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Manhattan Remodel and Cape Cod Affordable > Episode 8: Installing Drop Ceilings, Custom Windows, and Mechanicals

Individual Zone Heating and Cooling

Project: Manhattan Remodel and Cape Cod Affordable, Episode 8, Part 3

It's time for doors, windows, ceilings, and mechanicals in the Manhattan Brownstone. Bob joins Chris Vila, the project manager, for a look at the ceiling that had to be reopened to run refrigerant lines for the air conditioning and the plaster walls that are now wired for the plasma screen television above the hearth. In the front rooms, ductwork is in place for the heating-and-cooling system and a Chicago-bar drop ceiling is installed to hide the ductwork. Fire batts are used to prevent noise transfer through the ceilings. Pella French doors are installed on the balcony while the surrounding masonry is rebuilt with weep holes to divert water and moisture from behind the brick. Oversized Pella double-hung windows are framed out and installed to bring in light and air. The Mitsubishi City Multi HVAC system is set up to deliver customized individual-zone heat and air conditioning throughout the apartment.

Part 1: Installing a Drop Ceiling to Hide Duct Work
Part 2: French Doors and Weep Holes on the Balcony and Installing Oversized Double-Hung Windows on a Historic Property
Part 3: Individual Zone Heating and Cooling: Bob meets with Meredith Schelp from Mitsubishi Electric HVAC to learn about the City-Multi HVAC system that will heat and cool the Manhattan Brownstone floor-through apartment. This system allows for simultaneous heating and cooling of separate zones throughout the apartment, so that a busy kitchen can be cooled while a quiet den or bedroom receives heat. The system uses outdoor and indoor units with variable drives to accommodate delivery demands. There will be three units installed in the apartment, each above the ceiling in vestibules where the ceilings can be dropped to hide them. Joseph Yannaco of Polar Mechanical Corporation explains that the interior units control the temperature and delivery of the conditioned air. The thermostatic controls run on sensors, so there's no need to keep the panels mounted visibly on interior walls. Ducts carry the heated or cooled air throughout the apartment.

This project deals with two very different notions of home. Bob begins on New York City's Upper West Side, where an 1890s Brownstone is revitalized through high-quality craftsmanship and sensitive design. New York's past meets its present, as the entire floor is recaptured and refurbished to create a spacious urban apartment on the doorstep of Central Park.

At the same time, Bob works with a Cape Cod developer to apply Massachusetts land use statute 40B to create affordable housing, and a neighborhood of homes in Mashpee, MA. These Energy Star certified homes show how quality building practices and reasonable asking prices can work together to provide livable, affordable homes and neighborhoods to those who work in our communities.

Also from Manhattan Remodel and Cape Cod Affordable

Episode 1 - A New Lift for a Manhattan Brownstone
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Description:
Bob is on Manhattan's Upper West Side to renew a 2,000-square-foot Brownstone apartment. First, he looks at what made Brownstones significant, including their details and façades.<br> <br> Inside the building, Bob shows how the space was cut up in the 1940s to make a warren of rooms. These walls and finishes will be removed as the space is gutted to prepare for new studs, walls, plumbing, and finishes.<br> <br> Pieces will be salvaged for architectural resale, including the pink sink from the bathroom and the retro cabinets in the kitchen, but everything else will go. Bob also visits Central Park, its caretakers, trees, and monuments.
Episode 2 - Demolition in the Manhattan Brownstone
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Description:
The big story is the cornice molding found in tact when the drop ceiling came down. The molding will set a tone for the main living space, where the bricks have been removed to install a flue liner and drafting fireplace. All of the 40s wall, surface, and ceiling treatments are gone, along with the lath and plaster, leaving the bare brick and exposed joists from the original construction. Remodels have cut into the joist work or damaged it, so some reworking will be necessary to build up for the floors and ceilings. The floor joists are sistered to make a level, solid footing for the Georgia-Pacific Plytanium subflooring that goes under the wood floor. Laser levels allow the carpenters to set level lines throughout the apartment horizontally for the floor and vertically for the new steel studs they are installing. Finally, a flexible flue liner is run through the wall, and up the chimney for the new fireplace.
Episode 3 - Building Affordable Homes on Cape Cod
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Description:
Affordable housing is the story in this project as Bob heads to Mashpee, Massachusetts on Cape Cod, where a state law is helping put higher density, affordable housing in place for four families who live and work in the community. Bob meets Pat Fiero of the Housing Assistance Corporation who explains the hurdles faced by families needing to live near their workplaces in a town where the average home price is $450,000. Bob visits Mashpee Commons and looks at mixed-use development that is providing a town center, housing, commercial property, recreational space, and a new church as a start to this new town development. Bob also meets the developer, Joe Valle, who explains the challenges in developing affordable housing and how this project was made possible by invoking Massachusetts? 40B land use and development law. On site, Bob Bevilaqua moves the earth to prepare the sites, shows the tie-offs for electrical and phone lines, and explains the drainage plan.
Episode 4 - Falmouth's Model for Quality Affordable Housing
Episode 9 - Paneling the Kitchen, Installing Hot Water, and Hanging Doors
Episode 10 - Cladding, Insulating, and Zoning for an Affordable Home
Episode 13 - Installing Pre-Hung Doors, Hardwood Floors, and Gutters
Episode 14 - Affordable HVAC, Painting, Kitchen Cabinets and Counters
Episode 15 - Installing Glazed Wall Tile and a Pedestal Sink
Episode 16 - Refurbishing Wrought Iron, Custom Kitchen Cabinets, Profile Molding
Episode 17 - Kitchens, Feng Shui, and Energy Star Homes
Episode 18 - Finishing Details in the Manhattan Brownstone

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