Musician’s Choice
When bass guitarist Jay DeMarcus of the country band Rascal Flatts installed the Carl Tatz-designed JBL Synthesis Digital Home Theater System in his home recording studio, his choice spoke volumes. The sound system includes eight speakers, all of which apply synthesis technology, using digital algorithms to create a near-perfect, 360-degree soundscape. www.carltatzdesign.com.
Home Movies
BeoVision 4-103 by Bang & Olufsen lets you go to the movies without leaving your house. The 103-inch-screen plasma television has VisionClear: Automatic Picture Control sensor technology that measures the ambient light in the room and adjusts the light output from the screen accordingly. A tiny built-in camera—part of the Automatic Color Management system—checks the screen every 100 hours and adjusts the color levels. www.bang-olufsen.com.
Tuned In
The GenevaSound Model L speaker system from Geneva Lab delivers high-quality sound in a sleek, modern package. The single cabinet is constructed from piano-lacquered wood and includes an iPod universal dock, built-in CD slot and FM radio with digital tuner. Available in red, black and white. www.aplusrstore.com.
Energy Efficient
Crestron’s energy saving Inwall Touch Panel Picture comes highly recommended from Charles Carlson at Performance Home Automation, Inc., in Riva, Maryland. This integrated system controls heat, lighting and HVAC, automatically decreasing them when you’re not at home and increasing them when you are. Pictured here, an iPhone with an application that conveniently allows the user to operate the Inwall remotely. www.performancehomeautomation.com.
Cable Buy
HDMI cables transmit the highest quality video and audio to your TV screen. However, HDMI signals typically travel about 200 feet—less than ideal if you have your A/V system installed in a central location and your TVs located throughout the house. According to Aegis Technologies’ Dan Wittig, Crestron has the solution: the Digital Media System, which uses fiber optic technology to send HDMI signals up to 1,000 feet. Compatible with the HDMI cable system. www.aegistechnologies.com.
Like so many renovation projects, this one started out small. When Andy Axelrad and his wife Kaleen Kittay moved into their Vienna, Virginia, home in 2003, they planned to convert the deck into a porch. But after living in the house with their two children for a while, the porch idea was replaced by a more ambitious plan. “The covered porch became less important when we saw how we lived in the house,” Axelrad says. Instead, he and Kittay, both doctors, decided to renovate their basement and create a full home gymnasium complete with a resistance pool, weight room and more.
For this formidable task, the couple turned to Sun Design Remodeling Specialists, Inc., the company they’d already consulted about their original covered porch idea. The project manager, Jeremy Fleming, guided them through the complicated renovation process, which included a 280-square-foot addition to house the indoor pool, as well as the reapportionment of the existing basement space to create a more convenient layout. The basement level now includes a guest room, separate billiard and ping-pong rooms, a movie room and a bath with all new fixtures and finishes. Though the original basement housed what Axelrad refers to as “a poorly stocked exercise room,” its walls and doors were moved during the renovation to accommodate a larger space for a treadmill, elliptical system, full weight circuit and high-definition television.
Impressive as the now-roomy basement is, however, the pool is definitely the main attraction. Twelve feet long by six feet wide and 50 inches deep, it’s constructed out of a fiberglass shell that encases a balsa wood mold. As Fleming explains it, “Balsa maintains heat and is very durable.” Sun Design dug the hole for the foundation, poured the concrete, and positioned the pool in the hole. “We built the room around the pool,” Fleming says, adding that getting the pool into place was the most challenging aspect of the project. “We had no access to the property for our digging equipment, so we used a 100-foot crane to transport the pool the 90-foot distance from the street to the hole in the ground,” he recalls.
In order to create a space beneath the pool area for equipment, Sun Design had to dig deeper than the existing foundation, placing underpinnings for support along the wall of the foundation facing the addition. The six-foot-deep space is accessible through a door in the floor, while the pool itself sits on a sturdy layer of foam atop the concrete foundation. “Fiberglass will expand and contract so it needs a giving surface,” Fleming explains. “Concrete doesn’t give, so we needed a layer of foam.”
