tomorrow to start painting the inside. The ceiling will be primed and painted with Benjamin Moore paint, then they will move on to the walls. By the end of the day Thursday the ceiling will be completely painted and the walls will be primed. This will be done before the final flooring is installed to limit the amount of work that is done on top of it. At the same time the flooring is being laid, the bathroom tile is going to be put in. The tile workers will start with the flooring in the bathroom then move onto the shower walls. Once that is complete it will be time to start on the finish carpentry and to take care of the finishing touches on the addition.
New Addition About To Begin
Tomorrow we will be breaking ground on a new addition in Medford. We will be renovating the existing dining room and adding on a sunroom. The sunroom will 18 feet long and 20 feet wide and include floor to ceiling windows. In the roof there will be two skylights to let more natural light into the space. Instead of a full basement the homeowner decided to go with a crawl space to give him additional storage.
Since the owner entertains guests often, he has decided to add a full wet bar into his new sunroom. The bar will have a granite countertop with an under mounted sink and a Kohler faucet. Under the countertop there will be custom made cabinets which will be made to match the wood accents being placed in the room.
Outside of the sunroom there will be a large deck built. The decking will be made of Timber Tech composite lumber and will give the homeowner more room to entertain. Tomorrow we will begin to demo the current dining room and to dig out the foundation for the sunroom. We should have the hole dug by the end of the week and begin to add the walls for the foundation next week
Second Floor Addition in Beverly
Our project of adding a second floor to a Beverly ranch is starting to take form. The walls for the exterior have been fully framed and the outside fo them has been covered in plywood, which then had Tyvek wrap put on the outside. The vinyl siding for the second floor has been special ordered to match the existing siding on the house and will be delivered after the long weekend. In between the new siding and the Tyvek wrap there will be a layer of insulation. This will be in addition to the normal insulation on the inside of the walls and will make the home more energy efficient.
Inside, the framers has finished the stairway to the new second floor and the walls which separate the rooms have all been framed. Outside of the new master suite, the home owners decided to have a balcony put on the house over looking their pool. The framers used Azek board for the frame of it and new TimerTech material for the decking. This is a new material made to look like natural wood with realistic colors and wood grain, but unlike real wood it is resistant to mold and rot.
The electricians have upgraded the homes electric service to account for the new energy usage. They have started running wiring to the new rooms and tied it in with the homes electric panel. With two new bedrooms and a new bathroom to be done they have their work ahead of them, but are hoping to be done after the long weekend. This will allow the plumbers to come in and run the piping to the new bathroom early next week.
New Bathroom Expansion
The expansion in Andover is coming along nicely. For this project we are expanding an existing attic crawl space to become a full master bathroom. To do this, we cut off the roof and made the new section mirror the existing roof line for the rest of the house. We then brought in our framers to make the new walls and frame out the boarder of the shower. The house has copper gutters on it already, so we had a custom gutter made to match the same style already on the home.
The homeowners also wanted their family room redone which is located directly underneath the new bathroom. This made it easy to run the new plumbing to the basement while also giving the family an up-to-date living room. We added a door on the side of the house for easy access to the back yard and at the end of the project a new carpet will be laid in for a more welcoming feel.
With the framing done, the plumbers and electricians are working this week and will have their rough inspection Friday. On Monday, blue board will be put up in the bathroom, except in the shower, where we will use Durock Cement Board for added protection. This is a new material that is more water resistant that blue board and is also mold proof, which makes it the prefect material for areas that are at high risk for leaks.
Addition Updates
Here at Andover Renovation Solutions we have been inundated with projects for the last few months. From new kitchens to bath remodels to full additions our scope of work is expanding and so is the demand for our services. Despite would heavier workload, we are proud to say that our quality of workmanship has been increasing at an even higher rate, earning us this years “Best of Woburn” award for home remodeling. We thought this would be a great opportunity not only to thank you for your support but to also fill you in on some of the projects that we have going.
Our largest project is still the renovating of Campion Hall in North Andover. We have completed the building of a 24 car garage and the conversion of the mansion into 11 separate units. Right now work continues on two additional town houses. We have the foundations laid for them as well as the exterior walls in place. These two town house will house 4 units each and should be completed before the end of the year.
We also are working on the finishing touches on an addition in Lynnfield. This addition is over 1500 square feet and encompasses two bedrooms and two bathrooms, including the homes new master bedroom suite. Workers started putting custom vinyl siding on the addition today, which was made by Harvey Industries to match the color of the existing siding.
Our addition in Lexington is coming along nicely. The Electricians, who helped bury the homes power lines under the driveway, have been busy working on running the electric wires throughout the new kitchen. With that completed they moved on to the new two car garage and will have their rough inspection tomorrow.
In Sudbury we are underway on a two story addition. The footprint for this is 22 feet by 20 feet, of which the entire top floor will be the homes new master bedroom and bathroom. The bottom floor is going to be the families new living room and entertaining area. We have the foundation dug out for the addition with the walls being poured this week.
With all these additions underway its an exciting time here at Andover Renovation Solutions.
Underground Electric
Today our electric crew worked in unison with excavators to complete the burying of power lines at our Lexington addition. The homeowners decided to run the homes electrical hook-ups underground from the street to the house to give the addition a sleeker look. To do this, the crews dug a trench from the house’s electric box to the closest telephone pole. The trench was 2 feet wide, 4 feet deep, and over 40 feet long.
Town regulations mandate that the wires must be at least 3 ½ feet underground and protected with PVC piping. The crews made the trench 4 feet to accommodate 6 inches of sand, which was placed under the PVC piping, to prevent erosion. Our electricians laid 3 pipes in the ground, one for the homes power, one for Verizon services, and one for Comcast services. Although the homeowners know which service they will be using, this gives them the option to switch carriers at any time without doing any additional digging.
Since the running of wires took more than one day, before the crews finished work for the day yesterday, they ran “caution” tape along both sides of the trench and additionally put sheets of plywood over the sidewalk to prevent any possibility of somebody being injured. Today the electricians completed the electrical hook-ups on both ends of the wires and sealed the pipes. The excavators then filled in the trench. At the end of the project, the driveway will be repaved and the lawn will have new sod laid down for a seamless look.
Showroom Renovation
Today at Andover Renovation Solutions we are breaking ground on remodeling our showroom in Woburn MA. Due to the increased volume of work we are currently experiencing we decided to expand our show room to better suit our customers. We will be adding one new office for the sales team of Gene Williams and Mark Bogosian, a new kitchen display with a tile floor, and a new conference room with a hardwood floor and wains coating on the walls.
The conference room will have a new hardwood floor from wall to wall, wains coating on the walls, and colonial trim on the doorways. The purpose of the conference room is to create a comfortable environment for our clients during weekly meeting about their projects. We will also be using the conference room for our weekly staff meetings and for job scheduling.
Our new expanded show room is designed to help homeowners select the products needed for their projects, including kitchen and bathroom cabinets, granite, tile, hardwood, windows and doors and it is available to all of our customers on an appointment basis. By expanding our showroom we are able to display more products for customers to choose from during the product selection process with Susan our design specialist.