Windows, Patios, & Doors, Oh My!
Rebuilding a Beautiful, Vacant Historic Detroit Home (Episode 62)
It has been a couple months since we caught up… so let’s get right to the action!
Window Arrival!
After months of waiting, our custom Marvin windows and doors finally arrived! The leaded detail was custom made to match our home’s original windows and they look amazing in person! With all of the COVID delays, these windows arrives about 6 months past their scheduled arrival time. SO happy to finally get to see these in person and on property!
Solarium Framing
Christain and Alec wrapped up all of the final framing needed for the solarium. With the plywood all in place, our roofing contractor came and installed the rubber roofing material to keep the space inside dry while Christian shifts focus to window installation.
Iron Fence
With progress made on installation of our ipe fence posts we showed you last update, we decided with the weather still being cooperative for concrete that we would work on our front iron fence as well. Alec got to work tearing out the old aluminum fence and he and our new helper on site, Dave got to work laying out the positions of each of the new wrought-iron posts.
Great care was taken by all to measure and ensure that we would have things properly spaced across the front of the property. On the sides, even more care was taken to calculate the rise of each panel as they go up toward the back. We needed to be sure to keep our panels as low to the ground as possible but still be able to properly clear the rising grade.
Garage Ceiling
After spending what felt like all summer staining bead-board for our garage ceiling, it was finally time to start the install! Calvin and Christian called in another familiar face, Roman, to take on the bead-board installation. Roman is an incredible woodworker and was essential on our first wave of work in our home. He is responsible for putting our master staircase back together after we took the entire railing apart to replace broken spindles. Roman and Alec made quick work of the ceiling, which needed to be installed prior to the arrival of our new garage doors and insulation! Roman took the time and energy to biscuit joint each piece of bead-board together as he went. It took more time, but you make up the time in not having to worry about every board ending on a stud.
Garage Doors
After much waiting, our garage doors finally arrived. We wanted them to look as close to the doors on the original garage as possible, so we reached out to Clopay Doors to help us create as close of a match as possible.
Our original doors had lots of paneling detail with a row of glass at the top, and Clopay was essentially able to replicate the design perfectly, but make sure the doors are a modern width for modern vehicles. This week was finally time for the door installation. After a snafu with springs that arrived too small to hold up the weight of the heavy wood doors, we finally got them installed! They look awesome (from what we can see through all the construction plastic at the moment).
Call me weird, but I had a very specific request for new Liftmaster garage door openers. At the end of the day, they’re just garage door openers, but I am excited about them because a former classmate (from the University of Cincinnati) and friend of mine designed them :)
I love seeing my friends’ work come to life in the real world, and I love having their work in our home wherever possible. The openers look sleek, light up the room well, and the added smart features will be a bonus for us going forward… but mostly I am just proud of my friend, Matt for the hard work I’m sure it took to design them.
Window/Door Installation
Our Marvin windows and doors finally arrived on site shortly after our last update, and Christian has been working on getting them all up and in one-by-one with Roman. He first sealed up the garage with the two attic gable windows, French doors, and two double-hung windows in prep for the cold temps coming so they can create a warm place to work. He has now moved focus to the solarium windows. Each one is about 8ft tall and 3ft wide with essentially 3 full panes of glass inside the frames — so they are incredibly heavy. It’s a 3-man job getting them up and into each opening. Someone holds the top in place by reaching down from the roof, while the other two do the measuring, leveling, and finally shimming them in place without tipping it out of the hole and into our yard.
Once the first wall of windows was installed, everyone immediately got excited about how they looked. Each one looks nice on its own, but when they’re all setup together installed on a wall, it makes the space instantly feel so grand. Elise, our lovely architect from END Studio stopped by to take a peek on our progress and said she now cant wait to see the space with the skylight installed (and neither can we!)
We still have about 1/2 of the solarium windows remaining to install, as well as the large sliding door and transom. By next update we should have this room all sealed in and hopefully the new skylight in too!
Patio/Firepit
Before things got too cold, we also reached out to our landscapers Brian and Dan of B&D Garden Design about getting hardscaping work done so that come Spring, we will be ready to go for plants and grass!
We really needed B&D to complete two things before Winter hit. First, the area behind the garage needed to be cleared out and then filled with gravel and some walking stones, we want this area to be as maintenance free as possible given it will largely be used for things like firewood storage and our ac compressors and doesn’t need to be ‘pretty.’
Second, with our below ground water storage system installed, we need our patio built so that things like the gas line for the firepit can be properly placed, electrical can be run to the patio, and so that we have a good idea of final grade of the yard for things like the ipe fence and plant planning. Our pavers arrived and I tested out a few patterns before deciding that a herringbone pattern is what we wanted for the patio space. B&D made quick work of leveling the area, plotting out the dimensions and arc where the firepit will be, building the retention wall, and then filling in with the paver pattern.
What’s Next?
We are working quickly to wrap up all of the window and door installation to enclose the spaces. After the Marvin Windows are all installed, we will be working to get the skylight in place and then interior work can start to begin!
With iron fencing done, hopefully we can make some headway on our ipe fencing to clear up some space in the garage so that Christian and Cal have a place to work indoors.
Work in the garage continues with insulation soon so that we can install a gas heater and get the bead-board walls up. We have wood trim painted and ready for install on the outside of the garage as well!
Finally, Brandon and I are on a journey of how to turn these Marvin doors into ones we can use with some kind of smart lock. We think we have found a solution but it is going to require a small amount of door surgery to make it work!
Click here for the next episode!
Our journey isn’t over
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