Wooden Thumb Remodeling Home About Us Portfolio Contact Welcome to our Featured Project Chenequa Addition The project scope was; To create an addition on one side of the home that would literally cut the complete side of the home off and seamlessly extent 3 floors out another 15 foot. This addition also had to be designed with the following criteria while maintaining the DNR set back of 75′ from the Lake Shore: • increase the size of the kitchen and living room area while utilizing specific design features to facilitate entertaining • increase the master bedroom suite to include a reading room, spacious yet unique master bath • increase the size of the ground (lower level) floor to include a large utility room and personal office • the ground floor must also enlarge the seating/entertaining area while taking full advantage of the lake view • re-landscape the exterior of the home to include spacious areas for entertaining within view of the lake • create decorative walkways connecting all areas • because the existing brick is no longer manufactured, the new addition must match as close as possible to the existing style and textures • one last thing was that the homeowners would not be relocating while their home was being cut in half, even with temperatures near Zero The project begins; The project was under way the first week of September. All of the existing landscaping trees and bushes had to be removed and relocated also, all of the landscaping stone retaining walls and stone walkways needed to be palettized and relocated on site. After all landscaping was stripped, excavation began, one of the first challenges to over come was, that all the building materials, construction equipment etc. had to pass through a 15′ isle between the garage and an extremely steep drop off. Judging by the reach of backhoe and the angle the backhoe had to work made the start of this project like no others. It was our intent to have this project under roof before the snow flew. With excavation complete the fun was about to begin. Our continuing challenge was to keep the home owners comfortable during the construction it wasn’t long and the temperatures would be down around freezing. Zip walls (Temporary Plastic Walls) were not only used to keep the draft down but also help control the dust. For those few people that are or will be remodeling during the winter months, take a look at these pictures and know that you don’t always have to move out of your home during major re-construction. These homeowners ~thankfully so~ were realistic with their expectations and worked right though this tough period of construction. Interior steel supports where installed so that the complete exterior walls could be removed. We literally were building a home in front of a home. We installed steel beams that in this case, supported the complete second floor with only 3 support poles, 2 of which were concealed in the walls and only one showed up in the living area but, was disguised as a decorative column at the wet bar. In floor heat was installed though out the complete addition as a source for constant/even heat. Separate ducts were installed for Air Conditioning. We ran into the typical challenges matching floor and ceiling elevations (matching a “new” level building up to a building 40 plus years old) The result was a creative use of flooring in the main floor because it varied within a half inch. The ceiling was a different story, the ceiling of the existing building was sagging in the middle of the building approximately 1 1/2″ inches below the new addition’s ceiling. Metal hat channels were employed between the old and new portions of the home and a seamless transition was our result. The exterior was also another situation. The challenge here was that there was brick on the existing building that wouldn’t match the addition, as the existing brick was no longer manufactured. We had two options; replace all the brick on the existing building or, find/manufacture a brick to match the existing. On top of that was that, winter was upon us. Completing the brick in sections with a heated containment worked fine for the installation. The brick we used, was the same size but “not” the same color. After the brick was installed we stained/colored and face re-fired the color on the brick in place. To view the final outcome of this process, visit the pictures in the portfolio’s at the bottom and see for yourself, the results were awesome! This project was designed and built by Wooden Thumb Inc.. If you have a challenging project in mind, call us to see how our team can bring your thoughts to life! We design in 3D and review the design on our computer in the comfort of your own home. Thanks for taking an in depth look of our featured project, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call us. Individual Before/After Summary Pictures Complete Portfolio’s of this Award Winning Project Click to view the complete portfolio of the Addition Exterior Click to view the complete portfolio of the Kitchen Click to view the complete portfolio of the Lower Level Click to view the complete portfolio of the Master Bathroom SOCIAL CORNER WOODEN THUMB REMODELING VIRTUAL SHOPPING What is Virtual Shopping ? ▼ Virtual Shopping References ▼ Appliance Selections Cabinetry Selections Countertop Selections Hardware Selections Plumbing Fixture Selections Copyright © 1993-2021 by Wooden Thumb Inc. Back to Top