DC Rowhouse renovation

DC Rowhouse Renovation - Finishing the Interior /  by Gregory Upwall

With the exterior of the house mostly complete our focus turned (finally) to interior finishes. It is at this stage that we finally get to start to see the inside come to life. It all starts with drywall (the technical name is gypsum board). The drywall was installed by a crew of about 6-7 guys, and they had the entire house done in less than a week. Next came tile. We selected simple and classic tile from Dal-Tile that was not a budget breaker, but that still gives a clean modern look to the bathrooms. Our tile setter worked for about 2 weeks personally setting each tile and working his way through each of the three bathrooms.

Next came the installation of the hardwood flooring and stair treads. Once installed they were sanded, stained and finished. After considering many different options we decided to go with select grade solid white oak (which has no knots) in five inch width. For the stain we chose a light grey that allows the beauty of the wood grain to show while still giving a lighter more modern feel to the space. Once the stain and finish coat were on we had to keep everyone out of the house for three days to allow the floors time to dry and cure.

view showing the underside of the white oak stair treads (the tops are covered and protected)

For the stair treads we worked with The Stair Guys, based in Hanover, Pennsylvania. We were very happy we found them – they are real craftsman who took the time to custom fit each stair tread and riser in place. Next came the interior doors and trim followed by cabinets, countertops, plumbing and lighting fixture installation, and finally paint. For the cabinets we worked with District Cabinets and were very happy with their collaboration and attention to our project. After a long journey, we finally have reached the point where we can call the house complete – and we are pleased with the result.

kitchen cabinets being installed

the basement floor finished, and covered to protect it during the final painting

DC Rowhouse Renovation - Energy Saving Measures – Solar Panels: /  by Gregory Upwall

View of the newly installed solar panels.

We worked with the team at Solar Solution for the design and installation of the rooftop solar photovoltaic system through the DC Solar Solution Program. The staff at Solar solution was able to provide an assessment of the available roof area and determine the optimal layout to maximize the configuration to achieve the maximum number of panels and the optimized power output of the system. Even on our very small roof they were able to install (14) 340 Watt panels, resulting in a 4.76 KW system.

View of the newly installed solar panels.

 They also handle all of the tax credits and the SRECs (Solar Renewable Energy Credits). Under the program we got an upfront SREC credit that covered 70% of the system cost. We had to pay for the remaining 30% of the system cost, BUT that will be refunded to us with our 2019 Federal Income tax returns as a Federal Income Tax credit. Meaning the final cost to us for the system will be zero dollars – that’s right, free.

 The installation required no penetrations of the roof membrane since the solar panels are installed onto a racking system that is simply ballasted to the roof and is designed not to damage the roof membrane.

 After the installation of the panels Solar Solution’s electrician installed the control box on the exterior wall (directly below the panels) that was then connected to the main electrical panel for the house. The final step will be for Pepco to install the new Net Energy Meter that will allow for tracking of both energy used and energy produced by the house. We will be able to monitor the energy production compared to the energy used in real time via an app on our phones. We are very excited to be able to start monitoring the output of the energy panels to see how much of the energy use of the house can be offset by the on-site solar production.

DC Rowhouse Renovation - Energy Saving Measures - Air Sealing & Insulation: /  by Gregory Upwall

Current building science research has discovered that the air tightness of the building envelope is very important to a building’s energy performance, thermal and moisture control, and indoor comfort. But most conventionally built buildings are sorely lacking in terms of air tightness, and this is particularly true for old brick buildings. Brick construction is not an inherently air-tight assembly, and in traditional masonry construction the wall assembly consisted of several whythes of bricks joined together with mortar. On this house the front wall was built with a better quality fine brick with tight thin mortar joints, while the side and rear walls were built from common brick with larger looser mortar joints. This was common practice for the side and rear walls of the rowhouse construction where the mortar often has gaps between the bricks.

 We hired Mid Atlantic AeroBarrier to perform the air sealing of the building. The process they use involved pressurizing the house and the emitting a vaporized sealant into the space. The sealant product the use is GreenGuard certified for low chemical emissions. The high pressure in the house causes the sealant to collect at the small cracks and seams as the air is escaping. As the sealant collects at the cracks they are gradually sealed and the building becomes tighter. The guys at Mid Atlantic AeroBarrier ran the process for about 2 ½ hours. When they started the pressurized house registered an air leakage rate of 11.41 air changes per hour (ACH). After 2 ½ hours their process had reduced the air leakage rate to 1.68 air changes per hour (ACH) – resulting in an 85.3% reduction in the air leakage of the building envelope! We could see visible areas where joints and cracks had filled with the escaping sealant. This is a simple yet ingenious process that seals the entire envelope including tiny joints that would not otherwise be able to be accessed.

 After the air sealing was complete, we were able to turn our attention to insulation. Since we have no attic we needed to achieve the maximum insulation values in the roof framing cavities as possible. We decided to go with closed cell spray foam as the first layer. 3” of foam was installed on the underside of the roof sheathing and 1” of foam was installed along the inside of the exterior walls. The remainder of the roof and wall framing cavities were filled with batt insulation. This gave us an R-51 at the roof and an R-20 in the exterior walls. This strategy of installing spray foam on the interior of the sheathing and then filling the remainder of the framing cavity with batt insulation is commonly referred to as “flash & batt” and draws on the inherent air sealing capacity of the spray foam as it expands and fills voids and cracks. The batt insulation is flexible and installs quickly to fill the balance of the framing cavities. With these air sealing and the insulation measures complete we are looking forward to improved energy efficiency, enhanced indoor noise control and thermal comfort. We think that it will all be well worth it when those bitter cold winter nights arrive.

