Our friend Michelle Jeresek of Departure Design graciously agreed to write this joint post about one of our two projects to be featured on the Build It Green! Home Tour coming up on September 25, 2010.  (By the way, you can follow Michelle’s tweets on Twitter: @michellejeresek.)  Please read on …

NoPo Duplex Conversion (aka “Twin Studios”)
Owners Becca and Eric envisioned modifying their 1902, 1,500sf split-level home into a duplex, with one unit above and one below.  Their planning background and strong design sensibility helped drive a deeply collaborative design process with Departure and Hammer and Hand.  Working strategically to maximize value, the remodel focused on elements with the biggest “bang for the buck”, including a small modern steel-clad addition at the rear of the home.  A fully-accessible garden-level unit created through a complete basement conversion/remodel is accessed through the rear courtyard.  A communal backyard fosters a sense of community with adjacent neighbors (including Becca and Eric’s own home).

Sustainability in Design
As designers and builders, we see or role as stewards of the built environment, so we worked to honor both the embodied energy and embodied narrative contained within the building’s original structure.  The goal was to create a lasting design and to build it with lasting craft – the definition of fundamental sustainability.  Big sustainable design notions are at work, like:

• increased density
• compact living (750sf units)
• modest build-outs
• repurposing of an existing building
• shared, community backyard
• aging-in-place with accessible design

Sustainability in Materials
While the duplex incorporates a full suite of sustainable building features, materiality was particularly key.  We preserved embodied energy with salvaged and long lifecycle materials:

• The deconstructed chimney reappears in the courtyard paving.
• All of the original doors were relocated and reused within project.
• Original wood siding from Becca and Eric’s adjacent home clads the new addition.
• A salvaged bathtub and sink from the ReBuilding Center finish the upper unit’s bathroom.

This reuse, repurposing and upcycling pays homage to the story of the building and its community context.

Kitchen
The duplex features two hyper-efficient and charming kitchens that support the project’s goals for compact living and affordable design.  Careful design packs a full modern kitchen into just ten-and-a-half lineal feet.  Compact appliances and extra deep counters ensure that spaciousness and utility aren’t sacrificed.

To squeeze more design impact from a limited budget, we customized Ikea cabinets with finished plywood detailing.

Please join us on the Build It Green! tour and check out this project, as well as our Musician’s Dwelling, for yourself.

– Michelle and Zack

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Have you ever noticed that some of the best remodels don’t look like remodels at all? That’s definitely the case with Hammer & Hand’s work on Liz’s 1911 home in NW Portland.

The remodel, coordinated by Hammer & Hand lead carpenter Stephanie Lynch opened up the upstairs living spaces while staying true to the home’s craftsman design. The basement remodel turned a spooky garage into a space that the whole family can use. Thoughtful details throughout tie the two spaces together.

To open the space between the living room and kitchen, designer Kevin Fischer of Alice Design widened the entryway between the living room and the kitchen and installed two columns identical to the columns that separate the front entrance to the living room.

Photography by Alice Design
“The columns are great because they open up the space and they look like they’ve always been there,” said co-designer Charlotte Cooney of Domestic Arts.

Kevin also moved the staircase and installed a row of five square windows to bring in natural light. The windows look right at home alongside the room’s original windows. The staircase created interesting places for the homeowners to display some of their great artwork.
“I love standing in the living room and looking at the windows, it’s just beautiful,” Liz said.

The basement remodel provided the family with a cozy place to watch TV, a play area for the kids, a revamped laundry room, office, and bathroom.
“The laundry room is tangerine. Mothers spend a lot of time in the laundry room and the color makes me happy,” Liz said.

The new bathroom gave Liz’s husband, an avid, early morning runner a convenient place to shower after a long run.

The wall paneling, which Charlotte originally intended to call to mind a 1950’s summer camp cabin, is actually exterior siding painted a creamy yellow. Variations of this yellow appear throughout the house.The room’s square windows liven up the space but avoid being overly “basementy”, and echo the new square windows above the ground floor’s staircase.“The windows are an antidote to the common basement window.  They’re like a magic trick; they make you think you’re not in a basement,” Kevin said.
The floor is actually Gyp-Crete, a leveling compound that is a tough as concrete but is much softer underfoot. The natural color of the material plays well with the wall color.

One of the best features of the remodel is the basement’s column. Kevin used the siding from the walls to turn a drab concrete column into something right out of Italian mannerist architecture. It is also something fun that echos the beautiful columns upstairs without looking out of place with the basement remodel.

The floor-to-ceiling square and rectangle shelving (more squares!) provides plenty of storage and is nicely integrated into the space.

