We’ve been finalizing a timely transition from porosity to fenestration in the icehouse rehab. Framed but temporarily concealed apertures have been cut out and transformed into doorways and windows. Jamb extensions, sills, and trims — carpentry confections that conjoin and integrate discrete elements into a cohesive architectural whole — are finally complete inside the icehouse. Exterior trims are still in the works.
When Apertures Become Windows (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
In the photograph above the north facing windows in the main room exemplify the coalescing of elements, framing a view of… gravel and dirt!
This view is evolving as I type. Stone walls and stone steps will define the levels and the transitions between them. In the near ground, a lawn will yield to a stone bordered area of plantings that will bridge the lower elevation outside the deck to the upper elevation where the volleyball and croquet court will once again be located.
When Apertures Become Windows (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
With the jamb extensions complete and the window trims installed the next step will be to scrape paint from the windows and install the hardware. Plenty of convergence and completion happening each day…
I’m thrilled to showcase the icehouse’s west facade with new double doors flanked with full-height side lites. What a transformation. With the west elevation doorway installed we’re approaching the point where reality resembles Tiho’s renderings.
Rendering for Icehouse Rehabilitation, West Elevation (Source: Tiho Dimitrov)
Remember that west elevation drawing Tiho created to help the team visualize where we were headed? The image below captures the same view, the partially fenestrated west facade, just prior to the day the west elevation doorway was installed.
Partially Fenestrated West Facade (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
I jumped the gun, announcing fenestration progress when we were still short of completion.
Aside from window and door trim, three out of four elevations — east (above), south, and north — are now exhibiting their close-to-final appearance. (Source: Fenestrated Facades)
One of the many workflow challenges we’ve navigated was delaying installation of the glass doors.
Only the west elevation (below) is still waiting on installation of the 1st floor double doors and flanking windows. And that’s on hold until flooring is complete. So, hopefully soon! (Source: Fenestrated Facades)
Once the double doors, flanked with windows, four glass apertures balancing the gable window above, are installed, this west-facing elevation will allow for a seamless interplay of interior and exterior living area. So long anticipated, these fenestrated facades are beginning to bridge the envisioned and the actual. (Source: Fenestrated Facades)
And here it is! West wall opening, doors being installed.
Installing West Elevation Doorway (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
With Peter overseeing, Matt (green shirt) and Supi (red shirt) secured and fine tuned the Marvin double door unit. In the photo below they appear to be celebrating their success. Actually, rather than a victory lap I think they’re troubleshooting to ensure the install was perfectly executed.
Installing West Elevation Doorway (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
And then came the glass slabs flanking the doors.
West Elevation Doorway (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
Once trimmed, these four glass apertures will be mulled into a contiguous element that looks as handsome from without as within. Soon I promise to share the inside-out perspective!
Notice something peculiar about our clapboard siding installation?
Siding Before Windows? (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
Typically windows (and doors) would be installed before siding. And before trim. It works better. For lots of reasons.
Siding Before Windows? (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
But… We’ve added an extra challenge. Not by choice. Our timeline on this project, reasonable last summer, became more compressed as summer slid into autumn and then yawned into winter. A lot, a LOT has happened over the past 4-5 months. But the finish line is swiftly approaching. Think three and a half months.
Siding Before Windows? (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
We had hoped to initiate the custom window and door order last August. And then last September. But it wasn’t until October that the contract was inked and the deposit was paid. In 20+ years of renovating, I’ve never witnessed a blame game that successfully accelerated a timeline, so I’ll sidestep reasons for a late start (and the many months long delivery schedule) to explain that windows won’t arrive until early May. Doors will start to trickle in next week, but windows will arrive in the final weeks of this project! How exactly that’s going to work out remains an anxiety inducing mystery. But at least you can understand the upside down sequence. Siding now. Windows later. Trim at the 11th hour!
Siding Before Windows? (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
Wish. Us. Luck. Or better yet, come help us in May!
Good friend and skilled carpenter Kevin Boyle built screen doors for Rosslyn’s exterior mudroom entrance and pantry entrances, and he installed them this past Sunday and Monday.
