Smith Residence in Austin, Texas

Our clients, the Smiths had a problem. Mom was aging, and unable to live independently any more. What does a good son do, when putting his mother into a facility is unacceptable, and because she lives out of town, live-in care is probably not the best idea? In this case, he decided the best way to alleviate the concern was to build a room for Mom.

To accomplish this, he hired University of Texas architecture professor Scooter Cheatham to design a home addition that would be both practical and attractive.

The garage, so often converted into that spare room was not an option for the Smiths, because of its constant use. Scooter suggested that the best approach might be to remove the existing roof from the garage, and add a second story to it, and a plan was decided on. An innovative engineer, he designed a way to span the entire garage without adding any posts, so that the spaces both above and below would be entirely open.

The garage, so often converted into that spare room was not an option for the Smiths, because of its constant use. Scooter suggested that the best approach might be to remove the existing roof from the garage, and add a second story to it, and a plan was decided on. An innovative engineer, he designed a way to span the entire garage without adding any posts, so that the spaces both above and below would be entirely open.

We started by working inside the existing garage before doing any demolition, because we wanted to mitigate the exposure to the elements that would occur when we removed the roof.  By taking this approach, we were able to accomplish a significant amount of the second story floor framing before demolishing the garage roof.

When the time came to construct the upper level walls and new roof, we worked as quickly and efficiently as possible to lessen any possibility of weather related damage, and were able to accomplish the dry-in phase relatively unscathed. The mechanical and other systems work went off without a hitch.

While strong in structural knowledge, professor Cheatham is also quite accomplished in designing the amenities – able to turn the pedestrian into the charming… seemingly with a flash of imagination, and a flick of his pen. This resulted in the interior being cozy, inviting, and aesthetically pleasing. Of course our execution of his composition played a significant role as well.

When all was done, our clients had a charming room for Mom – a place where she could feel both comfortably at home, and well cared for.

Get in Touch with THA for Any Austin, TX Story/Home Addition