BATH OF A CERTAIN AGE

In this basic 5x8 bath in a 1980’s duplex, the owners, both in their late 70’s, wanted a redo that removed the tub and gave them a semi-accessible shower (they still insisted on  a curb). As they age, if more access is needed, the glass door will give way to a curtain, and a transfer bench provided to get into the shower.   

As they are both ambulatory, but with orthopedic challenges, we provide a variety of assistive hardware, starting outside the shower where the towel bar is actually an assist bar.  It is mounted on a decorative wood piece because we couldn’t put blocking behind the drywall, as a duct and plumbing vent were in the way. 

A vertical grab bar at the shower entry helps getting in, while a long horizontal on the back wall provides security while showering.  The slide bar for the hand held shower is also rated as an assist bar.  The first two bars are additionally knurled, which makes them non slip for wet or soapy hands.   

At the back of the shower a teak fold down seat is firmly mounted to blocking in the wall for use as needed.  Finally, a surface mounted soap dish and shampoo tray store needed accessories. 

Inspiration for the bath started when they found a rustic cabinet from Indonesia at a local showroom.  Given that the bath was already painted a dark brown, it started a discussion about a tribal design theme.  The owners had a prized African wood sculpture to add.  Then their daughter, an artist/social worker volunteered to paint an elephant on one wall, and a fantasy night forest on another. 

The lav is a hammered copper piece that was mounted above the low countertop, with the faucet and all hardware being black for contrast.  The extravagance in the bath was the Toto toilet with heated bidet seat, and amenity that most tribes do NOT have!

RECAP OF KBIS/IBS 2025

The highlight of the year is always the combined KBIS/IBS mega-show. This year

they claimed 120,000 visitors for both shows, but I think they count every

time you walk in the door. Since I attended for two days, the true count

might only be 119,999!

My show started off with attending the NKBA Design & Industry Awards,

which I helped judge. As it was a blind judging, it was terrific to finally meet

the authors of the winning kitchens and baths, and was delighted to find

that Denver’s own Gina D’Amore Bauerle took home Best of Show

Bathroom for a gorgeous powder, and a rather large check!

Pretty much every manufacturer of any product you can think of was there,

along with dozens you had no idea existed! It’s always fun to discover new

products you can specify in your remodels. I can’t possibly include them all

in one post, so there may be more. My tours of exhibitors was limited to

the impressive new West Hall, the North Hall, and the Central Hall, which is

undergoing a transformation to the entry to complement the West Hall’s

undulating roofline.

Any reaction to the show would have to start with Kohler and their many

brands, with the largest booth by far. It was so packed, I gave up after

seeing their new cold plunge tub. Not sure I’d want it, but for people who

do, Kohler has it!

Toto is the gold standard in water closets, and I was delighted to see them

offer shades other than white. They also have a robust line of tubs,

lavs, and faucets, which I haven’t fully explored.

Sierra Pacific was on my itinerary and I was amazed at how thin the frame

profiles could be in their H3 series; almost a steel sash lightness. Speaking

of lightness (or heaviness), NanaWall had an unbelievable 14 foot wide by

14 foot high! Slider. Boy, I’d hate to have to install that one.

Lighting is always on my tour, and I enjoyed some of the designer series

lights by Visual Comfort. At Hafele, Katie Mobley explained their latest LED

strip lighting. I was impressed with their system where the power strip is

routed into the shelf sides, and activates the strip lighting routed into the

bottom of the shelves (or tops, if used for uplighting). This is so much

better than the light strips routed into the sides, and glaring into your eyes!

She showed me how to adjust the color temperature to user preferences.

Spent a good amount of time at the Halo booth looking at their 2,3, and 4

inch lines with adjustable beam optics and color temps for future reference.

An award for best giveaway should go to Johns Mansville, for their

container of “edible insulation”, which I assume was cotton candy, but

wasn’t about to try, given that it looked identical to their blue fiberglass

displays adjacent!

Tiny Tudor Addition With a Big Impact!

What is the most appropriate addition for a tiny (869 s.f.) 1930’s Tudor Revival cottage in West Denver? More importantly, how much of an addition can our client afford? Fortunately, these two realities converged into this 14x24 foot addition, on two levels, that transformed the way the owners live.

The old kitchen, as was typical back then, was only 9x11 feet, and was bisected from traffic from the house to the basement stairs and backyard. Two small windows gave a peek of the side and back yard.

The new kitchen is 11x13 feet, and extends out from what was the old kitchen, now repurposed as a sunny bookcase flanked breakfast banquette, with a wall of white oak cabinetry that includes tall pantry cabinet and a beverage center with refrigerator. Traffic now bypasses the work triangle completely.  

A new deck flows out at the same level as the kitchen, making serving easy with no steps to navigate, and takes advantage of a previously underused side yard.

