07/22/2025
This next project really challenged our craftsmanship abilities and problem solving skills.
The concept was to transform a basic 10x12 bedroom into a classic looking New York law office without breaking the bank.
" Challenge Accepted "
Our first goal was to remove the closet. Once we started the customer liked the idea of leaving the ceiling and making it into a loft. Although the room had tall ceilings from the loft there was around 4 feet of head room and the space wa s 3 feet wide. We extend the old closets ceiling an additional 3 feet until it extended the full width of the room. We also had to be mindful to beef up the framing to support a person, a cherry wood book shelf and law books.
Once the framing, drywall, texture and painting were completed. We moved on to the floor removing the carpet and pad.
The client utilized marketplace and offer-up to find deals on building materials whenever possible. She found bundles of raw oak flooring sufficient enough to install oak flooring throughout the office. We prepped the concrete floor by patching cracks, grinding high spots and using self leveling floor patch to level the low spots. We also used muriatic acid to clean the old carpet pad glue paint etc. We intended to glue the flooring directly to the concrete but after some research and careful consideration we decided against it. Instead we chose a floating floor technique. We sealed the concrete with a waterproof material then added a moisture and pad membrane before installing the oak. We applied wood glue to the boards toung and groove joining the whole floor together. We used a special flooring clamp to pull the more stubborn boards together. To complete the floor we sanded, stained and applied 3 coats of polyurethane to the floor.
Adter the floor we turned our attention to the baseboards
by milling, staining, sealing and installed 8 inch tall baseboards to match some furniture the client had.
At this point the 1st phase of the project was now completed. The client wanted to take a break from the construction so we scheduled other work for a couple months until she was ready to start phase 2.
We began by removing all the baseboards and labeling them so we knew where they would go back on. We also removed the rest of the trim around the doors and window.
Next was to install the board and batton wainscoting.
We installed 1/4" plywood pannels strategically placing the seams so the battons would cover them. We cut the battons from the same plywood to save money on materials. We sparkled and painted the edges to hide the plywood edges. The client found a hardwood chair rail that we utilized for the chair rail and the top door and window trim detail. We also added a window stool to the base of the window and re-installed the baseboards.
Next we built, stained and installed the faux beam.
Being there wasn't sufficient good oak flooring remaining we elected to install a laminat flooring for the loft that closely resembled the new floor.
The remainder of the oak boards were cut down and added to the ceiling of the loft removing the worst parts and installing the boards in a herringbone pattern for added visual interest.
Next was installing an electric fireplace that doubled as a heater. To save room we installed it inside the wall tiled around it and built a mantle for it. We created an access service pannel on the wall behind the unit.
We finished up by staining and varnishing all the woodwork. It was tricky due to using different species of wood and trying to make them all look the same resembling the her furniture piece.
As with the end of phase 1 we took a few weeks off before starting the final phase.
We focused most of the work on the loft and inlain hand made tiles into the mantle which the client had purchased during her travels.
For safety reasons the loft needed some kind of railing. We also needed to hoist the bookcase onto the loft. As anticipated the bookcase depth made accessing the books difficult and a bit dangerous. We knew there was a space on the back wall of the loft that could be utilized but would take some extra work removing the framing ( non load bearing wall ) and moving some ducting. We were able to clear everything but a gas pipe. We had to alter the height of the bookcase and cut a small notch for the pipe in the corner. We made a cover for the pipe so it wouldn't stand out. We then mounted the bookcase flush with the face of the wall and added some trim to finish it off.
Finally we built the decorative posts and rails. The top rail was milled from 2x4's to match a hardwood rail design from the store. The balasters are painted metal electrical conduit. Considerably less than balasters sold online.
I did a lot of research for the best methods to create a strong and safe mounting system for the posts and top rail. Later I'll explain in more detail how both systems work as this post is becoming very lengthy.
