Blog

Building An Accessory Apartment Unit (AAU) on the Coast of Maine

destorey@comcast.net (Doug Storey) — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 20:31:54 GMT

We have built AAUs as In-law or Accessory Apartments in many shapes and sizes including those found in the basement of an existing home, repurposing a garage to an apartment, adding an addition attached to the home and even in a Barn on the property.

We built a unit on the coast of Maine as a stand alone home on the existing property not far from the main home, but in the privacy of the woods so that each unit would stand alone and serve as an independent housing units for two different families (albeit related).

This project highlights the fact that an accessory unit can be and should be its own home built and catered to the occupants of that home. It doesn't necessarily need to blend in or be attached to the existing home. Due to a high water table and natural resources nearby we had to build it as a slab on grade after we cleared the construction area.

We built a relatively small home for two occupants, the parents of the homeowner, who wanted their own space, simple but built with care to their needs and requirements. The house is 1600 square feet with a 32'x32' footprint on the first floor for the main living area and an upstairs loft for a second bedroom on the second story. The first level includes an open floor plan kitchen, dining and living area, a main bedroom suite with a full bathroom and walk in closet and a separate laundry room, mechanical room, and second bathroom with stairs to the second level. Packing all that into 1000 square feet required careful consideration of each foot of space for maximum functional use. Framing in the winter with snow on the frozen ground made this a typical New England construction project.

For a traditional New England Cottage look siding would be prefinished northern white cedar shakes and the roof would be a combination of metal roof accent with an asphalt main roof. You can see the existing home peaking out to the right of green metal roof below.

The kitchen is a beautiful design using cabinets from Crownpoint Cabinetry with an island with additional seating. Crownpoint also supplied the bathroom vanities and the many storage cabinets in the laundry room.

Custom wood counters were ordered to keep rooms warm as well as quartz counters for the kitchen and laundry, and the homeowner built the mantle himself! A wood burning fireplace would be a prominent part of the home.

We built the home the way we build all of our homes - utilizing the latest in building science and technology and building a high performance home. This involves a tight level of air sealing, greater levels of thermal performance (insulation), high quality windows and doors, advanced mechanicals including HVAC, plumbing and electrical. This house was built to be all electric, as the owners were a part of a local solar farm nearby, and has a ducted air source heat pump system for HVAC with a secondary ventilation system for air quality and make up air.

Our level of finish in the home was typical for Two Storey Building as well. Blueboard and plaster on the walls, tile and hardwood floors, meticulous attention to detail in the millwork and interior carpentry, a finished covered porch and deck. Custom built in cabinets and windows seats on the second floor loft area hid ductwork below. Wainscoting was installed in the loft and the main bedroom. Clerestory windows in the open great room allowed for additional light, views in the loft and star viewing at night.

Needless to say the homeowners were thrilled with the finished product and so were we. Many of our employees and trade partners traveled a long way to help us build this home in Maine. We all celebrated a job well done!

Rebuilding a Small Home Through A Deep Energy Retrofit

destorey@comcast.net (Doug Storey) — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 15:13:21 GMT

As a high-performance builder, we have built many deep energy retrofits (DER) over the years. DERs are a way to over haul an older home to improve its overall performance including upgrading energy efficiency, air tightness, comfort, and modernization for a durable long-lasting home for the next generation. Typically, a whole house DER involves replacing and upgrading the HVAC systems, the thermal insulation, the windows and doors, siding, roofing, and air sealing of the home. These are big project that completely transform a home.

This project was unique in many regards. First the house was small about 500 square feet and it was built on the edge of a lake with a drop off to the water and a neighbor nearby on one side as is common in a lake front area. The house was built on piers with the underside open to the weather. The house was really a cottage built in the 40s for a summer retreat. Our challenge was to rebuild the home into a four-season home that would be comfortable in all New England weather scenarios.

We were brought into the team by Andrew Webster, proprietor of studioWebster and a certified Passive Home Consultant. We had worked with Andrew previously a on high performance home we had built a few years prior. Andrew had many ideas for weatherizing the home and asked us to joint he team and offer our advice and expertise.

