In the spring of 2014 we wrapped up an extensive renovation/addition for a client of ours in Cumberland County. The house sits in close knit community overlooking the picturesque coastline found here in Southern Maine. Having already completed a handful of projects over the years on this house for the clients we were well acquainted with the bones of the house and the challenges we would be facing. The plan for this phase of the project as designed by Bruce Butler, AIA (By Design) included:
Build a new two story addition to enlarge the master bedroom and adjacent bedroom
Complete gut and new layout for Master Bath
Renovate another bathroom
Create a finished family room/activity room
Create a third garage space
New roofing
Replace front porch decking
Landscaping
The challenges of building on this particular site started with its location. On the rocky coastline there was the chance that when excavating for a foundation we would hit ledge. This was the case on this project. However because the foundation for the addition was small our excavator was able to break up the bits of ledge that were in the dig zone. The other challenge that we faced was tying into the old structure. Tying into the 1st floor wasn’t a big deal it was the basement slab that provided a bit of a headache. The existing slab in what was to become the family room and garage space was original to the house (1960’s) and because we were going to be heating the family room partially with radiant under slab tubing it was decided that the slab had to be ripped out. With a skid steer and some brute force we removed the existing slab and started laying the tubing system for the radiant. Once that was complete a new 4″ concrete slab was poured.
Skipping forward a couple of months, once framing, siding, roofing, windows, exterior doors, insulation and drywall were in place it was time for the interior finishes and cabinets to start going in. As part of our services we have the capacity to custom build and finish cabinets in our shop. For this project there were a number of cabinets that we were asked to build. These included:
Custom double bowl Vanity and Linen unit for Master Bath
Custom single bowl Vanity for Guest Bath
Custom Mantel with hearth in Master Bedroom
Custom window seats/shelves in Master Bedroom
Custom Walk-in Closet Storage
All the cabinets that we built were made with inset style doors where the doors sit flush with a face frame. All the cabinet boxes were built with sold plywood and solid maple was used to create the doors and drawer fronts. All the cabinets were sprayed in our spray both to match the color selected by the homeowner. The mantel in the master bedroom is my favorite piece that we built. The gas fireplace is from Mendota (DXV line) and has an radius top. A stone surround was cut to match the radius. The same slab was used for the hearth seat. The hearth seat and sides of the mantel have panels to match the door styles used on the other cabinets in the room. Another great feature in the master bedroom was the wood paneled ceiling. 1×8 poplar tongue & groove boards were used on the cathedral ceiling. These same boards were used as horizontal wainscot paneling in both bathrooms. A two piece casing detail was used on all the windows and doors to round out the room.
