It sits atop most houses, confined to a space for storage and cobwebs, dark and dreary. But if you have an attic, it’s a great way to add some extra space to your house.

Need an extra bedroom or two? How about a bathroom? Maybe an office or art studio? Or a playroom for the kids? Your old attic can be your salvation. But let’s face it, attics are often weirdly shaped spaces with little light. There are things you need to remember when remodeling.

Here are some of Re-Nest’s attic tips, and a few ideas of our own:

• Ceiling fans are your friends in an attic. They help regulate the temperature in both the winter and summer.
• Attic floors are notoriously noisy. Carpet is an easy solution, but Re-Nest also suggests “beefier floor joists” if you want hardwood flooring.
• Put bathrooms above lower-floor bathrooms. This might take a little design maneuvering, but can save money in the end.

Here’s another look at the winning entries of the 2011 myMarvin Architect’s Challenge.

As a brand-new residential construction on an existing footprint, The Overlook House achieves light environmental impact while producing visually rich and architecturally satisfying spaces.

With the goal of replacing a structurally compromised house that couldn’t be renovated, Marcus Gleysteen of Gleysteen Design took great care to design sensibly with sustainable materials. Using the best in effective building technology and energy use, both design and environmental sensibilities are apparent throughout all interior and exterior surfaces.

Clean, sharp lines and details set the stage for inviting light, spatial flow and family interaction. Individual living and working spaces are arranged around a central hall and stair, lighting and uniting the house. Rather than a series of formal rooms, the main level of the house characterizes a large loft, where the kitchen, dining and living areas are integrated. The more private sleeping areas are located in the upper level of the house. In a dramatic design move, the master bedroom cantilevers over the first floor, shading the terraces below and extending into the rich landscape.

Marvin products were essential to the design, allowing abundant natural light as the vision intended. While smaller windows face north and east towards the street and nearby homes, walls of glass overlook a private, natural landscape. The use of high-efficiency windows and solar shading allow for these expansive window walls.

Clerestory windows located in the main living loft and above the stairwell bring light into the center of the house throughout the day, animating the space. The interior to exterior transition is blurred by broad sliding doors that open to a patio, which further terraces down to a secluded garden overlooking marshland.

MARVIN PRODUCTS USED:

Picture Windows
Casement Windows
Awning Windows
Sliding Patio Doors
Electronically Operable Awning Windows

Images courtesy of Marcus Gleysteen

Over the next few weeks, we will be profiling winners of the 2011 myMarvin Architect’s Challenge. Let’s start with a beautiful project from sunny Spain.

Francis Daniel Trico of McLundie Architects in Sotogrande, Spain designed a majestic villa of 850 square meters built area, laid out over four floors on a steep sloping site in Sotogrande Alto. This coastal gem boasts magnificent views over La Reserva golf course and lake and the Mediterranean Sea. The villa’s design was influenced by the traditional Andalucian architecture of the area, including details like “Tosco” brick in roof eaves and columns, play of volumes in the roofscapes and water fountains.

See more photos and learn more about this project on Marvin.com.

Given its location in the Mediterranean, forming a seamless relationship between outdoor and indoor living spaces was essential to the overall design approach. To open up the façade and connect the external covered terrace to the main living room, a Marvin Bi-Fold door was the perfect fit. Another feature, the introduction of an internal courtyard, serves as the focal point of the main living areas.

To maximize the height of the openings on the main floor, elegant fixed transoms with lites were introduced to allow for natural light and splendid views of the nearby golf course and lake. Additionally, windows were treated internally with the same lime washing finish as the rest of the timber ceilings and internal doors around the house, which was key to the overall aesthetic.

The decision to use Marvin Windows and Doors was made late in the construction process (building fabric and fenestration openings were fully completed). This proved to be the right decision, as Marvin demonstrated flexibility and versatility in its products and solutions. Scale, proportion, frame profile, elegance and general beauty of the windows and doors were vastly superior to any other products available in Spain.