My bride had leaned on him to squeeze the installation in between two rounds of houseguests, and Kevin was gracious enough to accommodate her by working on a weekend day that I’m certain he would have preferred to spend motorcycling with his wife.
Thanks, Kevin!
Storm + Screen Doors
Kevin joined Rosslyn’s finish team back in about 2007 or 2008, and his legendary preservation and carpentry skills are evident throughout. He’s continued on-and-off ever since, tackling sensitive projects as they arrise, and he has always, always met or exceeded our exacting expectations. We consider ourselves extremely fortunate that Kevin has invested so much in rehabilitating Rosslyn.
[pullquote]Kevin built and installed a similar screen+storm door for our front entrance years ago, and it has performed admirably.[/pullquote]We actually schemed up these hybrid screen+storm doors years ago, but some other project has always gotten in the way. At last they rose to the top of the punch list.
My bride and I dallied altogether too long disagreeing about the design, but we finally agreed that they should echo the design of exterior doors they would accompany. We had agreed from the get-go that the ideal design for screen doors would allow us to swap out the screen section for glass when autumn becomes chilly, and Kevin handily accommodated our wish. (It’s worth noting that he had built and installed a similar screen+storm door for our front entrance years ago, and it has performed admirably.)
Newly Installed Storm + Screen Door
Accoya: A Better Wood
I believe that Kevin fabricated our front screen door out of red cedar, but this time around he encouraged us to consider another material with which he’s been very satisfied for exterior doors called Accoya.
I have been using Accoya wood for several years for applications just like your storm / screen doors. Its stability is superior to any other species I’ve used so far. It finishes well with paints (doesn’t stain well with transparent finishes)… [and offers] good durability. ~ Kevin Boyle
The explanation above was received via email, and Kevin included a link to Accoya’s lengthy product description that includes the following highlights.
By significantly enhancing the durability and dimensional stability of abundantly available certified wood species, Accoya® wood provides compelling environmental advantages over scarce slow growing hardwoods, woods treated with toxic chemicals, and non-renewable carbon- intensive materials such as plastics, steel and concrete. In comparing Accoya® with other materials, it is necessary to take the full life cycle into account, from ‘cradle to grave’. (Source: www.accoya.com)
Accoya® wood waste can be handled in the same way as untreated wood. Accoya® wood is non-toxic and does not require any special disposal considerations. Given its long life, multiple applications and non-toxicity, Accoya® wood is suited to re-use and recycling. (Source: www.accoya.com)
It seems to check all of the most important boxes!
[pullquote]Compared to Kevin’s elegant, functional storm + screen doors, the factory manufactured design falls short.[/pullquote]Kevin actually installed a third screen door, a second story access from the master bedroom to a small balcony that overlooks the barns, meadows, and Adirondack sunsets. But this was a door that we had manufactured offsite, long ago (almost a decade?!?!) when we were first renovating Rosslyn. It’s a full width, floor-to-ceiling screen door with only a slim frame around the exterior. After deciding to postpone installing it once upon a time, we opted to try it on for size. And the conclusion? Compared to Kevin’s elegant, functional storm + screen doors, the factory manufactured design falls short. But… the view and airflow are addictive! So we’ll use the current screen door for the duration of the summer, and then Kevin will build us another custom storm + screen door that he’ll [hopefully] install in the autumn. He might even squeeze in a pair of customer storm windows to flank the door.
I’ll close with an inside-out look at the mudroom’s new storm + screen door. Thank, Kevin!
Icehouse Apertures and Transparency: Matt and Justin framing double hung windows. (Photo: Hroth Ottosen)
It sure is fun to see the three double hung windows emerging on the north elevation of the icehouse. And the three fixies above. And the three fixies on the south elevation. And the freshened up window aperture in the southeast corner, opposite the new bathroom in the small anteroom (once framing, well, and everything else, is complete.)
I’m talking about window apertures. And the transparency that all of the new windows (and doors) will bring to Rosslyn’s icehouse. The transformation will be dramatic!
Icehouse Window Apertures: Matt fine-tuning framing for “fixies” (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
With the north elevation becoming so porous, the team added plastic weatherproofing to ensure that an early December storm doesn’t punish us. In the photo below, you can see the in-between stage that probably should have appeared before the first and second photos above, the progression from opening up the sheathing for the three double hung windows and the three small fixies above.