The SwimEx pool is programmed using a panel on the wall which controls currents, therapy jets, variable times for exercising, temperature and underwater lights. “There’s no chlorine,” Axelrad says. “The pool is disinfected with an ozonator, which filters water with oxygen.” Axelrad explains that the filter oxidizes contaminants and eliminates the need for chlorine; it is set to turn on for a duration and frequency based on how often the pool is used.
Fleming designed the pool room to take advantage of views of the owners’ secluded, one-acre property, which boasts lush gardens and a Koi pond. To admit as much natural light as possible, he installed large picture windows along the back, placed windows high up on the wall that faces the neighbors’ house and added skylights.
Though the pool is one piece of fiberglass, the owners chose two different colors for it: blue for the interior and warm beige for the surround. Oversized porcelain tiles that resemble slate but in a warm beige color scheme pave the floor, while subway tiles in the same style and hue cover the walls. The bathroom tile and shower interior are done in the same tile, unifying the spaces.
The homeowners appreciate every inch of their new home exercise and entertainment center. “It’s a pleasure to have an idea and see it through,” Andy Axelrad says. “Sun Design was with us every step of the way.”
Photographer Greg Hadley is based in Fairfax, Virginia.
DESIGN & RENOVATION CONTRACTOR:
Jeremy Fleming, Sun Design Remodeling Specialists, Inc., Burke, Virginia.
A winner of an ICFF Editors’ award, Vitra’s Vegetal outdoor chairs by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec are inspired by plants and their structures. Made from dyed polyamide (a kind of plastic), they’re available in six vivid colors and can be stacked when not in use. Home on the Harbor, Baltimore, MD www.homeontheharboronline.com
Washington, DC-based designer Jonah Takagi’s American Gothic Table was inspired by the lines of the Windsor chairs he grew up
with in New England. With a black-lacquered maple frame and a top made of medex—an eco-friendly engineered wood—the table is
available in custom sizes.Atelier Takagi, Washington, DC www.ateliertakagi.comSensuous Curves
Designed by Ross Lovegrove for JANUS et Cie, the Love Bench, with its sensuously curving, organic form, can be used both outside and in. Generously proportioned, it accommodates up to 10 people; it’s made of colored, molded polyethelyne.JANUS et Cie, Washington, DC www.janusetcie.comTucked Away
Studio Kairos’s sleek, low-slung credenza, Step, was designed for Poliform’s Day Collection with leaf doors that conceal drawers inside. Made from dark-stained oak with a top of marble or veneer, the piece can be affixed to the wall or can rest on metal feet.
Poliform by Sagart Studio, Washington, DC www.poliform-dc.comCafé Style
Jasper Morrison’s steel-plated Pipe Chair for Magis Design took the prize for seating at this year’s ICFF Editors Awards. With its diminutive size and distinctive perforations on the seat and back, it’s a contemporary spin on the traditional café table. A waterproof coating allows for both indoor and outdoor use. Contemporaria, Washington, DC www.contemporaria.com La Difference, Richmond, VA; www.ladiff.com
An Artist’s Perspective: Elizabeth Cross-Beard
While in college, Elizabeth Cross-Beard studied art and architecture in Florence and Vienna, developing an eye for structural design. She also became an oil painter, adding an artist’s sensibility to her perspective. Now an interior designer, she melds these influences in her work. “I’m inspired by art,” Cross-Beard says. “I love seeing different color palettes, craftsmanship and the structure of things.”
A Personal Touch: Dream House Studios
The Meaning of Home: William Winebrenner
A Natural Aesthetic: Shanon Munn
“I like things to look simple and coordinated,” Munn says. “I like the nature of materials—woods, marbles, textiles. Things have to look good and feel good.”
Photographer Lydia Cutter is based in McLean, Virginia.RENOVATION ARCHITECTURE: Peggy Fisher, Fisher Group, LLC, Annandale, Virginia. CONTRACTOR: Thomas Topp, Topp Designs, Inc., Fairfax, Virginia.
