Our House (in the middle of the street)

Deck Work

2008-10-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

The decks have been needing attention for months and I had to deal with them before weather really gets bad. The outer edge flashing needed to be removed along with the blocking that had been installed behind it, which wouldn't allow room for the faschia to be installed properly.

Deck edge with flashing removed. Wood backing is still in place, which prevents the faschia board from fitting up behind the flashing properly. Initially the decks were to have a liquid membrane (paint on) type deck surface, but the base membrane material that was applied in the spring had begun to fail already. I couldn't just apply more base material over the top & hope for the best. The liquid membrane surface wants at least 40 degrees temperature in order to apply it properly, which we are not getting consistently these days.

Deck edge is trimmed, caulked and flashing installed, ready for a second faschia board to be installed above. This would create a clean deck edge, ready for a new deck surface to be installed.

I called Ron Stewart of DuraDek Seattle and he responded right away. Ron installs 60 mil vinyl deck surfaces with heat welded seams, made by DuraDek. The product acts as its own flashing also. Basically it forms a continuous non-broken surface from up under the siding, across the deck surface, and over the edge.

In order to provide a perfect deck surface, Ron's crew installs Hardibacker over the old deck surface.

About half the top deck was installed today - its ok to walk on it immediately, which is a huge plus.

I chose this taupe colored texture for the deck surface - its non-slip & looks great.

Int/Exterior Paint update

2008-10-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

Exterior paint & stain is about 99% complete. We have to paint a few additional pieces of trim here & there, but its looking great.

"Custom" plastic garage door sheeting will be replaced with real garage doors next week.

The doors from the Den had to be taken out and turned around - they were installed backwards. Not a good thing for keeping the water out - thanks to Ron Stewart from Duradek Seattle for pointing out this "little" detail.

Gloomy enough for Halloween - but we're not partying yet. This is the master bedroom, all masked off for the trim to be primed & painted.

The Master Bath wearing blue tape & brown paper.

More Painting Progress

2008-10-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

On sunny days, Marco's crew from Jimenez Brothers have been outside getting the place painted & stained. Unfortunately the cedar shingles that were put up a couple months ago had been exposed to the elements, causing water stains over most of the surface. Marco's crew sprayed and scrubbed every shingle with a pre-stain cleaner/sealer prior to shooting the stain we picked. The pre-sealer helped to restore the original color of the cedar, washing out the water stains and preparing the wood to take the stain more evenly.

We chose a stain from Daly's, which has a grey-brown look to it. It changes alot depending on the way sunlight hits it - sometimes it looks grey-blue, sometimes it just looks light brown. We are really happy with the result!

The painters are working on the trim and base color this week, in between rainy days. They expect to be totally finished with painting in the next two weeks.

Painting Progress

2008-10-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

I called Marco from Jimenez Bros. Painting on a Monday about two weeks ago. He came up from Seattle that day, and by Tuesday morning at 8:30 am, I had a crew of 3 busy prepping the trim. They have worked Monday thru Saturday since then. I was amazed when I saw the amount of manual labor that went into making the trim look perfect. These guys filled & sanded, filled again, sanded again. Then they inspected every square inch using a spot light, while making final touch ups. They masked off the entire place, then shot the trim with primer. Then they spent an entire day hand sanding every square inch of the trim again. Finally, the trim was sprayed with a final coat of satin Chantilly Lace white. An incredible amount of work, yet they are now starting all over again on the second floor.

Trim Pack in final putty stage. It get sanded, primered & sanded again before final paint.

All masked off, primered and ready to shoot final finish.

If you have a painting project, I highly recommend Jimenez Brothers. Call Marco at 206.261.5960. His crews are hard working, thorough and do incredible work.

Good progress despite a very tough month

2008-10-07T16:47:00.000-07:00

Who hasn't had a tough month? Bank failures, Wall Street sell-offs and a terrible housing market have not only been a huge distraction, but have directly affected all of us.
Two weeks ago I watched Washington Mutual's stock tank, and after seeing an additional 65% drop after-hours I ran to Wamu just before closing. I managed to get some critical construction funds out of my account. Wamu failed only hours later, and if it weren't for the FDIC watching its own back, Wamu would have locked out its customers. Not a good feeling. I bumped into a reporter for the Everett Herald on the way out of the bank. The story made the front page the next day.

