Tag Archives: construction project

Lifted Up – Conquering A Design Dilemma

Single Story House. All one level. This was a non-negotiable when we were looking for a house. And 6 years ago, we found just what we were looking for. Almost…

Yes, the house is one level. But it sits about 4-1/2 feet higher than the street and driveway. This was fine when we first moved in, but as we thought about the future, we knew we’d need to address the accessibility issues.

So when the time came to begin planning out our remodel dreams, we made a list of our goals:
1. Maximize our view
2. Expand our outdoor living space
3. Add a garage at the front of the property – closer to the street
4. Make it wheelchair accessible

My brother-in-law Eric cruises in a wheelchair, and it was very important that we incorporate an accessible entry into the overall design. We worked very hard with our architect and contractor to find the right solution. Our first thought was to have a ramp going from the back of the new garage up to the new patio. But, to make it truly accessible, the ramp needed to follow a 1:12 slope. In other words, the ramp would need to be somewhere around 48′ long to rise 4 feet. I think it goes without saying…that’s a really long ramp. And it would dominate the patio – impacting our other design goals.

So we kept thinking. And researching. And then, I found it. The solution? …An elevator porch lift – a very simple motorized lift that is durable enough to be installed outside. All we needed was a concrete pad (about 4′ wide), right outside the back of the garage, that would lead to a landing up on the patio. We discussed this with the team, and they incorporated the elevator lift landing perfectly into the design of our new outdoor space.

The thing is, this type of equipment is not aesthetically pleasing. At all. In fact, I think they make accessibility equipment anti-aesthetically pleasing. It’s weird. And if you do find something that looks somewhat decent, well, that will be a markup of about 200%. The accessibility market has a long way to go!

Anyway, once the architectural design was done, the new patio poured, and the garage built, we went to work on the lift. Here’s a little insight into the whole process…

THE TWO ENTRANCES TO THE HOUSE…NOT EXACTLY ACCESSIBLE FOR SOMEONE IN A WHEELCHAIR:

        

BRAND NEW LIFTS RUN ABOUT $4000-$5000. I FOUND THIS ONE ON CRAIG’S LIST FOR $1200. WE CONFIRMED THAT IT WAS WORKING, BORROWED A PANEL VAN AND WENT TO SAN DIEGO TO PICK IT UP.

I DON’T KNOW WHY, BUT THEY ALL COME IN THIS UGLY STOCK OFF-WHITE COLOR. WE DECIDED TO HAVE OURS POWDER-COATED BLACK. WE FOUND AN AWESOME PLACE TO HANDLE THIS FOR US – CRISOL METAL FINISHING.
OF COURSE, BEING US, WE DIDN’T REALIZED THAT ALL OF THE MECHANICS OF THE LIFT WOULD HAVE TO BE REMOVED BEFORE IT WAS COATED. THE GUY’S AT CRISOL WERE AMAZING. THEY TOOK THE WHOLE THING APART AND PUT IT BACK TOGETHER FOR US!

HERE WE ARE…LITERALLY JUST WATCHING THEM TAKE THE MOTOR APART. ‘HOPE WE CAN GET THIS THING BACK TOGETHER…’

A FEW DAY’S LATER, WE PICKED UP THE NEW MATTE BLACK LIFT…FULLY OPERATIONAL…PUT IT BACK IN THE PANEL VAN AND OFF TO OUR HOUSE WE WENT. IT WAS ACTUALLY FAIRLY LIGHT (ABOUT 300 LBS), BUT STILL IT TOOK THE HELP OF A COUPLE OF FRIENDS TO GET IT INTO THE RIGHT PLACE. WITH THE FINAL PIECES ALL IN PLACE AND PUT TOGETHER, IT WAS TIME TO GIVE IT A TEST RUN! THE DOGS DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO THINK ABOUT IT….

AFTER THE DOG’S INSPECTED THE LIFT, IT WAS TIME FOR THE GUEST OF HONOR. WE INVITED ERIC OVER TO GET HIS SEAL OF APPROVAL.

AND HERE’S OUR LITTLE INSTA-STORY VID OF ERIC’S INAUGURAL RUN: 

THE FINAL STEPS WERE TO ADD SOME GREENERY TO THE PLANTERS:

THE ONLY THING MISSING TO MAKE THIS A SAFE SITUATION IS A GATE AND A FENCE ON THE TOPSIDE OF THE PATIO…COMING SOON!

And there you have it! We are officially wheelchair accessible. And it looks good too! Makes my heart very happy.
Thanks for stopping by… if you would like to know more about our remodel – you can Read more about it here!



We Built A New Garage

We built a new garage. Sounds simple enough. Pour a slab. Build the frame. Electrical. Drywall. Roof. Door. Done….NOPE.

This was no easy task. Thank you city codes. Footers down into the bedrock – which happened to be about 7 feet below the ground. Retaining walls on two sides.

Also…the structure couldn’t be within 10′ of our existing house – or it would have to be attached. The two possible places to attach the new garage would either block our view (not gonna happen), or in the place that our septic tank currently occupies…meaning, we would have to move our septic tank (again, not gonna happen). So…unattached garage it is.

And then, it had to be no closer than 5 feet to the side property line, and 20 feet from the street property line. Lastly, it could not be over 12 feet high – we are all very serious about our views in this town!

With all of these measurements in mind, there was only one place the garage could go – with literally 1″ wiggle room and it was destined to be a 20×21 two-car space.  Thank you to CK Architecture and Made By Render for figuring this business out!

Here’s a little reference on the plans for the new garage:

And this was from demo day 1. The new garage sits right in this space:

And here is a little reminder of what came next…digging for the footers:

Concrete Poured footers here along with the frame for the concrete retaining walls: 

Walls poured:

And finally…a slab!

Next, it was time to frame and pour the new entry steps: 

It was about this time that we high-tailed it out of town. And we missed getting pictures of the framing. SO, smash cut to:

And…!

Electrical – done.  Now for drywall: And then…the standing seam roof. Yes please!

Fine-tuning the electrical and paint. Reference: we used Cabot stain and matched Clark + Kensington’s Black Chiffon  :

Final touch…the garage door. We went with a panel glass door, opaque so you can’t see it at night but not green during the day. And it is the quietest door ever. SO happy with it: 

And this was the finished product. New garage for us! 

Here’s and this is how it looks now. Curb appeal here we come!

 

Thanks for following along. More details to come next week.
Follow along on our entire house remodel here. 



We Poured A Lot Of Concrete

This was our view last August. A patio form…waiting for its substance to fill it all in.

Our crew from D&S Construction were awesome. Seriously – a great crew of people makes the disruption of a remodel so. much. better!!!

And finally…the first concrete pour began!
All hands were on deck to control the amount of concrete in each area and to smooth it down with an even finish. I’m not sure exactly how much concrete was poured, but in the end, there were 5 different pours to make this project happen. And suffice to say, it was a lot of concrete. This was pour #1:

We wanted the appearance of a light acid wash on our patio – and to do that we had to slightly expose the aggregate by spraying a chemical surface retarder (the blue stuff) onto the slab surface immediately after placing and finishing the concrete. This delays the set and gives the crew the flexibility to remove the cement paste up to a day or so later, by pressure washing.

And here is our first look at our new patio – which now sits level with the house floor and is about 4 feet higher than our old patio. View maximizer!

This was the point when we felt the genius behind the design of this patio. Thanks CK Architecture and Made By Render! The dogs were a little tentative at first, but they’re definitely getting used to all of the steps.
Sweet Lyle is checking it all out.

So stay tuned…there’s more to come…next week I’ll post some info about the new garage.
Follow along on our entire house remodel here.