Matching the Old to the New: Why Finished Elevation Is the Hardest Part of a Home Addition
There is a particular kind of difficulty that does not announce itself in a project budget or a permit drawing. It lives in the gap between what a structure looks like today and what it must look...
Before You Add an Elevator: What the Exterior of Your Home Will Go Through First
Most homeowners picture a residential elevator as an interior project. A shaft appears, doors open into a corridor, and life becomes easier between floors. What that picture leaves out is everything...
LED Lighting in Historic Spaces: How Recessed Lighting Was Added Without Compromising a Victorian Parlor
There is a particular kind of pressure that comes with cutting into a ceiling that has been intact for over a century. The Shadyside Parlor Restoration project presented exactly that challenge — a...
Tudor Charm Meets Modern Living: Updating a Historic Parlor Without Erasing Its Story
Every historic home eventually presents the same question: how much do you keep, and how much do you change? It sounds philosophical until you're standing in front of a century-old parlor with...
Squirrel Hill Addition: Building Up from the Ground Down
IMAGE_1 The house at 1319 Squirrel Hill Ave had carried its history quietly. An original 1800s brick home, it wore its age in the shallow unconditioned crawlspace beneath a small single-story...
Squirrel Hill Addition: Building Up from a Shallow Crawlspace
A four-story addition doesn't begin with steel and concrete. It begins with an honest look at what's already there — and at 1319 Squirrel Hill Ave, what was there presented a clear set of challenges...
Radiant Heat From the Ground Up: How Rehau PEX and Creatherm Work Together in a Below-Grade Slab
There is a particular kind of commitment that goes into work nobody will ever see. The radiant floor heating system buried beneath the Squirrel Hill Addition's four-inch concrete slab will spend its...
Salvaged Brick, Matched Slate, and Half-Timbers: How We Made a New Addition Look Like It Was Always There
There's a particular kind of architectural honesty in Pittsburgh's older residential neighborhoods — homes that accumulated character over decades, where the materials tell the story of who built...
Concrete Form Failures and How to Prevent Them: The Tie Rod Strategy Behind These 12-Foot Foundation Walls
There is a moment during every large foundation pour when the concrete is still fluid, the forms are under maximum load, and everything either holds or it doesn't. That moment doesn't announce...