Meanwhile, the house project has had its own drama, but at least progress has been made. Finishing Touch PNW, Inc. gets a thumbs up for some beautiful tile work (they also installed the Brazilian Cherry hardwood floors). All three upper bathrooms are custom layouts. Here are some pics:

Master Bath: Italian porcelain tile, floor to ceiling. The tiny backsplash tiles are a glass tile called Kyoto Silk, from Lunada Bay Tile. A massive piece of 1/2" thick glass is being made to create the interior shower wall, which will run from floor to ceiling (9-feet x 4-feet). Other than the glass, its an open walk-in shower. Opening is for the round soaking tub.

18"x36" Ston-grey Italian Porcelain floor tiles make up the floor.

To contrast the grey floor tiles & espresso colored shower walls, we chose Muluka tan pebbles for the shower floor. These really contrast well with the other tile & we get a nice foot massage every time we shower. We also had the pebbles installed as an accent border around the shower pan & tub base as you can see both pictures above.

Upper Powder Bath. Tile floor with shoulder high wainscot. These are a rustic ceramic tile in 3 different sizes with a ton of cut-in detail.

Accent tiles are a really cool looking cracked-glass tile called Tantrum Glass.

I think we are gaining momentum now. The trim pack was pretty extensive to install, and is being prepped for paint as I write this. Once the trim is finished, we'll move forward with final colors inside as well as getting the outside painted & stained(weather permitting of course).

Trim Package & More

2008-09-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

The trim package is nearly complete. There are a ton of doors & windows in this place, so wrapping them all with trim was a big job. The trim looks great, and when its all prepped & painted it will be amazing. The house is really nearing completion, with only a few major steps left to go...

Kincaid is now putting up the crown molding and it's looking great.

Tall base molding.

The structure of the coffered dining room ceiling has been wrapped. Columns to come.

Kincaid's mobile carpenter shop, set up in our Great Room.

Stair railing installed.

TNG pine is getting installed into the soffits & under decks.

Help us choose!

2008-09-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

We've been trying to choose colors for the interior & exterior of the house. We've been using Swatchbox Technologies' tools to visualize the paint colors using our own pictures. I think the pics really help us get a sense of how the colors look, but we are finding that the real-world results using the same color codes has not been so accurate. Probably an issue with my monitors not being calibrated correctly or something.
Anyway - help us pick colors! Go to the exterior gallery & the interior gallery to see the different options we put together...

Trying to find a deep, slightly purple color for the entry. This is a tough one - the light changes throughout the day & we don't want to darken the room too much. This is an art wall, so we want good contrast.

We're not sure if we will stain the shingles from day one or just do a clear stain for a few years first. Once it's stained, we'll never be able to go back to that natural look.

Flooring Installed

2008-08-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

The guys from Finishing Touch have the floor installed. They'll sand & apply one coat of finish soon, then cover it all up with cardboard to protect it. I'll try to get a few pics before they cover it up - it will be covered for the rest of the project. They'll be back soon to start the hard surfaces in the bathrooms.

This floor isn't sanded, but the reddish color is coming out nicely.

They still have to run flooring into the pantry, but other than that, they sand it & apply the first of three coats of finish.

Flooring Installation

2008-08-12T12:27:00.000-07:00

The flooring guys are busy laying in the new hardwood. This will really transform the upstairs! By tomorrow, they'll have finished most of the install. They will then sand it and do the first of three coats of Swedish finish.

Once the wood is in, the base trim, stone fireplace and kitchen cabinet installation can begin.

Flooring is solid clear-grade Brazilian Cherry, and will take on a much more reddish hue once the finish is done.

Siding Finished

2008-08-12T09:32:00.001-07:00

The siding is finished, and we really like how it turned out!

We're still not sure if we want to shoot some colored stain on the shingles or do a clear sealer.

The area around the fireplace will have stone, so its still just sheathing & Tyvek.

Finally an Update!

2008-08-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

Summer got us busy, and I've been a bit lax in posting to the blog. Sorry about that. There has been plenty of progress on sheetrock, siding, interior doors & trim.
I posted a ton of pics to albums and will add links to the albums on the left sidebar. Here are a few pics of the finished work:

Den & Living Room french doors are installed. Front doors partially visible at the right are just temporary doors. Sheetrock is finished & textured throughout the house. Trim is going up around all openings - you can see that its installed on the set of doors to the right.

