Danny Lipford » Today’s Addition 2007

Create a Hidden Retreat with Landscaping

Danny Lipford — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:05:01 +0000

After having drawn a detailed plan of the layout, Tommy Martiniere of Martiniere Landscaping turned a neglected corner of this yard into a secluded retreat by adding a stone walkway that leads to a patio. Plants added include Japanese yew, African iris, yellow anise, oakleaf hydrangea, camellias, and ferns.

More information on this project can be found at (638) Today’s Addition (Part 2).

Merillat Designed Breakfast Bar

Danny Lipford — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 18:34:53 +0000

Capitalizing on a popular new trend, a morning bar was added to our Today’s Addition. Merillat helped design the cabinets maximizing convenience by integrating a high end coffee maker, a water supply, refrigerator, and microwave. The cabinets are from Merillat’s Classic line. Although the cabinets are very affordable, they included some great features including fluting, a tilt-out sink tray, a refrigerator door panel, and self-closing drawers. The end result is not only a mecca of late night convenience but also appealing to the eye.

Selecting Kitchen Cabinets

Jeld-Wen Windows and Doors

Danny Lipford — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 18:11:09 +0000

Windows and doors are an important part of any addition. With Today’s Addition, it was important to match the existing vinyl windows on the outside and the new trim and warm-stained wood recently added in the inside of the addition. Energy efficient Jeld-Wen Premium Clad Wood Windows provided the solution. These windows featured a low maintenance aluminum exterior and clear pine wood on the interior.

Corte-Clean Composite Deck Cleaner

Danny Lipford — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:55:33 +0000

While composite decking is virtually maintenance free, it does require some cleaning from time to time. Corte-Clean is formulated specifically for composite decking. When combined with warm water, it breaks down mold, mildew, dirt, pollen and even barbecue stains. This cleaner works without bleach or other harmful chemicals that harm your lawn.

NuTone Adds Amenities

Danny Lipford — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:40:44 +0000

Danny revisits a couple of NuTone products used during Today’s Addition. The NuTone video answering system helps bridge the distance from the addition in the back of the house to the front door. The system uses a Cat5 cable to relay video from a small doorbell camera back to a LCD display in the master bedroom.

Above the breakfast bar, a NuTone recessed light performs two functions. It provides a cone of light and with a flip of a switch it removes humidity and odor as an exhaust fan. The exhaust function is completely housed inside of the lighting unit.

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Uponor Quick Trak Radiant Heating Flooring

Danny Lipford — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:24:31 +0000

Danny takes a look at the Uponor radiant flooring system installed during Today’s Addition. He talks with the installer, Wes Sisco to see how it was installed. Wes demonstrates how the system known as Quick Trak® works.

½” plywood with a heat emission plate on one side and a dovetail groove on the other is installed under pre-finished hardwood. 5/16” plastic PEX tubing fits in the groove and conducts to the heat emission plate distributing heat across the floor.

Today’s Addition Project Completed

Ben Erickson — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:47:09 +0000

Our master bedroom addition is finally finished and will be featured in a special two-part series on Today’s Homeowner® that will air in October. This unique “restful retreat” incorporates some unusual features and products that are sure to set it apart from the run of the mill bedroom.

Flooring

Once the Uponor radiant floor heating system had been installed, prefinished wood flooring was laid on top of it. Manufactured by Ua Floors, the 4 ¾” wide Brazilian cherry engineered flooring was installed using wood flooring adhesive. After the adhesive was spread with a notched trowel, a rubber mallet was used to pull the flooring together. Any excess adhesive was then cleaned up with mineral spirits.

Cabinets

The Merillat Classic® LaBelle cherry cabinets consist of floor to ceiling units on each end with countertop height cabinets in the center (view cabinet plans). In addition to providing space for books and storage, the cabinets house a microwave, and a Dacor coffee system that can grind, perk, and dispense fresh coffee—complete with steamed milk—at the touch of a button.

The center section of cabinets holds a built-in refrigerator and icemaker. It is topped by a Caesarstone quartz countertop complete with a Kohler trough sink and faucet.

Additional Amenities

The bedroom also features a NuTone wall mounted video door answering system which allows you to see and converse with visitors at the front door without leaving the privacy of your bedroom.

Interior decorator Diane Berry of Unique Designs, Inc. in Mobile, Alabama, selected the paint colors, furnishings, and window treatments for the room. She also removed the top and drawers from a dresser and installed a lift mechanism to convert it into a custom television cabinet. At the click of a remote, the television rises up from the cabinet at the foot of the bed to provide perfect viewing.

Woven wood shades from Hunter Douglas were chosen for the window treatment with blackout liners installed on the back. Draperies on a wooden rod can be pulled to cover the glass doors leading to the deck for added privacy.

Retractable screens by Phantom Screens were installed on the outside of the glass doors leading to the patio. The screens remain hidden in housings on each side of the door when not in use, but they can be pulled out to allow the doors to be left open when the weather permits.

Today’s Addition Nearing Completion

Ben Erickson — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:07:00 +0000

The outside of our master bedroom addition is now almost complete, and much progress has been made on the interior as well. We have now moved the webcam inside so you can continue to follow the project. If you were watching last week, you were treated to a behind the scenes look at Danny filming an upcoming episode of the show.

Eves and Gable

With the brickwork finished, vinyl soffit was installed under the eves, and the fascia and frieze boards were covered with formed aluminum. Crane vinyl siding that simulates the look of vertical cedar shakes was installed on the addition’s back gable.

