Category — Details

Fireplaces are wonderful complements to any home. When the resources are available for stone or antique mantles, the attention to detail becomes all that more crucial. Steep roof lines and exotic stone work make for beautiful design features, but a chimney and flue that leak quickly become a damaging and very costly repair job. Spending the time and energy to do it perfectly from the outset, is the name of the game.

The chimney block at right has been waterproofed completely, before any finished veneer is applied, and the through-wall flashing has been wrapped around the block and stepped-down to accept the stone and brick that will create the finished surface. The entire structure is fabricated to repel and channel water off the roof, before any stone veneer is applied or brick laid.
Knowing that the construction of a chimney has been given the same attention as the fine millwork and details within the home can be very comforting for an owner. When striking stone work is coupled with contrasting roofing tiles and dramatic angles, the home becomes a movie set in the making.

But it cannot be overstated. If your builder treats a chimney and fireplace as just something else that has to be done, then find a builder that understands how to build that one-of-a-kind fireside masterpiece.

This marriage of an antique French fireplace to a flue and chimney system, that are works of artful design and engineering, will create a stunning atmosphere of warmth and singularity for many years to come.

Feel free to contact me at Bob@NatelliHomes.com or visit our website www.natellihomes.com

If you are considering replacing the windows and exterior doors in your home, make sure you carefully evaluate your investment.  New windows and doors can be one of the most significant energy efficiency improvements one can make in a home.  The current tax credits add additional incentive and the investment can arguably break even in a reasonable number of years.  All this plus the additional comfort you notice in your home on a daily basis is enough to pick up the phone and call one of the many window replacement firms in the Washington, D.C. market.

Many window companies offer replacement kits, sash packs or inserts.  These solutions may appear to be good values and offer less disturbance to the existing interior spaces but consider what you are missing.  If one leaves the old existing frame in the opening and just installs new sashes with a frame insert kit, think again about the quality and true energy efficiency of your investment.  A tremendous amount of air enters around the frame of a window, especially in older homes.  There is very little insulation, if any, around older windows and air and water can still enter the home even with a new sash or insert kit.

Look at the adjacent photos of existing windows in a home.  There is significant mold, water intrusion, air penetrating the home and even bug and ant nests.  If one used insert windows or a sash kit, these conditions would still be there unbeknownst to the home owner.  After a significant investment in new windows, wouldn’t you be shocked and disappointed to know these issues were still there!

There is really only one way to properly replace a window.  Replace the entire window and frame – PERIOD.  No inserts, no sash packs, no cutting corners to save anything existing.

Compare this photo of a properly flashed and weatherized new Marvin window and frame to those examples above.  Vikor adhesive flashing is wrapped from the outside sheathing into the opening preventing water intrusion.  Expansive foam has been injected between the window jamb and rough opening. This foam completely blocks air and pests from invading the home.  The foam will be trimmed flush with the window frame prior to the finished trim installation.

Which would you want in your home?  A sash pack or insert window kit which does not address significant existing issues around the window frame or a weather-tight, pest free installation that protects your investment?  The answer is pretty clear to me.

Feel free to e-mail me with your questions and comments.  I can be reached at Bob@NatelliHomes.com or visit our website www.natellihomes.com.

Minimizing noise transmitted from various rooms is an often overlooked component of construction – whether a new home or a renovation.  Theaters, bathrooms, laundry rooms, family room and offices all emit a potentially significant amount of sound.  For the most part, home-owners hope to keep those sounds within each room and minimize the amount of sound that travels to other rooms.

The construction industry has a standard to measure the effectiveness of a wall partition or assembly in reducing sound transmission to an adjacent room.  The Sound Transmission Class (STC) is a numeric rating of the sound reduction for a given partition type.  In general, the higher the STC rating, the more noise or sound is eliminated from room to room.  For example a typical 2×4 wall with 1/2” drywall on both sides has an STC of approximately 25 – 30.  By simply adding batt insulation in the wall one can increase the STC rating of the wall by about 5 rating points to 30 – 35.