The first issue we had to address was that the home was very poorly insulated, if at all, and to weatherize the underside we determined we would need to lift the house up nine feet on cribbing to get under it and reframe the floor system and insulate and air seal the floor and put a small foundation in for a mechanical space for the well tank and hot water heater. A full foundation would have been the best way to weatherize but since we were so close to the lake and under a Conservation Commission Order of Condition, we did not have that option.

We had to do this in the winter to make matters more difficult. This was the first step before we could begin the rebuilding of the house itself. We added Rockwool insulation between the joists, then added a layer of ZIP R sheathing and taped and caulked the seams, then we covered the entire floor with a house wrap to further air seal it and protect the underside of the house.

We also installed helical pile footings that would twist into the sandy soil below and eventually reach a point of compaction sufficient to allow for the pressure load bearing that was required. We ran into some issues here as well and had to first swap out one size helical pile for a larger one and then go as deep as 18 feet to achieve the required pressure load. Then we could drop house onto its new foundation.

The real fun began next with taking the roof off completely and reframing a new roof system with sufficient pitch to withstand New England winters and the snow load as well as deep rafter cavities to hold the 14” of cellulose insulation we needed to achieve R-48, after also adding Zip R on the roof. We also added an interior air barrier under the cellulose so that we could properly air seal the vented roof system and have the new attic space contained within the building envelope and conditioned space.

We also removed the windows and reinstalled new windows and air sealed around them properly and installed taped Zip R sheathing over Mento 1000 House Wrap around the entire perimeter for thermal improvement and air sealing of the walls.

The homeowners are very artistic and eclectic and also wanted to minimize the impact of their construction on the environment and to reuse any existing materials suitable for their home so they found barn boards that we could install in a board and batten style over a rain screen to complete the siding. The trim would be pine boards. This mock up shows our approach to the siding installation.

As we installed the siding and windows, we also were asked to rebuild a small shed on the property to serve as an art studio. The shed would not be heated but otherwise would have the same finished look as the home and required extensive rebuilding.

Before:

After

We also had to transform the mechanical systems of the home almost entirely. We dug a new well to provide for potable safe drinking water. Previously, they pumped their water from the lake and had to sanitize it. We replaced most of the electrical and added code compliant updates. We electrified the art studio. We replaced all of the plumbing that was not up to code and had to be safely within the heated and insulated building envelope. Finally, we replaced a propane heater with an all-electric ductless air source heat pump that would both heat and cool the home, much more efficiently and seamlessly to keep the space comfortable for the owners.

Before:

After:

Window AC Unit and Propane Heater Before:

Ductless Air Source Heat Pump After:

We added some fun and whimsical details that were very important to the owners such as reusing reclaimed windows both inside and out.

Custom crafting a window seat, many shelves, and gingerbread trim for the eaves and wooden shutters to match the old style of the home.

We also added a large skylight in the kitchen and finished the attic ceiling with wainscot boards.

Here are finished pictures of the art studio

And the home:

Quite a transformation! A house that will stand the test of time, be comfortable to live in, and a true realization of the owners dreams for their newly renovated high performance energy efficient home!

Building Green, Building Better - that's who we are and will always be.

destorey@comcast.net (Doug Storey) — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 21:56:27 GMT

A nice profile about Two Storey Building from Qualified Remodeler magazine, from the September 2018 issue.

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Top 500 Profile: Sustainably Green

Doug and Bill Storey of No. 466 Two Storey Building are green-remodeling experts with a passion for design and construction.

AUTHORS Patrick O'Toole

SEP 14, 2018

You can tell Bill and Doug Storey are not your average remodelers by the cleverness of their company name, Two Storey Building.

But the beating heart of Two Storey is all business. Together with their only employee, lead carpenter Mat Friend, they run 20 design/build remodeling jobs per year with an average size of $125,000. Typically their jobs are much bigger—in the $300,000 to $400,000 range—with a few smaller projects for previous clients. Most, if not all, of those jobs are designed to be green, sustainable and energy efficient. It’s been a passion for the Storeys since founding the company in 2001.

“We’ve been very committed to green remodeling,” Doug Storey says. “It’s not just a business strategy; it’s because it’s what we believe. At the end of the day, building is a very resource heavy, very energy heavy and very waste-generating industry. And we’ve been conscious of that from day one.”