“This was one of those basements you wonder if what you want to do is even possible. But that’s what’s so great about basement remodels, they’re complete transformations,” said Charlotte.

The best part of writing posts like this is I get to talk to passionate people about their projects.  It’s hard for some of their enthusiasm for their home and work not to rub off on me. So a big thanks goes out to Stephanie, Liz, Kevin, and Charlotte for collaborating on this project and taking the time to point out the details that make it great.

– Cody

P.S. Visit our basement remodeling page for more information on our services.

The post Remodel of NW Portland home transforms basement and opens up living space upstairs appeared first on Hammer & Hand.

This quintessentially Pacific NW spa basement addition fuses clean Japanese and Finnish lines with a modernist design approach to create an oasis of warmth and calm in the basement of an old Portland home.

(Visit our basement remodeling page for more about our approach, blog posts, and videos.)

Photography by bright designlab

The spa, part of a larger multi-faceted remodel of an historic 1888 Southeast Portland home, blends old and new, mixes complementary aesthetics from diverse traditions, and creates a bathing retreat that responds to the damp and chilly winters of the Northwest.

The space, a basement remodel designed by bright designlab and built by Hammer & Hand, is also a natural expression of the client’s sensibilities and lifestyle.  He’s an accomplished artist and design connoisseur, so the simplicity of the space offers a welcome visual respite from a busy day.

And as an avid runner, the client receives recuperating relaxation from the spa’s ofuro and sauna.  After a long run through 40-degree drizzle in the winter months, the post-run soak offers a nice reward.

The ofuro is a classic Japanese tub handcrafted by Hammer & Hand with fragrant, Port Orford Cedar.

With this style of tub you shower clean twice before entering to soak.  After just 5 or 10 minutes, you’re thoroughly cooked through and relaxed.  The water, which is changed out once per month, is filtered with ionizing purification – no chemical treatment is used.

Heated tile graces the floor of the space, and the Finlandia sauna provides dry heat to complement the water of the ofuro.

This hidden basement retreat is just one story from a larger remodel full of cool design narratives, from the bold juxtaposition of modern conservatory tower with historic Portland home, to Alice In Wonderland-like doors to nowhere and a wall of mirrors, to the expression of the owner as artist, to the twenty-first century construction techniques applied to its construction.  We’ll have more in Field Notes soon…

– Zack (Connect with me at +ZacharySemke)

P.S. Learn more about our residential remodeling services here.

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The owners of this Vancouver home hired Hammer & Hand and bright designlab to build and design the remodel of their master bathroom and downstairs living space.

The bathroom remodel flipped locations for the clients’ walk-in closet and bathroom.  Now the bathroom enjoys natural light from existing windows and the closet is more easily accessible. Everything from the heated floor to the walk-in shower creates a spa-like space for unwinding after a run or yoga session.

photos by bright designlab

The bathroom is more than the sum of its parts, said project lead Roman Emery, “all the pieces come together to make it great.”

This custom sink fabricated by Sonoma Cast Stone is a project highlight.  Designed by bright designlab, the ramp sink is a single piece of poured NuCrete, a relatively lightweight durable concrete.

Though light for concrete, the sink still weighs in at well over 300 pounds, so Roman built a custom bracket to support it.

“By far the coolest sink I’ve ever seen go into a bathroom,” Roman said.

This free-standing tub from Wet Style’s cube collection provides ample space for two, each with their own back rest.

In projects with clean modern style it’s important to pay attention to the interplay of elements, designer Alissa Pulcrano explains, “Different textures in a monochromatic color scheme make for interesting spaces.”  The project employs three types of rectangular Ann Sacks stone and tile to create stimulating variation.

A transom window shares the bathroom’s natural light with adjoining closet.

The downstairs basement conversion created a space for entertaining.  Architect Marcio Kogan’s work served as the clients’ inspiration for the space.

“We worked with the existing structure to open up the room as much as possible and create a natural indoor/outdoor transition,” Alissa said.  To facilitate this connection, the team replaced existing sliding glass doors with a new overhead bay door.

New stainless steel refrigerator/freezer, dishwasher, and kegerator provide for every contingency, while the bar back’s LED lighting makes label reading easy.

Renovations continue on the project and include a poured concrete hot tub and planters.  Check back later for more!

– Cody

P.S. Check out our basement conversion and bathroom remodeling pages for more information about those services.

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New space for entertaining.  Addition for family and guests.  Ofuro spa retreat.  Accessory dwelling unit tucked below.  New laundry room and bath.

Basement conversions, remodels, and additions can transform the experience and utility of your house.  Please check out the sampling of Portland/Seattle general contractor Hammer & Hand’s basement remodel stories below.  Diverse styles, diverse programs, diverse designers – all built by Hammer & Hand’s career carpenters.

