West Allis Remodel

Pragmatic Construction has undertaken a substantial remodel in West Allis.  We view remodeling as the greenest of all construction options- keeping an existing site in use vs. taking over greenspace is always our preference.  

For this remodel, we will be executing a full-kitchen update, a change-out of decrepit galvanized plumbing with PEX, water heater update, installation of dual-flush toilet and attic conversion/dormer bump-out utilizing bio-based closed-cell sprayfoam insulation.

We are going to do this one in two phases to minimize disruption to the homeowner- first the kitchen and plumbing, then the upstairs.  Lauren draws up the plans, we finalize with the homeowner, get permitted and its on.

The home- front:

back:



attic:



attic cont.:



kitchen:





First we remove some vintage yellow plastic wall tile, salvaging almost all of it for a local re-sale store.  This stuff is in demand for patches/repairs and neo-retro projects.  The adhesive is still gummy after 50 years, and is still off-gassing.  We scrape what we can, then spray the rest with AFM Safecoat SafeSeal to contain anything nasty in there.  We will then be covering all of this with a skim-coat of joint compound and a vapor-barrier non-voc paint.





One of the fun parts of the project will be the saving/modification of the old laundry chute.  More to come as we figure this one out.



We removed all of the aging galvanized supply lines throughout the house- major funk in the pipes was too unpleasant to photograph.  We had the house replumbed with PEX pipe, which will not suffer the same problems- ever. Freeze-burst immune, easily modifiable, in use since the 60s (80s in the US) and incredibly durable, we always use PEX.



The homeowners commented that water-pressure is up and pipe-knocking is completely gone, additional benefits.



We pulled the aging hot water heater, replacing it with a high-efficiency unit, installed a whole-house surge protector to the electrical panel, installed a bath fan to eliminate moisture and put in a dual-flush toilet- Sterling- we really like this model.



Back to the kitchen, Marmoleum, a natural linoleum product, has been installed and covered with protecting rosin paper.  Next we propose a location for the laundry chute to the home owners via painter's tape and project notebook-log (Clear communication is key :-)  They confirm, so we begin bending up some metal and getting the cabinet ready.  More on this as we progress.



Here rough electric is done, drywall is prepped for future tilework, lower cabinets are installed.



More drywall work, some additional cabinets installed.



Cab doors adjusted- just about all lightbulbs in the home updated to CFLs by the owner during the project.  Plumbing reconnected.



Cab hardware installed.



High-efficiency dishwasher in place, temporary countertops installed,so the kitchen can be used until the final ones are in place.



We finish up the kitchen electrical work, then pause the kitchen remodel waiting for countertops to arrive.  Time to move upstairs.

For this piece, we need some additional humanpower to minimize the time between opening the roof and obtaining watertight status, so we bring in a friend- expert carpenter Steve Malnory.  






Steve and Lauren cut open half the dormer area.  We are going to do this in two parts to maximize structural stability and ease of waterproofing.



Chance of rain tonight- 3 layers of tarp and 6 mil plastic.  Green remodelers fear only water.





We survived the rain and got the first half of the dormer framed up, so Adam, Steve and Lauren open the second half.



Waterproof everything all over again.  Housewrap, Grace Ice-and-Water shield, tarps, etc.  We will sleep good tonight.


Backyard tear-off graveyard.  Each year the US tears-off and landfills enough shingles to fill a football stadium area 18 miles high.  In 5 years that hits the moon.  Check out our links page for non-asphalt shingle Green roofing options.



Just to make sure you followed that...







OK, off our Green horse and back to the pics

In the attic now, we have taken down the chimney to the attic floor, and are working on a way to get it down to the basement without tearing out internal walls, ruining perfectly good drywall and generating dust and waste.  Serge realizes the hole is just about the same size as his shoulders (88") ...



Gearing up for West Allis spelunking...





In-wall demolition complete- 500 LEED points to us.



Lauren attaches hanger-hardware



Structural members installed to support snow loads on low-pitch dormer.



Shell rough framing is complete (and waterproofed).



Steve M. gets some T-lok shingles ready to match the existing '98 roof- still a good 10 years on the roof- so we did not recommend a full tear-off and replacement with steel or synthetic.



And the Pella aluminum-clad windows are installed.  U=.27



Wrapped and prepped for steel siding.



Back to inside work- Lauren moves project laundry chute ahead

...and we frame out the upstairs.



Countertops are in, and undermount sink installed.

Laundry chute is finalized.

Kitchen is ready for painting and tile- then the crown molding will go on the cabinets.

Tilework commences

While outside the siding proceeds.

Upstairs framing is finalized and rough electric goes in.

HVAC runs are installed- Pragmatic then pretties up the runs and boxes them out for in-closet drywalling.

A last-minute decision to add a half-bath is worked out.  PEX saves the plumber several hours by its ability to be flexed and threaded down alongside the existing stack- no cutting into walls, no joints and no fittings.  The plumber was stoked that we had specified it.



While planning the bathroom space, Lauren worked in a piece of harvested cabinetry from the kitchen demolition.  Originally an ironing board cabinet, then a spice rack, now a bathroom cabinet. Thrice reclaimed earns .25 LEED points for Lauren.

While working on the bathfans, one of our employees managed to put a let through the downstairs bathroom ceiling.  Luckily, he managed to earn his drywall patch merit badge in the process.


Closed-cell Bio-based 1701 sprayfoam is installed by Timothy, Inc.  R 5.5/inch, no vapor barrier required, no attic venting required, and puffy yellow goodness to boot.

Upstairs the drywallers have at it.

While downstairs, Lauren builds an arch to match the existing and our drywall crew ties it in.

The much-awaited (e.g. late to ship) casement arrives and Lauren makes a hole for it.  Our sprayfoamer hit the rough opening to keep the attic cozy while we waited for the window to get in.

The cork flooring is staged to get acclimatized prior to installation.

The homeowner lets us use the powerful PATROLMAN-9 vintage radio.  9 bands of pure awesome.   We are looking for one of these for our office on E-bay.

Now we are in the homestretch- install flooring, doors, trim, then finish work and the close-out punchlist.

First we use a little floor-leveller.


Then set up our saw station for cutting cork.

Here is a time lapse- we have installed flooring, hung doors and trimmed out the upstairs.  Outside our 60 mil membrane roof is installed (wish we had pics of the struggle to get it up to the roof) and the gutters/gutter guards are on.  

Overall we are pretty much done- just need to seal all the woodworks with a water-based polyurethane substitute and do some touch-ups.

Lauren made a window seat/storage chest out of door cut-offs- no waste!  
(well- as little as we can get away with).

New banister.

Still have to cut in the handles for these- but the 3- panel sliders we came up with look pretty cool.





Carpet treads put on to keep staircase from getting slippy.

Closeout checklist, final inspections passed and thats a wrap!