Northfield Construction Company

Last week we started another home remodeling project. This one includes two parts..an exterior deck and interior kitchen and related remodeling.

We started work with the deck. Decks are a fairly simple project but one that must be properly constructed. When things are done poorly or improperly you read about decks falling off homes and people getting hurt. This deck is supported on 6x6 rot resistant treated timbers supported by concrete foundation piers. The joists are also rot resistant lumber and are supported with the correct type of joist hanger when necessary.

Most of the decking has been installed. For this job we selected a product called Trex. It is made from wood fibers and resins and is very decay resistant. Special screws are used to pull the decking tight without creating 'mushroom' bubbles around the screw heads. Trex comes in several colors. We are using the Winchester gray product here.

The 6x6 support timbers extend up above the main deck. They will be used to support a pergola.stay tuned.

Last weekend I spent some time in Northern Minnesota. Part of my activities involved a stop in Willow River for 'Willow River Days'. Willow River is in Northern Pine County and is a fun little town. I found a very interesting tracked bulldozer in the parade. It is a tiny piece of equipment. The operator sits on the metal seat a the rear and controls the tracks with levers. I have not seen anything like this before and am still not sure if it is a commercially produced piece of equipment or if some handy mechanic made it.

On another day I came across this log structure in the woods. While it clearly is not a log building from the 1800's nor does it hold any particular significance, I thought it was a well crafted example of the type of 'hunting shacks' that are being built in Northern Minnesota. Such buildings are sturdy and require little regular maintenance. The logs were flat sawed and fit together nicely using modern foam gaskets between them. Regardless of the age or type of log construction, it still takes a lot of effort to build a log structure back in the woods away from electricity!

We continue our work on a home addition to a home we constructed a few years ago. Both the home and the addition were designed by Gary Hanson with Prairie Creek Architects. Gary does a great job capturing the organic feel of prairie style architecture. The new room has spectacular views of the rural area.

We have installed the windows in the addition and are working on the cement stucco finish and completing exterior wood trims. The interior and exterior wood trim work on this addition is very detailed. As a result, it requires great attention to framing details to ensure the window and door openings are precise, square and plumb. The end result will be a beautiful addition when viewed from the inside or outside.

I was visiting with someone earlier this week. We were talking about fires in homes. They asked me if I had ever seen evidence of fires started by animals when we are remodeling homes. I couldn't say that I had for sure, but I remembered a few years ago when we found an area where a mouse had chewed through an electrical wire. The mouse must have hit two wires, causing a 'big short' in the system. I know it was a mouse because the electrical flow through its teeth apparently killed it on the spot. It was still hanging there, teeth clamped to the wire. In the photo you can see a bit of char around the mouse.

This is they type of thing that can cause a house fire. If this wall would have been filled with more combustible materials, instead of the fiberglass insulation, it could have very well started a house fire. We find these oddities from time to time as we go about our work. Best to keep the wildlife in the outdoors.

Our work at the 5th Street project in Northfield involves the construction of a set of seats leading down to the Cannon River. The gently curved concrete seats also have an added riser at one end to create steps. The end with the steps will have a handrail so people can walk and access all levels of the seats.

The work was fairly involved as we had to dewater the foundation. Once the foundation walls were in place we added all the reinforcing steel bars. Today we poured concrete for the first set of seats. It was a good day to place concrete. We'll follow up with the second pour tomorrow. Then it is on to railings, sculpture and kiosk foundations, and related work.

Today the Northfield Lampert Lumber Yard invited the Northfield Construction crew over for lunch. We have an  excellent working relationship with this lumber and material supplier. They provide top notch service to us on our sites and always work hard to find specialty items...just what our customers want. If you visit this site often you may also remember that we remodeled the front of the Northfield Lampert yard last year. Lamperts holds an appreciation lunch like this from time to time. It was a rainy day so all the workers appreciated a nice warm hamburger and brat lunch today. 

We also had the opportunity to visit with a salesman that showed us a variety of new cement siding products. The James Hardi cement siding is very popular today. We've used quite a bit of it on various projects. There are some new trim products that work nicely with the cement lap siding. He had a color board with him that showed the stock prefinished siding colors available.

Thanks to Lamperts for treating us to lunch.

We are just about finished up on the whole house remodeling we've been working on for the past few months. The owners selected some of the nicest tile for the kitchen and bath areas that I've seen. The kitchen counters are made of granite and the backsplash is tile. The first row of tiles is a beautiful glass tile. It has wonderful shades of grays, greens and browns all blended together in a smoky way. Above the 4" glass base tile is mounted a precisely cut tile set using a Roman bond pattern. The grout line is very tight on this tile so you really notice the tile itself.