Pantry, Mudroom, Powder & Closet. Mudroom door is not installed yet. Trim is going up around these doors also. Base trim is cut but not installed - I think they'll wait until the hardwood floor is in. Hardwood material is on site, acclimating to the house - should be installed by end of the week/early next week.

Upstairs doors are cherry wood, and will receive a clear finish. Downstairs are regular white painted wood doors.

Siding is going up too. Its almost complete, and is a combination of hardiplank and cedar shingle. Check out the albums for more pics of the siding.

Whoops! The digger hit a main trunk for neighborhood phone lines. There were probably 100 pair in that cable. It was in conduit & when the excavator dug it up, it pulled the conduit riser right off the pole and popped the lid off the splice can as you can see here. Verizon didn't have it on their plant map, so thankfully not our fault.

Lots more pics in the albums. You get to them by clicking the pictures in the left sidebar.

Sheetrock Starts

2008-06-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

All the hard work is getting covered up now, as the sheetrock starts going in. This is a pretty exciting phase - each space is starting to take its final shape, giving a true sense of the lighting & scale. Those 10 foot ceiling on the upper floor lend a huge feel to each room.

By end of today, the upper floor should be finishing up, and Emmet will start rocking the middle floor.

Looking into the corner of the kitchen - powder room, mud room & pantry.

"A big lid" - high, open ceiling produces a really big feel.

Dorrinda is standing in the Living Room. We originally planned a pool table in here, but we may go another direction at this point.

Progress Update

2008-06-06T11:20:00.000-07:00

Progress for the last month has been mainly around preparing for the final push. Kincaid has gotten a lot done:

-electrical hooked up
-water main dug in & connected
-deck construction nearly complete: need handrail, top layer membrane, T&G in soffits.
-framing complete & inspection passed
-exterior shear completed & inspected (ready for siding)
-gutter installed
-ceiling fiberglass insulation installed
-spray-foam insulation installed and inspection passed (see pics below)
-pocket doors installed
-Den entry wall change implemented (changed to french door entry)
-kitchen cabinet layouts finalized & cabinet material is 75% cut
-sheetrock started today

Spray Foam is a *much* more effective insulator than the fiberglass "pink stuff". I don't remember the R-values and all that, but its quite a bit better. Kincaid uses spray foam in all their houses - in fact, Curtis Kincaid has a very busy Spray Foam business, shooting foam for residential and commercial projects.

There are two types of foam used in this project. The foam on the left wall (exterior wall) is a harder, more dense foam that has a high insulation R-value. The foam on the right is a shared interior wall, so it gets an open-cell foam with less insulation R-value & more sound absorption qualities. This stuff will be great for the Theater space!

After shooting the foam, it is scraped off the stud surfaces in order to provide a suitable surface for sheetrock. Makes a big mess, but sweeps up easily. This is the downstairs office.

Curtis is shooting the open cell in this pic. He's already layered in some closed-cell foam for insulation in the room above. Now he's filling the joist space with the open cell foam for additional insulation & sound deadening. The open cell foam kicks out a lot of steam as it expands. Other than steam and foam particles, neither type of foam makes any fumes. Once its done expanding, there's almost no off-gassing - its completely inert.

Here's a shot of the kitchen area. The ceiling gets fiberglass insulation and its foam everywhere else. Kincaid was nice enough to wire up switches in the upstairs in order for us to get a sense of the lighting. It was great to see some lights on, and it really helps us visualize how well the areas will be lit.

Electrical, Low Voltage & Plumbing DONE

2008-05-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

Rough-in for electrical, low voltage & plumbing is finally DONE! This has been a ton of work for everyone involved, and they all did a *great* job. We threw a lot of changes at these guys & made a lot of last minute decisions too. Inspections are signed off for electrical & low voltage, with plumbing tomorrow. Shear nail (exterior sheathing, etc.) inspection flagged a couple minor issues that are actually not issues - just needs engineer sign off. Oh - they also finished setting the retaining wall too...

Here's some pics of this stuff before it all gets covered up:

Main panels in upper garage. The generator hookup is the white box at bottom left. We are told that power doesn't go out that often, but if it does, this will make things easy.

Plastic hot & cold water running from the main entry to the house, under the stairs.

Its pretty tight down in the office bathroom, but Jerry made it all work. Its all coming up out of concrete too, so there's no wiggle room.

Double shower heads in the master bath...

Coming up next is exterior siding, interior foam insulation & sheetrock.

Cabinet drawings are ready for us to review, electricity is hooked up & we've chosen most interior surfaces. This thing is coming down to the finishing-out stage with about 2 months to go!

