Builders with a Conscience

Saturday, March 1, 2014

We love a good remodel! Part 2 - Demo

This is where the new entry will be

Bye bye old sunroom / hello new kitchen area

First section being taken apart

Notice the retaining wall along the left side. We do a lot of projects on the side of hills in Ashland

You can see how we added a few feet to the exterior along the living room. The foundation to the left is the new master closet

The old foundation was so out of level. It was hard to decide how to tie in the new additions.

Deconstructing and saving anything we could. Wood that was not worth saving was used as firewood in the new fireplace

Tarp city is beginning to form. Ah, building through the winter in the pacific northwest

Keeping the existing house tarped during the building was a challenge

It was kinda creepy being inside the tarp city when the wind would blow hard

Yes, that is a HUGE tarp.

We did the project in sections so we didn't expose ourselves to the weather if we didn't need to. Remodels are a real art. You need to constantly think out of the box and roll with the punches

We love a good remodel! Part 1 - Before pictures

This the the client testimonial from the remodel project we are featuring in this six part series. It was a wild ride, but the finish product made it all worth it!!

When we started looking for a contractor, we knew our project was a challenging one. We bought an amateur-built 1947 house in the woods that had no insulation, antiquated plumbing and dangerous wiring. Still, the house had a charming design that we wanted to replicate while rebuilding it to the highest standards of quality and energy efficiency.

We looked for a contractor who shared our values. We wanted to “build green,” which to us meant salvaging and reusing as much of the materials from the old house as we could, sourcing new materials locally, and employing cutting-edge energy efficiency strategies. Of course, we also had a budget to meet. There aren't many contractors who are willing to undertake a project with those limitations. After meeting Dan, we knew he was our guy. He was enthusiastic about all of our goals. Not only did we find Dan's quality standards exceptional, all of his subcontractors shared his commitment and were a joy to work with.

Dan always puts his clients first. When problems arose – and they always do when you're building a house – we could count on Dan to do what was necessary to solve those problems in our favor. Whenever we had a concern, Dan would address it in a patient, reassuring manner. We think Dan's communication style was key to successfully working together.

There are countless details that have to be addressed to see a project like ours to its completion. Dan followed through on every last one of them – even little stuff that came up long after we had moved back in to our amazing new house. If someone were to ask us if we'd undertake a project like this again, our answer would be “only if we could work with Jovick Construction.”

Kelly Weisheipl & John Baxter

The original house had a sunroom that baked in the sun. It wasn't a very comfortable room, either too hot or too cold

This is where the new entry will be

One goal was to get rid of this electrical meter and find a new way for the service to enter the house

The clients loved to sit on this porch so a similar area was designed into the remodel

Being kind to this HUGE pine tree was top priority during the project

The house had several different additions starting from 1948-present

The architect (Carlos Delagdo) made sure to carry the corner window features through into the new home

The old solar hot water system had to go. More corner windows.

Crazy gutter to downspout connection

This tree was too close to the foundation to let it stay

Saturday, January 25, 2014

V's wall

Every now and then something pops into my head and I get inspired. Then, less often, I actually have the time to do it. Well I always have time for my V....