Attention to detail in every aspect of the design coupled with the selection Marvin Windows and Doors culminated in a standout luxurious home.

Marvin products used included:

• Clad Bi-Fold Door
• Clad Ultimate Swinging French Doors
• Clad Ultimate Sliding French Doors
• Clad Direct Glaze Rectangle Units
• Clad Fixed Transom Units
• Clad Sliding Patio Doors
• Clad Ultimate Arch Top Swinging French Doors
• Clad Ultimate Awning Windows
• Clad Ultimate Casements
• Clad Ultimate Casement Round Top Units

Torn screens are a fact of living in everyone’s home. I re-screen our front screen door twice a season — four children and lots of friends pushing on the screen. After removing the old screen, buying a roll of new fiberglass screen (the easiest to use), and some new spline and a spline tool, you can do it yourself without too much trouble.

Lay the torn screen’s frame on the ground and remove the old rubber spline while holding the screen in place. Then spread the new screen over the frame insert the rubber spline rope into the groove and press in place. Use the spline tool, which looks like a pizza cutter, to secure the rope. Hold the excess firmly but not too tightly as you can bow the frame depending on how big it is.

Once the rubber spline is in place and your new screen is tight and flat, cut the excess with a sharp utility knife and replace the screen into its window opening. If it’s a problem screen like my front door, consider aluminum screening, which it a little tougher. And if you have a large pet who likes to stick its snoot in the screens, there are thicker pet screens that are the toughest around.

Sure, you could take this to a hardware store and have the work done for you, but this is an easy one that you can do yourself and keep the bugs from entering your home.

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For those of you who haven’t seen it, Marvin Windows and Doors is sponsoring a Window Wisdom series on Charles & Hudson. So far, we’ve shared tips for evaluating a window’s condition, cleaning and upkeep and shopping for the correct window. Here’s a glimpse at some of the tips we’ve offered up thus far:

Watch the Flame
“We use this same tip to check for drafts around a door. Hold a lighted candle 2-3 inches from the edge of a closed interior window and slowly move it around the window. If you see the flame flicker in a particular spot you know you’ve got a draft.”

Weather Beater
“If you live in a particularly extreme climate that gets extremely cold or hot or wet, you should check the condition of your windows more frequently than those who live in moderate weather areas. Water damage is a frequent cause of window failure and the expansion and contraction of window frames from hot or cold weather can also be detrimental. Not to mention UV rays which can break down untreated or damaged wood causing further damage.”

Before You Buy
“Be sure to check the wall thickness before ordering doors and windows. Manufacturers will customize the frame jambs to match whatever wall construction you have. Find your wall thickness by measuring the jamb width on an existing door or window.”

Ditch the Dirt
“Dust and dirt can quickly accumulate in and around the moving parts of a window. If it’s really bad start with a vacuum and and clean the tracks. Use a toothbrush to get in deep between the tracks. Then clean and lubricate all of the mechanical parts using a silicone spray.”

For the next post in the series, Charles & Hudson will take readers on a visit to a Marvin Windows & Doors dealer.

You have lots of choices when it comes to replacing your windows, and as many of you regular readers know, I work with Marvin Windows and Doors promoting their fine products. But for the purposes of this article, I want to focus on the “how” of window replacement, not the “what.”

Replacing your windows can be categorized into two buckets: inserts and full-frame.

Inserts are when the new windows go into the actual frame of your old windows. The installer will remove the sashes and trim that holds it all in place. Now the key here is that the frames need to be sound and in good shape. The new window will have its own frame that will be custom sized and made to fit that exact opening. The new window may be slightly smaller than what you currently have, but this type of installing goes much quicker and can be less messy.

The new units are screwed to the existing frames, insulated, caulked and trimmed. Typically the exterior will be wrapped in aluminum if you have installed some type of low-maintenance exterior on your new insert windows. The interior trim will be the same that was there before; only a small stop or additional strip of wood will be added to finish off the interior.