To that end, they could not have chosen a more suitable design partner than the one they’ve been working with over the last 15 years—Steve Baczek, a leader in green and sustainable building. Baczek is steeped in Passivhaus standards and worked for many years for Building Science Corp alongside building-science guru Joe Lstiburek. It began when the Two Storey/Baczek team designed and built the first Silver-rated LEED certified home in Massachusetts in 2006.

In addition to Baczek’s green and sustainable design credentials, Doug and Bill are also highly credentialed. For many years, they’ve been involved in the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) and Passivehaus. And both carry Certified Green Professional designations from NAHB.

That is why, of the four big projects that Two Storey is presently managing, “three of them are what I call whole-house remodels and also deep energy retrofits where we completely strip the house down to its bones, start from scratch to give the customer a high-performance home and an older home. And we do a lot of that,” Doug says.

Lean and Mean

Bill and Doug were on separate tracks professionally for the first 15 years of their professional lives. Doug holds an MBA in marketing from George Washington University and worked at two different advertising agencies before approaching Bill to form the company. Bill had a career in commercial construction prior to teaming up with Doug.

Each year, they build a budget based on the 20 or so jobs that they can best manage. Over the past 10 years, they have generated revenue in excess of $3 million several times, but they generally never fall below $2.5 million. It is their “sweet spot.”

Bill, Doug and Friend each supervise multiple jobs at once. Doug does not carry a tool belt; he runs the business side of things. Bill and Friend chip in with finish carpentry, but everything else is subbed out to trades.

Early on the company saw the benefits of using an “open book” approach with their clients. Customers see their allowances for materials, and they understand where the markup is for Two Storey. “That way if it comes in a little better, then maybe they can spend more on some other part of the project. I’ve been doing this for years, and I found that that approach works well with our typical client.”

Both Storeys are in their 50s, and they see more good years ahead of them, perhaps extending to a second generation in the business. When QR caught up with Doug, he was on the family’s vacation property in Maine, building a boat house with his two sons. “I am just doing it because I love to do it. And I’ve got my sons working on it, which is kind of cool. I want to show them how to do it.” |QR

Be Curious and Learn

destorey@comcast.net (Doug Storey) — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 00:30:40 GMT

I first began working in construction in 1977, the year I turned 15.

I was off for the summer and saw a vacation home being built next door to my parent’s place and wandered over and watched the carpenters building the new home. I was mesmerized by the way they moved fluently around the job site with a heavy tool belt around their waist and took lumber from a pile and turned it into a home, piece by piece, slowly reaching into the sky. They asked if I wanted to help and I immediately joined in. Little did I know they needed a helper to carry all that lumber, I didn’t care. I was part of this team building a home from scratch and each day when I walked home, I could see what we all had built that day. It was magical and I was forever smitten with my passion.

Soon I went to grad school and got a “real job” in marketing and grass roots lobbying, but I never lost my passion for building. I was always building a project at home, either a deck or a garage or a barn or helping a neighbor build something they needed. After supervising the whole scale renovation of two old buildings in downtown Boston as Director of Operations for an advertising agency, I decided to return to my passion, ready for a lifestyle change. So we started Two Storey Building in 2001 and began building great homes and following the dream of becoming a better builder.

One thing never changed. That was the never ending curiosity to continue to learn, new and different techniques and procedures and to learn about the latest in building science. This is the essence of how to build better. I hope I never lose that passion and always want to share it with others.

Energy Smart Homes

The 2016 issue of “Energy Smart Homes” by Fine Home Building is a great resource for learning about how to build better. Every article is worth reading and learning from – here are some of my favorites that relate to the work we do every day:

“Net Zero as The New Normal” – page 14, as energy codes push us to build low energy homes
“Is Solar the Solution” – page 30, a way to produce our own energy source
‘All Around Efficient” – Designed by our architect Steve Baczek – page 40
“A Pretty Good House in Maine” – page 60, building better than code
‘Products that Work” (pg. 67) – Mineral Wool Insulation, Installing a Minisplit, Caulk This Way
“Lessons From The Field” (pg. 92)– Techniques for Weather Proof Window Installation , Air-Sealing Can Lights, Detailing Walls with Rigid Foam, Air Sealing Basics

Our Design/Build Architect Steve Baczek is prominent within the issue as is a series of Two Storey Building basement remodeling projects (“Build a Risk Free Finished Basement” pg. 114) built with Steve as the architect.