A 5 point change in an STC rating will be clearly noticeable. A 10 point change in an STC rating will drop the sound transmission through the wall by about one-half.

In sensitive areas, one should try to get an STC rating for a wall between 40 and 50.  An easy way to accomplish this uses a 2×6 wall plate and 2×4 wall studs staggered on each side of the wall. Fiberglass batt insulation is then woven through the staggered cavities of the wall studs.  This wall configuration, which is easy to construct with common framing materials and standard insulation, produces an STC rating close to 50.

Sound travels easily through the weaker structural elements like doors, windows and electrical outlets.  Builders should focus on ways to add additional insulation or separate the structural components wherever possible.

In one of my next posts, I’ll describe how to achieve a similar if not greater STC rating in a ceiling at very little cost.

I enjoy hearing from my readers.  Feel free to contact me at bob@natellihomes.com or visit our website at www.natellihomes.com

Next in our series of possible bathroom design options we look at adding a couple of feet to the back of the room and creating a shed dormer.  We want to manage costs so the expansion will be minimal but still develop the necessary space.  The sketch on the right is the same starting point we have for our other design options.  Now let’s see what happens with a few extra square feet positioned in the right place.

We will incorporate a tub, full shower, two vanities and a toilet compartment in this expansion.  The tub is generously sized with ample room on the deck for towel storage and decorations.  The shower has a large seat and potential for multiple heads and there is room for a private area for the water closet. Having his and her vanities makes sense for many couples.  The complement of quality cabinets on either side of the room, such as the WoodMode cabinets we feature, not only allows symmetry in the space but creates a focal point to the tub and window above.  The added window could be the most valuable component.  Large amounts of natural light flowing in the bathroom through a round or elliptical transom makes the room feel more connected to the outside.  The ambient light in a room often negates the need for illuminated lights.  Finally, look at the closets.  They have more than doubled – something every family could use!

So now you have three functional options to the standard bathroom in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.  Each one has different priorities but none come at significant expense because they are designed and constructed in a logical and practical manner.  With these designs you can bring your home from the 1940’s quickly into optimum design standards for your lifestyle today.

Feel free to contact me by e-mail at Bob@NatelliHomes.com or visit our website, www.NatelliHomes.com

Homes and designs constructed in the 50’s and 60’s often don’t work very well for our current needs.  In particular, bathrooms were seemingly tertiary spaces, whereas they are vital and one of the primary priorities for homeowners today.  People expect more in a bathroom now, especially when it comes to the master bathroom.  The challenge comes when the client does not want to expand the room due to structural issues, the effects on other rooms or simply budget limitations.

We have done a 4 part study of design options for a typical bathroom built in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.  The existing bathroom is shown in a sketch on the right.  You can see a long dressing vanity, a compacted bathroom area and two modest closets.   As you can see, there is a lot of wasted space in the hallway and open area in front of the dressing vanity.

For the 1st option, below, we kept the bathroom to the same general limitations of the existing space.  We did not allow the design to expand into other rooms, except a small portion of an adjacent attic. In this version, we maintained a tub and a separate shower.  Clients often debate whether to incorporate a tub or not; some people use the tub, many do not – every client is different so we will show you alternatives without tubs in subsequent posts. We have one long vanity with two bowls, a compartment for the toilet and even a linen closet dedicated to the Master bath.  The closets have been expanded into the attic space.  The entrance incorporates a vestibule to delineate the privacy desired for the Master Suite.

This example shows the potential of working within the structure of the existing home.  The bathroom is vastly improved with a large shower, good counter space and expanded closets.  Next we will show you what we can do if we eliminate the tub.  After that, in Options 3 & 4, we will show you what happens when we add a window.  Stay tuned!

We appreciate your comments and questions.  Please e-mail me directly at Bob@NatelliHomes.com or visit our website at www.NatelliHomes.com.