Geoffrey Hodgdon is a Maryland-based photographer.
RENOVATION ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR DESIGN: Ernesto Santalla, AIA, LEED AP, Studio Santalla, Washington, DC.
Along with the launch of HOME & DESIGN, the year 1999 witnessed another local event in the world of design: the opening of the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. An elegant yet informal space, the Sculpture Garden is a six-acre oasis of native American plant species including canopy and flowering trees, shrubs and perennials. Seventeen sculptures, on loan and from the Gallery’s collection, dot the grounds, including works by Claes Oldenburg and Joan Miró. Pictured above, Alexander Calder's Cheval Rouge (Red Horse) provides a sense of the eclectic art on view. A picturesque fountain at the Garden’s center serves as an ice rink in winter; the nearby Pavilion Café has indoor as well as outdoor seating. Open year-round, the Sculpture Garden is located at 7th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW. www.nga.gov.
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: Laurie D. Olin, Olin Partnership, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
An Arlington, Virginia, homeowner recently went through her whole house, replacing every incandescent bulb with more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs). “She wanted to do her part,” explains Dominion Electric’s Nicole Brose, ASID, the lighting designer who steered her in the right direction. While changing bulbs is a small contribution to the energy conservation effort, it reflects America’s increasing interest in sustainable living. “Green lighting is still a newer concept,” Brose says, “but it’s the wave of the future. Just within the last six months we’ve seen factories producing more products, and people in the industry getting trained to work with them.”
In fact, a wide range of green lighting products is already available. And though many homeowners—including the Arlington resident above—can’t afford or are
not ready to make sweeping changes to their existing electrical systems, smaller-scale eco-friendly alternatives do exist. Incandescent bulbs, with a lifespan of 750 to 1,000 hours, can be replaced by halogens, which offer a very crisp, white light and last about 3,000 hours. CFLs offer the greenest alternative; they are Energy Star-rated and will last up to 10,000 hours. Though some say they don’t give off as pleasing a light as incandescents and halogens, they are available in a warm white tinged with orangey pink, as well as the cool white associated with traditional fluorescents.
If you’re interested in installing a new, eco-friendly lighting system, low-voltage LED (light emitting diode) lights are the best way to go. They provide much greater energy efficiency than any other light on the market today: An LED light will last 10 times longer than a CFL and use a third of the energy. Also, unlike CFLs, LEDs are mercury-free, which makes
recycling them easier and safer.
LEDs can be recessed, or used in under-counter applications, fixtures, lamps and cable and monorail systems. However, because of their low voltage, they cannot replace all forms of lighting in the home. “LED lighting is a work in progress in terms of providing larger and brighter lights,” says David Neumaier, a partner with Sound Images, a Falls Church, Virginia-based lighting and automation dealer. Neumaier suggests that a daylight system such as Solatube be used in conjunction with LEDs. “Daylight systems reflect and magnify sunlight in the home through a long, recessed channel from the roof to the ceiling,” he explains. He also advocates custom-programmed shade control systems, which help with climate control as well as light by monitoring shade positions day to day with sensors and software modules.
Unfortunately, the greener the lighting product, the higher the price—which can be discouraging to would-be environmentalists. It’s important to remember, however, that buyers will ultimately recoup their cash outlay; CFLs, for example, cost more than a regular bulb but last four times as long. And, as Nicole Brose of Dominion points out, “LED lighting is 50 percent more expensive than regular under-cabinet lighting but lasts four times as long.”
Lighting control offers another significant way to be energy efficient. There are several options, according to Lee Odess, marketing and sales director of Vienna, Virginia-based Integrated Media Systems, a lighting and automation dealer. “There are three families of controls,” Odess explains. “Wallbox dimmers, which are your traditional dimmer; single-room systems, where you take multiple switches in one room and introduce a master control for them in order to create atmosphere; and whole-home systems, where you would have a combination of dimmers and master controls.”
