Tips
Suburban Sprawl in Culver?
Wikipedia defines Suburban Sprawl thus: “Urban sprawl or suburban sprawl describes the expansion of human populations away from central urban areas into low-density, monofunctional and usually car-dependent communities, in a process called suburbanization.” While Culver isn’t exactly racing down the road to strip malls, it’s worth looking at the changes occuring in recent and proposed developments in Culver.
Culver’s early development was very traditional. Despite dealing with the curvature of Lake Maxinkuckee, a traditional grid system was used for both the commercial and residential areas with the section of Lake Shore Drive along the Park being one of the few deviations with some curvature to reflect the lake shore. Since that time, the newer subdivisions have not followed the grid. The Riggings, Maple Ridge and Edgewood Estates are all dead end or loop streets with no plans to tie into the grid. It’s a little cheesy, but Adam Conover of “Adam Explains Everything” does a quick run down of some of the issues here:
Trump’s Twitter
Image of Martin Lomasney from Wikipedia
One of yesterday’s Sunday morning talking heads referenced a Martin Lomasney quote. It was interesting enough that it prompted me to look it up. Mr. Lomasney was what would now be called a political operative in Boston around the turn of the 20th century. He apparently once told a young follower, “Don’t write when you can talk; don’t talk when you can nod your head.” Sage advice! In the age of Hillary Clinton and Elliot Spitzer, “write” could have been updated to “email” and now in the era of President Trump, maybe “write” should be updated to “Tweet”…
Quote referenced through Wikipedia and Pioneer Institute
Simple Sound Proofing
I’ve been remiss on posting tips lately. There has been a lot going on! With the construction underway on the Sand Hill Farm apartments, I thought I would share a few simple sound proofing solutions we are using on this project. Most of these are green solutions as well as sound proofing.
2′ Stud Spacing:
First, we have used 2′ spacing on studs wherever possible. On the green side, every stud removed from the project is a savings of cost and and material. Literally hundreds of studs were removed from the project through this reduction of studs as well as doing things like using California Corners. Sound travels more easily through hard surfaces. By eliminating the number of studs we’ve eliminated the sound transfer points. On the exterior, this has the other benefit of allowing more insulation. Just as the studs transfer sound, they are more efficient at transferring heat. Every stud removed is one less heat transfer point as well. That stud space is filled with insulation. We are using 2×6 exterior wall framing which allows for additional insulation.
On the inside, it is more directly sound transfer. We have continued to use 2′ centers wherever possible. This helps sound transfer throughout the building.
Staggered Stud Walls
In the walls between the units we are not only using 2′ centers, but we are using a staggered stud wall. This is done by using 2×6 top and bottom plate and then staggering the studs from one side to the other every 12″. In the picture to the left, you can see the green (treated) 2×6 base plate and the staggered 2×4 studs attached to it. This effectively give you 2′ centers on each side and reduces the direct connection for sound transfer to the top and bottom plates. We will then weave sound batt insulation between the studs for additional sound deadening. There are a few exceptions where a 2×6 column is required, but in the majority of these adjoining unit walls, the staggered stud configuration is continuous.
Open Web Floor Trusses
The floor trusses between the first and second floor are open web trusses. Using open web trusses reduce those hard service transfer points that you would have with standard dimension lumber or even with I-joist. The other advantage to the trusses is we can increase the spacing from the standard 16″ spacing used for solid wood to 19.2″ on centers. Sound batt insulation will be placed between the trusses to further reduce sound transfer.
Sound Channels
Before the drywall is installed on the ceilings, we are installing sound dampening channels. These are Z shaped channels that run perpendicular to the floor trusses. The changes the hard surface connection to just the 3-4 square inches at each channel to truss connection. The Z shape of the channel allows some minimal flex which again will absorb some sound.
5/8″ Drywall Walls
Normal residential construction would have 1/2″ drywall on the walls and 5/8″ drywall on the ceilings. We are using 5/8″ drywall throughout. The additional mass will not only provide a more durable surface when spanning the 2′ stud spacing, but it will also help reduce sound transfer.
Sound dampening Underlayment
All of the floors on the second floor will be laminate. This was chosen after talking to several realtors. The number of people having allergy issues has increased and this has increased the popularity of hardwoods and laminate floors. Hardwood floors tend to transfer sound though. Laminates reduce that. We have chosen a laminate plank flooring that will simulate a hardwood look, but absorb more sound. In addition to this, using this material allows us to put down a sound dampening underlayment beneath the laminate planks adding one more layer of sound protection. This system has the added benefit of being nearly impermeable to water.
Thoughts on Murphy Doors
Murphy Door from themurphydoor.com
I ran across an ad for Murphy Doors that I thought was interesting. I liked some of the pictures of doors to secret rooms hidden behind bookcases a la Batman… and Richard Ford. (Richard had a hidden bookcase door that took him from the the kitchen to the bar in his lake cottage.) And anyway, I’m always intrigued by anything with the Murphy name on it as always reminds me of my grandfather.
The first thought that came to mind was that it seems like a natural fit for a “Tiny Home” solution too. (Yes, despite generally dispising most of the home improvement shows, I do watch that one occasionally.) Few of them seem to use the Murphy Bed solution opting for low-headroom lofts, but any double purpose installation seems to be fair game.
I was particularly intrigued by the idea of using these as a pantry solution. We have pantry cabinets in our home, but without exterior shelves. The idea of a combination of interior and exterior shelves would make that installation more aesthetically pleasing while increasing the functionality.
I was concerned about the hardware strength, but it looks like what they provide is substantial and should do the job. I’m not sure how comfortable I would be installing one in a retrofit situation where I didn’t know how the door framing was completed, but it should be perfectly fine in new construction or in major remodels were the framing could be beefed up or at least verified.
I think the Murphy Door can be a cool solution for the right application and actually become a conversation piece in some locations. Great idea!
Blast From the Past: Restroom Renovations
I have a potential client that asked us about upgrading some institutional restrooms to make them more modern and inviting. They asked us if we had any experience. Of course two projects immediately came to mind. We completed work on the Grace Baptist Church restrooms in 2010. The existing restrooms were functional, but need expansion and modernization. We were able to accomplish that within the tight parameters. We were able to move an adjacent mechanical room to the second floor and expand into that space.
Before
After
In the case of the St. Mary of the Lake restrooms, we changed the chase locations and were able to mostly stay within the same footprint. So yes, we have experience in bringing old restrooms up to code and modernizing their aesthetic!
