Edgewood Exterior Remodeling Project

Runner-up in the 2024 Alabama Remodeling Awards, the “Edgewood Exterior Project” was part of a comprehensive whole-home remodel by Precision Homecrafters, a design/build and home-remodeling firm serving the greater Birmingham, Alabama market.

The homeowner's goal was to remain in the home for the long term. The project requirements were to reconfigure the floor plan to comfortably support their lifestyle, remodel the interior to be timelessly elegant, and easy to use and maintain. There was also an explicit requirement to build in accessibility to future-proof the investment against any potential mobility issues that might arise later on.

"As general advice for your readers, we strongly encourage building accessibility into their current projects," says VP Marketing for Precision Homecrafters, Tom Coan "Even if there is no current need, there are inexpensive things that can be done during building or remodeling to make future accommodations convenient and inexpensive should they be needed. A small example is putting an abundance of blocking behind shower walls to attach grab bars."

Meeting the overall project requirements on the exterior meant adding parking on the main floor level for accessibility. (The house is built on a hill with the only parking area being downhill and requiring stairs to get to the main level.) This new parking arrangement also needed to be covered because of frequent rain. A beautiful, covered back porch was needed to meet the clients’ lifestyle goals, and Precision Homecrafters added a main-floor-accessible elevated walkway to the detached guest house. Of course, it all had to be beautiful and easy to maintain.

Unique Challenges

The soil at the front porch/walkway area was back-fill from the original construction. It did not have sufficient bearing capacity to accommodate the typical post-to-beam construction technique to carry the new front walkway roof. The solution was to custom design roof framing to work in combination with functional, fir corbels to make a structurally sound system with the desired warm, organic design elements.

Craftsmanship

The back porch is a masterful display of form following function in a soaring, open and beautiful outdoor living area. Every structural component is on display and cut and joined with a level of precision that puts most porches’ finish carpentry to shame. Together, it is a blend of architecture, engineering and craftsmanship that is rare in residential construction.

"Our favorite aspect of the project is without a doubt the happiness of our clients, says Coan. "Many trades businesses are composed of 'construction-thing-oriented' people who have the capacity to deal with customers. Precision Homecrafters is composed of 'relationship-oriented' people who have the capacity to deal with construction things. When we meet the full range of our clients’ goals, as we did with this project, and part as friends, we’ve achieved our highest purpose as a company."

For more, visit www.precisionhomecrafters.com.