Drywall Finish Textures "Stay Inside the Box and Don’t Venture on This One” Historically, wall textures were simple and didn’t shout. I happen to agree on this statement, even today. I think there are many other solutions to highlight a wall than providing a drywall texture. Remember our old [...]
Downtown...City Investment? “The Downtown District Is a Golden Egg & We Don’t Know It” Do you change the oil in your car? Do you repair the roof on your house when it leaks? Why do you do that? Perhaps you do it to protect your investment? At least, that’s [...]
Door Swing Clearances “Provide Space for ADA Compliance around Your Doors” Here is another code compliant topic that will need verification from your building official. The images above represent the basics so that you can properly accommodate this code. Lots of “do it yourselfers” get these wrong. [...]
Do Your Historical Research “How Do I Know When I Can Vary from Historical Significance?” Your downtown has most likely had a historical district review. Regardless of how old the review is, it will provide you valuable information on how to proceed with your façade renovation. Most of these [...]
Diversify Downtown “Advantage …………… Downtown!” Do you know the saying, “Good things stand the test of time”? Well the downtown district has certainly taken its blows over the years. The big bully called a Mall took us to the very edge of extinction. Have you looked around lately? Today, [...]
Deadbolt Lock on my Door? “More Complicated than It Needs to Be” Having a deadbolt on your door in a downtown building is not a bad idea. You do, however, need to be careful about how you go about it. In general, the code says you can’t have a [...]
Count the People “Calculating the Occupant Load & What It Means” The chart below determines a number of requirements for your building. We have used it in other articles to determine the number of required doorways out of a room or your building. It is also used to determine [...]
Consider Upper Level Improvements “Main Level First . . . Don’t Ignore Future Upper Level Design” As an architect, one of the overlooked benefits provided to my clients lies within the overall design layout. This is extremely important when remodeling the lower level prior to improving the upper level. [...]
Assessed Value Increase . . . Ouch! “The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease” Increased property taxes as a result of your improvements is a typical concern. You need to be proactive about it. This topic has lots of moving parts and depends highly on your area and downtown district. [...]
ADA Single Restroom Size “Front Access - Floorplan Layout Only” The ADA compliant restroom size varies on a number of design choices you make. In this article, we focus only on a design that I believe most of you would want to put in your building. There are things [...]