This image shows the wall cavities with the layer of closed-cell spray foam applied.

new of the upper level showing the layer of closed-cell spray foam applied to the underside of the roof sheathing and to the interior of the wall sheathing.

This view shows the batt insulation installed in the wall cavities. Notice the white caulk joints and spray foam around the door frame that was installed as part of the air-sealing.

View at the upper level showing the batt insulation completed at the roof and wall cavities. (Also pictured: the drywall has been delivered and is ready to install).

DC Rowhouse Renovation - Exterior finishes /  by Gregory Upwall

For the exterior of this house we wanted to select finishes that would differentiate the original building from the new addition while still creating a complimentary juxtaposition. Thankfully, we were able to complete the installation of the exterior wall cladding and painting of brick walls in time before the winter season set in. The exterior of the house had been painted with many layers over the years and was badly flaking. We used a product by Prosoco to strip off the old paint. Then patched up any areas where the mortar had come loose. For the paint we chose Sherwin Williams masonry primer and their premium exterior acrylic paint in a flat finish.

 For the exterior on the new 3rdstory and rear additions we chose custom metal panels that were fabricated according to our drawings in Galvalume. The panels are designed to clip together and were installed starting at the lowest course with each successive course clipping the course below - as they are installed. The design for the staggered horizontal rows was conceived to mimic coursing and stacking of masonry, but in this case expressed in an abstracted manner with a more modern material. We felt that this allowed for the original house to remain visually distinct from the new while still complimenting each other. The same metal was used to cover the fascia band around the perimeter of the roof edge. We wanted to avoid using many different cladding materials, and instead chose a mono-chromatic pallette to give the house a more cohesive and less fragmented look.

 The metal cladding was installed over a flexible weather barrier manufactured by Pro-Clima that is specially suited for installation below metal cladding The product, called Solitex UM, combines a flexible vapor open membrane with an extruded “3d mesh” that is integrated on the exterior surface and creates an air space behind the metal cladding to allow any trapped moisture to dry from behind the panels. 

The exterior brick being primed after the old paint had been removed and the mortar had been re-pointed

The front of the house was meticulously stripped using a masonry stripping agent (And lot’s of manual scraping). The cornice trim and frieze are all the original tin which was stripped and repainted by hand.

View showing the front facade with the primer coat in place.

View from the front showing the finish coat of paint on the masonry and the metal cladding on the upper addition.

This view from the rear shows the metal cladding still being installed along the east wall.

View from the rear showing the metal cladding in place including the upper band of fascia along the roof edge.

DC Rowhouse Renovation - “Dried-in” (at last) /  by Gregory Upwall

view from alley: old windows are being filled in and opening for glass block is being prepared

The guys un-packing the windows during the window install

view showing the alley side wall partially re-pointed and the new opening for the glass block being prepared

view from the rear showing windows and doors installed and building wrap (base layer) in place

view from the rear during window installation

Looking up the new rear wall while building wrap and windows are being installed

view showing the glass block installed

view showing the alley wall fully re-pointed and the building wrap on the upper addition

It’s official. We are “dried-in”. While this term would make a high school grammar teacher cringe, it is a common term that is used loosely in the construction world to indicate the point when - although still a long way from finished - we can finally keep the elements out of the building (!). The main accomplishments required to get from “rough-framing” to “dried-in” are: a.) installation of the exterior doors & windows, b.) installation of the “weather resistive barrier” or “building wrap”, and c.) installation of the roofing membranes. In our case this phase also included the installation of the glass block into the new large vertical opening in the brick wall facing the alley.  Since weather is hard to predict most construction projects get rained on a few times before they are officially dried-in. In our case, we did not make it to dried-in before getting some rain, so the framing and sheathing did get wet a few times. But thankfully, we had some nice dry and windy days between storms so the building was able to thoroughly dry. And since we chose AdvanTech for the floor and roof sheathing we could rest a little easier since the products are designed to withstand moisture during construction. 

The glass block installation required careful planning and execution since the opening is twenty three feet tall so any deviation would translate into the block being out of level or plumb from the bottom of the opening to the top. Luckily our masons did a great job in preparing the opening and in installing the block and the finished result is something we are very happy with.

 Since this old DC Rowhouse in the Pleasant Plains neighborhood still had the original wood frame, single-pane windows, we decided to replace all of the exterior doors and windows in the project. The product we chose for this project is Weathershield’s Contemporary series. We love this manufacturer and these windows in terms of the look and the quality. The Contemporary series offer more modern narrow exterior frame and sash profiles which is perfect to complement the more modern character of the new portions of the building (additions).  The eight-foot-tall triple-sliding glass doors, and the large four foot by seven foot fixed glass window at the top of the glass block opening were very heavy so moving them to the 3rd floor and maneuvering them into place required an experienced (and strong) crew. We are very happy with the large glazed areas that will bring lots of natural daylight into the space.

 The weather-resistive barrier and flashing tapes that we have selected are manufactured by Pro Clima (a German company) and sold by 475 High Performance Building Supply. We selected these products since they are vapor open and will help to provide a weather tight enclosure that still allows moisture to escape through the envelope from the interior to the exterior. (We should note that currently we have only installed a base layer of Typar, a common building wrap, to cover the exterior walls, the Proclima membranes and flashing tapes (we’re using the Adhero & Solitex UM) will be installed over the Typar when it is time for the installation of the exterior metal cladding (stay tuned for more about this in a future post).

 For the roofing we chose TPO (short for “thermoplastic polyolefin”) for the upper roof and torch-down membrane roofing for the balconies (since they will eventually be covered with floating pavers). TPO is considered to be the roofing material of choice for flat roofs today in terms of durability and maintenance. Since the pavers will ultimately absorb the vast majority of the UV light (the part that is destructive to building products) we decided that the TPO was not necessary for the balcony waterproofing.