Remodeling and Additions

I’ve really enjoyed expanding the remodeling and addition aspect of my business. Many of my recent remodels and additions have been for homes previously built by Andrew Homes, Inc. This has worked out very well because of my intimate knowledge of the materials and practices used in the original construction. On the other hand, I am currently working on a 100 year old farm house with log construction and stone foundation walls 2 feet thick.

Finished basements continue to be popular along with master suites, mudrooms, sunrooms, garages and bathrooms. One interesting project involves adding an elevator to a home I built years ago. I had to re-design and re-locate some of the hallway, closet and bedroom spaces on the second floor to make room for the elevator shaft, which drops into the garage and through the Spancrete garage floor into the basement. Cutting and supporting the 12” thick garage floor was an interesting engineering challenge solved using a large custom-welded steel bracket. The next challenge was the design of a waterproof pit dropped 8” into the basement floor to allow the elevator floor to stop level with the existing basement floor.

I enjoy designing and building custom homes from scratch, but some of these remodels and additions have been really fun challenges!

CUSTOM BASEMENT FINISHING

I recently completed creating a finished lower level in the home of an Oshkosh family whose custom home I designed and built several years ago. As the original builder I set up the the lower level to be finished some day, but having large windows down there was not a priority for them at the time. When we began to plan this project, it became clear to them that they would get much more use and enjoyment out of the space if we could get more light down there. So I excavated from the outside and cut large windows into the foundation wall. Then we used the same stacked-stone they had used for a raised patio in their back yard to create short retaining walls to hold back the soil and let in the light. Their new lower level also includes a beautiful bar with custom floor-to-ceiling cabinets and granite countertops as well as glimmering glass tile backsplash built between dry-stacked stone columns, a sitting area with large flat-screen TV, billiards area, dining/card table, and full bath along with tons of new storage cabinets. Kathy remarked the other day that some of her guests have said “they wish their home looked as nice as her finished basement”!