When the previous owners of Brigid Cronin’s Dutch Colonial decided to add more space, they looked up.
Thanks to a gambrel roof, the large attic of the 80-year-old wood frame building had lots of head room, so they added two bedrooms as well as a large room between them.
Unfortunately, that project proved imperfect. Windows weren’t added, so natural light could come only from two small windows at the front east end of the Jefferson Park house and one small window at the rear west end.
Room air conditioners fill two of those three windows, so sunlight is blocked out and the windows can’t be opened to cooling breezes.
There’s little insulation and venting in the converted attic space, so the rooms stay warm in the summer and cold in the winter.
And there is no bathroom in this upstairs space, which is why Cronin decided to move her bedroom furniture into a smaller bedroom downstairs on the first floor.
Now Cronin would like to reclaim the space upstairs, by remodeling the bedrooms and adding a bathroom. “If I could remodel the upstairs and use it as bedroom space, I could incorporate one of the two bedrooms downstairs into the living and dining room area to make that bigger for entertaining,” said Cronin, who bought the house four years ago.
To offer Cronin some advice on the project, we asked for suggestions from Chicago-based architect Robert V. Sierzega.
Surveying the upstairs space, Sierzega noted that Cronin had more than enough room to accomplish her goals. “Thanks to the gambrel roof, there is a great amount of space up here, with lots of head room,” he said.
Sierzega’s first suggestion was to remove the existing paneling and framing from the rooms. “Basically, there’s little worth saving and the rooms are laid out badly,” said Sierzega, noting that usable square footage was being wasted behind false walls.
To make the space more comfortable, he suggested adding a continuous roof ridge vent and eaves vents to help eliminate the hot-air buildups in the attic space.
The architect also recommended adding 2-by-2s to the existing 2-by-4 roof joists. “That would allow you to install R-30 insulation, which will keep the room very comfortable,” he said.
For a sense of greater volume, Sierzega recommended raising the ceiling heights in the attic rooms. “You have great roof lines here that could allow you to have 12-foot ceilings,” he said, pointing out how the existing drop-panel ceilings make the attic rooms feel smaller.
“I like that idea,” responded Cronin. “That would be a great way to add ceiling fans in here.”
“And those fans could help you keep the space cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter,” Sierzega added.
To maximize the space, Sierzega recommended having the outside walls of the room mimic the slight slope of the gambrel roof.
In addition, he advised adding more windows to the rooms. “City code would require you to add windows,” Sierzega said. “My suggestions would be to put in sky windows, which are like skylights but function like windows and would be installed in the roof lines on the side of the house.”
“What about heat generated from the sun?” Cronin asked. “Would that make the rooms unusable at times?”
“You could screen the sky windows with a material that would function like a shade or blinds on a typical window,” he noted. “That way you could still draw in the natural light but not have the heat buildup. You could also have the glass tinted to block out the sunlight.”
He also suggested building a wall opening for an air conditioning unit, so the existing windows can be opened and closed as needed.
To improve access to the upstairs space, Sierzega suggested having the tight, S-shaped staircase rebuilt. This could allow more headroom coming up, he said. “You could create a nice wooden staircase to give it more appeal. You might have to rob some ceiling space in the bedroom downstairs to accommodate the new staircase.”
Upstairs, the staircase could be opened up to a short hallway, to eliminate the claustrophobic vertical hallway effect of the current staircase, the architect noted.
Downstairs, Sierzega recommended removing a door and doorway wall that separate the existing stairs from a small front door vestibule.
“That would be nice because if the attic door and front door are both open, they collide into each other,” Cronin said.
Upstairs, the short hallway could connect to a full bathroom (which would be located over the downstairs bathroom to take advantage of the existing water pipes) and to two bedrooms with plenty of closet space.
The bathroom could be compartmentalized, with the toilet and shower in one area and the sink in another. “That way, two people could use the bathroom at the same time,” Sierzega said. “That would prevent the need of installing a second full bathroom upstairs, which is a big selling point with families nowadays.”
To heat the space, Sierzega said Cronin could rely on the existing radiators at each end of the attic. “We could add an electric heater, maybe an in-floor system, to keep the bathroom warm,” he said.
Sierzega estimated that it would cost about $75,000 to remodel the attic space and would add about 600 square feet of living space. “That’s on the high side,” he said of the estimate, noting that Cronin could spend $10,000-plus just to upgrade the existing water service in the home to city code.
To make the job more affordable, Sierzega said, Cronin could do the work in phases and take on certain aspects of the project herself. “Because you’ve got mostly paneling and a drop ceiling up there, you will have an easy demolition of the existing space,” he said. “You won’t have drywall dust all over the house.”
The architect said the renovated space would greatly enhance the Dutch Colonial–located on a quiet, tree-lined street near a park.
“Currently, this is a four-bedroom home but the two attic bedrooms aren’t very usable,” he noted. “From a resale perspective, I believe you would create a very attractive and spacious house.”