Dimmers offer an inexpensive way to save energy. Dimming your lights by 50 percent, for example, will save 50 percent of your electricity. In addition, says Odess, dimming your lights makes bulbs last longer. Remember to match the dimmer type to the fixture and bulb type, however; mixing them will result in poor performance and possibly a fire hazard.
Though a whole-house system is expensive, typically starting at $3,000, the energy savings can be substantial; master controls enable homeowners to reduce and regulate light usage anywhere in the house. For instance, says Odess, “a time clock feature can be set to turn lights on and off or to levels you want,” so that rooms not in use will never be needlessly lit. Lighting control systems can also include sensors that read the ambient light outside and adjust the level of artificial light to match. In addition to lighting, whole-house systems can control HVAC and security systems, home theaters, audio/video systems and more. Single-room and whole-house systems are available through lighting control companies such as Lutron and Crestron. Crestron has a Green Light product line specializing in eco-friendly methods and materials). Both companies offer a variety of options for retro-fitting a home with hard-wired and wireless systems for single rooms and whole houses.
Despite the burgeoning interest in green lighting, as Nicole Brose of Dominion Electric sees it, homeowners still have a way to go. “We are taking the lead from European countries, but we’re not there yet. At Dominion, every month we get more customers interested in introducing sustainable lighting into their homes, usually on a smaller scale.” But, she adds, “It’s important to do your part, even on a smaller scale.”
Kenneth M. Wyner is a photographer in Takoma Park, Maryland.
Jewelry designer Heidi Hess, 25, brings her unique creations to her newly opened Georgetown boutique, Poppy. The shop, which takes its moniker from Hess’s own nickname, borrows inspiration for its décor from the flower: A deep purple hearth and red accent wall complement white, distressed wood floors.
Hess’s spring collection combines elongated forms and saturated colors to produce such delicate pieces as these garnet and green glass earrings (above). And moving from personal to home adornment, she also creates Hestia Daemons—a line of commissioned wall hangings intended to reflect a client’s spirit and personal history (top). Hess calls these pieces handcrafted from silver and gold metaphorical family seals. “My pieces are symbols for our storytelling,” she says.
3235 P Street, NW. Phone 202-290-1377 or visit www.poppymetals.com. —Julie Sanders
May/June 2009
When Lisa and Dave Schertler purchased their classic 1930s brick Colonial in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, DC, it was missing a key ingredient. With two small children and a dog, the Schertlers needed a casual space to hang out in, one that would be easily accessible to the kitchen so they could keep an eye on their busy brood. They needed a family room.
But because of the home’s tight urban lot, adding on was not an option. Instead, the Schertlers thought of converting their garage, which adjoined the kitchen, into a family room. “This was a leaky garage we never used,” Lisa Schertler recalls. “It felt like a waste of our finite space.” The couple consulted architect Bruce Wentworth of Wentworth Design Build to see if their idea would float. “We weren’t sure it was possible until we met with Bruce,” Schertler says.
According to Wentworth, “It was a puzzle. We had to figure out how to do it legally.” The house is located in a historic district with very strict zoning regulations. Off-street parking had to remain available to the residents, so the space needed to meet the district’s requirement for a garage, even though it would be used as a family room. “Zoning insisted on operable garage doors,” Wentworth explains. He replaced the existing garage doors with more attractive new ones made of two outer layers of wood with insulation sandwiched in between. Though the family had wanted wood floors, they settled for porcelain tiles “to withstand the weight of a car, if necessary,” Wentworth says. The floor sits on an almost imperceptible slope as well, to account for the drainage that zoning requires for any garage space.
Having complied with the zoning requirements, Wentworth now had to create an attractive family room inside. He began by placing three sections of moveable, custom-built floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in front of the garage doors to simulate a regular wall. At nine feet, eight inches tall, the ceilings are coffered to add interest to the room. The rear wall of the 15-by-20-foot space was replaced by French doors leading to the backyard patio; a transom and sidelights flank the doors, adding to the sense of openness and light. A built-in cabinet matches the shelves; it houses a dry bar and wine rack, and provides a surface for the flat-screen TV.