A half wall separates cooking from the step down cozy family room, just large enough for a comfy couch and coffee table facing the with a tall paneled fireplace/tv wall, with soaring windows facing the back.  Doors to the yard were provided from both the family room and kitchen.

In the old plan, the stairs down to the back door and on down to the basement were steep and unsafe, and landed just 20 inches from the outside basement wall. (Furniture moving was a challenge.) By stepping down the family room close to grade, we were able to use the same basement stair area for a gentler and far safer stair, hidden behind a half wall that serves as coat rack.

Both kitchen and family room benefit from the soaring 13- to 16-foot-high vaulted ceiling, punctuated a skylight on east and west that insure the space is bright, even on the gloomiest day. The addition was finished with cement board and batten siding, painted to match the bronze window cladding, with an accent panel of brick veneer salvaged from the demo of the old back wall on the backyard side. With R60 ceiling and R30 walls, as well as a sealed and insulted crawl space, this addition is far cozier in all seasons than the original all (uninsulated) brick home. It has its own thermostat controlling a mini split system for both winter and summer comfort.

Newly Renovated Kitchen

Kitchen Before

Dining and Storage Solutions

A New Deck Takes Advantage of Underutilized Outdoor Living Space

Concrete Thinking

I'm constantly amazed by the process of forming and pouring concrete foundations, like this one being built for an addition to a bungalow in Wheat Ridge, CO.  The forming crew has to build a plywood wall in which the concrete will go, only to tear it down once the concrete has initially set (as little as 24 hours, although it will take a month to reach full strength).  But before they can "button up" the forms, all the reinforcing steel rebar, both horizontally and vertically, has to be carefully placed and inspected.  The old concrete foundations for this 1926 home had no steel rebar at all!

When the area to be poured is behind a home, with no safe alley access, they bring in this amazing concrete pumper truck (on right), with an articulating boom, and the concrete mixing truck dumps the grey goop into the hopper to be pumped 100 feet or more . The boom operator controls this from a portable controller hanging from his neck. The lead worker on the concrete crew guides the long flexible hose to all portions of  the forms, while several assistants follow closely behind with an industrial-strength "spud vibrator" (looks like a potato on a cable) which  is pushed down to vibrate the liquid/cement mix so there are no air pocket voids.

The magical moment is a day or two later when the crew comes back and knocks the plywood forms apart, revealing a solid concrete wall, (shown above).  There is no other material we use that has that phase change property, and it never ceases to amaze me!  I'm glad I work in an area of the country that favors poured concrete foundations, as they are far superior to concrete block foundations that are used elsewhere.

Gloomy Outlook for Googie Landmark

A sign taped to the window of this quirky dry cleaners in Cherry Creek is the writing on the wall: "Application for Determination of Non Historic Status".  The land under the building is worth far more than the building itself in the developer's mind, and the block will soon have one more of the tower cranes that dot Cherry Creek North in it's race to resemble Manhattan.  And we'll lose another building from our more recent past.

This round building with the swooping parabolic roof was built in the late 50's or early 60's, and is quite representative of the "Googie" style of modern architecture, a futuristic architecture influenced by the car culture, jet airplanes, and the space age.  It originated in Southern California after WW2, when architects like John Lautner realized that the public was moving past the landscape at a much faster pace due to the automobile, and they needed buildings that could be"read " instantly for what they were.  So Googie style became the rage for car oriented building types like diners, gas stations, and motels.

The original McDonalds, with its giant golden arches, is classic Googie. In Denver,  Bastiens Steakhouse on Colfax, Sam's #3 at 1500 Curtis, and the Sleeper House by Charles Deaton, are all classic Googie, as was the I.M. Pei hyperbolic paraboloid in front of the May D& F, torn down in 1996. Influenced by the Streamline Moderne style of the 1930's, this style exploited upswept roofs, curves, and use of glass walls with aluminum and steel.

I'm just finishing my three year term on the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission, and one thing I've noticed is that we give most of our attention to pre war architecture, with little recognition of distinctive buildings from the 50's forward.  My fear is that until momentum builds towards appreciation of great designs from the 50's, 60's, 70's and newer, we will have lost most of them, like this one.  Is this building unique? No, I can show you a twin on West Jewell in Lakewood, and there are probably others I haven't found, but it was one of a kind where it was, in the upscale Cherry Creek neighborhood, and I'll miss it when it's gone.

CLAP ON! CLAP OFF! Simple Lighting Control

Remember that annoying tv advertisement for a sound activated light switch?  That’s certainly one way to control lights, as is the simple toggle switch.  But there are several others help you tailor your luminous environment to your mood and needs at that point in time.

First, if you are remodeling, or building new, consider adding more, rather than fewer lighting options to a space.  In important rooms like kitchens, dining rooms, living rooms, and family rooms, I like to suggest at least 4 and up to 6 circuits of lighting to choose from.  Make as many of those as you can on DIMMING switches, so you can adjust the level to the scene you are trying to set.  Dimmer switches are wonderful, and there are different types you can use, depending on your preference and manual dexterity.  Back in the 80’s, mostly what you saw were those clunky round rheostat knobs that you pressed for on and off.  Today, I much prefer what I call “fingernail slide dimmers” which are a miniature slide dimmer to the right of the toggle or rocker switch.

