Q: I would like to upgrade the builders’ grade trim package in our center hall colonial home. Faced with all the different molding choices at the lumber yard, it is very difficult to make a selection on the size and scale. Our home has 8-foot ceilings and I would like to add a crown, chair rail, new base, and window and door casings. How large can these moldings be before they start to look out of scale with the 8-foot ceiling?

Dave from Wheaton, IL

A: The way you’ve phrased your question suggests that you’re already on the right track. Selecting trim that is aesthetically appropriate to your space, while in proportion to it, is the key to a successful upgrade.

Since your home is a “center hall colonial” you may be looking for more traditional trim options. These are typically comprised of multiple components for each location and are generally larger than more contemporary alternatives. Since I suspect that yours is a newer “colonial”, not an antique, you needn’t slavishly reproduce period details. I recommend keeping it simple and elegant.

Consider a two-part base that consists of 1x6 flat stock plus a molded cap or

Click to read more ...

Recommended upcoming New England tours

Nantucket Christmas Stroll Annual Holiday House Tour (Nantucket, MA) Friday, November 30, 2007 4:00-7:00 pm (Call for ticket info 508.228.7285 ext. 1168); Architectural Walking Tour, Saturday, December 1, 2007 9:30-11:00 am and 1:00-2:00 pm (Call for reservations 508.228.1387)

21^st Annual Friends of Nashua Symphony Holiday House Tour (Nashua, NH) Saturday and Sunday, December 1 and 2, 2007 12:00 pm-4:00pm

Plymouth Holiday House Tour (Plymouth, MA) Saturday and Sunday, December 1 and 2, 2007 11:00 am-4:30 pm

Christmas in Salem (Salem, MA) Saturday, December 1, 2007 10:00 am-4:00 pm and Sunday, December 2, 2007 11:30 am-4:30 pm

Stockbridge Holiday House Tour (Stockbridge, MA) Saturday, December 1, 2007 11:00 am-4:00 pm

Newburyport Holiday House Tour (Newburyport, MA) Saturday, December 8, 2007 10:00 am

Essex Holiday House Tour (Essex, CT) Saturday, December 8, 2007 10:00 am-4:00 pm

Bristol Home for the Holiday house tour (Bristol, RI) Saturday and Sunday, December 8 and 9, 2007 12:00 pm-5:00 pm

Woodstock Holiday House Tour (Woodstock, VT) Saturday, December 8, 2007 10:00 am-4:00pm

Stratford Historic Holiday House Tour and Boutique (Stratford, CT) Sunday, December 9, 2007 12:00 pm

Much of architecture’s artistry comes down to how intersecting elements are handled. The meeting of the roof eave and the roof rake is one of many intersections that good design should take into account.

The roof eave, as you likely know, is the horizontal edge of the roof. The roof rake is the sloped edge that travels up a gable, shed, or gambrel end-wall. This photo depicts an extended, closed eave with a level soffit that transitions at the end-wall into an extended, closed rake that follows the roof slope. Did you get that? Basically, a level, boxed-in eave overhang intersects a sloped, boxed-in rake overhang.

The resolution of this intersection is far more elegant than if the level eave soffit had continued past the gable end-wall to the face of the overhanging rake board. That would have resulted in a chunky triangular box, almost ear-like on the gable elevation. This solution is less successful, though, where the gutter meets the crown trim on the rake. Maybe the gutter return should have continued a little farther, so that the crown trim on the rake would have run into and ended at the top of the gutter-line instead.

Why am I telling and showing you this? Because the resolution of this type of detail matters. Attention to such nuance is the crux of comprehensive, thoughtful design.

For more information on designing roof rakes, in particular, check out the December 2007/January 2008 issue of Fine Homebuilding that includes a “Drawing Board” column that I wrote and illustrated on the topic, or click here to see a PDF version of it. Visit the Journal of Light Construction website to see a design column that I wrote and illustrated for them about eaves and rakes in general.

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

Q: Can you weigh in on the much-debated replacement window question in old houses? I need to buy replacement double-hung windows and, although vinyl is seductively cheaper, I am a diehard all-wood fan. Recently I have heard that vinyl-clad windows can be more energy efficient. We are trying to make green choices in our home to reduce our energy consumption. What to do?

Jane from Concord, MA

A: To my mind a great, old house shouldn’t have to bear the indignity of vinyl replacement windows. There are many attractive alternatives that can improve upon existing performance, some of which may cost more in the short term but are well worth it.

Click to read more ...

We were fortunate enough to live in this charmer for a while. It’s a collection of fishing shacks that were assembled over time into a single home. The resulting house is comprised of small wings that reach out to grab daylight, view, and breeze. The wings also provide private, pocket spaces off of the larger, more public space where they intersect. Because the different appendages were once separate buildings, their upper floor levels don’t align, resulting in intermediate levels that further differentiate special spaces.

Though this house evolved gradually, it’s a great model for how to conceive of a new home. Divide spaces among smaller components, perhaps even with different floor heights, to create desirable offshoots from a primary shared living space. Resist the all-too-common tendency to bundle everything into something monolithic. A casual assemblage, like the grouped fishing shacks, can be so much more gratifying.

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast