As a green construction company, we love opportunities to give
new life to existing structures and materials. Recently we had a great pleasure
to save a 1930 home from demolition. This small example shows that there are
ways to save money, time, and effort with some creativity and thinking outside
of the box.
Although it was charming, after consulting other professionals
(architects, engineers, and other contractors) the owner of this small 1930 guesthouse
had been
convinced that the home was a tear down. My plea was that she already had a foundation footprint that was grandfathered
in with the building and safety department—a legal structure that she was
already paying property taxes on. Because my client had faith in my experience,
we pushed forward, even in the face of others’ contradicting opinions.
Once we began our construction project, we discovered that the
building’s walls were not constructed of 2x4s like a typical modern home. It
was so old that instead it had redwood planks, 1 inch x 8 inch x 8 feet high,
all around the exterior of the house. These planks were holding up the roof and
provided the main structural support of the home.
We knew we would need to tackle the project in a creative way,
and did so by shoring up the home’s roof and building the exterior walls from
the inside out. We gutted the interior and assembled exterior perimeter walls
to follow the old foundation footprint. Not only were we able to save the home
from demolition, but we also saved every single piece of the 80-year-old
redwood planks to be re-purposed.
As an added bonus, the owner/designer was delighted that this plan gave her the
opportunity to redesign the interior.
In looking into the materials left over from her last job, the
owner found she had enough tile and Brazilian wood (teak, iron wood) to do the
finishes on the small 1930 house. She also went to a recycling center where she
found an old freestanding bathtub.
I don’t tell this story to put down the hardworking architects
and engineers who had the owner convinced to tear it down. In their defense, it
was a risky job, which required experience in the front lines of physical structural
construction. It required shoring, assembling, and disassembling within the
interior of the structure. If we hadn’t known what we were doing, the whole
house could have easily crumbled, and, even worse, injured someone.
The lesson here is to take your time. Listen, slow down. Don’t
let your emotions drive your decisions. Stay open-minded until all ideas have
been explored. Because the owner of this project trusted my experience and
creativity, she gained a 900-square-foot guest home that she now rents out.
We had a blast working on this project. To see more pictures
from this remodel, and other green building projects, go to www.korling.net
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