Be curious, read, absorb, ask questions, enjoy and learn! Put these lessons into practice! Build better homes!

Best, Doug

Building an Accessory Apartment

destorey@comcast.net (Doug Storey) — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 23:07:48 GMT

We recently built a new 768 square foot in-law apartment with every amenity that a small home would have. It included a full kitchen, a full bathroom with a custom shower, a living room, a comfortable bedroom with a walk in closet, an entry area with closets and a covered front door and it really is one of the nicest simple but functional homes we have ever built. Also it is an energy efficent home and will have very low energy costs.

It really is a wonderful "not so big house".

The homeowners are a retired couple moving in next door to their son and daughter in law, so they can help out with the care of their new grandchild. What a great family story.

The house has a tile shower, tile floor inthe bathroom, granite counters, custom cabinets, a ducted high efficiency HVAC system, hardwood floors, a tankless on demand hot water heater and a conditioned attic with much room to store whatever they need.

Let's face it many of the baby boomer generation (of which I am one ) have now decided to downsize and for good reason. Why not have a brand new custom home that is a little smaller, but every bit a luxurious and funcational as you need.

We are in the design phase of two more of these homes right now. It certainly is a trend. And quite frankly these are fun to build, focusing on the details, the systems and the energy efficiency and not on the size.

We look forward to building more of these in the years to come.

Design/Build - Updating Our Office and Workshop

destorey@comcast.net (Doug Storey) — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 21:52:00 GMT

As a Design/Builder often we have the ability to try new materials and building science on our own homes before we role them out to our customers. I see this as a great way to test the efficacy of new approaches, without using a customer project as the test site.

Recently, we embarked on year long renovation of our office and workshop that is located in a barn, we built nearly 20 years ago in the woods in Bolton. We realized we had an opportunity to make that space more energy efficient and improve some inadequacies from the construction of 20 years ago.

Upstairs is our heated office. Downstairs is a four bay barn with a full workshop, lumber storage, and our tools and equipment. When it was built we didn't plan on having a heated office so it wasn't built as airtight, nor with as much insulation, as standard energy efficient construction methods of today. Times change...

Then:

Every winter our electrict bill would triple when the heat kicked on. It cost too much to heat the 500 SF office. There had to be a better way.

So, we embarked on a quest to make the office more airtight and energy efficient. The first phase was adding 26 solar PV panels to produce our own electricity (we have since added 5 more for 31 total). This worked out great and we are huge proponents of adding solar to offset the energy we need.

Then we airsealed around all the windows and doors, and added 2 layers of rigid insulation below the floor and on all sides. Taping the seams of the insulated ZIP Wall sheathing makes it a very effective air barrier. This also added R-10 all around the heated building enclosure and overcame the thermal bridging inherent when you insulate between studs. Next, we changed out the metal storm door and replaced it with an insulated weather stripped exterior door. Then, we replaced the 15 year old heating system with a Hyper Heat Mitsubishi (effective to 15 degrees below) wall hung minisplit ductless HVAC heat pump that will provide all of our heating and cooling needs in a much more efficient manner. We also still have a wood stove to supplement this.

The final step will be to add and additional 12 solar PV panels to the 31 we currently have on our barn for a total of 43. These panels provide for the power for our barn and for my home on the same property and we have been net zero since March. We are very proud to be net zero for our electricity and will continue to look for ways to improve our office efficiency.

We also added a new bay in the rear to get all of our equipment out of the weather and stored inside, using best practices for access and aiding in the productivity of our team! Also all of the windows and doors are recycled and repurposed from projects we have built. And the changes we have made will save over $3000 in electricity costs each year. Not bad!

Now:

What Makes Two Storey Building Different From Other Contractors

destorey@comcast.net (Doug Storey) — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 19:20:00 GMT

We're very different from other contractors. We really are.

