Introducing the West Town Residence!

Happy New Year everyone! It’s 2019 and we’re already off to the races on projects. Speaking of which, I must confess that the one I am about to introduce has been going on for quite some time already. Last year, we fell off the blogging bandwagon while focusing on...well, construction. This year, my resolution is to be diligent and get my thoughts back out into the world!

Without further ado, please allow me to introduce you to the West Town Residence! This is a 2-½ story, 4,300SF single family home built in 2008 and located in the West Town neighborhood of Chicago. The original design of the structure showcases a contemporary aesthetic with sleek lines and lofted interior spaces.

Unfortunately, this project came to fruition under duress: the house is racking. This means that the house is twisting out of plumb due to external pressures such as wind. Simply, the house is not “holding its own” against the elements. Racking creates structural instability. It also has other side effects such as water infiltration because the building is “twisting” and pulling building materials apart from each other.

So, what was our solution?

Are you kidding me?! We’re just a builder! That’s WAY above our pay grade! The homeowners needed more than a qualified GC with a charming attitude and a hot cup of coffee.

This project was led by Laura Fehlberg Architects in collaboration with Clark T. Baurer Structural Engineering.

...and they had their work cut out for them.

Ultimately, the goal of this project was to resolve the structural instability of the building while creating an aesthetic solution for the exterior of the building. In addition, this project consists of the construction of a 3rd Story Addition including a Living Area, 2 Bedrooms, 1 Bathroom, and custom millwork. In order to meet these goals, our scope also involves custom fabrication of steel beams for the exterior and interior of the home and construction of custom decorative panels to cover the steel beams.

Having said that, no project can be executed without some sort of hitch in our giddyup, right? Well, for us on this one involved 20 square feet. Yep, you guessed it: Zoning. We were all set to start in June 2018 and, due to 20 square feet, got held up in Zoning review which delayed obtaining our building permit until August 2018...there’s nothing like starting an exterior project in the fall!

Do you know how many consecutive days without rain that we had between October and December? Three. Do you know what we have to do in order to build a 3rd Story Addition? Take off the roof. Yeah, this project is not for the faint of heart. Lucky for us, our clients have rallied for our cause and supported us every step of the cold, puddle-ridden way. Challenging projects are not always fun. When we have great clients, they are often the most rewarding.

At this point, we are GRATEFUL for snow - at least you can shovel snow off the house.

Better late than never, here are the BEFORE photos: