Openings in a braced wall could interrupt the load path
Opening up this ranch's floor plan required removing the center bearing wall and installing a 30-foot ridge beam
Installing the two-piece assembly one C-channel at a time made it easier to support the masonry while opening the wall.
Building on the ground is faster and safer than framing on the roof.
I need to convert an attic to livable space with minimal disruption to first-floor habitation.
As a structural engineer with the APA/Engineered Wood Association, I perform forensic assessments of single- family homes after hurricanes and tornados.
In September 2009 I completed a deep energy retrofit on a small house in Point Reyes Station, Calif., some 50 miles north of San Francisco.
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We were wrapping up the latest in a series of renovation projects on a suburban Maryland split-level home when I casually mentioned to the owner that her Thanksgiving family gatherings would be a lot more enjoyable if her small kitchen weren't separated from the dining and living areas by a wall.
I'm a building energy consultant in central Wisconsin. I recently had a chance to perform a major energy retrofit on a modest ranch-style house just south of Lacrosse, Wis.
Weatherizing older homes is hard, isolating, and often thankless work.
Q: I was asked to look at a job where the homeowners have issues with loud, creaking floors.
Use a trammel to scribe a perfect pattern.
A horizontal beam and steel tie rods resist rafter thrust with little disruption to the rest of the structure.
Addressing structural issues first made the interior finish work easier.
Two summers ago I received a call from some homeowners who wanted to remodel their kitchen and, as part of the project, remove a brick chimney that ran up through the center of the house.
A look at the techniques used to add skylights and thermal solar collectors to a foam-core roof.
The LVL beam had been installed in an earlier remodel to replace structural partitions supporting the second floor. Since Cox knew that a flush steel beam could do the job just as well — but invisibly — he offered to include the swap-out in the contract.
Floated mortar walls provide a flat, plumb setting bed over irregular wall framing.
Prevent structural problems and failed inspections by avoiding these common installation errors.
Toekick drawers; ductless cooktop exhaust; trimmable truss; low-profile smoke alarm; flexible cement board; light MDF; more