We're professionals, which frankly, many contractors aren't. We have been a company for 15 years and plan to be around for a long time. We are professionally licensed and will always pull the building permits (if a contractor ask you to pull the permit that is a red flag that they are not licensed.....). We carry the appropriate levels of liability and workman's compensation insurance. We pay all of our taxes and our employees work for us full time. They are not independent contractors. We believe in regular ongoing training and make sure we all are up to date on the many facets of our building trade.

We are a full service design/builder. We produce plans for your project and then we build it. There is tremendous efficiency and quality control from having the knowledgeable builder involved in the design as well. We handle every aspect of the project from design to specifications to permitting to construction to finish to follow up six months and a year or more later.

We offer ideas and suggestions to creatively build great homes. We are not passive. We don't hesitate to share. We think most customers will appreciate the input from our years of experience.

We build custom homes and we build remodeling projects. Many do one or the other. Our customers really appreciate that they can come back to us with a new project next year or several years later and they will get our undivided attention, just as they did the first time.

We don't cut corners. We do it right the first time. We utilize the latest building science to build durable, creative, energy efficient, healthy homes that will demononstrate their value upon completion and for many many years to come.

We care. We really do. We treat each project and each home as it if were our own. We only work with other professional trade partners who feel the same way.

We listen. We hear your concerns, your wishes and your dreams. We strive to deliver what you have asked for and expect. We always work from a basis of mutual respect and trust.

We use an open book approach. We tell you what every portion of your project will cost, what our fee will be, and offer alternatives to help you decide how you want to allocate your budget.

We are honest and forthright. We prepare a budget and schedule and stick to it. We tell it like it is, and don't try to make it work if it won't. But we are resourceful and solve problems as they occur, we deliver results.

We aren't for everyone, but for those that desire a predictable, full service, creative and flexible approach, and want their project designed and built the right way the first time, we are a very good fit.

Solar PV System, Part Two - Eight Month Results

destorey@comcast.net (Doug Storey) — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 13:41:00 GMT

I am a building contractor specializing in residential design build projects including custom homes and fine remodeling projects. All of our projects are designed with the latest in building science in mind, especially with energy efficiency as a top priority. A year ago I decided to add a solar system to the barn where my office is located to provide power to my office as well as my home.

My solar system was operational mid February 2014. I have monitored the results very closely. I now have over 8 months of date to share. The system has performed as anticipated and actually brought me to net zero electricity use this summer!

I have three primary means of monitoring the performance of my solar system. First and foremost, I have the Enlighten Manager from Enphase Energy. This is the monitoring system that was installed with my solar system that is connected to my panels and meter and sends data to software on my computer that allows me to see in real time how the system is performing, how much energy it is producing at any given point in time, and even how each individual panel is operating. For me the most relevent perspective is the daily, weekly and monthly comparisons. Below you can see today, past 7 days, month to date and lifetime results.

36°F

26 Microinverters

1 Envoy

Bolton, MA

System Normal

Full System

Today

635 Wh

Peak Power: 791W at 8:35 AM

Latest Power: 791W at 8:35 AM

Past 7 Days

44.5 kWh

Month To Date

131 kWh

Lifetime

5.77 MWh

I can also look at a year to date chart such as this, which show the peaks and valleys of soalr power produced throughout the year:

You can see that power was lower in Feb and Mar and then ramped up from April through Septemebr and in October started to go down significantly.

The second system that I use monthly is the Production Tracking System (PTS) at the Mass Clean Energy Center. This is where I enter the results I read off my meter each month to track the amount of kWh produced each month. This is the input source that will lead to the generation of my SREC payments that you receive in Massachusetts for the clean energy you produce. Each 1000 kWh generates one SREC payment. From this system I can go back and run a report to show the monthly production of my system:

Production by Month - All Systems

Production Month	Energy Produced (kWh)	Maintenance Activities	Service Costs	Hours of Downtime
February 2014	157.00	0	$0.00	0.0
March 2014	557.00	0	$0.00	0.0
April 2014	763.00	0	$0.00	0.0
May 2014	609.00	0	$0.00	0.0
June 2014	897.00	0	$0.00	0.0
July 2014	775.00	0	$0.00	0.0
August 2014	641.00	0	$0.00	0.0
September 2014	789.00	0	$0.00	0.0
October 2014	366.00	0	$0.00	0.0

So you can see that my 6.5 kWh DC, 5.85 kW AC system has produced 5554 kWh in 8.5 months with a peak of 897 kWh produced in July, a full month low so far of 366 kWh in October and an average of 674 kWh per month after discounted the partial month of Feb. We know the winter months will be smaller production months while the sun is lower and farther away, but you can clearly see the output of my system will exceed the 5.85 kW rating. Whether I achieve the 8,488 that was predicted on install remains to be seen.

