Starting New House Finally!

[jinman]

Alan, I really like that thinset concrete. We have been considering adding a half bath under our deck for direct access from our walkout basement. That thinset looks like the "ticket" for covering the existing deck and making a waterproof ceiling.

 

[EddieWalker]

Alan,

The rear porch and balcony are just amazing!! The cedar really makes it look impressive and sets the tone for the entire house. I can't wait to see how the brick looks.

Thanks for sharing,
Eddie

 

[Alan L.]

Wow Alan. You & Mrs Alan are sure building a great home.
What are you planning on doing with the place you currently live in?

Thanks, the existing living quarters will become a sort of guest house I guess. The living room with kitchen might become a game room, with pool table, etc.

 

[Alan L.]

Alan,

The rear porch and balcony are just amazing!! The cedar really makes it look impressive and sets the tone for the entire house. I can't wait to see how the brick looks.

Thanks for sharing,
Eddie

Thanks, Eddie. I goofed up over a month ago and ordered 3- foot exterior doors for upstairs while the plan called for 2'8" doors up there. They just discovered yesterday that they were wrong, and had to re-order. So I guess we are going to be held up some more. Normally the guy at Foxworth fills the order based on the plan but he had given his copy to the framer and I made the order myself, obviously wrong.

The foam guy is starting his caulking and such today but can't foam until the fireplace is installed so that he can foam around the fresh air intake vent.

 

[mikim]

Thanks, the existing living quarters will become a sort of guest house I guess. The living room with kitchen might become a game room, with pool table, etc.....OK ... now that's where I'm doing something different with my barn apt. that we will live in while building....my wife knows up front that what I am presently building is my future wood shop and that we will simply be staying in my wood shop temporarily. I'm claiming it back no more than a week after we move into a house. If we want a guest house I'll build one outside the barn.

 

[midlf]

More pics of the back porches. In the blue area (to be bricked) to the right on the back porch area (this is the back of the garage mostly), there is a 6" duct sticking out about halfway up the wall on the left, and another one on the right. The one on the right is the fresh air intake for the ERV unit, the one on the left is the stale air exhaust.

Hopefully they will be spraying foam insulation this week some time.

What is the box for that is shown in the "balcony51" picture?

 

[Alan L.]

What is the box for that is shown in the "balcony51" picture?

I forgot to mention it. That is the housing for the tankless water heater. Just inside that wall is my shower in the master bath. It is a Rinaii 9-gpm unit that runs on LP gas.

 

[Alan L.]

Finally got the fireplace people in, the house has been sitting idle for about 10 days. I designed the corner fireplace to sort of match the old house we lived in for 20 years.

After waiting for the fireplace before we could get the foam insulation sprayed, which holds up drywall etc, and they finally show up, they ran into a problem. There was not enough clearance front to back for the stack. The choices were to call the framers back in to rip it out and start over, or push the fireplace back 3", which is what we did. Now we have some work to do before putting the cultured stone on there, since the black areas are not supposed to be covered with anything other than noncombustible materials. I'd really like to bring the top part back flush down to the firebox opening if possible.

The mantle will be covered with wood, probably cedar.

This house is killing me. Tomorrow will be 3 months since we broke ground, and we have at least 2 months left. We were planning a big Easter celebration but looks like we might not make it. It just seems like everything is held up by the foam insulation and the concrete balcony. The foam has REALLY been a pain in special preparation, I hope its worth it.

Next after foam will be drywall, tape bed & texture, hardwood floors, trim and stairs, etc etc etc. A long ways to go and we have spent half the budget so far. Not really too far off budget, but will go over maybe $10K. I had left almost that much fluff anyway, so am not surprised.

Everyone is now telling me that appliances and HVAC equipment does not last near as long as it used to and to expect to have to replace it in 10 years. If I have to replace all the appliances and HVAC in 10 years I'll have to move at that point unless my care package comes in before then.

 

[EddieWalker]

Hi Alan,

Thanks for the update. Steph and I were just talking about you last night and wondering how it was coming along. Were your ears burnign? hahaha

Ten days is sure a long time for nothing to happen, but when you have to wait on subs, and they are busy, it could be allot worse. I sometimes wonder which is worse, the 4 hour work day some of them have, or the days of nobody even showing up. What really kills me is I've been the General on some of these projects and I know they are out at the golf course or just hungover from getting paid the day before!!!

Your moving along nicely and it's going to be an amazing home. Thanks for th updates.

Eddie

 

[gsganzer]

Alan,
Is that a "majestic" fireplace insert? Is it wood burning or gas logs only? If it has a "outside combustion air" provision, I strongly suggest you hook it up. I have 42" majestic wood burner in my living room that has the circulating blower and it works real well. The circulating blower makes all the difference between the fireplace being just for looks or being functional. In fact, ours will pretty much heat our entire house. I just wish the installer would have hooked up the outside air duct on ours .

I have another majestic out on our back porch. It doesn't have the circulating blower.