The showers incorporated larger tiles with accent tile insets. The same inset was used in the floor, blending all the tile in the bathroom together.

This is the same home where we incorporated some lovely iron guardrails and stair railings. We had the iron custom fabricated to the sizes needed. The iron is capped with a cherry top rail and the railings end in cherry posts. Together the iron and wood create a handsome rail..and provide very solid guards.

In a week or so we will have the carpet installed and have things wrapped up.

We are winding down our work at the Whistle Stop Tavern and Grille in Lonsdale. The restaurant and kitchen is really looking nice. The hard flooring is installed and the carpet is going in. The kitchen equipment shines bright and is all installed. It won't be long before food is being prepared for customers.

It is wonderful to see an investment like this in Lonsdale. The community is growing nicely thanks in part to the creation of an industrial park that has secured several new businesses over the past years.

  Sunday I went on a walking tour of historic houses on Summit Avenue in St. Paul. The Minnesota Historical Society sponsors the tours and has very well informed tour guides leading the groups. It is a nice way to see some beautiful homes and learn about the history of them.who built them, how much it cost to build them, what has been added, etc. There is a big variety of exterior building materials used on Summit Avenue...from stone, to brick, to cement stucco, to wood clapboard to wood shingle.

Some of the detail work on the homes was remarkable. Right off the bat we started out by looking at the gate keeper house at the James J. Hill house. The gate house is made of St. Peter sandstone just like the main house. However, even though the building is tiny, it maintains the same attention to detail that the larger home has. The hipped roof returns at the window sides, complete with roof brackets, integral gutters and lovely round downspouts is very delicate.

As we walked on Summit we saw many beautiful homes..some very large and others smaller. But again, the details on the roofs, columns, windows, and doorways was noted. I found this gentle eyebrow window with three round windows one of the nicest features on the homes. It takes a good level of skill to build such a window, as well as good design skill to get the proportions and sizes just right.

There are many fine examples of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture on the street. While it is a very 'heavy' style of architecture, it does endure the test of time well. Several people on the tour thought it looked too 'clunky' with the deeply set doors and windows. Romanesque often incorporates lots of arches and somewhat stubby columns in the work. The skill of the stone masons is clearly evident.

As would be expected, the wood details are usually the first things that get lost or destroyed over time. Sometimes they are removed to alter the appearance of a home. Other times they are removed because the cost to repair the detail is too much for the owner. It is nice to see that many owners of the Summit Avenue homes have researched their homes and are replacing missing wood trims and details. The gable end trim on this home in the left photo was replaced after being missing for many years. The home in the right photo recently had the exterior restored and replicated missing wood trims all over the gable end and on the frieze and eave boards.

If you like to see beautiful older homes I would encourage you to take the walking tour of Summit Avenue homes.

Our concrete work at the 5th Street infrastructure project in Northfield is progressing. The main contractor worked hard to get the utility piping and asphalt parking lot completed before July 4th. Now we are starting on various enhancements to the area. This work includes things like retaining walls, steps, railings, guardrails, etc. It is a challenge working on a small site with so many people. We have had electricians installing light poles, utility workers installing gas pipes, plus a lot of work going on at the intersection of 5th and Water. While the area is a mess now, eventually it will look great. It has been a challenge keeping the river out of our foundation work!

Last week we started tile work in a remodeling project we are working on. The work involved removing the existing fixtures and finishes in a couple of bathrooms and renewing them with new surfaces, fixtures, cabinetry, etc.

Each bathroom had a one-piece shower unit. While those showers can work very well, the owners decided to use ceramic tile for the shower walls. We used an acrylic shower base for the floor of the shower. A pre-molded shower base saves a fair amount of money compared to creating a full mud-set tile shower pan. However, it is still very important to detail things properly.

I like to use a water resistant backer board for ceramic tile. In this instance we used a product called Hardibacker. It has reinforcing in it and stands up very well to moisture. On top of that we apply a flexible waterproof acrylic membrane. This seals all joints and creates a water tight surface for the tile. It is the black surface in the photo on the right. I think this is important in a shower where it is clear the tile and grout will be subject to direct water applications on a regular basis. It also allows a good transition from the Hardibacker to regular drywall which typically occurs at the perimeter of the shower area. We set the tile using thin-set cement. With proper tile and substrate selections and preparations tile can perform well for decades. It is an excellent choice for use in bathrooms.