Building Abundance (Page 1)

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Healthy Material Consideration - Insulation

As you know, a big part of our brand is being conscious of a couple key things: mold prevention strategies and healthy materials that minimize the amount of VOCs. Once of the key areas that can emit VOCs is actually insulation. And not just spray foam. But even regular batt

The Reality of Due Diligence

Sometimes due diligence is a real pain in the ass. When you’re scoping out old houses, and figuring out whether the repairs and maintenance will be within your budget before proceeding, it can be tough to get information. Especially as a lot of the houses we work with were

Next Deal Coming Soon

Big news this week everybody! We are finally getting into contract and doing some due diligence on our next deal. This one is going to be a killer property and let me show you why. Check out the view right off the living room and deck: This is actually looking

Diving into Design

Another thing, now that the permit application is in, is it’s time to do a deep dive into the plan. We like do a thorough plan review for any tweaks to the layout from the architect as well as begin getting into the details with our designer. We begin

Permits are Filed, Time for Renderings

Now that plans for the house are finalized and permits have officially been submitted, it’s time to move into official exterior renderings. This is one of our crucial steps that we like to do at the beginning of the project before we really design out the interior. It helps

Construction Drawings are Done

We finally have finalized our construction drawings for 217 Greenwich. So exciting. We were really struggling on this one because we have a lot of restrictions in terms of the lot. First off, it’s a very narrow lot. Even though it’s 3 acres, the sides setbacks are really

Can You Clean Mold in HVAC?

The short answer is yes and no. However, due to the nature of mold, it might be even costly to clean it than replace certain parts to achieve mold free environment. Here's one of our project challenges that we recently faced. The air handler unit was a little

Mold Remediation Prep Method

Mold Remediation Prep Method

If you ever needed to do a remodel at your current home or need to deal with mold remediation, this is one prep method that we highly recommend. During remodeling and mold remediation, particles can easily blow throw all the cracks and areas that air goes through. And this is

Which Window Style?

Our goal is to create a timeless property in the area, which makes you feel that the property is always there. We've come across a lot of new builds that just feel like they might fall down. Whereas older houses, since they were build with more sturdy material,

Matching the interior function with the outside curb appeal

One of our biggest challenging during the design process is balancing out functionality on the interior while keeping a beautiful form and design on the outside. At the beginning, our architect put one window in one of the walk-in closet and two windows awkwardly in the master bedroom. The outside

Stairs Challenge: a Narrow House on a Narrow Lot

So our goal is to create a cute house but also one that feels spacious and well thought out. The problem is that the current house is only 24 foot wide, and with restrictions of surrounding wetland, septic, and side yard setback, there's not a lot of options

Help from Graph Paper!

I think one of the hardest things about working on a renovation project is you're often limited by the existing conditions of the house. From side yard setbacks to not wanting to rebuild a foundation, it limits how much you can do. And in this scenario, literal inches

Final Wetlands Update (#4) + Lessons Learned!

Update: The wetlands committee finally gave us the approval for our plan! What We Learned for Next Time: * There are general guidelines that the Wetlands Consultant will provide for the specific property. While it's not an exhaustive list, we know that any future property would have similar requirements.

New HVAC Drain at Home

This is what happened when HVAC wasn't installed correctly in the attic results in overflowing and dripping into downstairs living space. Issues/Mistakes were: #1 The HVAC drip pan was not connected to the drainage pipe - this is the dumpest thing ever! #2 Because the HVAC is

Wetlands Update #3!

So we survived the first wetlands committee meeting. And there were a lot of details to cover. But the major piece was the mitigation. Since the existing sheds on the property (even those in the back in the actual wetlands area) were done without permits, removing them won't

To Turn the Garage or Not to Turn?

Turn the Garage or Not? So we're debating to turn the garage or not. Since we have to do a full blown wetlands permit but we want to avoid a variance, we have the option and space to extend the driveway enough to make the turn into the

Wetlands Update #2!

Our wetlands consultant unfortunately determined that we need a full wetlands permit (of course, 3 days before the deadline to submit), due to the fact that the cost of the project would be over $10,000 (the max amount for a administrative permit) even though the house footprint will be

We Have Wetlands

So unfortunately it was discovered during due diligence that the entire house is actually within the wetlands buffer. What we thought was a culvert in the back, is technically designated as wetlands on the older maps. While not insurmountable, it will add a delay onto our timeframe, as we'