Our News
As craftsmen, listeners and partners, we're always making comparisons. Which material works best for this installation? Which features accelerate our client’s initial vision? What haven’t we considered? Where have I seen an example that shows what I’m trying to explain?
For me personally, comparing the options and looking for innovation is a quest that redirects with each new challenge. Our News is a warehouse of this steady research, and my thoughts along the way.
-George Metzler
Our Most Recent News
Too Far Gone?
At what point do you just give up? A two-hundred-year-old structure had been in the family for many years, standing vacant for 12 years prior to our involvement. Assessing the initial condition, we all committed to forge ahead – uniting classic processes and materials with new ones to make the homeowners’ vision for the property come alive. Here’s the process or check out the finished job in our portfolio section. Click Here
My first time up the grassy driveway to see the stone home took place on a sunny late summer day.
For the last 70 years this was the “back” of the house. If you look closely at the stone work, you can see evidence of an attached shed addition.
The orientation of the house may have been rotated to face the center of growing agricultural activities on the farm. In this photo you can see the barn, of which only the stone foundation remained when we began our project.
This stonework is a remnant of the barn that was torn down in the 1940′s. Our masonry team would use these stones to build the addition and repair portions of the existing house.
This is real “Green Construction.” Our masonry team from Vintage Stone gathers stones from the old barn foundation, removes mortar still attached and reshapes the stones for re-use in the new chimney and foundation.
One of the first steps was to preserve the integrity of the structure. Here the masons are setting up scaffolding to point stone, while they build the block foundation for the addition in the background.
This photo was taken a little over a century into the life of the home. The 1805 stone farmhouse was extensively renovated, with a Victorian era theme. Mark Myers, the architect who lead the 2011 renovation, believes this was when the orientation of the house was rotated 180 degrees.
In 1805, when this home was constructed, the builder would have dug out the basement and begun by laying a stone foundation directly on the sub-soil. One of the reasons this house was in very good structural condition was because the stone foundation was laid almost directly onto the shale rock. Almost no settlement had occurred in 200+ years. This also gave us additional confidence that we could protect the existing house as we dug out a much deeper new basement for the addition.
Laying out the footers. The part of every project where the homeowner asks. “Is this big enough? The foundation looks tiny.”
The foundation walls are close to completion. Next up….carpenters.
Happy client and happy carpenter. Everybody is happy today!
Cutting the flue pipe for the chimney demands precision in a dusty environment
A keen eye will notice that the plans are unwrinkled and new, the first stacks of lumber have been delivered, and framing is about to begin. Smiles all around…this time it will be a piece of cake!
The masons are repointing the stone and rebuilding the chimney, while the carpenters are setting the rafters for the addition.
A solid foundation isn’t something that is just buried into the ground. Here Andrew installs a strong new frame that the mason will mortar into the stones. The new wood window will be installed into this, never coming in contact with the masonry wall.
It helps to have a sense of humor when you are working on an old house. Critters and surprises lie in wait behind every old board. In this case gravity was not Andrew’s friend.
Our homeowner, a landscaper, found these stones which our masons used to create a beautiful new front porch. Based on old photographs, the architect believes there was evidence of a stone porch much earlier in the life of the home.
Installing Fibercement siding and PVC based exterior trim.
To preserve 18th century look, all plumbing was located in the new addition and heating and air conditioning was supplied from the attic and the basement. This kept us from having to create unsightly chases and comprises. The big challenge was to connect all four levels of the existing home with aesthetically pleasing and comfortable stairs. Please check out the finished stairs and see how the rest of the home turned out in our portfolio section. Click Here
Below the Surface
The addition of skylights, a failed 1970′s 3-season room, rotting windows, and an asphalt roof added over the original cedar, concealed this home’s original charm.
Exterior progress – Dormers partially framed, sunroom demolished, siding partially removed.
Ground Breaking
Tim and Cathi were making progress on renovating their kitchen. They were working with an architect, they had their drawings, and they were getting close to starting….when Cathi found a house just up the street that was absolutely perfect. Perfect for a growing family if you could look past the abandoned homes’s crumbling patio, the failed windows, the bombed out kitchen…and that its most recent residents were 6 or 7 feral cats. At this point who is counting…Oh by the way did I mention how much experience our owner’s had with renovating? Zip, zero, nada.
The man with a plan, Joe Mackin from Period Architecture presenting the vision for the new kitchen.
Overgrown and under cared for
So how did it go? Joe Mackin from Period Architecture crafted a plan that preserved the best elements of the exterior, added dormers for functionality and aesthetic appeal and completely reconfigured the 2nd floor into a modern space that can be used and enjoyed by parents and children alike.
Rueben adding the trim work to the new porch he just built. (usually he is smiling at me….)
The dormers have been added to the roof and the new porch project is underway.
It turns out Tim and Cathi were excellent at renovating, Cathi was great at blending traditional design with fun a few eclectic choices that just rock. More than once I would see a light fixture and wonder how is she going ot pull that off and sure enough the rest of the selections would show up and wow, it looked awesome.
Taking the kitchen a step back is the first move in creating flat floors and the right structure to attach beautiful finish products to at the conclusion.
Adding a highly efficient insulation means excellent comfort and greatly cuts down on noise from the street.
Our floor finisher is excellent at creating “on the floor” samples areas.
The living room comes alive with refinished floors and the addition of reclaimed beams in the ceiling.
“Stealing” original floor boards from the attic to patch-in original wood floors in the rest of the house.
One of the joys of remodeling is finding artifacts from bygone eras. Cathi is holding shoes that were tucked away with newspapers about the time of the Titanic’s voyage.
And now….drum roll please.
New stone sitting wall defines the outdoor living space.
New dormers, new windows, re-pointed stone and reworked trim will protect and add beauty to the exterior of the home.
The kitchen now completed is brightly lit and a cheerful place to live and work.
We kept the original floors in the living room and the great feel of the windows and paneling.
Just how much fun would it be to call this your son’s bedroom.
A terrific Jack and Jill Bath
A quiet hideway on the 3rd floor to get some work done. No one will miss the floor boards…
Master closet with a view of master bath and bedroom.
Close to the end of her project Cathi even participated with us on a 12 person Rittenhouse Builders team in a 200 mile Ragnar relay running race. In the beginning of a project we have clearly defined identities, client, builder, architect, by the end we still have specific jobs to do but we are one successful team. I think we all hit the lottery working together.
Joe Mackin is standing 2nd from left, Cathi is kneeling on far right at the successful conclusion of Team Reckinghouse 200 mile running relay race. The team was a collection of Rittenhouse clients, employees, and industry colleagues.
