Otogawa-Anschel Design+Build

06/04/2026

As we make progress on the New Modern remodel, we are very excited to announce that it will be featured in this Fall's Artisan Home Tour!

An informational website about The New Modern residential remodeling project at 4925 Girard Ave S, Minneapolis, MN by OA Design+Build+Architecture.

05/26/2026

This time we visited Grand Manam Island in New Brunswick, Canada, and our dear friends at Big Dog construction. Working with Panel and Channel siding requires some planning, but the results are amazing, especially with the new sea grass pattern on Hardie panel!

www.protradecraft.com | SUBSCRIBE!https://www.youtube.com/channel/...

05/18/2026

This is new construction. Intentionally built this way. I watched it go up 3 years ago. (It's across the street from my oldest's high school.) It was full of code violations as it was being built, enough to get it shut down multiple times by the city. .
The design sets the house up for failure of the worst kind. The codes aren't really set up to handle this level of insanity either. Not just the water that's being channeled directly at the window, the entire roof above it, smashing against the side of the dormer! Not just bulk water events, the snow that will pile up against the house, and melt, and freeze, and melt.. .

05/15/2026

The House and the Tree.

OA Design Build Architecture installed the first ever SkyCove on this Minneapolis remodel of a 1913 Spanish Colonial; turning it into a modern marvel that ha...

05/03/2026

Structure is fun, and often hidden, so let's talk about it while we can still see it! .
Steel beam went in, and runs from foundation where we grout the core solid first, add a capillary break, and run over to a PSL (paralam), which bears on a new footing.

This will picks up the floor framing so we can move the original bearing beam, cut out the the floor framing and bring in our new dancing winder staircase that we've been posting about.

Something we don't do that often is pour a dual thickness footing. In this case the engineer asked us to set the large L shaped footing 2" lower so we can attach our mounting plate and bolts, grout it in and tile over it. Essentially hiding the structural connection.

Fun stuff! ..

05/03/2026

It's almost here! With a line up of speakers that is guaranteed to make for the best Building Science Symposium ever. Just another reason to love Canada! .

04/29/2026

The anatomy of an idea. .
Where does it start? When does the spark happen? What

04/24/2026

Remember to open up that ERV or HRV a few times a year and check those filters! These machines are the lungs of a house, and you want them clean and healthy!

04/24/2026

Math is important in running a business. It is important in managing personal finances. It is vital in managing an economy.

It isn't opinion. It isn't conjecture. It's just really really basic math.