The couple chose a wall pump to heat and cool the space. Water pipes are embedded in the concrete sub-floor for radiant heating (electric pipes are also an option for under-floor heat; they are cheaper to install but more expensive to run). The lighting in the room is recessed.
Originally, the kitchen was separated from the garage by a narrow breezeway, but in order to get from one space to the other, the Schertlers had to walk out into the breezeway and go around the corner to gain access to the garage. Wentworth cut a four-foot-wide opening in the kitchen wall, incorporating the covered breezeway into the remodel and creating an opening into the garage area. The result is a kitchen that flows into the new family room via a couple of curved limestone steps, which blend artfully with the room’s tile floor.
The kitchen had been remodeled before the Schertlers moved into the house, with dark cherry cabinetry and black granite countertops. However, because the wall that had to be removed for the new family room had housed the stove and some cabinetry, Wentworth needed to do a bit of reconfiguring. In the process, the Schertlers decided to make a few upgrades. They purchased a new stove and hood, which were relocated on the other side of the room along with an iridescent glass-mosaic backsplash; a new kitchen island was also installed. For contrast from the kitchen’s other, darker finishes, Wentworth used an off-white painted maple base and topped it with a grey-beige limestone slab to create a furniture-like effect.
The final component of the project was the update of a pre-existing roof deck above the garage. “It was a leaky, failing roof,” says Wentworth, “made of pressure-treated wood on top of a rubber roof.” The Schertlers wanted to keep the deck, but the situation was complicated by the fact that the roof was sloped. Wentworth used Veradjust adjustable pedestals to create a level surface, and installed copper roofing over the entire structure. “When you put a roof deck down, you don’t want leaks,” he explains of his choice. “Copper will last 100 years, is maintenance-free and looks good.” Over the copper, he installed îpe wood modular decking.
The Schertlers are thrilled with their new space, which was completed last spring. “We sit in there and wonder how we ever lived without it,” Lisa Schertler says. “Lots of houses have garages that have a bunch of stuff in them. So does ours!”
Photographer Ron Blunt is based in Washington, DC.
**Out of the array of interior design magazines, Home and Design magazine stands out as a primary idea source for luxury home design and building/remodeling features. Wonderful visuals of custom homes and eco-friendly resources are combined with expert advice to provide a fundamental reference point for bringing amazing home interior design and remodeling projects to life.
When George and Holly Stone decided to renovate the kitchen of their Clarksville, Maryland, home, they were very clear about what they wanted. As the owners of an eco-friendly summer camp in Maine, there was only one way to go: green.
Recognizing their need for a contractor with experience in green remodeling, they tapped Rockville-based Tabor Design Build, Inc., for the job. As Peggy Card, Tabor’s design consultant on the project, describes the couple, “These are people who have always been eco-conscious. This is part of who they are. But they also needed to make a kitchen that would suit the family.”
The Stones were looking for more space with lots of natural light. “The first step was opening the space up,” Card says. They removed a wall between the kitchen and pantry and installed a big bay window. They also enlarged an existing window bay and replaced all the kitchen windows. “All the windows are energy-efficient Pella windows,” Card says. Insulation made from recycled denim was used in the window bays and all the existing wood trim and siding were reused wherever possible. All new wood products and cabinets they purchased were approved by the Forestry Stewardship Council, which ensures that only non-polluting chemicals are used in their manufacture.
The cabinets offer a mix of sustainable woods: Those around the kitchen perimeter and on the island are maple, painted white with an umber glaze, while the one that divides the kitchen from the dining area is stained a dark cherry with a cherry countertop.
A composite of recycled concrete and glass material from IceStone was used on the other countertops. The backsplash is recycled iridescent glass in a colorful mosaic. The floor is slate (from a quarry that mines in a sustainable way), another energy-efficient choice that, explains Card, “is naturally passive solar. It holds heat from the sun and then releases it as the air around it cools.”
