Portfolio: The Carrboro House

This 1381 square foot three bedroom, two bath home is a design that fits in nicely with the historic mill houses in Carrboro, where this house is located. Just after completion many neighbors stopped by to tell us how well this architectural style fit in with the neighborhood. It has an inviting large front porch having beautiful 24x24 brick column bases supporting the wood square columns. There are 4x4 decorative brackets along the roof eaves.

Beautiful 3/4" solid red oak hard wood floors are in the living room, kitchen, and dining room. The two bedrooms downstairs have Berber carpeting and share a bath. There is a large laundry room downstairs. Energy Star rated appliances were installed in the kitchen and laundry room.

The living room has a lovely gas Fireplace with beautiful mantel provided by Fireside Hearth and Home. It has a convenient switched electric starter.

The owner’s suite upstairs has a vaulted ceiling with a large walk-in closet and a large master bath with a two-sink vanity. There is plenty of storage in the attic space off the suite. This is a 1 ½ story house so the pesky attic knee walls had to be addressed. In addition to the batt insulation, extra rigid insulation was added in the attic knee walls to prevent hot or cold uncomfortable airflow into the suite (batt insulation alone does not stop air flow.) This is a common problem with knee walls especially in bonus rooms over the garage.

Special attention was taken to create a sealed crawl space. A 4' concrete Superior insulated wall was used for the foundation wall to accomplish a sealed crawl space (see www.superiorwall.com). The crawl space has an insulated access door, additional insulation in the walls, and is sealed and encapsulated in thick plastic. A dehumidifier draining to the outside was placed in crawl space to keep the humidity under 70%. This is not an inviting space for mold, termites, or other insects who prefer moisture to live comfortably.

The ductwork was sealed with mastic to guarantee against leakage (a major factor in energy loss in most homes). Low-e windows were used throughout. All penetrations to the exterior were sealed with caulk.

A third party (certified HERS rater) came in to administer the blower door test and duct blasting test to verify that the house does not leak and the house was awarded the Energy Star Certificate. See www.energystar.gov for more information.