Landscaping

Once the exterior had been completed, the yard around the addition was treated to a facelift from Martiniere Landscaping, Inc. New sod and shrubs were put in, along with a winding stone walkway and sculpted birdbath.

Interior Trim

While work was progressing on the exterior, the inside of the addition was undergoing a transformation as well. The walls and ceiling were painted, and casings were installed on the doors and windows. After being shimmed up to allow for the thickness of the finished floor, the baseboards were nailed in place. Crown molding was also installed, along with the trim boards around the raised ceiling.

All of the woodwork was stained and finished to match the Merillat Classic® LaBelle cherry cabinets that will be installed in the breakfast bar area.

Uponor Radiant Floor Heating System

The Uponor radiant floor heating system uses hot water piped through flexible plastic tubing beneath the floor to provide gentle heat that warms the room from the bottom up. Before the radiant heating system could be installed, a treated plywood subfloor had to be glued and nailed to the concrete slab as a foundation.

The Uponor Quik Trak® floor system was then screwed to the foundation. It consists of specially machined strips of ½” plywood that are grooved at 6 ¾” intervals to receive the 5/16” ID plastic PEX tubing. The bottom of the strips is covered with aluminum to evenly distribute the heat. Return panels at each end of the room have semicircular grooves cut in them to allow the tubing to loop back and forth across the floor.

After the Quik Trak® had been installed, a bead of silicone caulking was applied to the bottom of the groove, and the plastic tubing pressed down into it. Each section of tubing consists of a single continuous piece to eliminate the need for any fittings under the floor. It has a 100-year life expectancy and is warranted for 25 years.

The tubing is then attached to a 2 ½ gallon electric hot water heater which circulates the water under the floor through a closed loop. While the Uponor radiant heating system costs more to install, operating costs can be from 20% to 40% less than those of traditional forced air heating systems.

Today’s Addition Project Moves Into High Gear

Ben Erickson — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 15:48:28 +0000

As you’ve probably noticed from watching the live feed on our webcam, the Today’s Addition project has really taken off over the past week. Even though we’ve been laboring under a severe heat wave here in Mobile, Alabama, the work has moved at a brisk pace.

Plumbing

Since there wasn’t enough slope to allow the breakfast bar sink to drain using gravity, a lift station was installed to pump the wastewater to the sewer system. While this is an often used solution to a common problem, it should be avoided whenever possible, since it can be costly and will require maintenance of the pump in the future.

Insulation

Before work on the interior walls could begin, the room first had to be insulated. Standard 3 ½” fiberglass insulation, with an energy rating of R13, was used in the walls. Due to the confined quarters in the attic area above the room, batts of 10” R30 insulation were stapled up from below rather than being installed after the ceiling was in place.

Walls

Once the insulation was in, the drywall crew arrived to begin work on the interior walls. While the raised ceiling in the center of the room required a little extra work, the rest of the drywall job was pretty straightforward. Water resistant greenboard was installed on the wall in the area where the sink will go. After the drywall was up, it was taped and finished in preparation for the final trim work and painting.

Bricking

As the drywall was being finished, the brick masons arrived to tackle the exterior walls of the addition. In order to keep the rows of bricks uniform and level, pieces of angle iron were marked at 2 ¾” intervals for use as story poles to correspond to each layer of bricks. The poles were then stood vertically at the corners of the wall with line blocks and string hooked on the angle iron to serve as a guide. The unusual shape of the octagonal window unit required the cutting of angled bricks on a brick saw which were then carefully fit into place.

Soon the webcam will be moved inside the addition, allowing you to watch the installation of the special Uponor radiant heating system in the floor as well as the finish work on the interior of the room. So be sure and stay tuned for further developments.

Don’t forget to follow all of the progress of Today’s Addition.

Today’s Addition Window and Door Installation

Ben Erickson — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:46:55 +0000

Our Today’s Addition master bedroom project moved one step closer to completion with the installation of the windows and doors. The addition has four large casement windows that crank out to allow plenty of morning light and fresh air into the room while a smaller octagonal window over the breakfast bar provides a design focal point. Double glass doors opening onto the deck will allow the homeowners to step outside and greet the new day.

Window and Door Specs

The windows and doors we used are made by JELD-WEN Windows and Doors and feature argon-filled insulated glass with a Low-E coating and dual weather stripping for high energy efficiency. They come with a 20-year warranty and are constructed of solid pine that has been pressure treated with AuraLast to prevent decay, termite infestation, and water absorption. The exterior is clad in aluminum for durability while the natural wood interior may be painted or stained to match other woodwork.

Installing Windows and Doors

After the window units have been set in place and leveled, they are checked to be sure they are square. This is done by measuring diagonally from the top of the casing to the bottom of the sill in both directions. The window is square if the two diagonal measurements are the same.

The window unit is then nailed in place through the perforated vinyl strip around the outside of the facing. To further secure the unit, shims are inserted in the gap between the studs and window casings and nails driven through the casings into the framing.

The double doors to the deck were mounted on top of the treated 2×4 sole plate, rather than level with the slab, to leave room for the Uponor radiant heating system that will be installed under the flooring.

As a final barrier against the elements, the nailing strip on the outside of the windows and doors was covered with a special foil tape to prevent the infiltration of air and moisture.

Now that our addition is all buttoned up, we’re ready to get started on the interior while the brick masons tackle the outside walls. Don’t forget that you can follow all of the Today’s Addition progress.