Project Shoreview: Episode 1

Narrator: We’re Madison Taylor, a design firm specializing in high-end architectural and interior design. Each year we select a few exclusive integrated design and build projects that we carry from concept to completion, finishing them with our in-house construction services. We are bringing you behind the scenes, as we take on these unique projects. You will get a sneak peek as our team creates, overcomes hurdles and delivers the final masterpiece.

Madison: Welcome to my office (Copy Room), this is cause of growth. Basically over the last year and a half we’ve gone from five people to 20 people and as a result this is my glamorous spot in the office. Project Shoreview is one of our integrated design builds that we’re currently working on. Project Shoreview is such a cool scope of work that was presented to us about a year and a half ago. The client came to us with a really neat idea that she wanted a Mediterranean Hollywood glam style, so we’re really excited about something different, which really drew us to the project

Currently where we’re at in the process is we’ve just obtained our airtight stage, which means that we’ve poured the foundation, all the framing complete, our roofing is fully waterproof and we’ve just finished installing all these beautiful Marvin windows. One of the biggest things we’ve had to deal with is getting to spring and half load season. Obviously with spring comes a lot of water, a lot of water! With the location that we’re sitting on, we have a very large farm field in behind that is actually sloping towards the house, so obviously with the snow melting all that water came to the house.

Rick: Well we had torrential downpours last night, so came here this morning to about 3 feet of water around the outside of the basement. Had to get some pumps in, couldn’t keep up with the water, we’ve got drainage pipes going to the ditch, we’ve got trench’s going to the driveways. Water has just been melting and everything coming off these fields behind us is just running right into the basement. Other than that, the shingles are on so the inside is staying fairly dry, most windows are in, it’s just more frustration than anything. I had a lot to do today, I didn’t want to be sitting, playing with mud all day. Mother nature, no Vaseline today.

Madison: Rick had to do a lot of sleeping on the site to ensure that the water wasn’t going to cause damage on the home. We’re pretty excited that majority of the water has streamed by and once half loads are lifted on May 1st, we’re going to basically wrap up our lot grading so that we can start clearing that water away from the house and pushing it in the direction of the new swales that we’re going to be installing.

We’re going to head on over to Project Shoreview and we’re going to meet Rick on site. One of the reasons why we take on these integrated design builds is that by kind of integrating ourselves onto the job site and really taking our designs and seeing them through the construction and working with the trades, it really allowed us to perfect not only coming up with great ideas but how to implement them. What are the things that trades need to see in our packages to successfully build our designs on site.

This is one of our favorite times to come on site. We’re still pretty open in terms of the walls and we haven’t had insulation and the drywall go in yet, so it’s a nice opportunity for us to come and check the site. We make sure electrical, plumbing and everything has been put in in the correct spot. We also have all of our back framing in place, anything that may have come up in rough-in stage would now be captured, so that we can really make sure, before moving forward, closing all the walls and everything is exactly where it needs to be.

We’re standing right in the middle of what’s to be the kitchen on this side and the beautiful dining room. It’s eventually going to be a great view. The dining room is going to be a little bit different from the rest of the area. Everything’s kind of nice and white and bright and reclaimed wood but moving into the dining we’ve got these beautiful big chandeliers, dark walls, dark ceiling, a little bit more drama in there so it’s gonna be pretty cool, nice juxtaposition to the rest of the house. Here we are out on the rooftop patio this is one of the most important elements of the home for the client so if you swing around and look behind you we’ve got a beautiful view of Kempenfelt Bay.

I didn’t want to leave before catching up with Rick on how things are since the flood.

Rick: We’ve got the water under control. There was no damage done anywhere, we checked all the plumbing in the basement, make sure none of the lines have floated. Twenty two trucks of concrete had to come in because it’s half load season. We’re just going to start framing walls, get some insulation and drywall and then we’re on our way.

Madison: It’ll look like nothing’s happening for probably about six weeks while we’re in drywall stage. Then it’ll be all to the fun stuff with tile, millwork, painting, lighting, plumbing and all the other goodies that get the client excited again, so we’re pretty excited!