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The open riser stair in our newly completed Housebrand house has a carpet inlay on each tread as well as a carpeted landing which requires some specific attention to all the connection details.

First, at the top of the stairs, a custom wood nosing has been installed across the entire top of the last riser. This provides a clean edge for the upper floor carpet to terminate against without having to have the carpet wrap over the nosing. The nosing extends about an inch past a solid wood trim board which has been installed to cover what would normally be left as exposed drywall - which is not a very durable surface for a stair riser.

Second, the carpet inlay itself is detailed like an upside down wood tray, with the carpet set flush into the tread and bound on all four sides by a 1.5 inch wood trim. This allows the visual continuity of the wood finish on the under side of each step when looking at the open riser stair from the side or from below.

Finally, the landing is detailed similarly to the tile inlay at the front entry with a hardwood picture frame edge providing a clean way to transition to carpet on all four sides.

Today's Slides:

For durability reasons, it is a good idea to detail a resilient flooring at your front door. One elegant solution is to create a tile inlay because it visually allows the hardwood to flow through to the entry while simultaneously providing the durability of a floor mat.

An inlay simply means that the tile surface is set into the hardwood as opposed to having tile laid wall to wall. There are three critical details to take into account if you are considering a tile inlay in your home: the first is to "picture frame" the hardwood around the tile inlay, the second is to reinforce the joint between the hardwood and the tile using a metal edge and not rely on the strength of the tile grout and the third is to extend the tile all the way to the sill of the front door so to avoid any chance of direct foot to floor contact with the hardwood at the threshold.

Today's Slides:

In today's episode, we are reviewing the floor plans of our recently completed Housebrand house that will be featured throughout our "on location" segments.

This three storey, 3,000 square foot home features a sunken courtyard on the lower level and a main floor terrace off the living and dining rooms taking advantage of expansive views to the west.

The plans are organized around a central service block that runs up all three floors. The service block houses the laundry and mechanical on the lower level, the kitchen pantry and guest bathroom on the main floor, and the master en-suite on the upper floor. The stairwell is unusual in that it forms an "L" shape around the outside of the service block. The living spaces on the main floor are organized around the kitchen which is located in the center of the plan and on the lower floor, a family entertainment space and guest bedroom suite face towards the west facing sunken courtyard.

Today's Slides:

This week's design dilemma comes to us from Rob in Calgary, who wrote:

"Hi John and Matthew,

I recently developed my basement and added a TV room and kids play area downstairs, and would like to make the main floor more of an adult space, but would still like to have a TV and some storage for a few toys etc. Any ideas on how I can make this happen?


Our home is the middle unit of a triplex so we only have natural light entering from the front (east) and back (west) walls of the main floor. The front of the home has a covered porch while an attached garage takes up 60% of the back wall. Subsequently the kitchen is quite dark and natural light is at a premium.

We really like the feeling of the open living space, but have struggled to find a way to define the entrance, living and dining areas. We have installed dimmers on all the main floor pot lights and have added pendant lights in the kitchen. The biggest obstacle seems to be the support post in the middle of the room. It is very close to the kitchen bar stools and if we add a small wall to hide the post it may block too much natural light, or make the kitchen feel cramped. How can we transform our main floor into a functional living space without sacrificing too much natural light and what can we do about the support post?" - Rob in Calgary

Today's Slides:

John and Matthew offer up their solution to Annie's site problem. View the renderings and plan below.













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After

John and Matthew present their solution to Shannon's Outdoor Space problem.