Customers wanted to update their master bedroom and also make it more energy efficient. Upon exploration of the ceiling we discovered a modified post and beam system, with a structural ridge beam carrying the roof load  and posts hidden in the walls at the gable ends. The large  ceiling beams were actually fastened there  for decoration and served no structural purpose- the work of supporting the roof plane was handled with 2X10's behind the drywall. We discovered a large air leak along the entire ridge where the drywall met the ridge beam and the inspection port we cut shows how fiberglass "filters" escaping air and becomes stained over the years. Moisture from a dirt crawl space was another problem and high levels of vapor moving up through the room had caused the glue to fail on many of the doors.



The  customer's request: 1. Seal out moisture in the dirt crawl space and  insulate band joist with 2 part foam.2. Remove fiberglass insulation  from the ceiling cavities. Air seal the ceiling plane, and  refill cavities with dense- packed cellulose. 3. Repair or replace doors  as needed.4. Get rid of green shag rug covering the floor and install a  new cherry floor from trees grown on the land.5. Replace windows and  update trim in entire room to a simpler square edge to match the rest of  the house.6. Cover the outdated popcorn ceiling with a hand troweled  plaster finish.7. Build and install a collar tie/king truss system,  matching the hand plane marks and finish on existing beams. 8. Repair  chimney and rebuild firebox at hearth: This is a historic replica of a  modified Rumsford firebox, designed to extract maximum heat from the  fire. 9. Build a new mantle to go with the trim.Lead on this project was  Konrad Scheltema. Joey Birchmore's specialty is post and beam work  and Glen Rozinski was the mason, who is knowledgeable in historic brick  work. I supervised and participated in all phases of the project. The  room was truly a collaboration between the customers and all of us-  sometimes we couldn't look back and remember who had thought up which  element or tecqnique. We are all very proud of project.