The third and perhaps most rewarding means of monitoring my system is my monthly electric bill from National Grid and the corresponding Home Energy Report. The bill shows the total kWh usage for the month. Upon installation I could see immediately that my energy use was significantly lower than in previous years and by June 1 was producing more energy than I used, so my bill showed a credit and negative kWh usage. That was very exciting. Then I received the Home Energy Report that reported that my home was ranked #1 out of 100 neighbors in nearby homes of similar size. I had previously been as high as number 80, so this was to me another validation that the system was working well and I was using much less electricity off the grid.

I won't be net zero for the year, as I use more electricity in the winter for the high efficiency ductless heatpump to heat my office. I do hope that I produce 60% or more of my electricity use for the full year. In fact, I am adding 5 additional panels this winter, to increase my system size by 20% to attempt to achieve even better results.

The results clearly bear out my conviction that solar systems work well and allow us to minimize our dependence on the grid and in many case help homes achieve net zero status. Now, more than ever, is the time to add solar panels to produce your own clean energy from the sun! Contact me if you would like to hear more about my experience and if oyu are interested in installing a system at your home.

Two Storey Building has added a Solar PV System at our office!

destorey@comcast.net (Doug Storey) — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 22:29:00 GMT

We finally did it. After years of building energy efficient homes and renovation projects, many of which also had a solar component to them, we have installed a solar PV system at our office in Bolton. We are pretty excited about and really don't know why we didn't do it sooner.

We installed a 6.5 kWh system with 26 Canadian Solar 250 Watt panels, 26 Enphase microinverters, in 2 strings of 13 panels each. The system is operating well and in the month since it was installed it has produced 287 kWh of energy and projects to produce somewhere around 8500 kWh per year. That will be 8500 kWh I do not have to buy from the power company, at .10 for supply and .11 for delivery that works out to a savings of $1785! This will produce essentially all of the power we use at our office including our electric air source heat pump that is the source of our heating and cooling.

Let me tell you the process we went through to get this system installed. First, I had to decide if I wanted to own the system or lease it. Lease options are attactive for those who do not want or perhaps don't have the means to make the cash investment in the system up front. In those cases, the installer owns the system but the leasor receives renewable energy and saves on their electric bill. I choose to purchase my system and reap all of the benefits over the long haul

I had looked at installing a PV system several years back but was scared off by the number of trees I would have to cut down. I live in the woods and even though the barn roof is angled almost perfectly for a southern orientation and could support the panels it was shaded by trees all around it. After doing my research and selecting Transformations, Inc., a well respected and leader in green building, to install the system, they came to do the Solar Access and Shade reading. We started at about 63%, well below the 80% goal and threshold for the state rebate.

Here is what my yard looks like. The barn with my office in it is below the address in the picture. You can just make out the roof amongst all the trees:

I had a lot of work to do. In fact, after all was done I cut down 45 trees. It was a busy fall. I did get a new Huskvarna saw out of the process which was very nice. Needless to say it got a little messy.....

But we cleaned it all up and finished removing the trees and moved to the next step - signing the interconnection agreement with my power company, National Grid. This was pretty straight forward. Basically, they agree to buy the power you produce back by providing a net metering arrangement.

