Indianapolis Historic House Renovation: Addition With Hipped Skylight

ChrWright

Back in November we started a whole house renovation in the North Meridian Street Historic District of Indianapolis--which skirts the edge of the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood we do a lot of projects in.

In addition to completely renovating the existing structure, we are also building an addition to enclose a rear courtyard to create a new kitchen space. The structure of the addition will be one story, with a hipped skylight over the flat roof--all clad in copper. It will also have limestone elements re-created and matched from the original architectural details elsewhere on the home.

The original plan called for this addition space to be the dining room, with a separate addition expanding on the original kitchen space. But after going through the budget and value engineering process we opted to re-purpose the old kitchen space and use the courtyard addition for the new one.

Here's a historical photo taken of the house in 1928:



The house, taken just before we started. That tree has grown a tad over the past 80+ years.



Unfortunately, someone decided to paint the brick at some point. Fortunately, they didn't paint the limestone (something we encountered at the house next door several years ago.) The front low retaining wall around the entry door was removed. Parts of it were moved to the back yard around a small landscaped courtyard.

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ChrWright

The courtyard at the rear of the home, where we are constructing the addition, housed an original fountain with a lion face carved from Indiana limestone set into the brick veneer as the fountainhead.

We removed him before starting work:

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Christopher Wright, CR: President @ WrightWorks, LLC/President @ Central Indiana NARI, Named to the 2010 REMODELING Big50
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Indianapolis Kitchen Remodeling Contractor - You Can Get There From Here

ChrWright

The courtyard before we began, and start of footers.

The facade of the addition will be veneered in limestone and brick, with the same heavy corner columns and cartouches from the front entry facade.

You can see the outline of the hipped skylight behind the parapet of the masonry facade. The final plan calls for a larger skylight than is shown.

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Christopher Wright, CR: President @ WrightWorks, LLC/President @ Central Indiana NARI, Named to the 2010 REMODELING Big50
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Indianapolis Kitchen Remodeling Contractor - You Can Get There From Here

ChrWright

A steel structure will support the weight of this skylight, also steel and faced in copper.

Here are shots of the steel going up this week. These guys were fast, and had it up in about 4 hours.

You can see we've removed the bump out of masonry around the old fountain, as well as the limestone embellishment over the center set of french doors. Both walls will be furred with full 2x4 framing, with the arched opening wall remaining exposed to the new kitchen space.

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Christopher Wright, CR: President @ WrightWorks, LLC/President @ Central Indiana NARI, Named to the 2010 REMODELING Big50
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Indianapolis Kitchen Remodeling Contractor - You Can Get There From Here

ChrWright

We started framing the floor system around the steel the day after it went up.

Because of the size of the room, and the fact that it will be tiled in stone, we've broken up the span with three LVL beams, which sit mid-span on CMU piers, and perimeter band beams also supported by footings and posts. Because the grade is fairly high compared to the floor heights we are meeting up to, we had to hang our joists from the side of these beams, instead of crisscrossing over them.

The skylight will go the complete length of the steel, over the 3 large grid openings in the middle of the structure.

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Christopher Wright, CR: President @ WrightWorks, LLC/President @ Central Indiana NARI, Named to the 2010 REMODELING Big50
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Indianapolis Kitchen Remodeling Contractor - You Can Get There From Here

Tech Dawg

Definately staying tuned for this
Lookin good!

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ChrWright

The project is a combination of restoration and renovation. Both of the massive chimneys need complete restoration--fortunately the flues are still in good shape.

We're keeping all of the original windows--and restoring one that was removed from the 3rd floor at some point to accommodate an attic fan.

Some other misc. before pics. The 3rd floor gable fan was a bit of a death trap. A fabric covered frame on hinges was the only thing covering the motor and fan blades.

Currently the house is served by 4 handler/heat pump units. The cast iron boiler is still in place, but inactive...and most of the radiators had already been removed. We've had all of the asbestos pipe wrap removed by an environmental company and will be dismantling/removing the boiler.

In the 50s, an elevator was added between the first and second floors, which we've removed.

A single Pushmatic panel served the entire electric system for the 11,000 square foot home. When the air handlers were added, the house was upgraded to 600 amp service. While the basement and some of the 3rd floor are served by the new panels, the entire 1st and 2nd floor are still K&T wire off of that old panel.

We are completely re-wiring the entire house.

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Christopher Wright, CR: President @ WrightWorks, LLC/President @ Central Indiana NARI, Named to the 2010 REMODELING Big50
www.WrightWorks.net - Facebook - Twitter - Carmel Remodeling
Indianapolis Kitchen Remodeling Contractor - You Can Get There From Here

loneframer

Absolutely top shelf Chris!

I can't wait to see how this one moves along.

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ChrWright

This will be a fun one for sure.

In addition to a complete plumbing and electrical update, the home will also get a Control4 home automation system. Every light, every furnace, every camera and all of their A/V system will be able to be accessed and controlled from their mobile phones and tablets.

It's by far the most complex project we've built to date.

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Christopher Wright, CR: President @ WrightWorks, LLC/President @ Central Indiana NARI, Named to the 2010 REMODELING Big50
www.WrightWorks.net - Facebook - Twitter - Carmel Remodeling
Indianapolis Kitchen Remodeling Contractor - You Can Get There From Here

chris klee

I just started reading about control4 systems.
Cool project, I will be watching this one for sure.

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Sir Mixalot

Wow Chris! Quite an impressive project you have going there.
I clicked the button, so I don't miss any of the progress on this one.

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WarnerConstInc.

What, no more elevator?

I think saw Freddy Kruger hiding behind the boiler....

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Paulie

I think I'll press the green "stalk" button also. Make me want to quit being a hack when I see your projects Chris.... nah, I'll always be a jacklegs compared to you.

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Blackfly

Great project. Subscribed.

... on a side note, was there any damage done to the house with the painted limestone, or were the pieces restorable?

Pat

jmiller

I take it they like a lot of natural light... Wow. That's going to make an impressive kitchen ceiling. Adding snow guards on the roof above might not be a bad idea.

angus242

Chris gets all the cool work

This is definitely one to watch. I have no doubt, it will look fantastic when completed.

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Jaws

Great project

Paulie

Got to admit, when I first saw this pic. I thought you caught your guy getting rid of the morning coffee.

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Tech Dawg

Busted!!!

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ChrWright

I have to admit, now that you say that--it does look like he was taking a leak in the fountain.

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Christopher Wright, CR: President @ WrightWorks, LLC/President @ Central Indiana NARI, Named to the 2010 REMODELING Big50
www.WrightWorks.net - Facebook - Twitter - Carmel Remodeling
Indianapolis Kitchen Remodeling Contractor - You Can Get There From Here