Our carpenters have been busy working on the Prairie home addition we have underway. It is the area to the left with white building wrap in this photo. Last week, in spite of the rather hot days, they managed to complete the roofing. It can be difficult to tie in a new roof to an existing roof. In this case the older roof is only a few years old which made things a bit easier. It has been tested with the recent rains and all is fine.
The workers are concentrating on completing the roof soffit work. The soffits on this home have a nice detail that includes painted wood trim strips on the sides of the ventilation louver. The electricians installed recessed lights earlier. The large windows give excellent views of the wildlife pond and nearby lake.
Ellen and I spent the weekend at our cottage in the Pine/Carlton County area. On Saturday we went to Willow River for Willow River Days. In spite of some rather rainy periods we had a fun time at this small town Minnesota event.
The main feature is of course the parade. There were
lots of entries including trucks from most local fire organizations, lots of Princesses from nearby towns, and of course political candidates.
I saw one of the strangest vehicles I’ve ever seen. I guess it is some type of ‘mud bog’ vehicle since it seemed to be associated with a standard type mud bog truck. It looked like a cross between a mud bog truck and a set of bleachers!
Our project at a Prior Lake dental clinic is moving along
well. The first part of the project involved construction of an addition to the existing dental clinic. Most of that work has been completed now. The dental equipment is set in place and it will be used next week. The interior finishes look great. One thing I really like is the lighting used in the dental spaces. The hanging lights provide nice lighting without being harsh.
We have now moved on to renovations in the existing portion of the clinic. Part of this involves creating new high roofs above two entrances. Our carpenters were busy this week completing framing of these areas. There will be new aluminum entrances installed which will make this a very dramatic space.
On the exterior of the building the stone masons have
installed quite a bit of the stone veneer. There are two different types of the manufactured stone being used as well as some cement stucco panels. When completed the building will look totally different than it did when we started our work.
We recently completed a remodeling project on a house for a client. Our work mainly involved rearranging walls, renewing the bathrooms, providing handicap access, electrical upgrades, etc. When we finished the work and the client started using the home they noticed that one room was not cooling properly. We investigated and discovered that the supply register in the room was not connected to the building heating and cooling system. This was most likely part of an earlier remodeling where someone removed the duct feeding the room. The owner did not notice the problem when they purchased the home and we did not operate the heating and cooling system as part of our work. We did manage to arrive at a solution to remedy the problem. We removed an upper and lower cabinet in the kitchen, cut a hole in the wall behind the cabinets, and ‘fished’ a duct up the wall into the room. By the end of the day the room was cooling properly.
These are the types of things that can pop up unexpectedly when doing remodeling work, especially if a house has not been owned long before the remodeling project is undertaken.
With the good weather lately we have made excellent
progress on the room addition we are constructing on a Prairie home. The foundation was completed without incident. The carpenters have framed the exterior walls and have set the roof trusses. They are working on the sub-fascia at the perimeter of the roof and will shortly be installing the roof decking.
This room addition incorporates large windows. While standing in the room today I could get a real feel for the wonderful views of the lake, pond and creek. It is a fun project to be working on.
We’ve finished up the exterior work on the family room addition we have been working on. We were able to get an excellent match for the siding and exterior trim so the addition blends into the home very well. On the west side of the home we used a long horizontal window so furniture could be placed against the wall.
The south wall incorporates two big casement windows as well as the bump out for a gas fireplace. We installed a patio door on the east wall that we salvaged from the common wall on the house.
If you are a regular visitor to this website you probably remember that we worked on various elevator upgrades at Carleton College last year. We are at it again this year now that school is over…Part II. We will be renovating several elevators on the campus this year.
Our first work area is at Olin Hall. This elevator was a passenger elevator when installed. However, for some reason the lifting cylinder
was bored off-center. Since we have to install safety bulkheads in the elevators we are pulling the old cylinder casing out and drilling a new shaft hole that is properly centered in the elevator shaft. This work is taking place in the center of the building so it was again a challenge to get the drilling rig into place. The old-time drill rigs come in handy when they have to be dismantled and hauled into a building.
We have also started work in Willis Hall. This elevator was a freight elevator and needs upgrades, ending up a
passenger elevator. We started out work by removing equipment from on old dumbwaiter lift that traveled between the basement and the loading dock. This is no longer needed and is being removed for safety and so we can use the room for new equipment. Because the equipment room is not located adjacent to the elevator we have spent some time running hydraulic and electric lines between the areas.
After the rains of June stopped and turned into July we have made good progress on the Carleton College art studio building we are constructing. The structural steel and roofing has all been completed. We have the sheathing on the exterior walls and are just finishing up on the interior steel stud walls.
Last Friday our workers started to install the windows. Windows for this project are
Marvin Integrity window units. They have an extruded fiberglass exterior in a pebble gray finish. The interior is also extruded fiberglass but is a white material. We are installing these windows in the same manner we do for our residential projects. This involves properly fastening the window in place, then using special tape to seal the edges of the window. The top of the window has the building wrap protect the window flange. This way if there is any moisture that gets behind the siding the moisture can migrate down the wall surface and exit at the bottom of the wall….instead of finding its way into the wall around the window openings.
Last week we completed the foundation for the addition to the Prairie home we are are building. This is a nice entertainment room addition on the west side of the home that overlooks Circle Lake.
We constructed the foundation walls from insulated
concrete forms to provide a strong, water-tight foundation wall. We let the walls cure for a week or so before we backfill against them.
Our work on the addition to Professional Drive Dental has moved along nicely. The addition is fully enclosed, the roof is on and most of the siding is applied. We are using one of the window openings as a temporary access into the work area. The new addition will end up blending perfectly in with the existing building.
On Monday we erected a construction barrier and removed existing interior walls, portions of the floors and some of the ceilings. It is never easy for a professional office to close down areas but there is no choice when constructing an addition and expanding dental offices. The new plumbing and electrical lines are being installed underground in preparation for laying the concrete floor.
Our carpenters have been busy working on the Prairie home addition we have underway. It is the area to the left with white building wrap in this photo. Last week, in spite of the rather hot days, they managed to complete the roofing. It can be difficult to tie in a new roof to an existing roof. In this case the older roof is only a few years old which made things a bit easier. It has been tested with the recent rains and all is fine. 
The workers are concentrating on completing the roof soffit work. The soffits on this home have a nice detail that includes painted wood trim strips on the sides of the ventilation louver. The electricians installed recessed lights earlier. The large windows give excellent views of the wildlife pond and nearby lake. 