Electrical Begins this Week

2008-04-10T22:16:00.000-07:00

Wyatt Electric came out on Monday and wasted no time getting started on the electrical. In just a couple days they've made a ton of progress! Its hard to get pictures that really do the work justice, so you'll have to take my word for it.

Dave Wyatt has his own home theater space, so I'm having him do my low voltage wiring, along with the theater surround speakers. He'll run smurf (flexible blue conduit) between the source gear cabinet & the ceiling mount projector location. We managed to run up the bill a bit on things like art lighting, extra coax & network drops, and dedicated power circuits for important stuff like the espresso machine. I also had him install one of those generator back-feed switchover things. The power doesn't go out that often around here, but I'd hate to have the fish tank freeze over & lose my whole crop of rare sea monkeys.

Plumbing continues to make progress - Jerry is running hot/cold water pipe now, which is that red & blue plastic stuff. I guess thats what all new houses are getting these days, but its my first experience with it.

If you are looking for a good heating & air conditioning guy, Dorral is very good - his company is Precision Heating of South Eastern Idaho (yes, he and his crew drove all the way over here for Kincaid). If its a big job, especially custom - give him a call at (208) 346-6172.

Dave Wyatt's contact info:

Wyatt Electric
4321 224th Ave NE
Granite Falls, WA 98252

Wyatt's a great guy so far and seems fair. Matt is the guy pulling the wire, and he doesn't mess around - the house is showing a ton of progress in only 3 days.

Home Theater planning

2008-03-31T19:57:00.001-07:00

The family room is going to be set up as a small home theater space. Kincaid will build a "ceiling cloud" drop ceiling section, which will house the air diffuser and some theater style lighting. It will also bring the ceiling mount height down a bit for a video projector.

I've been using Google's SketchUp to visualize the space. Its a pretty easy program to work with, and it really helped plan the space out. I may do some more of these for other spaces too.

Looking through the back wall, one can see the projection screen, speaker locations, ceiling cloud, and theater-style seating. I plan to provide 3 "formal" seats, along with plenty of room for bean bags or a couple of club chairs. I may decide to go with a curved sofa sectional instead of traditional theater seats.

Inside, at the back corner. Screen size should be in the 80" range, which should be plenty for this room, which is 14' x 14.5'.

Room section shows the proposed shape of the ceiling cloud.

This room section shows the shape of the ceiling cloud at the ceiling. Notched detail around the edge is for uplighting to create a "floating" ceiling look. Next to the person, the equipment location is shown.

No Combustibles In This Area!

2008-03-31T19:07:00.000-07:00

The see-through fireplace is installed. This gas fireplace has a large enough glass front and back that we'll be able to see the trees outside as we walk around inside. Sitting in the Great Room should provide a nice cozy fire, in addition to a view. Hey you can have your cake and eat it too!

The fireplace arrived, but there's nowhere to put it just yet.

Cutting in the opening for the fireplace. We lose the window in order to run the venting required. Too bad - we'll miss having the window, but the fireplace itself is like having a middle window. We'll still get plenty of light during the day, and it will be way cool at night.

The fireplace is installed. We'll box around it & face it with stone inside & out. Custom casework will fill out the sides to provide bookshelves and hearth.

The fireplace mounts flush with the outside wall. Stainless trim kit is on order, and we'll face this area with stone. Not sure if we'll do a hearth out here, probably not.

Upper Deck Progress, HVAC installed

2008-03-23T12:22:00.001-07:00

The framers built most of the upper deck last week, as well as finishing the framing in the Master Bedroom/Bathroom & Dining Room areas. Dorral and his crew were also back from Idaho to finish the furnace installation.

Upper deck is nearly complete. The decks are mostly cantilevered, with only two posts required to support the deepest sections.

This pic is from the deck doors closest to the Billiard Room. The deck wraps around to the Eating Nook & provides a nice view of mountains and the greenbelt.

Another shot from the trail, this time with upper deck in place.

Frames for the built-ins in the Dining Room are done. These will be cased with wainscot, columns and then painted.

Upstairs heating/AC unit is installed in the corner of the garage. Most of the ducting is also installed throughout the ceiling.

The heating/AC unit was mounted up high so we can still have some storage underneath. We'll have a sink and potting bench in this corner.

