Timber frame homes offer unique challenges during a remodel. What often makes them beautiful and attractive to most homeowners, also makes them challenging for space requirements. Context: The lovely couple that owned this home were struggling with some interesting floor plan challenges that just didn't work for their family. The loved the beautiful timbers and woodwork of their home, but the dramatically sloping ceilings on the second floor, particularly in the bathroom, just didn't work for this 1 1/2 bath home. Needing to use the skylight to approach the toilet was a less then ideal scenario. Although the bathroom footprint was more then adequate, the sloped ceiling only made half of the space useable. Check out the Before/After post on our blog to see the photos of the house pre-renovation. As much as they loved all the wood features in their home, another challenge they had was light. The wood ceiling made everything inside the house darker, even with a fantastic array of south facing windows, there were spaces in the home that felt dark and small. When they contacted us they wanted to know how could they make their brighter and more inviting, were there solutions to the 2nd floor sloped ceiling issues, and if they were going to do all of this work, how could they make their home more comfortable and efficient. A nagging water leak in the upstairs bathroom spurred them into action and here is how we solved their dilemma. Conclusion: First, we added a little dormer to the rear of the house so we could get full headroom in nearly all of the upstairs bathroom! Then we decided to extend that dormer one more timber bay over to create a walk in closet with natural light and plenty of space. Since we were contemplating energy efficiency, we resolved a nagging issue that is present in a lot of timber frame construction, air tightness. Commonly found in timber frame construction, fiberglass insulation is installed in the rafter bays and board ceilings are installed over top. Unfortunately, board ceilings are anything but air tight, and fiberglass insulation needs to be in an airtight cavity for maximum effectiveness. So we were able to solve two issues at the same time for this homeowner. We removed the board ceiling and fiberglass insulation, we dense packed the rafter bays with cellulose insulation, and installed sheetrock in place of the boards. The boards were salvaged for re-use by the homeowner, and the space and light quality was dramatically improved. Some may think that losing the board ceiling took something away from the space, but what you'll see in the pictures is that it highly accentuates the heavy timbers and really makes them stand out in a beautiful way. Now with this added airtightness, better insulation, and brighter space, the homeowner hardly runs their wood stove, and it's so quiet in the space, an added bonus from changing the insulation. It became necessary to also add a sheetrock ceiling to the living room to hide the plumbing from the new bathroom layout above. Changing this ceiling gave the homeowner some real quality lighting that was lacking in the living room before. The brighter ceiling and new lighting layout completely transforms the living room into a space you want to hang out, even though the layout didn't change at all. When the homeowner saw the finished spaces she said "I can't believe this is my house, I want to live in this house" Energy Efficiency: I touched a little on the efficiency above, but like all projects done with Mottram Architecture, we always want to leave you with a little extra. Timber frame construction with board ceilings and fiberglass insulation are notoriously leaky! If you want to know what we think about fiberglass insulation, check our our blog post on Why Fiberglass Insulation Sucks. By installing cellulose insulation and covering it with sheetrock we were able to greatly reduce the heat flowing out of this home. It not only improves cashflow it improves the comfort level in the space. Who wants to sit in their living room and feel a draft? Let us remind you, we are not saying cellulose insulation is an air barrier, we use the sheetrock to help with that, but it does significantly reduce the air flow over fiberglass insulation. And when we reduce the airflow, we reduce the heat flow. And when we reduce the heat flow, we reduce the need to re-heat that drafty air from outside. When it comes to energy efficiency the first and best place to start is air infiltration. We greatly reduced the air infiltration with the new insulation, but we also added a hat and warm boots. What I mean by that is, we improved the insulation in the roof, and we installed insulation in the basement. Maybe it's a silly analogy, but when you think about keeping warm, we always start with the hat and boots! With sustainability in mind, the next project will be to add a deck to the front of this house with rain catchment barrels from the metal roof. They are planning to plant a garden in the spring and the rain catchment system will help to irrigate the new garden. Builder: East Shore Builders Photographer: Michael Eric Berube

Example of a trendy living room design in Ahmedabad

Rheem Insulation offers you the most effective solutions for home insulation in Santa Clarita. We offer you the complete range of services so that you can get the best services that would help you to get the most of the benefits of having professional insulation contractors in Santa Clarita take care of your home's insulation system. Insulation Contractors in Santa Clarita, CA - http://www.rheeminsulation.com/

Photo: Andrew Snow © 2015 Houzz
Minimalist wooden u-shaped open staircase photo in Toronto