Full-frame is the method that removes the entire window frame and all to expose the rough opening of the window as it was when the home was first built. This method is especially beneficial if there was substantial wood rot around the windows. This also allows you to get the maximum glass space available, perhaps even more than you had before because modern window frames and sashes have thinner rails (though very strong) to bring in more light into your home.

Full frame installation also offers a better opportunity to insulate around the opening and gives you more options as to the overall size of the window you install. Sometimes an opening can be enlarged depending on how it was originally framed.

As far as pricing, the general rule is that insert products are less costly than full-frame because labor time required for inserts is much less. Either way your new windows will help make you more comfortable, save you some money on your energy bills and add real lasting value to your home.

Note: You can learn more about the window replacement process, what to look for when shopping for windows, and more with this video series, Learn From Lou.

Architect John Hill, writing at Houzz.com, reminds us windows are more than just functional openings to let in light and fresh air. Carefully placed, well chosen windows serve an important aesthetic purpose, as well, framing the view outside like a perfect work of art. He writes:

The following photos exhibit a variety of ways of framing views in contemporary architecture, from small openings to expansive ones. The main idea is a deliberate framing of nature or the city, turning the window into a picture, an ever-changing one.

Hill’s post is full of beautiful photos illustrating his point, and we’ve placed a couple of our favorites here. Be sure to check out the original post for more.

We’ve covered this issue before, as well, in a pair of videos with garden home designer P. Allen Smith: one in which he discusses the general concept of “framing the view” and another in which he discusses his own design inspiration (click the “watch inspiration video” tab).

Happy Window Safety Week! Did you know that this exists? It’s “celebrated” yearly during the first full week of April and is sponsored by the Window Safety Task Force.

There are two main parts to window safety: falls and escapes. Improperly secured windows and children can be a dangerous combination. Additionally, windows can also be a main escape route from a home in case of disasters like fires. According to Window and Door Magazine:

“…there is another aspect of window safety beyond mitigating the risk of falls, and that is to preserve the function of windows as potential emergency exits. Fall prevention and fire safety concerns must be balanced. Note, for example, that while windows with guards, security bars, grilles or grates will likely prevent falls, the windows are useless in an emergency if the devices on them do not have a release mechanism as now required by the International Residential Code.

And that is the essential purpose of Window Safety Week–to heighten the awareness of what can be done to help keep homes and families safer from the risk of accidental falls, as well as from fires.”

We encourage homeowners to educate themselves about window safety. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Image courtesy of calignosus on Flickr

If you have ever dreamed of living on the water, check out this Life Remodeled video to see a beautiful Sarah Susanka-designed lake house. Complete with beautiful Marvin products, it’s a truly stunning home!

For Marvin’s Life Remodeled series, we teamed up with leading designers, architects, and fine artists and documented some of their current work. Watch as their projects go from inspiration to realization.

We got word of a beautiful and unusual renovation featuring Marvin from Wooden Window in Oakland, Calif. They graciously provided us with photos and a history of this project.

The owners of a 1930s San Francisco home  have been restoring it for the past nine years. After several door and window projects with Wooden Window, they proposed their most challenging job yet: the design and fabrication of a 10-foot-wide picture window that integrated a deco design the couple had seen as a railing in another nearby neighborhood.

Their original design posed structural concerns, so Wooden Window and Marvin collaborated with the clients through eight rounds of revision until, as the client put it, “we arrived at a design with which I was pleased and that Marvin was comfortable building.”

The result was a stunning work of art and craftsmanship that exists as the focal point of their deco facade. Wooden Window Inc. also won a Northern California NARI award for this project.

The next step is the replacement of a different window with French doors that will open to a step-out balcony. They plan to again work with Wooden Window and Marvin. ”The renovation is a continual work in progress,” according to the homeowners. Following a recent paint job, tiling, the addition of a marquee and neon house numbers, their home will have you turning your head next time you find yourself on Monterey Boulevard in San Francisco.