Dining Room Design Layout

2008-03-18T22:13:00.000-07:00

More design decisions today. The dining room is an open space, defined by half-walls. The half-walls will essentially be built in bookshelves.

Dining room layout. The 2x12's on the floor are to show the basic layout & also simulate the depth of the built-ins. We'll place columns at the corners of the space to help define it. Short cross-pieces are there to help us figure out where the half walls stop to create the walkthroughs. I think we'll lengthen the walls a bit from what this pic shows.

Another change in the Master Bath. Curtis (behind the ladder) indicates where we want this wall cut down. Basically we are flipping the shower 180-degrees, in order to open the back of it up. Without the wall height, we'll have a more open feel and the window to the left won't be blocked. The shower heads will be situated at the stub wall in the foreground instead.

Design Time

2008-03-16T11:05:00.001-07:00

Now that framing is almost wrapped up, its time to start thinking seriously about design ideas. So far, we've spotted sink locations (there are 3 in the kitchen area and one in the upper garage), worked out the final design of the master bath, and located gas lines for outdoor deck heaters, barbeque and a fireplace.

Last week Robert chalked out the cabinet layout in the kitchen for us to visualize. The longer peninsula island will change a bit, and we plan to add an espresso bar. We can now walk through the house and get a sense of the traffic flow past the dining room and into the kitchen, or moving from Eating Nook back into the kitchen or out to the deck.

Roof Complete, Deck Construction Underway

2008-03-15T22:03:00.003-07:00

The guys made a lot of progress last week, finishing the entry porch getting the rest of the roofing on. The place is drying out quite a bit, despite plenty of rain. Windows are going in, and the decks are taking shape. Most of the lower deck is framed, and they've started on upper deck already.

Roofing is finished!

The covered entry is cantilevered, so it doesn't even really need columns or posts or whatever. We plan to have something there anyway. In fact, the corner of roof covering that little deck to the right of the picture is the same way - its held up by a chunky beam, so it doesn't need a post. We'll put something there that matches the style of the entry porch.

Lower deck is almost framed in. Each section involved a pretty big beam, which the guys had to wrestle into place. In this pic, the lower deck has one more section left - it will run out to the edge of the concrete foundation wall.

Upper deck was started last week. The first bit here extends out in front of the eating nook. Its about 6'-6", and goes to about 12' once it wraps the corner. You can see the beam-sized opening where the next joist would go. This one is a beast...

The guys muscle the beam for the upper deck into place. This beam runs from inside to outside, in a cantilever fashion. These beams are over 15 feet long and allow the decks to have minimal support posts (only 3 total for two 50-foot decks!). I took this pic right before Robert made an executive decision that the section of duct had to go. The guys were trying to work around it, but there was no way that was going to happen...

2008-03-09T15:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had roofers, plumbers & framers all working on the place at the same time. Sounded like a warzone in there. The last of the roof sheathing went on, and about half the roofing as well. I think the roofers are working today, so the place should be relatively rain-proof by tomorrow or so.

Next week, we'll see the decks go in, which will finish the look of the place out quite a bit. The entry porch is on its way too. We chalked out the kitchen layout, so we could plan plumbing locations. We decided to put the sink in the island, with a prep sink in the peninsula (second island?). Also, I plan to make a little espresso bar location in the eating nook, so it gets a small sink too. We'll have a pot-filler at the cooktop location, so I guess that covers it!

Roof Construction Finished This Week

2008-03-05T16:36:00.000-08:00

The framing stage should wrap up by the end of the week, with the final sheathing on the roof. The roofing crew wants to come out this weekend & put the shingles on, which will be great since the place will dry out a bit.

Standing in the upper garage. Mudroom doorway is visible.

Fascia is installed on the front & side of the roof - they are working on the backside this afternoon. There's still a covered entry to build at right.

Dorrinda is standing in the eating nook checking out the view. On a clear day like this, we can see Mt. Baker from the side window.

Looking into the kitchen. You can see the gas pipe running up in the ceiling & down the wall for the cooktop. Last week we chose several locations to stub gas pipe - decks for deck heating and barbeque, fireplace in the great room, water heaters, clothes dryer, etc.

Roof & HVAC Progress

2008-02-27T17:02:00.000-08:00

The roof trusses continue to go up - I'd estimate about 75% of them are installed now. The guys will be sheathing the roof soon.

