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August 22, 2007
Decorah Remodel
I've finally finished up a lot of work on my friend Nick Rowley's law office/loft remodel project in Decorah, IA. The project has taken the better part of my summer from May until August. Lots of work no doubt, but the final results are looking really nice. Special thanks to Dave Brandt(builder extraordinaire), Dan Jans(electrician), Torgi Berg(drywall specialist), Dan Meyer(help), and my own brother Sam Carlson.
The following images show an almost finished living space on the second story of this downtown storefront property. This project was built somewhat "Green" as they say, because during the demolition stage we pulled all of the original woodwork, doors, and hardware off neatly to re-install towards the end of the project. After the woodwork was pulled, we gutted the place.
The original floorplan of this loft was actually made for two seperate rentable apartments. We decided that this space was far too congested to leave like this so we knocked out every interior partition wall. So, there was a lot of original lath and plaster to remove, walls and ceilings were refinished with modern sheetrock. Some walls were left with the original brick exposed, meaning the old plaster coating had to be chipped away to reveal this brick. All floors were stripped of old floor coverings (carpet and linoleum) down to the original hardwood floors and then sanded and refinished.
Another interesting point is that the two units that make up this second story loft were originally not connected by a small 4-step staircase. This opening was created during the demolition stage by chipping a hole through the existing brick support wall which was 5 bricks deep! A major operation, but every bit of the job turned out great! Check it out.
This view is from the back of the longer of the two units looking towards the front of the building and through the kitchen which still needs its cabinets.
This is a view of the finished opening that was cut through the brick wall that originally divided the building.
This is a view as you walk up the short 4-step flight of stairs into the next unit of the loft.
This is a view of the upper loft area and of the newly added historic stairway which replaced an original wall that went to the ceiling.
A view of one of the 3 exits of the loft, this one leads to the store front.