Once we had that agreement in place, and the installation was done (in the dead of winter....) we needed to set up our SREC monitoring contract. In Massachusetts, you can sell your renewable energy credits to the companies that are bound by law to produce a certain amount of renewable energy. We went with Sol Systems, and choose a brokerage type account. In this arrangement you choose to sell your SREC at a fixed rate for a perior of time (10 years) rather than being in the open market place and hoping someone will buy them. I expect to receive approximately $270 for every 1000 kWh I produce over the course of the year. This should amount ot approximately $2300 per year. Also I will save approximately $1800 per year on my electricity bill so the total payback per year will be about $4100. At that rate, my system should pay for itself in five years. The long term projections are a $40,000 cash return over 25 years at a 17% rate of return on the initial investment.

Here is the report I can produce each month on my system. At this rate it willl only take me 24 months to replace the trees I took down. Actually it will go much faster than that.

At this point in Massachusetts, Solar PV is a slam dunk, win win, no brainer. In other words - you should really consider installing it if you have the location and means to make it happen.

As always, I am happy to discuss the process and options with anyone interested in Solar PV.

Generated for Douglas Storey
on 03/10/2014

Monthly Energy Production Report

Douglas Storey

Bolton, MA

Week	Peak Power	Energy Produced
02/01/2014 - 02/07/2014	36 W	133 Wh
02/08/2014 - 02/14/2014	172 W	2.16 kWh
02/15/2014 - 02/21/2014	24 W	222 Wh
02/22/2014 - 02/28/2014	4.00 kW	94.7 kWh
February 2014 Total:		97.2 kWh
Previous Month Total:		0 Wh
Year to Date:		97.2 kWh

Your Carbon Offset for this month: 148 lbs

You have offset the equivalent of: 2 Trees

Adding A Second Story To Your Home

destorey@comcast.net (Doug Storey) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 18:11:00 GMT

Okay, I know this is going to sound funny because of our name, but in the past year we have become quite busy with projects that involve adding a second story to a home. We have built three of these projects and have several others in the planning and review stages.

They really are a perfect fit for Two Storey Building for several reasons. Frankly, they are a complex and difficult project and require and expert builder in all phases of construction. Also, it typically involves the Design/Build process, as unknown details hidden within the structure of an older home often reveal themselves as you open it up. We have managed the design and we have worked with owners' architects, but in all cases we have had to adapt some added structural engineering, once we knew what we were dealing with. That's no problem for us and we work efficiently to make changes and keep the project moving. Finally, this type of project requires a steady hands on management style of a builder who is both a proficient craftsman and a part time guidance counselor. It is important that we work closely with the homeowners to keep them apprised of the details each day and help them make informed decisions as the process moves along. We feel that is an important part of any home we work on.

Typically, these projects involve a cape or ranch style home that may have been built in the 40s, 50s or 60s and the family needs more space and want to go up. It makes sense that adding a second floor will potentially double your space. This can allow for a new master suite built to modern standards, added bedrooms, another bathroom, a study and likely a better layout on the first floor for added family space.

The structure must be analyzed to determine if it can support the second story. The foundation must be sound and the framing below as well. Significant decay may be a problem which will need to be addressed up front.

New plans are created that shore up any existing deficiencies, and create a structural base for the new construction. New building codes require that we build for more energy efficiency and for better structural integrity for wind and snow loads.

A new stairway to the second floor needs to be added. Opportunities exist to create better natural lighting by adding and expanding windows. Kitchen and bath layouts may be altered. The opportunities are really endless.

Here is a before picture of a nice 1950s ranch home:

A demolition stage photo - the roof is gone in a day (but covered each night!):

A new framing photo (hard to tell at this point where is it going to end up):

And finally.......the after photo:

Hard to believe it is the same home. We doubled the space, added a master suite and two additional bedrooms, a third bathroom and a study. At the same time we replaced the windows on the first floor, added 200 amp electric service, put in a new HVAC system and renovated a family room. Quite a transformation.

The homeowners did need to move out for 6 months. They were amazed at the fact that we could do it in that short of a timeframe. They were told a year or more by others. Here is what they had to say:

"Not only are the principals at Two Storey Building professional to deal with, all their staff and subcontractors were, too. At every site visit we were greeted cordially, all questions were answered, the site was kept clean and free of debris. Thank you, Doug, Bill, and team for our beautiful home. We love it and hope to enjoy it for many years to come." Rebika and Alex Bendayan

We enjoyed building their home and look forward to constructing many more successful "Two Storey Buildings".