Meanwhile, the heating & air conditioning contractor is on site. Dorrell and his guys have finished the downstairs office unit, including the ducting to the vents. The system shown in the top picture is the smallest furnace/ac unit they could find, and will have no problem keeping the office cool in the summer & warm in the winter . It will be nice to have control of this space seperately from the upstairs, too.

The middle floor furnace/ac unit is also installed. This unit lives above the stairs that go down to the office. Technically, this is in the corner of one of the lower garages. They are routing the main line at the moment, and will be building the branches tomorrow.

Pics from the Trail

2008-02-25T09:49:00.001-08:00

I climbed down to the trail yesterday & snapped some pics from there. These shots show what the place will look like to passers-by...I doubt much of the roofline will be visible from down here, so this is probably about what it will look like.

Once the decks are all built, that will definitely change things.

Framing Progress Update

2008-02-24T21:04:00.000-08:00

We're back from Costa Rica, and went to the site today to see the progress. A lot happens in two short weeks! 99% of the exterior sheathing is done, the lower deck is being built, windows are going in & roof trusses are going on. Here's some pics, with more in the Framing album:

The lower deck will wrap around the angle in the foreground, and almost to the doorway on the left side of this pic. That doorway is the seperate entry to the downstairs office.

Drew & Olive watching a biker go past on the trail. There will be a post at the corner of the decks, then a broad span to the post that is just behind Drew.

Main stairway is built.

Here, we are looking into the upper garage. When this wall is done, it will be a nice big area for some art, with good natural lighting in the stairwell. With half-walls in the dining room where I'm standing, we should be able see the art here, and get plenty of light from the window (partially shown at left).

Another stairwell is done - this one leads down to the office.

This is a really hefty truss - 4 layers thick, bolted together, and it spans the entire Great Room & Kitchen area - thats 37 feet! You can just see a pile of uninstalled trusses at right. These should be done by the end of this week, then they'll sheath the roof.

Roof Truss Delivery Today

2008-02-21T08:19:00.000-08:00

Hi folks - we're still in CR, but Robert writes to let me know that roof trusses are to be delivered today. They will set up the boom truck and drop the trusses right onto the top plates. By the time we get back I expect most of the troof will have taken shape!

Meanwhile, we went ziplining through the jungle, and trekked to Mount Arenal yesterday. Arenal is an active volcanoe, and the trek was actually a 4+ hour drive through curving switchbacks. The biggest impact to speed is getting stuck behind trucks - getting around them is a challenge, but a must if you plan to make decent time going anywhere.

I'm posting more pics in the album too...

Construction Update - Special Costa Rica Edition!

2008-02-17T09:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I can't provide pics of the latest construction, as we are relaxing at the Pura Vida Wellness Spa in Costa Rica this week. Last week we ventured out to the coast, which was very hot & dry. Unfortunately the surf wasn't up for much surfing, but I got out on a boogie board and managed to get slammed good a couple times.

Robert writes to let me know that stairs are now installed between the 1st & 2nd floors. The stairs are wide & spacious, and the high ceilings provide a very tall stairwell with room for art. The stairwell between the 2nd floor and the lower office will be in on Monday.

The Roof Truss engineering was complicated, but is complete and trusses are to be delivered next week. Robert hopes to have roof sheathing installed within 7 - 10 days of delivery. Once we have some sheathing on the roof, things will get drier inside the home to be sure. I should get back in time to snag some pics of installed trusses.

Adiós!

1st Floor Nearly Complete

2008-02-09T23:44:00.000-08:00

First floor framing & exterior sheathing is almost finished. You can really see how the house looks from various angles now. One can finally get a good sense of the space on this floor and its, well, pretty big! I think I could throw a football from the entry over to the corner of the eating nook, but it would be a long toss!
With 10-foot ceilings on this floor the space has an even bigger feel to it. We'll probably bring the ceilings down a bit in some of the spaces to give them a more intimate feel.
I didn't get pics all around the property today, but mainly a few shots of the latest progress, which has been on the entry side.
The roof truss guys came out & had a good look at what they are up against. Its a pretty complicated design, but they are working on it & hopefully we'll have a roof soon.
A bunch more sheathing has been put up, so the house is less and less see-through. I'll try to get some shots of the interior spaces, but this may be my last post for a couple weeks. We hop a plane to Costa Rica on Monday night!

This is the view as you walk up the lane, which essentially acts as our upper driveway - though it is shared with neighbors.

From the lane, looking at our front doors. The entry will have a little gabled roof with columns on each side. That will be built after the roof is on.

