It all started with a call to the painter," says Derek Rubinoff, of his initial plan to simply scrape and repaint the worn, peeling siding on his family's 1894 house in the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. But the contractor took one look and saw that it wasn't just the paint that was failing: The decades-old cedar clapboards had started to rot, allowing water to deteriorate the rosin paper underneath. It would all have to go. Since the house would be stripped to the sheathing, it made sense to replace the drafty single-pane windows, too. Soon Derek, an architect who has worked on dozens of single-family homes, was drawing up plans for a whole-house renovation of his own.
While the house's footprint and room layout wouldn't change significantly, Derek's plans would improve traffic flow and relieve frustrations that his family which includes his wife, Robyn Marder, and their two teenagers, Zach and Ariahas been living with for the last nine years. To bring his vision to life, he called on local builder Deliandro Dias of Alpha Smart Builders, with whom he had worked on a previous residential project. When Dias's crew began work last September, This Old House was there, following the project as part of its 43rd television season.
On the first floor, there will still be a foyer and living room at the front of the house, a kitchen and dining area in the center, and a guest bedroom in the back, but already walls have come down to eliminate awkward bottlenecks and blocked sightlines. A load-bearing wall that ran down the middle of the house, separating the hallway and dining room, is gone, replaced with a beefy laminated veneer lumber (LVL) beam for support. A second support beam, perpendicular to the first, took the place of a load-bearing wall and an old masonry chimney between the kitchen and dining room.
Denne historien er fra Spring 2022-utgaven av This Old House Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra Spring 2022-utgaven av This Old House Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Mobile kitchen island
TOH DIY expert Jenn Largesse shows how to build a rolling kitchen cart with a butcher-block top
Bathtub tray
TOH general contractor Tom Silva and TOH host Kevin O'Connor construct a slatted zebrawood caddy to hold grooming essentials, a book, and even a glass of wine, for those who like a long soak
Navigating the rise in mortgage rates
Looking to buy—or refinance—and feeling frustrated by lenders’ sky-high interest rates? Here’s how to get the best deal
Graceful grasses
With dramatic foliage and distinctive plumes, ornamental grasses come in sizes to suit virtually any garden
A better asphalt driveway
It's long-lasting and recyclable, and it weathers extreme temperatures. You can repair small cracks and divots in asphalt, too. Here's what you need to know to get-and maintain-a great-looking asphalt driveway
Modernizing a mid-century house
A family turns to TOH to renovate a 1960 house that had been awkwardly expanded over time. Their goal: to create a contemporary, energy-efficient, open-plan home that is fully accessible for a son with mobility issues
Making a house her own
Renovating in stages over nearly two decades, a homeowner transforms a once forlorn bungalow into a cozy, very personal space
A little house that lives large
A reimagined interior and second-story addition double the living area inside a narrow shotgun house, while respecting its historical roots
Before & After: Bath Fit for a Queen Anne
Classic meets modern in this primary-suite retreat
Before & After: Kitchen Moving a wall makes it work
Grabbing a few feet from the adjacent dining room yields major layout improvements
