Part of the architect’s design involved the main entrance for the laundry room being off of the back landing. To accomplish this, a hole needed to be punched in the wall, and part of the laundry room floor needed to be cut out to accomodate steps.
The contractors cut out the opening in the wall, which sits on a block wall in the basement. They built a small structure in the basement to support the joists that would be cut back for the steps and therefore would no longer be supported by the block wall. Once the proper supports were in place, the block was knocked out and the floor was cut back.
The opening for the steps is cut into the wall
The new steps up to the laundry room from the back landing.
The laundry room is now accessible two ways: from the main floor where it is just a matter of going down three steps to the landing and up three steps to the laundry and from the master bedroom closet.
In the meantime, there is the added convenience of having a second entrance into the construction area.
Also on these two days, most of the framing went up and the new rooms started taking shape. Additionally, 2×2′s were installed on all the exterior wall studs to accomodate R-20 insulation.
Framing in place: View from the master bedroom, through the dressing area, the walk-in closet and into the laundry room.
Exterior wall studs widened to accomodate beefier insulation.
With the skeleton in place, it is easy to see how the space works. It is one thing to see a plan on paper, but it doesn’t compare to being able to physically walk through the space. So far, it is exceeding my expectations.