Project: Connect Kitchen To Garage Via A Mudroom / Breezeway
For 50 years going to the garage meant going outside, with key in hand. And in wintertime---boots, coat too. Yet the kitchen wall was just about 6 feet from the garage. In this cold snowy winter climate, interior access to garage made sense. Enough was enough, so in 2005, the owner decided to create a passageway. Cutting through two stubborn metal walls and creating door ways was a great challenge. [ View: From backyard, looking toward street.

An old concrete pad had been there for who knows how long. It had to be broken up and removed because it had no footings. The town inspector required a new pad with 36 inch deep footings. After much debate, they settled for 28 inches because that was the depth of the footing under the original Lustron home itself. Sort of grandfathered that in. Those footings had never frost heaved after 50 years, I argued.

The old concrete pad was heavily reinforced and and took some 24 hours of manual demolition. We think it may have been part of a never-completed plan to link the closely situated structures. Most Lustron homes are not placed so close to the garage.

View:Looking toward street. Garage (on right) is wood framing with Lustron panels, painted previously.

In January 2005, framing began in earnest after the concrete pad and footings were done . The idea of direct winter time access to garage was a great motivation. However, the project went on for another year, before the dream was realized. Walls are 2x6 with pressure treated bottom plates.

Technical Challenge: Design maximum height room that will fit underneath existing overhangs shown in picture. And make it tall enough to have some roof slope for drainage. And use no bigger than 2x6 roof rafters. After measurements and drawings, I found we could make a room just tall enough and have positive rain drainage on roof. Finished interior ceiling heights are : 85 1/4 inches at front and 82 inches in rear of room. The 2x6 inch roof rafters have a free span limit of about 8 feet, so the room could be no longer than 8 feet or we would have to use taller rafters and have an even shorter ceiling height. So 8 feet it was! And the final topside roof slope is about 1/2 inch per foot--yes the roof drains. With 12 inch O.C. rafter spacing, this stout roof can handle expected snow loads too.

Pre-hung rear door was custom ordered to 74 inches rough opening size. Front was custom ordered to 78 inches high. Pricey, but worth it. (Standard doors are 84 inches)

Roof construction is a low slope flat roof with a single piece of EPDM Rubber Single Ply Roof Membrane. The membrane is covered by 2" thick Dow polystyrene extruded foam and concrete paver ballast. The foam and ballast pads protect the membrane from puncture and minimize thermal extremes to ensure longevity. This is a version of Dow Chemical's IRMA roof assembly.

In addition, 5" of isocyanate foam board was installed in ceiling rafters of mudroom. So a total of about R 50 was installed. The town inspector insisted on R45 or better to prevent concrete pad from getting cold and frost heaving. He also insisted on insulating the footings to keep them warm and prevent frost heaving.

Kitchen Wall Demolition Day
With mudroom structure "In The Dry", roof and all complete, the house is cut open at the kitchen aisle.
Precise work with Sawz-All was necessary to make the rough opening just right. The cutout in the Lustron Wall was framed in with standard 2x4 Wood framing to receive door.

Having a DeWalt DW 304P Heavy Duty Reciprocating Saw made all the difference when cutting Lustron metal walls. This model "sawzall" allows rapid chuck-less changing of blade orientation. Blade can be reversed 180 degrees or 90 degrees for close surface cuts. The yellow blade release lever is a huge advantage over other models that require an Allen wrench or key.

Tips on Cutting Lustron Walls:
(1) Use 18 or 24 TPI blade.

(2) To prevent nasty shaking of metal structure, cut through panels first. Then cut ribs last.

(3) Some Lustron wall "ribs" are difficult to cut low. Instead, bend them back and forth repeatedly for a fatigue break.

(4) Wear safety GOGGLES to protect eyes. The Lustron porcelain coating is GLASS. Cutting it sends sharp flying pieces everywhere.

(5) Be prepared for 50 year old VERY DRY fiberglass wool. Wear a HEPA respirator or close fitting NIOSH approved particle respirator. Also, apply a skin cream to help prevent the fibers from irritating the skin. Clean up immediately with a vacuum.

View: From kitchen galley, looking towards garage wall.
Reroute Old Wiring... That Lustron Kitchen Wall . . . Every Main Circuit Goes Through It, So it seemed. Actually, 3 electric circuits and the door bell wire. We tapped into the 50 year old front doorbell wire and got a new doorbell for the mudroom.

Note Yellow and dark brown circle in upper right. That is where the kitchen exhaust fan was. Now plugged with Aluminum plate bonded over hole with a hi-quality exterior grade polyurethane adhesive. Yes, new ceiling is sloped.

View: From new kitchen doorway, looking towards front door and garage door.

Finally The Battle With The Metal Lustron Walls Was Over.
There came the day when you could go from the house to the garage without getting wet or snow in your shoes.

Many steps completed, but not shown. Including:

Complete wiring and switches for front and back lamps, wiring for new doorbell, sheetrock compount / taping, leveling of new concrete pad with pour compound, install plywood subflooring over concrete pad, install inlaid PVC sheet flooring, install wainscotting, install trim around the four doorways and floor, prime and paint all. Finalize electric switches, interior lamp. Add oak door thresholds and oak sub-trim at garage and house doorways.

The new Mudroom is 8 feet by 6 feet. It has Four (4) Door ways. Backdoor, Garage, Front Door (right), Kitchen Door ( left).

Now, during cold weather, the living room door is kept shut, thereby eliminating cold drafts when people enter and leave. This is also the doorway for our pet. High quality, full thickness vinyl flooring was installed for maximum long-term wear. Wainscotting was added to protect sheetrock in this busy room.

Doors To Garage & Backyard
Garage door is a pricey self-closing, 1-hour rated fire door as required by building code.