Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, doorways, houses, process on May 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Progress! This is a whole house inside and out remodel in North Berkeley. Stay tuned for more pictures as it comes together over the next few weeks.
Vaulting the livingroom ceiling
Wider openings with arches! Now you can see all the way through to the garden in the back
New front hobbit door!
New front windows – just like the old but energy efficient and we raised them up for privacy and easier furnishing of the room
Posted in Design Projects, tagged concrete, curves, metal, process, value on April 24, 2013| 3 Comments »
I stopped by my job site today to have a peek at the formwork for the curved concrete steps and landing at the back of the house. I was impressed by how quickly the pros got it done.
I noticed that they contained the fill at the center of the pour with a metal mesh box. This way they could use much less concrete than if the landing and stairs had been solid.
Here are the steps today after they pulled the forms and finished the concrete:
I learned that the concrete cost around $900, the integral color (slate green) cost $1600, and the labor to form and finish was about $2000.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged color, doorways, El Cerrito, exterior shades, fibercement, green, houses, mahogony, modern, railings, rainscreen, redwood plywood on April 1, 2013| 4 Comments »
This 1972 budget modern house needed a tune-up. In the process of replacing the windows & siding, adding insulation, replacing the double level deck, and adding exterior window shades and a bright red-orange awning on the NW & SW sides, we also rearranged things and made the floor plan work better. That was the most satisfying part of the project, but it is hard to show it in photographs. Type “Navellier” in the search box to the right for photos of the process.
Here are some photos after construction:
Approaching the house
New entry door and porch
Exterior window shades and awning (retracted) and fibercement siding installed as a rainscreen
Redwood and stainless steel railing
Guillaume and Freddy under the bright red awning
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, houses, process, stucco on February 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Work proceeds, but still mostly deconstruction of this old house. 
With interior walls torn out it is cool to be able to see all the way through the house from the front door. 
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, small buildings on February 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Matt has the trellis underway (on the left building.) He plans to train a rose to grow on the redwood slats. Mavis and Atticus try sitting on the covered porch in the evening light.
Posted in Design Projects, Found Objects, tagged children on January 29, 2013| 3 Comments »
Willella Elizabeth McBride will be helping out on future deedsdesign projects. She has an uncanny intuition for good design. Her particular interests are good southern exposure, the best flooring materials for playing, and acoustics for enhancing baby’s cries.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, historical styles, houses, stucco, water management, wood on January 28, 2013| 2 Comments »
This new remodel project in Berkeley is underway. They are doing a full house remodel and are smart to make sure that the exterior envelope is in good shape. In our climate these zero overhang stucco houses with old fashioned stucco details (stucco all the way to dirt and no weep screed) often have a lot of rot hidden behind the stucco. You can see some of it in the photos below. The next step will be to remove all the old sheathing and check the studs for rot. After repairing any rotten framing, the contractor will add new plywood sheathing and replace all the windows with modern double glazed models.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged interiors, kitchen, Richmond on January 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »
We moved some walls and added some windows and took away a door and moved the kitchen to the other side of the house and added a bathroom and opened up the space a bit. We also upgraded the heating, hot water, ventilation systems and the electrical and lighting. The before shots don’t look anything like these almost finished shots, but you’ll just have to believe me. The layout changed so dramatically that they are not really relevant. Hopefully I’ll have some professional photos when its really finished! This post shows the project at an earlier stage.
The square hole in the wall to the left really helps to connect the kitchen (on left), dining (on right) and living room (beyond grey wall.) The entry closet is camouflaged in wall-matching grey paint.
6″ LED recessed lights by Cree provide ample warm light in the kitchen. Vertical grain fir custom cabinets by Steve Shada, Pika Woodworking
Low voltage art lights await the art on the living room walls
Posted in Design Projects, tagged boxes, furniture, green, paint, patterns, wood on November 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »
I finally had a chance to take a few photos of one of our most recent treasure chests. We made this one for Kavi out of maple and a painted poplar top. The hinges are special soft close hinges to protect his small fingers. The paint is my favorite Bioshield Aqua Resin Trim Enamel. I had to use a bit of a different paint for the dark brown part.
Here is a picture of Kavi and his box
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, garden, small buildings on November 8, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Design Projects, tagged bathroom, Berkeley, houses, lighting design on October 24, 2012| 2 Comments »
I just stopped by to have a peek at this almost finished project near Tilden Park. The owner still needs to finish moving in, but you can get an idea despite the blank walls.
Canivet Construction is the builder.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged houses, remodelling, Richmond on October 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Sometimes when you tear off the sheetrock you discover unusual framing details and problems that need to be resolved. This project had a second roof framed over the first to increase the slope and eliminate built-in gutters. There was a lot of bracing in the attic that added to the load on the ceiling joists. It was hard to tell how much of it was really necessary.
discussing framing details with collaborator Steve Shada of Pika Woodworking