– Zack (Connect with me at +ZacharySemke)

Twin Studios – Accessory Dwelling Unit basement conversion, designed by Departure Design.

936 – Basement addition of spa/sauna retreat, designed by bright designlab with client.

Wintler Park Remodel – New space for entertaining, bath addition, designed by bright designlab.

NW District Remodel – Expanded space for family, designed by of Alice Design.

View-Master House – Guest quarters and guest kitchen, designed by Celeste Lewis Architecture.

Grant Park Foursquare – Modernist utility room and bathroom, designed by Atelier Waechter.

The post Six basement conversions – from ADU addition to spa retreat to space for growing family appeared first on Hammer & Hand.

The owners of this View Ridge home wanted to turn their unfinished basement into a second living space. A kitchenette and small bathroom were already in place, but in need of a remodel, and the clients wanted a new master bedroom and bathroom. After receiving a recommendation for Hammer & Hand from their daughter, a designer in Portland, they hired our Seattle team to do a basement remodel.

Photography by Will Austin

The H&H team pulled out and replaced the existing kitchenette and re-did the floor in the kitchen area and basement. A small guest bathroom also received a facelift. The team swapped out all of the finishes, including tile, flooring, and plumbing fixtures, and replaced them with the new ones chosen by the clients and their daughter. The dry wall was also replaced.

The guest bathroom received a new pedestal sink and alcove soaking tub and shower, fresh paint, Pental Parc 12″x12″ floor tile in Steel Gray, and Bright Designer White 3″ x 6″ subway tiles in the shower. Unlike the kitchenette and guest bath, H&H had a blank slate when it came to the master suite — nothing but concrete walls and floors to work with. The team built out the master bedroom and bathroom in the back portion of the basement and replaced the existing leaky aluminum windows with new, better performing windows.

The new master bathroom included a vanity sink with a polished quartz countertop, alcove for the toilet, and Pental Vulcano floor tile in Grafito.

The master bath also features a walk-in shower and drop-in soaking tub from Mirabella.

One of the primary reasons for building out the basement in this way was the amazing view. The homeowners like to walk out from the basement suite to enjoy expansive views of Lake Washington from their deck.

The deck and railing also needed work. The clients liked the material of the deck was made of and wanted to prolong its life and usefulness. “It’s a deck that a lot of people would have just yanked out and replaced with something else,” said H&H Project Supervisor Aaron Stevens. “Instead, the clients decided to extend the life of the material already there.” The team replaced some boards and had Dallas Watson Flooring sand down the entire deck and John Lobo Painting refinish it with all-weather porch paint.

The deck’s previous railing was unsafe, built of glass panels and 25-year-old wood posts that had become insecure. “We replaced the glass panels and wood posts with a cable railing system because the clients wanted to continue to experience the view from both floors,” said Aaron.

The clients can now enjoy their private basement suite and beautiful views, just in time for the warm weather ahead!

The post Seattle Remodel Transforms Unfinished Basement into Master Suite appeared first on Hammer & Hand.

Inside the home, the bump out provides more space in the kitchen for cooking and casual dining. The kitchen also received a full remodel, including a new built-in dining bench and custom cabinetry by Jason Hernandez of Jason Andrew Designs, marble countertops, and reframed stairs leading from the kitchen down to the basement. The team also added a mudroom entry area with built-in bench and cabinets.

Below the kitchen, the bump out also added square footage to the basement for a family room. The team also helped the homeowners make better use of their basement space by adding a built-in desk and shelves, a new bathroom, and new bedroom.

On the main floor, H&H removed French doors that closed off the dining room and kitchen to the rest of the home to create a more open, light-filled, space.

An interesting challenge the team came up against was patching the old oak floors both upstairs and downstairs. The existing historical floors are made from oak boards from 1923. Newer oak has slight aesthetic differences – it grows faster, so it has a slight grain difference and won’t take stain the same way. In order to patch the floors without contrasts, the team pulled all the old flooring from the kitchen, dining room, and foyer and used the boards to fill in patches upstairs and in the living room so those ares would have matching boards. Then they put new boards in the kitchen, dining room, and entry with transitions at the stairs. Since the new and old boards won’t take stain the same way, the team stained the boards with slightly different ratios of black to get them to match. The result is beautiful, updated hardwood floors throughout the home that maintain the historic look.

Visit the Laurelhurst Whole House Remodel project page to see more photos of this whole house remodel.

