The Quincy Cottage Project: An Exciting New Home Renovation Project

Watch NS Builders gut and renovate a beautiful cottage.

Following is a transcription from the above video of NS Builders’ YouTube series entitled “The Quincy Project.” 

I'm introducing a brand-new project called the Quincy Cottage. So this home actually belongs to Doug, the man behind the camera, and his wife, Talia. We are going to be working with him to renovate this entire home. To get this home, not only beautiful and functional, but improving some of the systems along the way.

Started by gutting the entire inside, and as things evolved, as they usually do with a renovation, we ended up stripping all of the siding on the outside. So let's talk about the exterior first. We have actually partnered with GCP for their VYCOR enV-S product on their wall, as well as their GRACE ICE & WATER on the roof... You guys are probably familiar with that product. But the VYCOR enV-S  is a self-adhered WRB. With renovations, one of the things I've found challenging in the past, with a self-adhered product, it works really great on new plywood, but this home here actually has a board sheathing, very traditional in these early 1900 homes... When you go to put a self-adhered product on it, it doesn't always stick that well. Dust on it, dirt on it, it's [inaudible 00:01:03] on... So there's a lot of things working against you.

So you install it and staple that top edge... And what those staples are going to do is going to hold that in place, and then you're going to come down with that second piece and you're going to have that self-adhered overlap that's going to cover up most of those staples. Super impressed with the VYCOR enV-S and how it did adhere to the old board form. Another technical tip, in this application, you actually want to tape the corners first and then overlap with the WRB. Contrary to some of the other products that we've used in our other videos, here you're going to be in installing the tape first. We've also used their flashing tape around the windows... And speaking of windows, we've replaced all of the windows in the home. We are installing ROCKWOOL Comfortboard on the outside of the home. 

Now, this is important for a lot of reasons. It's giving us an additional R-value on the home, and giving you that blanket feel to the home. So the WRB, the GCP VYCOR enV-S is going to wrap everything and make it more airtight than it was, but adding that layer of ROCKWOOL on the outside... Here we're using one inch, going to give that extra layer of blank, kind of like that sweater. The final condition of this home is going to be a clapboard siding... So once we get that insulation installed on the outside, we'll actually come back and install vertical battens, in preparation for our clapboard. But we'll walk through all of those details and show you what that looks like as it goes up in another episode. But today I want to show you guys on the inside, and give you a lay of the land of what we're going to end up turning this home into. 

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