Timber frame homes offer unique challenges during a remodel. What often makes them beautiful and attractive to most homeowners, also makes them challenging for space requirements. Context: The lovely couple that owned this home were struggling with some interesting floor plan challenges that just didn't work for their family. The loved the beautiful timbers and woodwork of their home, but the dramatically sloping ceilings on the second floor, particularly in the bathroom, just didn't work for this 1 1/2 bath home. Needing to use the skylight to approach the toilet was a less then ideal scenario. Although the bathroom footprint was more then adequate, the sloped ceiling only made half of the space useable. Check out the Before/After post on our blog to see the photos of the house pre-renovation. As much as they loved all the wood features in their home, another challenge they had was light. The wood ceiling made everything inside the house darker, even with a fantastic array of south facing windows, there were spaces in the home that felt dark and small. When they contacted us they wanted to know how could they make their brighter and more inviting, were there solutions to the 2nd floor sloped ceiling issues, and if they were going to do all of this work, how could they make their home more comfortable and efficient. A nagging water leak in the upstairs bathroom spurred them into action and here is how we solved their dilemma. Conclusion: First, we added a little dormer to the rear of the house so we could get full headroom in nearly all of the upstairs bathroom! Then we decided to extend that dormer one more timber bay over to create a walk in closet with natural light and plenty of space. Since we were contemplating energy efficiency, we resolved a nagging issue that is present in a lot of timber frame construction, air tightness. Commonly found in timber frame construction, fiberglass insulation is installed in the rafter bays and board ceilings are installed over top. Unfortunately, board ceilings are anything but air tight, and fiberglass insulation needs to be in an airtight cavity for maximum effectiveness. So we were able to solve two issues at the same time for this homeowner. We removed the board ceiling and fiberglass insulation, we dense packed the rafter bays with cellulose insulation, and installed sheetrock in place of the boards. The boards were salvaged for re-use by the homeowner, and the space and light quality was dramatically improved. Some may think that losing the board ceiling took something away from the space, but what you'll see in the pictures is that it highly accentuates the heavy timbers and really makes them stand out in a beautiful way. Now with this added airtightness, better insulation, and brighter space, the homeowner hardly runs their wood stove, and it's so quiet in the space, an added bonus from changing the insulation. It became necessary to also add a sheetrock ceiling to the living room to hide the plumbing from the new bathroom layout above. Changing this ceiling gave the homeowner some real quality lighting that was lacking in the living room before. The brighter ceiling and new lighting layout completely transforms the living room into a space you want to hang out, even though the layout didn't change at all. When the homeowner saw the finished spaces she said "I can't believe this is my house, I want to live in this house" Energy Efficiency: I touched a little on the efficiency above, but like all projects done with Mottram Architecture, we always want to leave you with a little extra. Timber frame construction with board ceilings and fiberglass insulation are notoriously leaky! If you want to know what we think about fiberglass insulation, check our our blog post on Why Fiberglass Insulation Sucks. By installing cellulose insulation and covering it with sheetrock we were able to greatly reduce the heat flowing out of this home. It not only improves cashflow it improves the comfort level in the space. Who wants to sit in their living room and feel a draft? Let us remind you, we are not saying cellulose insulation is an air barrier, we use the sheetrock to help with that, but it does significantly reduce the air flow over fiberglass insulation. And when we reduce the airflow, we reduce the heat flow. And when we reduce the heat flow, we reduce the need to re-heat that drafty air from outside. When it comes to energy efficiency the first and best place to start is air infiltration. We greatly reduced the air infiltration with the new insulation, but we also added a hat and warm boots. What I mean by that is, we improved the insulation in the roof, and we installed insulation in the basement. Maybe it's a silly analogy, but when you think about keeping warm, we always start with the hat and boots! With sustainability in mind, the next project will be to add a deck to the front of this house with rain catchment barrels from the metal roof. They are planning to plant a garden in the spring and the rain catchment system will help to irrigate the new garden. Builder: East Shore Builders Photographer: Michael Eric Berube

