Once and awhile I get a frustrating call about someone hiring a contractor where the skills did not match the promise. Sometimes the work is poor, isn’t finished, or is in such a state that it needs to be redone. …
Craft vs Assembly
A building is a reflection of where it is and what we do to it
There can be consequences for changing a building and its behavior towards its environment. As time passes, the natural environment matures and a building wears. We manipulate and upgrade buildings for energy efficiency, ourselves, and because we have to. We…
Metal Roofing and Repairs: The Good, The Bad, and the Real Ugly
The Rhode Island economy was booming in the 1880s. The economic prosperity created some of the most spectacular late 19th century architecture across our state, with styles like Second Empire and Queen Anne having complex mansard roofs, curved window hoods,…
Ice Dams and Your Sick House
The Internet can be a great thing when we are sick, right? We can find some reassurance or simple treatments to get us through or we can find that we are doomed. So to placate our freak out, we go…
Winter House Noises
I am hoping you can talk me down from a night of no sleep. Last night is the second night that our house has been making crazy noises. Both nights the temp was well below zero. When I heard the…
Had Enough? Ice Damming and Heating Systems
Fun winter huh? Listening to friends, clients and social media, the top winter woes are noisy and/or inadequate heating systems, ice damming, and shear exhaustion and frustration with the snow. We have not had weather like this for a long…
Salvaging & Using Old Building Parts
“We would be open to using salvaged materials in new construction, but don’t know where to start or what the pitfalls are. Where can I get used building materials?” Brad, Wakefield “We would be open to using salvaged materials in…