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Basement remodels can take many shapes—from a big rumpus room for the kids, to a guest bedroom and bathroom suite, to a full ADU. We’ve found the most successful basement projects are designed and conceived of as lower level additions. Clients want basements that feel are natural extensions of the main residence: with taller ceilings, larger windows, clever or artistic window wells, and a thoughtful connection to the main floor.  We can connect you to an architect skilled in making this hat trick a reality—taking your basement to another level, so to speak. 

Alright, I’m on board with practically doubling my living space without having to dip a toe in the cutthroat housing market. How do I know if my basement is a good candidate for conversion?

Some basements are better suited than others for conversion to a comfortable, habitable space, though technically anything is possible with enough resources. Five key factors that influence a simpler conversion include:

Basement stair access: Do the stairs meet code? If not, can the existing stairs be easily amended to get people in and out of the basement comfortably and compliantly? If not, are you willing to open up part of the upstairs and sacrifice some square footage to install a good, compliant staircase?

Here’s a cheat sheet for what the City of Portland regards as a suitable stair:

(Photo courtesy of City of Portland https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bds/article/93019)

Ceiling height: How do your ceilings measure up to Portland and Seattle’s 6’8” ceiling height required by code? If they come up short, it requires either excavating down or lifting the house up. These are both disruptive, involved processes that add significant cost.  

Egress window: If your basement is going to include any bedrooms—or, function as anything other than a barely finished storage space—code requires an emergency egress window. But to achieve maximum brightness, you would want to add large windows anyway, so this code requirement is win-win.   

Clean infrastructure: How many systems (HVAC, electrical, plumbing) need to be moved around before making room for the new things that you want? For example, is the plumbing neatly arranged and tight up against the wall or is it hanging down below the joist? Starting with a well-laid out infrastructure saves time and cost.

Water presence: Is your basement’s exposure to water manageable? Often water can be redirected away from the home, but if there is a spring underneath the house or a drainage plain leading to the foundation, an above-ground addition may be a better bet for increasing your square footage.

Can we discuss the water infiltration concern a little more?

Careful water mitigation is a critical factor in lower level additions. Remember, your house is not a boat. It can’t be made watertight, and In the Pacific NW, it is a matter of when, not if, water encroaches on your basement. The best way to turn the conditions in your favor is to install an interior perimeter drain and sump pump, essentially telling the elements to “bring it on”  with plan and system for removing the water. It’s the optimal level of protection for the sizable investment you’re making with a lower level addition. Typical cost: $10-15k

For more information on how we approach basement remodels, see this page in our Best Practices Manual.

Watch a video on how we’ve done basement waterproofing here.

Can I set up my basement for a future ADU conversion?

Yes! If you think that becoming an ADU may be in your basement’s future, consider taking advantage of all the open walls and set yourself up for a quick, easy, and cost-saving conversion down the road. Electrical, HVAC, and plumbing lines can all be installed with an eye towards a minimally invasive conversion to an autonomous unit with its own breaker. This is also the optimal time to add the required one hour fire separation wall between units.

If you want an entrance to the ADU separate from the main house, it’ll be key for us to think strategically regarding where and how that will be accomplished during initial remodeling. Or, better yet, go ahead and integrate the door as part of the remodel.

Note that if you want to install a sink in your basement (for instance, as part of a swank basement bar) the City of Portland requires the homeowner to sign a “Second Sink Covenant” that is recorded on the property title.  It stipulates the basement won’t be used as a second dwelling unit, to dissuade people from using basement remodels as a loophole avoiding stricter ADU permits.

If you are truly looking for the path of least resistance for a future basement ADU, forego the sink as part of a remodel and add it later during the conversion project when you can permit the basement as a straightforward ADU.    

How should I begin budgeting for this?

Imagine the first floor of your home. Think about how it feels, how the light moves, and the details that make it a comfortable and inviting dwelling place. This is what we aim to recreate when capturing basement space. But how much does a lower level addition meeting these standards cost? Due to the varied nature of existing conditions and personal tastes, it’s not feasible to give a nice, pat price for how much a lower level addition costs, but for a rough range, recent projects have run in the $200-300 / sf range in Portland. In comparison, overall project costs for lower level additions tend to come in about 30% less than a typical addition.

We’ll be publishing a case study from a recent basement addition we built in SE Portland that illustrates what can be accomplished with an abundance of vision. But for now, if you’ve already been nodding your head and are ready to start exploring options for your own lower level addition, let’s get you connected to an architect fluent in flooding light and get started!

Additional Resources:

City of Portland: Conversion to Living Space

City of Portland: Guide to Emergency Egress Windows

City of Seattle: Mother-in-Law Units

Hammer & Hand Basement Retrofit Best Practices

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