By capturing unused attic space over this 1960's kitchen, we were able to flood the room with daylight. At nights, 5 circuits of lighitng, all on dimmers, provides precise control.

Here’s a kitchen transformation we did recently on a 1960’s trilevel.  The first and most significant light(and the least expensive) comes from the four new skylights overhead. The light varies according to the season and the time of day.  Next, we added recessed downlights for task lighting at countertops.  Then undercabinet lights, on their own dimming circuit. Then we added track lighting, including pendant lights that add a decorative element as well as function. Finally, xenon mini lights behind a cove provide a wash up indirect uplighting. Again, all circuits are dimmable, so you can manipulate the scene in an almost unlimited variety.  There are switches at the entry from the garage, the entry from the dining room, and the entry from the backyard so you never have to stumble into the room in the dark.

One useful upgrade to such a system of 4 to 6 circuits is to collect them into a single box, with on at the top, off at the bottom, and 3 or 4 “scenes” in between.  The scenes are ones you or your lighting designer program during set up right at the keypad, or sometimes in a nearby closet.  Since most people have favorite light levels, the scenes make it easy to get back to those.  For example, in my own kitchen, we have 6 circuits, and use one of them alone,  the basic task lighting, about 75% of the time. While using those downlights, we seldom ever raise their light output to more than 60% of their maximum. (For incandescent or halogen sources, dimming greatly extends lamp life).  But we use ALL 6 circuits at different times for different events, and are glad we have them ready to go!

GET A GRIP!

Since hospital-treated injuries related to stairs or steps in 1994 were at 1,030,000, and falls cause 87% of the fractures in the elderly,  we all need to pay better attention to ways to make stairs safer. Not just for seniors, but for all of us at all times; whether tired, under the weather, under the influence, or simply wearing an unfamiliar pair of shoes on a familiar stair.

A 2x8 oak rail from the 80's was brought up to code by adding a floating 1 1/2" round steel pipe rail on top, that is continuous from basement to second floor.

Codes today ask for a continuous railing from top to bottom of a stair, at a height ofbetween 34 and 36 inches. Codes were less specific in 1982, when this townhome was designed. Then, the latest fashion was a simplified “handrail” of a 2×6 or 2×8. This one only came up to 31″, and the other problem with it was that it is impossible to really grip such a board. At best, you can pinch it, assuming you have hand strength.  While wanting to preserve the vintage look we wanted to greatly improve safety, so we designed a floating 1.5″ metal pipe rail, continuous from the basement all the way up the second floor, at 35″ above the treads. The owners and guest use the handrail all the time, as it falls naturally to hand when going up or down.

Want to take it a step further?  Do continuous railings on BOTH sides of a stairway, and double the safety.

TOTALLY TUBULAR (SKYLIGHTS)!

Next to the invention of sliced bread, I can think of nothing that has made life easier for the homeowner than the invention of tubular daylighting devices.  The concept is as old as the Egyptians, but it was Solatube International of Australia who patented and first marketed what we know today as TDD’s in 1986. Other manufacturers soon followed, with sizes ranging from 10 to 22 inches in diameter. Many have a mirror on the north side of the plastic bubble on the roof, to reflect maximum south sun down into the pipe, more sophisticated ones actually have tracking sensors that rotate the mirror to follow the sun throughout the day.

Prior to that , the only option for toplighting was a skylight, which by itself wasn’t much money, but add in the framing changes, insulation and drywall, and pretty soon you get up into the thousands, where a TDD can be installed for around $500-$700 in most homes.

Being landlocked in the middle of the floorplan was no hindrance to flooding the space with natural light, using a Velux Sun Tunnel.

They are perfect for stairways, hallways, laundry rooms, and bathrooms, like this inside bath in a remodel in a northern suburb of Denver by our firm with Reconstruction Experts, contractor, and Andrea Lawrence Wood, interior designer.  Here , one strategically placed 10” Sun Tunnel (by Velux) fills the bath with daylight, and lessens the need to turn on a light during the day. It threads its way down through rooftrusses to deliver it’s light at the ceiling.  One upgrade we insist on is insulation wrapping the tube, to avoid heat loss to the attic, or heat gain in the summer.

Tubular daylighting devices are easy to install and flash, small enough to work their way down through complicated roof framing, as they can be bent and run as much as 50 feet without losing effectiveness. Luckily, most attics are only going to require about 6 to 10 feet of run.  The most common reaction of homeowners is “Wow!” The most common reaction of guests is “How do I turn that light off in the bathroom?”  I consider TDD’s one of the most useful tools in my daylighting toolbox for any project.