Beginning construction, Ivan and Crew completely gutted the living room. Removing the water damaged interior dry wall, carpet, insulation, exterior siding, and windows (all of which were going to be replaced). At one point in the demolition process, the only thing left were the studs; and you could literally walk through the house without using a door. The entryway wall was demoed, as was the fireplace (that was structural), AC duct, and the walls separating the Kitchen, Dinning Room, and Living Room. All the old carpet was removed, and the entryway step was jack-hammered backwards into it’s new position. The old attic AC unit (30 yrs old) was pulled down from the attic and that entire half of the home was emptied. New framing was added for a relocated AC duct and Fireplace (moved to the front of the room for the open concept). Likewise, 6 new 5’x5’ windows were framed in, as well as new patio french doors. Ivan also took this time to re-frame the attic platform for the AC, and added several massive support beams to hold the weight of the new open floor-plan. Furthermore, a new Audio/Video cabinet was framed out facing the living room, and new exterior walls went up. The old exterior walls were directly nailed to the studs. Post-demo, Ivan added a layer of thick plywood (to further help soundproof the house), water membrane, and then the HardiePlank siding. This wall was built to hold against a huge storm! A cool idea that Ivan suggested during re-framing was to add electrical outlets to the soffits, providing an easy place to plug-in Christmas lights. Sound proofing was added between the walls as the interior was framed in. Ivan was proactive managing the entire project, and for portions subcontracted out (to meet time constraints) he was onsite and oversaw the work. An example of this was having an electrician come out to move an electrical box. Before finishing the interior walls, conduit pipes were run between the Audio/Video cabinet and the TV in the front (and side, by the floating shelves) to allow for new HDMI cables to be pulled through in the future. A floating hearth was added below the TV mount, floating shelves were constructed (amazing carpentry work was involved structurally and aesthetically here – we wanted the weight of a human to be supported, in the event a child climbed it without being noticed). Furthermore, time consuming craftsmanship went into the framing of the windows and floorboards. Several days were nothing but manual labor – smoothing the joints/corners by hand. The ceiling was converted from a slope pitch into a tray ceiling, making the room feel more open. Ivan took the framing of the joints into account for future placement of 11 build-in speakers for a Dolby Atmos surround sound system. This included cutting out/running cables for 4 ceiling speakers and 5 vertical wall speakers. Once all the walls were done, standard renovation took place. Ivan textured the walls and painted using several coats. A careful eye on detail was provided as Ivan surveyed the tones of the colors throughout the day – and the affect of shadows on brightness… how the colors contrasted and popped with the custom carpentry. Several different hues of paint were used as a result, and it is beautiful. This process took approximately 3 months. General hick-up occurred along the way, as should be expected in any renovation, but nothing serious. Ivan’s crew was punctual – always starting work at 9am and sometimes working late into the evening to finish the days goals. The quality of the craftsmanship was beyond our expectation, and every day was filled with new excitement as we witnessed empty studs transformed into a modern living room. If you want something done – reach out to Ace Custom Building. They are THE local team to call first for estimates and timeframes. To broadly recap, the tasks undertaken in the living room were: - Built out the front step - Re-framed / replaced front door - Added rear Patio door - Added Support Beams - Removed the entry wall - Removed 2 dinning room walls - Framed and installed a new fireplace - Rebuilt the external walls - Added external outlets for Christmas light - Framed / installed 6 new windows - Demoed original brick chimney - Rebuilt AC unit platform in attic - Ran conduit for electronics - Custom Built Audio Video cabinet door, ran cables - Custom Built Floating Hearth - Custom Built Floating shelves - Custom Built molding around windows, floorboards - Cam-lights and speaker installed - Custom Built tray ceiling - Installed ceiling fan - Textured and painted walls and ceiling