January 3, 2012 – 11:18 am
Last week we started work at an area food manufacturing plant. The canning plant is in a down time now and they use the time to upgrade
and make changes to the manufacturing process. Our work involves a lot of shoring of beams, girders, and roof purlins in preparation for changes to the structure. Once the concrete and masonry work is completed we will install new structural beams and columns.
December 22, 2011 – 3:39 pm
If you’ve been to lunch or dinner at the Ole Store you’ve probably seen our crew at work on our porch project across the street. We
finished the foundation work and capped it with a concrete floor to create a water tight, solid floor structure. We are now working on framing the roof system. We are hand cutting the rafters which we typically do on a small roof like this. To maintain a low profile on the porch we are using a hip roof that slopes on the front three sides.
December 20, 2011 – 2:31 pm
We slowly lifted the floor joists back into position on the older East side home that we are working on. The floor joists had cracked and sagged over the years which resulted in quite a slope to the upstairs room. We went slowly with the lift so that we didn’t damage the walls and floors.
Now we are busy installing proper structural supports in the living room. The architects specified microlam beams in several
locations. But in two locations they specified microlam beams with a steel flitch plate sandwiched between the microlam layers. We constructed this in the shop by drilling holes in the steel plate and bolting the steel plate between the two microlam members. We countersund the bolts so that they will not interfer with the finish trim to be applied to the beams. It is a bit of a job lifting these beams in place, but they will surely take the load once the jacks are removed. At the perimeter of the room we have fastened a microlam ledger to support the new beams. At set locations we also fasten the ledger beam to the existing wall framing using steel angles and through bolts, making everything work together.
December 14, 2011 – 8:25 am
Late this fall Jim Braucher announced that Professional Design Group was sold to Power Engineers. Jim started PDG some time ago, moving into offices above the First National Bank in downtown Northfield. His operation grew and he took over another leased space in the same area. Northfield Construction Company has worked on many commerical projects over the years with PDG….Cemstone Concrete, Northfield Auto Body, Laura Baker Services, Carleton College Art Studio, Village Charter School, to name a few. I’ve really enjoyed the prompt, professional service that PDG has offered the construction community. So I was pleased to see that the firm will remain in town.
Power Engineers is a much larger design firm with headquarters in Idaho. They plan to continue the type of work that PDG has done and I suspect will be adding additional employees at the Northfield location. To help that effort they are leasing a
third space above the bank. We are doing some remodeling to make the new space suit their needs. I appreciate that the bank continues the tradition of matching existing trims. We had the custom oak trims made to match the existing profiles in this building.
December 12, 2011 – 6:42 am
We are helping out a client with a structural ceiling problem. For many years the owners had dealt with a sagging floor upstairs. At one time they had drywall installed in the living room ceiling using furring strips to level the ceiling. The most recent problem started when a pipe in their living room ceiling started leaking. The plumbers cut open the ceiling to repair the pipe. Once that mess was started the owners decided they should address the sagging second floor joists once and for all.
The first order of business was to remove the existing ceiling finish material and expose the structure above. When that was done we discovered
2×6 joists. Some of the joists had been severely notched by long ago plumbers. Another joist was cracked and had a splice patch nailed alongside of it. Because of the framing, plumbing, existing finishes, etc we will be installing a series of support beams under the joists. But first we are slowly jacking the joists up to try and remove some of the floor sag.
December 1, 2011 – 11:35 am
The siding, windows and exterior work we are doing for a East side Northfield client has moved along nicely. The windows
have all been installed. Much of the soffit and fascia work has been completed and the siding is being installed. We installed new house wrap under all the siding which will help protect the materials under the siding from moisture, while still allowing the home to ‘breath’ if needed.
One of the challenges in remodeling older homes is compliance with current building codes. The one major issue we had
to deal with on this home was the bow window in the main bedroom. The existing bow window had four separate windows. None of the windows was wide enough to meet current egress regulations. So we had to remove the bow window and replace it with a newly framed bay window….with three separate windows. This allowed us to gain the necessary width to create a legal egress window for the bedroom.
November 28, 2011 – 8:04 am
Last week we started work on a West Side Northfield porch expansion. The work involved demolition of the existing small
front porch on the home. We salvaged several items, including the porch columns, for reusing in the new porch. The new porch will have a full basement underneath it. This is being done to get good support for the porch, but also to provide nice dry storage for the owners. The old porch had started to tilt significantly and we discovered why. The porch was not original to the house and it was supported by fairly weak foundation columns. The footings at those columns were too small, allowing the columns to sink into the soil.
The new porch footings are properly sized and reinforced so the new porch will stand straight and true for decades to come.