Here's the view of the place as you walk up the lane. From up here, its hard to tell there's a lot more house hidden from view!

As you pull into the lower driveway, you can see the place a bit better. If you look closely you can see some windows in the office down on the bottom floor. Once the deck is installed for the 2nd floor, you won't be able to see the lower unit at all.

Upper Floor Framing Begins!

2008-02-02T16:19:00.001-08:00

Moving right along - the first walls of the upper floor going up. Starting to get a great sense of the space up on this floor.

Upper floor deck entry opening. The three small windows to the right may change to the 2 x 4's similar to the floors below.

Here, I'm standing in the Living Room - a small room next to the Great Room, where I want to put a pool table. Looking out across the Great Room space towards the Kitchen & Eating Nook, most of which is open floorplan.

Starting to get hard to fit in the frame. Decks will be added at 1st & 2nd floor levels, adding some great summer floorspace & seating areas!

Preparing to frame Floor 1

2008-01-31T18:46:00.000-08:00

The final decking is going in, and the guys were prepping for framing the 1st floor walls today. This is going to be the most exciting floor, and will really give us a sense of the final product. I expect we'll have a roof by mid Feb or so too.

The joists for the den and its little deck are installed. The deck off the den cantilevers out over the driveway below, as does part of the Living Room (Billiards Room), which is to the right in the pic.

2nd Floor Framing Nearing Completion

2008-01-31T09:18:00.000-08:00

Most of the 2nd floor framing has been done, and 1st floor trusses and decking boards are almost all down as well. There were a few special trusses that didn't arrive, but I think they will be on site today.
Framing of the 1st floor should begin by next week if not sooner!

2nd Floor decking going in on top of the floor trusses. You can start to get a good sense of the size & height of this level. The deck is yet to be built off the far wall, which adds a substantial amount of area to this floor.

In the foreground you can see that the trusses are installed running perpendicular to the rest. This is to support part of the concrete pad for the upper floor garage. This area will receive thicker decking before concrete is poured over it.

2nd Floor Framing Progress Update

2008-01-22T19:06:00.000-08:00

The framers continue to make excellent progress on these sunny but cold days. Most of the 2nd floor is framed up & I imagine they will start with floor trusses tomorrow, after finishing a few wall sections. The exterior sheathing is also coming along nicely.

Looking down into Drew's bedroom, with our master suite beyond.

The gray pickup truck is parked where our upper garages will be. Lower garage slab is in the foreground at the left.

Breaking apart the frozen lumber - what a bummer!

Looking through the yoga studio doorway. That wall might be pretty cool if we just left it bare concrete. The wall in the foreground next to the doorway will have a projection screen for our little home theater!

2nd Floor Framing Begins

2008-01-21T21:12:00.001-08:00

The bottom floor apartment/office decking was completed last week, and the framing crew got right into the 2nd floor over the three day weekend. They should be finishing the 2nd floor inside and out over the next couple days.

Raising the wall - this is our east-facing bedroom wall. The big hole is for french doors out onto our private deck.

Working the wall section into place.

Locking it down...

Office level almost complete

2008-01-18T15:12:00.000-08:00

Most of the floor trusses are in. They plan to have it sheathed by end of day today, and will begin framing the 2nd floor next week.

We decided to make the two windows in the living room 3x6's instead of the square 3x3's. More light is better. There's still a good wall for a flat screen, so making these windows bigger seemed like a good idea.

This shot gives a good sense of what the shape of the upper floors are like. I'm standing roughly where the stairs will come down, looking towards the corner, where our master bedroom is.

Framing Begins!

2008-01-16T18:49:00.000-08:00

The first nails flew today, as the framers started building out the office/apartment space. The spaces will really start shaping up fast as these guys make progress.

Looking down on the bedroom of the apartment space. Curtis Kincaid called to see if we wanted to add a window (near that ladder). Adding a window there will look good visually, since there are windows on the floors above. This bedroom will benefit from the extra light too.

Lots more to go. Another day or so on this lower floor, and all the exterior walls will be done. They'll drop floor joists on top of this wall to form another floor.

Floor joists and sheathing waiting for 2nd floor construction to start.

