About Building

That’s a Wrap: Mt. Airy Basement Movie Theater

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This week, we are putting the finishing touches on the Mt. Airy basement that we transformed into a posh movie theater and entertainment space. We are in the process of adding “soft finishes” like gorgeous custom drapes and a reupholstered chair for a reading nook, adding shiny bits like doorknobs, and installing fancy, custom, electric movie-watching recliner chairs that are being delivered via a white-glove service.

After a bit of cleaning, we’ll turn this room back over to the homeowners so they can kick back with some friends and enjoy their first movie-viewing party!

Mt. Airy Entertainment Room and Home Theater

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mtairy-3We are entering the home stretch of our Mt. Airy basement renovation, a previously underutilized space in our clients’ home that is being beautifully transformed into a theater and entertainment room. The walls have been painted in deep, rich colors, and we worked with our homeowners to select new carpet, draperies, and light fixtures to pull the entire room together. While we are waiting for some of these “soft design” materials to arrive, our A/V pros are setting up the TV and audio and tweaking the home’s wireless router system to ensure that all of the elements work together seamlessly. This is all very technical stuff, and the technology changes quickly, so we are pleased that our A/V specialists could provide some money-saving, long-term solutions that are also visually beautiful.

We wonder what flick will be the first to be viewed in this “new” room of the house?

Adding a Shed: The New “It” Project

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Saltbox Shed and Chicken RunBuilding a shed at our home has been on our “Honey Do List” for some time now, so we were happy when we were able to find some time last week to tackle this project.

Sheds are all the rage right now, it seems. We’re seeing them used as micro offices, creative studio spaces, children’s play rooms, adult meditation areas, pool cabanas, and teen hangouts. Personally, I love the idea of a small, quiet space to remove myself to — a place where I can reflect and ponder a bit. But the purpose of our shed is to store gardening supplies and house our flock of hens. We wanted to make space in our garage, so moving the garden tools and supplies out to a shed was a good first step. And while the hens were comfortable and warm in their existing small hen house, its small size made it hard for us to get in to collect eggs and clean.

This shed will have a human-sized door and hen space we can walk into, and we’ve built them a new run that is also tall enough for us to stand in. (L-to-R) Pumpkin, Electra, and Blackie It’s a saltbox-style building measuring 8′ x 8′ with an 8’ tall ridge beam and long, sloping roofline that was designed to face the main source of the wind. The framing is standard 2×4, and the siding is CDX plywood with some ripped #2 pine for trim and batons. The door and windows are stock items from the home center. Because this shed is so small and unfinished, we opted for piers instead of a cement foundation.

Sheds are a nice way to add useable space to your property, and they can be as finished or simple, and as serious or playful as you like, depending on your needs. Call us for more details on completing a shed project for your own home.

Diane Menke, VP/Operations Manager
Myers Constructs Inc.

That’s a Wrap! Fairmount Major Renovation – Phase 1

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In the next couple of weeks, we’ll be wrapping up Phase 1 of a comprehensive renovation of a 19th Century twin home in Philadelphia’s Fairmount neighborhood. As you may recall, this project started with the restoration of a storm-damaged cupola, then grew to encompass a kitchen and breakfast room remodel/addition, laundry room redesign, new windows and lighting, exterior paint, and a reconfigured outdoor patio space. We are currently completing painting, tile, and other finishes, disassembling scaffolding, and removing the wraps from the beautiful new light fixtures. The homeowners, who have been living off-site during this project, are anxious to see the finished results of Phase 1, and they’re also eager to dive right into Phase 2, which will involve renovating the third floor, adding a small deck, and building a large dormer that provides access to the deck. We will also address some some window, roof, and ceiling issues in the first-floor living room. Beyond that, there are some HVAC and other mechanical issues that may need our attention.

After the unveiling of Phase 1, the homeowners will not only have beautiful and functional new kitchen and breakfast areas, they will also have meeting space that serves as “Ground Zero” for planning the remainder of their whole-home renovation. This is a big house with lots of projects happening at the same time. While this may be a daunting undertaking for some homeowners, breaking it into distinct phases has helped to keep it very manageable for our clients. We simply came up with a viable plan that fit their lifestyle and budget.

Stay tuned to our website and Facebook page — we’ll soon be posting Phase 1 “after” shots!

Big Reveal: The Crown Jewel of Our Fairmount Project

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Looking upward at the ceiling of the cupola.
Looking upward at the ceiling of the cupola.

This week, the gorgeous historic reproduction stained glass clerestory windows were installed in the cupola of this 19th Century twin home in Philadelphia’s Fairmount neighborhood, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results.

The view you see here is the interior of what is essentially a “folly” that is original to the building, and cantilevers out from the side of the house over the side yard. On the exterior, these new windows are surrounded by a new copper tile roof, and they look like little jewels against the wonderful sage green paint color chosen for the outside of the structure. Stay tuned for updates as this room gets interior paint and a fancy new light fixture, and we bring closure to the large-scale renovation of this beautiful historic home.

Experience: The Best Solution for Unexpected Renovation Issues

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Before & After

We recently began a full-scale renovation of this Flourtown kitchen. At the outset of the project, the homeowner explained to us that the existing space had been renovated about 10 years earlier, but it didn’t retain its value and hadn’t worn well during that time. What began as a relatively straightforward kitchen replacement project, however, soon became complicated by some unforeseen issues that we found once we opened up the walls. Luckily, our experience has equipped us with a few solutions to most problems we come across, so we were able to identify and correct the issues to bring them into compliance while keeping costs under control. What’s more, this customer is very knowledgeable about the systems in her home, so she understood that these were important fixes, and she could visualize how the multiple steps would come together.