Kitchens can be a lot of fun if you let your imagination go beyond traditional thinking.  Families spend the majority of their time in a kitchen so why not put the emphasis in that room?  We obviously eat our meals in the kitchen; but in addition, kids do their homework on the kitchen counter-top, parties invariably end up in kitchens, computers are in most kitchens, families watch TV in the kitchen not to mention the cooking and food preparation that goes on in a kitchen.

Kitchens are one of the most important rooms in our home.  They need to be significant, functional, comfortable and engaging. 

A properly executed kitchen renovation needs to convert a basic kitchen into a multi-functional, useful and family oriented living space.  In this example we converted an ordinary kitchen into an eye opening, light filled space with a breakfast room, large open counter-tops, an expansive island, two dishwashers, accommodations for computers and TVs and comfortable sitting areas.  It is hard to believe that these photos are the before and after of the same kitchen, but they really are, which is a testament to the power of imagination and good design.

Note the high ceilings in the open gable window of the breakfast room.  The room fills with the warm morning sun and makes for a inviting space for families and guests.  The back yard and patio are now extensions of the kitchen and breakfast room.  There is even a fireplace in the adjacent room that can be enjoyed from the kitchen and breakfast room.

When designing a kitchen or any space for that matter, “think outside the box”.  Creative design, quality construction and understanding the needs of a client should be paramount in your selection of a kitchen contractor.  Don’t be limited by the walls in front of you, look to a professional designer like Natelli Homes to guide you to to the right design and premier construction services.

We enjoy hearing from our readers.  Feel free to contact me, bob@natellihomes.com or visit our website, www.natellihomes.com

Everyone seems to be spending lots of time at home working on their business, so more and more of our clients are looking for ways to accomplish this need.  In this case we converted a large hallway adjacent to an open 2nd floor foyer into a work area.  Working with WoodMode cabinets we created a very effective work area.

There is a pull out desk-top for additional work surface area, file storage, customized spaces for the hard drive, keyboard and computer display.  The pull out desk-top slides imperceptibly back into the cabinets when not in use.

The desk top is set lower to a table top height while the adjacent cabinets are slightly higher for more storage. Clever features and details make this space functional and attractive.  Note the large windows adjacent to the desk that bring ample natural light to the work areas.

I am getting a lot of calls from friends who know I am a builder asking about the water leaking through their ceilings and walls.  With all the snow in the Washington Metropolitan area over the past weeks, homeowners might be seeing problems that they have never encountered.  What is occurring is a phenomenon called an ice dam.   As the snow goes through a melt and freeze cycle, the ice that is formed creates a dam and pushes the water back into the home.

Interestingly ice dams are caused by too much heat in the attic.  The heat causes the snow on the roof to melt, which freezes up again when the water travels beyond the heated attic space.  The water freezes at night in colder temperatures and melts again during the day.  When the ice and snow melts there is simply no where for the water to go except back into the home.

There are two conclusions I can make about ice dams that are within your control.  (1) make sure your attic ceiling is properly insulated.  If you have an older home, call an insulation company or Natelli Homes and evaluate adding more insulation in the attic to keep the heat in the living spaces, not in the attic. (2) make sure your attic is properly ventilated.  Air needs to travel from outside through the attic and then through a gable or ridge vent.  The attic temperatures need to be cold if not the same as the outside temperatures. Most homes have a perforated vent in the cornice – you know, the ones that are filled solid with paint.  Those need to be perforated to allow lots of air to flow in and out of the attic.  So if yours are painted shut and have no visible perforations, call Natelli Homes or a siding contractor to replace or correct those vents.

Ice dams are not always preventable but a well constructed home, such as a Natelli built home, would normally not be subject to this issue.  Click on the following link to State Farm Insurance which gives a couple of good sketches, explanations and things to might do to prevent ice dams.  http://www.statefarm.com/learning/loss_prevent/learning_lossprevention_icedams.asp

As always, feel free to contact me at bob@natellihomes.com or visit our website at www.natellihomes.com