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Topic: Outdoor Structures



Date Posted: Thursday, March 19, 2015
Posted by: Tanya Zanfa (Master Admin)
Source: http://www.northjersey.com/community-news/home-and-gardening/the-...


The Older Home: Breathe new life into outdoor structures


The Older Home: Breathe new life into outdoor structures

Some homeowners in our area are fortunate enough to have picturesque older structures on their properties that preserve a sense of rustic history. Letting these sheds, shacks, chicken coops or outhouses sit idle, though, often means they’ll deteriorate and eventually be demolished.

This old outbuilding, on a property in New York State, may have started life as a chicken coop.

This old outbuilding, on a property in New York State, may have started life as a chicken coop.

Such buildings, with their weathered wood and tarnished hardware, can do more than just add a charming focal point to your yard. They also have the potential to increase your storage and living space. With some cosmetic touchups, or the installation of new siding and flooring, you can give these previously ignored fixtures new life.

 

 

 

This old outbuilding, on a property in New York State, may have started life as a chicken coop.

Burke Built Construction, Inc., turned the structure into a very livable cottage. The cozy interior features beamed ceilings and built-in cabinets and bookcases.

Simple vs. Elaborate Updates

A smaller outdoor structure can be transformed for a new use, such as:

* A playhouse or cabana

* A workshop, hobby shop or art studio

* A compact greenhouse or gardening shed

* A home office space

* Sleepover space for guests or a nanny.

Homeowners who opt for an office space or guesthouse probably will want to install electricity and plumbing. Towns have to be informed in this type of situation to grant the proper permits and make sure things in the structure are up to code, warned Kevin Down, co-owner of John Brady Sheds & Gazebos, West Milford (johnbradysheds.com).

While his company specializes in building new, customized sheds on site, Down said there have been occasions when he’s helped a customer transform an existing structure. For example, he once turned a Ramsey customer’s shed into an art studio.

"We revamped the structure with barn siding and put some new doors on it," he explained. "We reinforced sections that were falling down, put in a new floor and added insulation. We also lined the inside with wood siding, so it had a nice, pine look. It ended up looking like a New England barn from the outside. She brought her art supplies in there and did her painting."

The Outhouse, Revisited

In his own back yard, Down redesigned an old outhouse-shaped structure into a functional garden shed by adding a few shelves and some nails on which to hang tools.

"If homeowners have an old outhouse in their back yard, they make great garden sheds," Down said. "They’re not deep, so you don’t stand in there - you just reach in for what you need. You can put your rakes and shovels in there, put up a small shelf in the corner, and you have everything you need for your garden."

Down said homeowners who are looking to repurpose an old outhouse would have to:

* Take out the toilet

* Install pressure-treated floors

* Add shelves and brackets

"If you’re going to revamp a building, you have to make sure the roof is solid," he said. "If the roof leaks, you’ll get rotting and deterioration."

Homeowners who don’t have an existing structure and want an older-looking shed on their property can have a company such as John Brady Sheds create one using old scrap wood, barn wood and siding.

"We just constructed a shed recently with hand-split siding on it," Down said. "Even though the structure is new, it has the look of something old."

Don’t Overstep Your ‘Footprint’

Zoning laws also can restrict any expansion of an outdoor structure, said William J. Martin of the Westwood firm WJM Architect (wjmarchitect.com).

Customers may not think to hire an architect for a small-scale project, but Martin said, "Creativity can be put into small-scale, as well as large-scale, construction."

Martin explained that homeowners who have an old shed in place and want it transformed into something more useful will hire him for "creative solutions," because zoning and/or space restrictions require packing a lot into that existing footprint.

For example, Martin helped a homeowner in Short Hills redesign a pool house that had to be about 200 square feet. He suggested creating a basement for the heating and air conditioning system and for storing pool items, so there would be enough space on the main level for a full kitchen, full bath and changing room.

"We were restricted by zoning, so we didn’t change the footprint because we were restricted by the limit of square-footage we could cover," Martin said. "It’s still a one-story structure, but now it’s a one-story structure with a basement."

A Coop Made Cozy

For homeowners with a larger budget, outdoor structures can become small dwellings, said contractor Jim Burke of Burke Built Construction, Inc., Washington Township (burkebuilt.com). He worked on a project in upstate New York in which the customer owned a seven-acre ranch, the main home dating from the late 1800s. The property behind the house held several structures that the owner wanted to turn into additional living space.

"The owner wanted all materials to be natural and high-end," Burke continued. "It couldn’t be anything PVC or composite-based; it had to be natural wood or stone."

Burke said this particular building was so old and there wasn’t any documentation on it, but it could have at one time been a chicken coop, a playhouse or a storage shed.

When he and his crew stripped the building down to its sheathing, they discovered it had been added onto three times.

"The original part had old, wide, ship-lap sheathing from the turn of the century," Burke said. "Then there was a small addition that had slightly younger tongue-and-groove sheathing. The next addition used plywood, and the back addition featured masonry block and had a thin-column chimney for a heating system."

Burke and his workers did all the framing, added foundation to the front and extended the building. Stone material was applied to the exterior of the main structure as well as to the detached garage. Other installations included real cedar shakes and new windows with simulated divided lights.

The interior of the building was given such rustic details as

* Exposed timber beams on the ceiling

* Custom-wrought iron grills and built-in shelving

* Adirondack-style doors and furniture

* Hickory floors hand-hewn by Amish craftsmen

* Tile work that used salvaged roof slate.

Burke also extended the base of the chimney on the exterior to make it look like a fireplace chimney.

"[The owner] wanted it to look like an old country home, and it did," Burke said.

- JENNIFER PINTO



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