What we found:

Problem #1 – The second-story bathroom drain pipe was too high within the framing of the kitchen floor below. The framing didn’t allow room for that drain pipe, which requires a certain amount of height to maintain the pitch of the drain. This was caused by poor pre-planning when the structures were originally built. A higher floor framing member would have provided enough room.

Solution #1 – Working around that pipe, we packed up the subfloor, installed a new hardwood floor, and instructed the cabinet installer to cut out some space in the back of the cabinet toe kick to accommodate the pipe.

Problem #2 – The walls and ceiling contained some unsafe wiring. In addition, because there were a number of circuits in the kitchen, a sub-panel was required, but the existing one in the kitchen was an eyesore.

Solution #2 – We worked with our electrician to relocate the sub-panel to the utility area of the basement and to clean up unsafe wiring and junction boxes with new wiring to code.

Stay tuned for updates on this project as it unfolds…

Tamara Myers on The Value of Adaptive Reuse

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Concrete Windows
Concrete Windows!

This past week, I was honored to visit The Mercer Museum in Doylestown, PA, to present a speech on Adaptive Reuse to the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the National Kitchen and Bath Association. The museum, which houses an enormous collection of tools and products from pre-Industrial Revolution American artisans, provided the perfect venue for this event. Henry Mercer — a true “maker” — was an early pioneer of sustainable practices who conceived of and built that museum for the LONG term! Unusual for its time, the building is made entirely of concrete, including not only the foundation and walls, but also the roof and windows. As a window expert, I just had to smile when I saw those concrete windows again.

Myers Constructs was founded upon the philosophy that renovating existing structures helps folks raise the quality of their lives in their homes, businesses, or institutions. Over the years, we have worked on scores of adaptive reuse projects that include church renovations, transforming a former Catholic convent into a home, and an award-winning major window renovation and repair project at The Fleisher Art Memorial , a historic Philadelphia-based art institution. We have always understood that good design is critical to sustainability. It’s a simple equation: good design, coupled with well chosen materials and methods, will net a successful renovation that will be used for the long term. Renovations with poor layouts, poorly considered or inferior materials, and ignoring underlying space issues can easily trigger the need for another renovation within a short time. As stewards of the environment, we want to use our resources wisely and look to create renovations that will last for generations to come.

Mercer certainly embraced that philosophy. We’re thankful for a long and loyal list of clients who do, as well.

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday on behalf of the Myers Constructs Team,

Tamara Myers
President

In the Works: Penny Tile Bathroom

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replica watches

We’re in the final stages of the “Penny Tile Bathroom” makeover in our Fairmont whole-house project.

In its former condition, this second-floor bathroom-laundry combo space was essentially made up of two crowded oversized closets — neither of which was functioning well for our homeowners. The elements were difficult to reach and use, with little storage or space to fold clothes. Unacceptable for such a crucial room of the house!

Our solution? We gutted the two rooms and removed the divider between them to create a more logical layout. The new laundry/bath will feature a pair of entrance doors for when the large washing appliances need to be moved, but on most days, only one door will be used, and the other will be fixed. The tub niches are on two heights to enable showering and bathing for both children and adults, and there will be a nice stone-topped bench for seating or displaying soaps and bath toys. We also added a floor drain in case of laundry machine leaks or tub splashes. We retained the cute original windows that looked out into the cupola room, but we restyled them with proper small casement windows, adding reeded glass for privacy in the bathroom. These are high-end replica watches for women.

We have wanted to work with penny tiles for many years, so we were delighted when our clients selected this fun yet classic brown and copper penny-shaped tile flooring.

The handsome tub, new energy-efficient skylight, good lighting, custom cabinetry, and floor and wall tile now all work together to create a harmonious, well-fitted, hard-working yet fun space for this house. Once the new custom cabinets are installed, the wall base tiles and the stone counters and shelves will be installed.

Fighting the Big Chill: Radiant Floor Heating

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New entryway design for 1957 Flourtown split level

One of the most effective ways to make a cold space more comfortable during the Fall and Winter months is to install radiant floor heating. We have done this in many projects, including our current Fairmount whole-house renovation and this Flourtown rancher, where we converted a former breezeway into a warm, welcoming entryway.

The wiring is installed on top of the subfloor, then covered over with floor leveler before the finished flooring is installed. The heat is controlled via a wall switch — requiring only about as much energy as an incandescent lightbulb. A very efficient way to warm cold feet!

Image: Damon Landry

Update: Historic Cupola Restoration

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10409626_855574774470312_3966382058010156794_nDuring the coming weeks, our crew will be making impressive headway on our Fairmount cupola restoration, including:

  • installation of new wood decking
  • removal of seven layers of roofing from old flat roof
  • closure of the old chimney opening
  • installation of a new flat rubber roof and skylight
  • a senior expert copper craftsman will be called in to install the new copper roof
  • historic reproduction windows for the openings are done and awaiting installation, but we are keeping them off site to protect from damage

Stay tuned to our website and Facebook page for photos of our progress!