Trendy bedroom photo in Singapore

Paul Despenas: EcoSmart Custom Built 2-Lite Sliding windows, picture units and patio door were installed before the siding crew came to do their part. EcoSmart windows feature Smart Core insulated master and sash frames: EcoSmart windows come standard with our patented insulation in all primary frame and sash cavities. This is high density insulation provides a NFRC determined R-Value of 7.25 per inch of thickness. SmartCore insulation provides almost two times the insulating proprieties of typical fiberglass insulation, making EcoSmart windows more energy efficient and your home more comfortable. Performance Glass Options are the heart and soul of any good window. You’ll find a great selection of options to deliver the energy savings your home deserves. Fusion-Welded Frames: The frame and sash on EcoSmart windows are 100% fusion welded for superior sealing against water or air infiltration and no expansion and contraction. Added strength provided by our I-Beam & Rigid Core Fiberglass Reinforcement. All EcoSmart windows are custom built to fit into your home. American Classic Insulated siding features: Lifetime Non-Fade Protection Progressive Foam Fullback Insulation is laminated to the back of the siding to add rigid backing to the siding panel to give straight wall lines Four Times the energy savings value than conventional siding underlayments High permebiliyty lets your walls breath to minimize the opportunity for mold growth Deters termites and carpenter ants The list goes on and on……….American Classic Insulated Vinyl siding and EcoSmart Windows = ENERGY SAVINGS FOR THE LIFETIME OF THE HOME

This was a challenging project for very discerning clients. The home was originally owned by the client’s father, and she inherited it when he passed. Care was taken to preserve the history in the home while upgrading it for the current owners. This home exceeds current energy codes, and all mechanical and electrical systems have been completely replaced. The clients remained in the home for the duration of the reno, so it was completed in two phases. Phase 1 involved gutting the basement, removing all asbestos containing materials (flooring, plaster), and replacing all mechanical and electrical systems, new spray foam insulation, and complete new finishing. The clients lived upstairs while we did the basement, and in the basement while we did the main floor. They left on a vacation while we did the asbestos work. Phase 2 involved a rock retaining wall on the rear of the property that required a lengthy approval process including municipal, fisheries, First Nations, and environmental authorities. The home had a new rear covered deck, garage, new roofline, all new interior and exterior finishing, new mechanical and electrical systems, new insulation and drywall. Phase 2 also involved an extensive asbestos abatement to remove Asbestos-containing materials in the flooring, plaster, insulation, and mastics. Photography by Carsten Arnold Photography.

Evening view of living room from outside
Patio - mid-sized modern patio idea in Other

Example of a sunroom design in Toronto

INSULATES AGAINST EVERYTHING BUT JEALOUS NEIGHBORS. Haven® insulated siding combines the looks of real wood and the energy efficiency of industry-leading insulation technology. Let’s call it very high tech. Our graphite-enhanced EPS insulation is made with Neopor® from BASF SE. Neopor helps absorb and reflect radiant heat, which makes Haven’s R-value (how well insulation keeps heat out of your home) up to 19% higher than traditional insulated siding. Our EPS insulation also reduces the flow of hot and cold air through wall cavities. Plus our “locked-tight” TXL™ Lamination distinguishes itself by how uniformly it holds siding and insulation together for a seamless, flat fit. (Thumbnail shown in Sand)

Exterior home idea in Toronto

Inspiration for a timeless home design remodel in Raleigh

Classica Series Tuscany design insulated steel garage door.
Mid-sized beach style attached two-car carport photo in Calgary

ThermoCraft Series raised panel insulated steel door in sandstone color.
Example of a mid-sized classic attached two-car carport design in Calgary

Cal Comfort Insulating Windows, Inc. began in 1982 as a company that primarily focused on weatherizing homes and commercial buildings, windows being more of a problem than a solution. Cal Comfort Windows, Inc. specialized in conscientiously installing windows and doors. Insulating, weather-stripping and correcting structural flaws were the best way to improve energy efficiency and reduce power bills. We serve Modesto, Turlock, Stockton, and the surrounding area.

Cal Comfort Insulating Windows, Inc. began in 1982 as a company that primarily focused on weatherizing homes and commercial buildings, windows being more of a problem than a solution. Cal Comfort Windows, Inc. specialized in conscientiously installing windows and doors. Insulating, weather-stripping and correcting structural flaws were the best way to improve energy efficiency and reduce power bills. We serve Modesto, Turlock, Stockton, and the surrounding area.

Cal Comfort Insulating Windows, Inc. began in 1982 as a company that primarily focused on weatherizing homes and commercial buildings, windows being more of a problem than a solution. Cal Comfort Windows, Inc. specialized in conscientiously installing windows and doors. Insulating, weather-stripping and correcting structural flaws were the best way to improve energy efficiency and reduce power bills. We serve Modesto, Turlock, Stockton, and the surrounding area.

Cal Comfort Insulating Windows, Inc. began in 1982 as a company that primarily focused on weatherizing homes and commercial buildings, windows being more of a problem than a solution. Cal Comfort Windows, Inc. specialized in conscientiously installing windows and doors. Insulating, weather-stripping and correcting structural flaws were the best way to improve energy efficiency and reduce power bills. We serve Modesto, Turlock, Stockton, and the surrounding area.