For further energy efficiency, three Nuheat mats were placed under the floor, each attached to a different programmable thermostat. So when Holly Stone, an avid cook, is in the kitchen, she can turn on the mat in the cooking area without using the other two, located in other parts of the kitchen. Another source of heat is the fireplace near the table area. “We went with a Rais fireplace, which uses intelligent combustion energy,” Card says. This means it burns wood at such a high heat that it doesn’t give off smoke or carbon emissions.
Wherever possible, the Stones opted for energy-saving appliances, including an Energy Star induction cook top by Thermador. The lighting was arranged in work zones like the floor-warming system, using LED recessed lights and low-voltage task lighting.
In recognition of its eco-friendly design, this project won a grand 2009 Contractor of the Year Award in the category of green interior remodeling. For the months they spend here, the Stones can now live as sustainably as they do during their summers in Maine. “It’s a prime example that you can be eco-friendly and still have a great kitchen,” Peggy Card says. “You don’t have to compromise.”
Greg Hadley is based in Fairfax, Virginia.
DESIGN & CONTRACTING: Peggy Card, Design Consultant, Tabor Design Build, Rockville, Maryland.
After 10 years in their McLean, Virginia, home, Bob and Patty Finch were ready to renovate. Situated on five picturesque acres of densely wooded hillside, their 7,000-square-foot house already had a lot to offer. But it was an odd amalgam of contemporary architecture and Colonial influences that didn’t really fit its setting; built in 1980, it had been redecorated over the years, yet without any cohesive vision. The Finches wanted a home that would connect better with its setting, while also conveying a particular look and style. “The house was piecemeal,” explains Patty Finch. “It had Colonial banisters, Spanish tiles and creamsicle-pink walls. After all the mismatching, we wanted to make it more formal and uniform. More traditional.”
Armed with a design plan from Rebecca Bostick, an Alexandria, Virginia-based architect, the couple turned to the Fort Valley, Virginia-based Hayes Construction Corporation to help them achieve their goal. The project, which won a 2009 Contractor of the Year Award merit prize for whole house renovation over $1 million, required that the interior be largely gutted, and the outside altered completely. According to Bill Hayes, principal of Hayes Construction, “Ninety-eight percent of the house changed, even though the footprint only grew 850 square feet. The whole roof structure changed dramatically.”
In fact, the altered roofline transformed the front façade from contemporary to traditional. “We extended the front elevation out to add the stone entryway, creating a gabled roof above it,” Hayes explains. The roofline over the original home’s clerestory windows was raised, creating another gabled roof. The result was the traditional structure the Finches wanted. The couple chose a massive pine front door, reclaimed from Philadelphia’s Constitution Hall, to complete the more formal look.
Inside, what was a series of smaller rooms became one big room, encompassing a two-story entry hall, sitting area, kitchen and family room. The room’s ceiling height varies from nine feet in the kitchen to a soaring 35 feet in the sitting area. Two huge fieldstone fireplaces anchor near-opposite ends of the space. In addition, as Hayes describes it, the original house “had high ceilings and low windows. It looked odd.” Taller windows were installed, both for aesthetic purposes and to let in more light.
The new design also called for the stairway to be moved from its original, cramped location in the entryway. By repositioning it, the builders were able to open up the space; they also removed the wall separating the entry hall from the sitting area. This, however, created a dilemma. The wall between those spaces had supported a bridge between the master bedroom suite and the other three bedrooms on the second floor. “The bridge was no longer held up by a wall,” Hayes says. “So we installed steel beams to hold it up.” The catch, apparently, was that it had been a load-bearing wall. So the steel beams had to support the roof as well as the bridge.
The task of balancing the original contemporary design with a more traditional style was another challenge. Patty Finch recruited Falls Church, Virginia-based interior designer Karen Aylestock to work with her on the home’s interiors. “I can definitely say I had a vision,” Finch says. “I wanted earth tones and materials like stone and wood to be brought in to connect with the outdoors.” Finch was attracted to the Arts and Crafts style, so she and Aylestock tried to blend that sensibility with something more modern. “I call it transitional Arts and Crafts,” Finch says.
