Tag Archives: Cambridge

Our attic conversion from un-heated storage space to Master Suite and Guest Bedroom is progressing nicely. We are about to start blue board and plaster.
The strategy for insulation was to spray the open -cell spray foam before installing the HVAC equipment. This ensured that we were able to spray every inch of the space without having to deal with the duct work being in the way. Having said that, this method also protects the duct work from accidental damage. The pictures should give you an indication of the difficulty with spraying the foam behind the duct work.

The City of Cambridge has adopted the Stretch Energy Code, which means that the R-values required in the walls are higher than what is prescribed by the building code. Cambridge also requires all HVAC duct work to be hard piped (no flex).

In the rough framing stage we reinforced the floor joists and roof rafter, installed ¾” plywood and the interior partitions. We also installed 4 Velux skylights and 5 Marvin windows.

Next stages: Dennis Bourne of Bourne plastering is on site and preparing the site for the delivery of blueboard. We love seeing the tarpaper with the seams taped with duct tape; this sets the tone for the rest of the plaster job.

Here’s what we said about this project earlier. We are happy to report steady progress.

We have finished the demolition : repurposing and salvaging as much as we could.The project has now moved into the rough framing stage.

In finishing a third floor attic, the challenge was to get the rough framing material up to the attic. We decided to take the extra effort to occupy the street (with the neighbors’ consent) and boom the lumber directly into the attic rather than carry it up manually through the front door to avoid going through the finished spaces. We are using FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified lumber for this project. This means that the lumber has been sourced from responsibly managed sources.

We are also saving the decking and floor joists for re-use on the project. The design calls for barn doors for different spaces, we will be milling down the old floor joists to create these doors.

We are heading up to Nor’east Architectural Antiques today to view, evaluate and tag some reclaimed timbers for the new collier ties & ridge on the second floor; living room hearth and beams for the kitchen and dining room opening.  The existing second floor ceiling and old 5/4” floor boards will be removed to create a vaulted ceiling.

The images from Stack Design & Build below show the second floor finished perspective.

In an attic renovation, one of the most important challenges is accessibility. In this project in cambridge, we needed to get the lumber up into the existing attic space to sister the floor joists and roof rafters and start the rough framing of the interior.
Here’s what we did.
First, we roughed in the window opening in the front gable end. Then F.D. Sterritt Lumber used their Boom truck to boom all the full length lumber right into the work space. In order to do this, however, we needed to plan ahead of time to close the road for about 30 minutes and reserve the boom truck. 

All the existing attic insulation and mechanicals have been removed. Rough framing has begun; all existing floor joists  and roof rafters have been sistered.  ¾” AdvangeTech plywood has been installed over the new floor joists and interior partitions start to shaping the new space.

This project is the conversion of an unfinished attic space to a Master Suite and Guest Bedroom. The attic is currently accessible through a drop-down stair, where we will now cut an open balustrade staircase to provide access. While creating space for the new staircase, we will be moving some walls and some cannibalization to create free space. The third floor, which is all usable space now will more than make up for the space lost in creating the staircase.
We are working with Smart Architecture in Cambridge as well as Transformations Inc. for the solar array that will be located on the South facing roof surface.

We will be re-framing the attic floor to account for the new live (people, furniture) and dead loads (walls, floor etc). The roof also needs to be upgraded with LVL (laminated veneer lumber). The reason for the engineered lumber is to maximize ceiling height. The alternative is to use conventional 2x stock, which would necessitate 2”x10” lumber, greatly affecting the design and actual ceiling heights in some rooms.

Rough framing is due to start this week and we will keep you posted as the project gains momentum.