Aging in Place & Accessibility
We help families continue to live in their homes as they face the challenges of aging and illness. Ways we accomplish this include modifying bathrooms to be accessible for wheelchairs, creating bedrooms on the first floor, and devising alternatives to stairs and other vertical impediments.
Bearing Wall Removal
For many home remodeling projects, the owners will request that a load bearing interior wall be removed in order to create a more open floor plan. Quite often the wall separates the kitchen from the living room and runs down the center of the house, supporting the second floor and often the roof. The wall is often located over a beam in the basement that, in addition to supporting the wall, also supports the first-floor joists. To remove the wall is a pretty straight forward endeavor, but it is important to keep in mind that when existing structural components are removed, equivalent structure must be installed in its place. Typically, the wall is replaced with a beam that is supported by a column at each end. It is important that all loads are carried down to the foundation. Beams can be installed flush (photos 1 & 2), in which the joists are cut so that the beam can installed in the level of the floor joists, or dropped, where the beam is installed below the floor joists. Ideally at least one column will be able to bear on the exterior foundation wall. The existing interior basement beam, column, and footing often are undersized to handle the additional load, so often we use a detail (photo 3) where the existing basement beam is cut and new columns at the first floor and basement with steel plates welded to them are installed. The plates serve to connect the columns and also support the existing basement beam. A new footing, sized to handle the increased loads, is installed at the level of the basement slab (photo 4).
Urban Carports
In a city such as Bayonne, New Jersey, parking on residential streets is a highly coveted commodity. Much of the housing stock was built at a time before driveways were commonplace. Many homeowners desire to have a parking space, or “carport”, constructed in the front yard of their property. In Bayonne, the Zoning Ordinance permits a carport to be built only if it has the required minimum dimensions of 10′-0″ in width by 16′-6″ in depth. Very few properties in Bayonne have a front yard that already has the required depth. The solution is often, if the house has a front porch, to remove the earth of the front yard and create space underneath the porch for the hood of the car to fit. Ideally, the front yard, measured from the front lot line (which is usually a few feet in from the sidewalk) is at least 12 to 13 feet in depth and the porch floor is at least 4 to 5 feet above the level of the sidewalk. Even for properties that are good candidates, there can be many obstacles to constructing a carport. Gas and water lines may need to be moved, and telephone poles or fire hydrants may be in the space where the curb cut at the street needs to be located.