In addition, other rooms such as the dining room and formal living room have been updated to blend with the new décor. “To really change the feel of the house,” Aylestock recalls, “we put in new casings, light fixtures, hardware. Just changing finishes and windows made a big difference.” Design elements such as the library fireplace—formerly white-painted brick and now refaced in fieldstone with a warm cherry mantel—and the rich, alder-wood newel posts on the stairs, add the charm Patty Finch was looking for.
For the kitchen and baths, Aylestock and Finch chose natural materials that would reflect the outdoors such as copper sinks and porcelain-tile floors and a backsplash made to look like slate. In the kitchen, alder-wood cabinetry matches the newel posts, connecting the spaces. Patty Finch says she requested that the sink be positioned “at the right angle to be able to do the dishes and look out the windows.”
In fact, looking out the windows here could be a full-time occupation. Against a breath-taking view of the woods, a spacious deck and terraced patios lead down to a swimming pool and tennis court; a rope bridge offers the only access to Bob Finch’s home office, a structure they call the tree house, which was there before the renovation. Then there’s the five-panel NanaWall, an accordion-style set of doors that the couple had installed by the deck. It looks like a wall of windows; folded all the way back, however, the wall disappears entirely, making the deck an extension of the house.
As Patty Finch says, there’s room in this house for everybody: “We get to enjoy the house as a family, in one big room.”
Photographer Greg Hadley is based in Fairfax, Virginia.
ARCHITECTURE: Rebecca L. G. Bostick, AIA, Alexandria, Virginia. CONTRACTOR: Bill Hayes, Hayes Construction Corporation, Fort Valley, Virginia. INTERIOR DESIGN: Karen P. Aylestock, ASID, KPA Design Group, Great Falls, Virginia. KITCHEN DESIGN: Patty Whitman, Kleppinger Designer Group, Fairfax, Virginia.
When a Virginia couple originally installed an irrigation system 18 years ago, their needs were extensive. Their newly landscaped property, with its fresh perennial gardens and turf, required plenty of water. Eventually, however, the gardens became established; today, they no longer require regular watering—but the turf still does. The homeowners’ system had become outdated, using up too much water not only for the health of their plants but also for the health of the environment. Recently, they turned to Mitchellville, Maryland-based Petro Design Build to update their irrigation system. The resulting setup allows them to tend to their property’s now-disparate needs while also acknowledging the pressing need to conserve water.
As the couple discovered, there’s an irrigation system out there to suit every situation. According to Petro’s president, Kathleen Litchfield, the question is as much whether you should get a system at all, as it is what kind to get. “I’m not a big fan unless you’re using it for turf, because it isn’t necessary for established trees and shrubs and it does waste water,” she explains. “If you’re putting in new plant materials, it’s better not to rely on irrigation at all because plants need a more concentrated watering system initially.” Under those circumstances, Petro recommends using a hose to do the job.
However, if you do decide you want to irrigate, the best plan is to use a drip system in the gardens and a spray system on the turf. The drip system is a series of half-inch tubes set 12 to18 inches apart from one another. Positioned just under the surface of the soil, the tubes can be directed at specific plants from root level. “Drips are best for beds,” says Tom Woods, residential irrigation manager for Bowie, Maryland-based Complete Landscaping. “They are more efficient because they water plants at the roots so they use less water. And there’s no waste due to evaporation from sunlight or runoff.” Drips are optimal for some plants, such as roses, that respond best to being watered at the roots. And according to Kathleen Litchfield, the drip system also eliminates fungal growth on plant leaves caused by too much water collecting on them.
There are some downsides, however. Drip tubes require some maintenance; because they sit just beneath the surface of the ground they can become visible and periodically need to be re-covered. And, as Mike Ritgert, irrigation and lighting design manager for Dulles, Virginia-based Chapel Valley Landscaping, explains, it is often difficult for the homeowner to actually tell whether the system is working without going outside to test the soil. “A drips system needs more monitoring and management,” Ritgert says.
