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Madison kit bashing - seeking input! Structural concern


JackieS

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I just received my Madison, (my second build) today! Of course, I want to make some changes...

The biggest modification I’m planning is a cathedral ceiling for the larger room (interior picture attached). I will leave the attic in place on the left side, and may insert a railing in part of the center attic support to make it a small loft overlooking the larger room. I’m hoping the wall dividing the two rooms – which is not quite in the middle – will be enough to support the attic/loft area (and the center attic wall which supports the roof), but realize I may need a column or some other kind of support on the first floor. Thoughts?

I also want to enlarge the window in the large room and change the attic window... I think the original attic window would look weird from the inside with a cathedral ceiling. I've ‘photoshopped’ an idea for two triangular windows instead, but would love some input from folks with more experience. Thanks in advance!

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From my experience with Greenleaf kits, you can do whatever your imagination will allow! :) I would suggest making little mockups of your ideas with paper or cardboard before doing the cuts. Then you can see if you like it. You can always add in a support post later if it looks like it's needed. Have fun!!

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If you're going to remove the floor to the right of the dividing wall in the attic the dividing wall downstaier ought to hold the floor just fine without added support. I really like those triangular windows for the attic. You can use the upper wall in the right side room to hang a large, oversize picture with swags or garlands of greenery (with or without flowers). DH's mother's apartment is on the top floor of her building, so she has a cathedral ceiling in her livingroom, and that's how she has decorated that wall.

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Ooo, you could eliminate the dividing wall downstairs if you go with that! And replace the attic dividing wall with a couple of posts and the aforementioned rail (I've seen a few real life houses like that, too).

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Ironicly this is starting to look like my home ;P. I have a Catskill Chalet with a bumped out vaulted living area. I though I would show you a real life shot and the outside plans:

This is the basic look of the cape before alterations: CapeCod-Chalet-CatskillIA-TC-elevation1-

Our vaulted celing has a few support structures since my vaulted area is 16x34, but a center beam in the peak that is lengthwise that attaches to the front facebeam, the base of where the 12x12 roof starts from the top of the wall and as you can see we have a center beam where we hung our heated fan.

These beams are of course hidden but using any of these like the top vertical attached to the face or the fan beam should hold the roof together a bit firmer I think.

Also a fireplace can be used in the front between windows..Ive seen ;)

I hope it helps for ideas ;)

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My Worthington is a bit older, so I am dealing with some floorboard warping - not really a structural concern but I'm thinking about using columns in the back for the overhangs to make sure the floors don't warp more over time - maybe you can run a column floor to roof that connects to the edges of the left-over attic and support the roof?

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Wow! Thank you all for the ideas -- and Jane, thanks for the pictures of your house. It's beautiful, and I see that my dh must have a ceiling fan!

Today I cut out the modified windows and did a dry fit. My blue tape was old and not nearly sticky enough (grrr), but the modifications will work! A center beam and columns or narrow walls on either side of the loft railing will better support the roof and strengthen the structure as a whole, so I'm going to add those. I want the house to last a long time!

BTW, the first floor will have three rooms (from left to right): a small bedroom, a galley-style kitchen with a bar-height counter that opens to the living area, and a living area with a cathedral ceiling and fireplace on the outside right wall. I did consider a center fireplace (which would have looked great), but the design of the house is inspired by the cottage where I summered when I was growing up... so the fireplace will be on the outside wall. I've changed the wall dividing the kitchen and living area since taking the picture, but otherwise it will give you a feel for where this project is heading.

I debated about including stairs, but the Madison is so small (9.75" x 22.5") that I'm taking the easy way out and putting the stairs on the imaginary fourth wall (which also allows me to avoid having to deal with my Aedifico-scala-phobia -- fear of building staircases). I notice, however, that the really nice dollhouses in the Gallery seem to all have staircases, so I'll have to deal with it at some point!.

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Edited by JackieS
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Jackie, fear not the staircase; I have even built a few from scratch. Just take it slow and easy; when you have built the stairs that come with the kits they're far less intimidating. So far the two most elegant stair builds IMO have been the Glencroft's and the Magnolia's.

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You don't put the outside wall on that side until after the stairs are in and finished (guess who had the kit together before realizing she hadn't put the runner on the stairs? That's why it looks rather lumpy...)

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