Icehouse Apertures and Transparency: covering up new apertures (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
This time of year we’re working on borrowed time, racing winter, keeping our fingers crossed that temperatures and moisture will remain within a favorable range. But, we’re also realistic. And practical. Better safe than sorry!
Icehouse Apertures: Matt fine-tuning framing for “fixies” (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
Keeping with my out-of-sequence chronology, I’ll double back again. This time to Matt putting some of the finishing touches on those upper windows. When everything is said and done, these three small window apertures will echo those in the carriage barn stables visible from the west and northwest, adding a handsome cohesion between the two buildings. And they will augment the transparency that is fundamental to this repurposing project. Just as the west wall is transforming from a solid first story and a small service opening on the second story (ostensibly to help pack in the ice?), to a window-filled, view-filled gable end, we’ve integrated a constellation of windows in the northwest section of the north elevation, dramatically shifting the transparency of the interior.
Icehouse Apertures and Transparency: Matt and Justin opening up the new double hung windows (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
Again out of sequence, the photo above and the next one below offer some insight into the process. The team first framed in the window bucks from within the icehouse. Once everything was secure, they cut through the two layers of existing sheathing and the “air gap” which is filled with shredded newsprint insulation (all original to the icehouse) to open the apertures.
Icehouse Apertures and Transparency: Justin tuning up double hung window framing (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
To the right of Justin (in the photo above) you can see the third double hung window and the three small windows (“fixies”) above framed and ready to have the sheathing cut out.
Icehouse Apertures and Transparency: Matt manning the mitre saw (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
All six window frames have been cut out in this photo. Jarret, cutting framing material with the mitre saw, is bathed in natural light even though all six apertures are covered in semi-opaque plastic. Try, if your imagination is feeling nimble, to imagine those apertures a few months from now. The large, lower openings will receive six-over-six double hung windows that can be opened to allow a nice breeze to enter on the north side of the building. And the three small windows above are the non-operable square “fixies” that echo the stable windows in the carriage barn.
Although the drama today — at least in terms of apertures and fenestration — is found on the north elevation of the icehouse, there’s also some headway being made on the south elevation.
Icehouse Apertures and Transparency: Matt and Jarret fine-tuning new “fixie” (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
The new fenestration in the western portion (open area of icehouse with vaulted ceiling) repeats the high (clerestory) windows windows from the north façade, albeit with slightly different spacing. This southern exposure will introduce plenty of natural light to the principal space in the icehouse while editing the view of the carriage barn. Although these new apertures will not result in the same elevation transformation as the north side, they will significantly augment the natural light and the transparency.
Icehouse Apertures and Transparency: Matt cutting out sheafing from new window (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
Although windows will not be installed until spring, we have the ability in the short term (before exterior paneling is installed) to preview the inside-outside blurring — or would that be, outside-inside blurring?!?! — that we’re hoping to accomplish by introducing so many apertures into this small building.
And one more window is now ready for temporary paneling and spring installation of new casement. In the southeast corner of the building, directly to the left upon entering from the east, an existing window has been reframed and replaced with a matching but high efficiency Marvin window (that will be installed in duplicate on the north elevation, one in the same location as previously but now located in a bathroom, and another in the new mechanical room).
Icehouse Apertures and Transparency: shoring up window framing for existing aperture (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
For those of you familiar with the building as it stood prior to this remodel, that aperture is unchanged.
Icehouse Apertures and Transparency: Matt and Zack framing new window (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
Although the location (and window design) remains the same, Matt and Zack are fortifying the window buck to ensure exact location and structural integrity.
In my last icehouse rehab update I caught you up on the internal window framing. Now we’ve taken the full leap!
There are still two windows in the north elevation the need to be framed and open, and then there are all of the hight level windows in the two gable ends of the icehouse. This latter project will take place after first phase of insulation and subfloor installation (both scheduled for next week) so that staging can be set up to work so high up. Updates will be forthcoming…
In closing, a heap of gratitude to Pam, Hroth, Tony, Eric, Matt, Zack, Justin, and Jarret. Have a great weekend!