Typically, homeowners use pop-up systems for their turf, and though landscapers may discourage it, they often choose them for their beds as well because they require less maintenance than drips. Rotor pop-ups and spray pop-ups both are available; spray from a rotor head reaches 30 to 40 feet and is most often used on commercial-sized lawns, while a pop-up spray head reaches up to about 12 feet—a more common span for a residential property. According to Tom Woods, these systems are more wasteful than drip systems, using 10 to 12 gallons of water per minute, but require almost no maintenance. “Drip materials are a little less expensive, but installing them is more labor-intensive,” Woods says. For spray pop-ups, the opposite is true. Ultimately, Woods estimates that the cost for pop-ups is about 10 percent higher.
Given the varying needs within one yard, most landscapers recommend installing a combination of systems. “When I go out to a property,” says Chapel Valley’s Mike Ritgert, “I talk to the client about having the yard divided into separate zones for irrigating. With irrigation systems you can have a tendency to over-water”—which can be good for turf but overkill for plant beds. Creating zones that can be controlled separately will allow the homeowner to monitor their systems’ water output most effectively.
Whether or not a property is divided into zones, any automatic irrigation system will require a timer to turn the system on and off, called a controller. Controllers enable the system to sense moisture, so that it can detect when to turn on the water. “Controllers can adjust the system to factors like time and climate conditions,” Ritgert says. There are also sensors on the market that read soil moisture for the controller, but Ritgert suggests using them with caution. “They are only so helpful because soil conditions can be so diverse even from the front to the back yard, a sensor is not necessarily accurate.”
Another option is a rain sensor. “Rain gauges on the roof and gutters tell the system not to come on until the weather is dry,” explains Tom Woods. Computerized controllers are also available, working off weather reports on radio or satellite systems. Some use modems or cell phones to enable homeowners to operate them remotely. Alternatively, landscape companies will offer to maintain the system by computer for the homeowner. At Chapel Valley, “we offer the service as part of our maintenance program,” Ritgert says.
Controllers come with a variety of extras which, according to experts, may or may not be worth it. “Don’t use injector systems,” advises Woods, referring to a mechanism that adds chemical fertilizers to the irrigation water. “They’re not scientifically fine-tuned enough and it will be hard to control how much is getting out.”
Before deciding on any irrigation system, be sure to confirm the adequacy of your water source. “If your existing water source is not sufficient, it’s probably not worth the expense,” says Kathleen Litchfield. It’s easy enough to check the water pressure on your property if you have city water, by hooking up a pressure gauge to the hose or spigot outside the house. For a well system, homeowners will need to have the well checked. “Older communities can often have lower pressure,” says Woods. “Also, highly populated neighborhoods where lots of people are sharing the same water source can have the same problem.”
Determined homeowners may choose to install a new well if there is not enough water to support an irrigation system, but this is an expensive alternative, adding up to $7,000 to the cost of the whole enterprise.
Ecologically concerned homeowners are turning to green alternatives as well; Chapel Valley recently buried two plastic tanks on a Takoma Park property to catch runoff. Green roofs and gutters are becoming increasingly prevalent as a way to manage storm water, channeling it into the irrigation system. If the water is dirty or chemically compromised, it’s possible to run it through a water softener.
The total cost of an irrigation system includes plumbing and electricity, as well as “backflow protection,” a safety device that ensures the irrigation water—which flows through a line from the house to the system outside—will never back up into the house (this is required by law in Maryland). Depending on the choices you make—the type of system you want, the level of sophistication of the controller, the sensors and other extras you prefer—the cost of an irrigation system will range widely, from $5,000 to $15,000 for a half-acre lot.
Many homeowners prefer to hire a landscape company to maintain their irrigation system. The company will monitor the property’s needs as the seasons change and regularly check soil and plant health. This may be the best solution: Landscaping a property is a major investment, after all, and homeowners want to make it last. According to Litchfield, having an irrigation company install your system is fine, but it’s important to “hire someone who knows about plant materials” to calibrate the system to the needs of the property.
“Money is a huge factor, but what you really want is for the system to work efficiently,” says Tom Woods. “Get a company that will do maintenance year-round.”