A note on the slab construction

2008-01-06T17:58:00.000-08:00

I didn't get pics before it all got covered up, but I wanted to describe how the slabs were done. Kincaid likes really tight, really efficient homes, so in order to improve the R-value (insulation ability) of the slab, he put down a plastic moisture barrier, with a layer of foam insulation on top of that. Then, concrete is poured over the top. This approach dramatically improves the R-value of just straight concrete slab.
Later in construction they will shoot foam insulation throughout, removing the need to use any rolls of that "pink stuff" in the walls. They are one of the few builders in this area doing spray foam insulation (perhaps the only?). The R-value of that setup is really high, so our electricity bill should be pretty manageable.

Back to work

2008-01-06T17:40:00.000-08:00

Well, the holidays are over, and the weather has been very uncooperative for the last month. Its just as well I guess, because folks needed to take time with their families for the holidays.

Now that holidays have passed, attention has turned to making some headway on the house. Robert and Curtis decided to make a bold call & gamble on pouring the slabs yesterday. I don't know how he convinced the concrete crew to come work on a Saturday, but his gamble paid off. We got fantastic weather for the pour - it had plenty of time to kick before any rain fell.

About half of the 2nd floor is slab on grade. The rest of it cantilevers out over the lowest floor.

This was a very important step - with slabs poured, they already have the framers scheduled for Tuesday. The lumber shows up tomorrow. In 5 weeks, there will be a house here!

Gentlemen, Pull Out Your Wallets!

2007-12-10T20:46:00.000-08:00

This retaining wall will be a saga of its own. It started to look like "more of a project" when we tried to plan some steps from the lower parking area to the upper main entry. This is the first run of retaining wall blocks as it sits right now:

As you can see, there is plenty of hillside to hold back, located just behind and above. There is a lot of labor & materials in this retaining wall, and Kincaid has asked us to share in the cost. At this point, we are considering two options: a) do something really big & really expensive. b) do something not as big & somewhat expensive.

I'll let you know what we decide...meanwhile the is the first extra expense we are facing. Let's hope the surprises don't keep coming...

Plumbing Complete!

2007-12-10T20:29:00.000-08:00

All plumbing located under the slabs is now complete. They will have inspection tomorrow morning & with sign-off, we should be talking slabs very soon! Crossing our fingers for good weather...

Last week's storm dumped so much water on the lot - it really provided an opportunity to see how water will want to flow on the property. Our new drain system did its job well. There were signs of quite a lot of water moving down hill, but it all went were it was supposed to. With all the new topsoil freshly graded out, there was a lot of water holding in that hillside. Thankfully, it didn't go anywhere!

Retaining the Hillside

2007-11-22T13:45:00.000-08:00

Now that the foundation is backfilled and the driveway is graded, the hillside needs to be supported. We're dug in pretty close to the lane up there, which is driveway access for us and the neighbors.
Ground Contact and Kincaid got three truckloads of these massive blocks to build the retaining wall out of. These look a lot better than a concrete wall, and go together like Legos. The interlocking system is from Redi-Rock International, and forms a sturdy but good looking wall.
Here, they are placing the first run of blocks. They'll build a wall about 4 or 5 feet high, step it back and then run up the rest of the way. That will provide some planting spaces, along with a set of steps leading up to the upper level.

Robert guides a block into place, with Heath at the controls.

The back side of the retaining wall. This too will all be backfilled when complete.

The first run is placed. Heath (Ground Contact) is racking his brain to work in some stairs. It's a tough puzzle to figure out how to get them in, but we have faith!

Backfill Complete

2007-11-22T13:40:00.001-08:00

The foundation is backfilled & most of the grading is also finished. Check out this before & after pic - its a shame to bury all that hard work!

Upper garage - foundation walls complete, along with the massive footing, before backfilling.

Upper garage, after backfilling.

Nice Touches

2007-11-16T11:49:00.000-08:00

Robert worked out this detail at the front wall of the lower office. Since the concrete foundation wall is thicker than the stud wall, it would have left a ledge that probably wouldn't have looked so good. Instead, Robert had Chris (CMP Foundations) run this detail along the edge. A nice touch, and I wouldn't have known to ask for it. Thanks guys!

Foundation Walls Complete!

2007-11-14T19:39:00.000-08:00

The crew at CMP Foundations are finished with the walls - and this is some really quality work. Chris Parish decided to go with a real smooth concrete (6 sack mix w/pea gravel instead of screened aggregate) - there is so much steel inside the walls that Chris wanted to make sure the concrete flowed readily. This produced a very smooth finish to the walls, with minimal rock pockets. For any of the concrete that remains exposed after completion, the finished surface will look great.

This is the "big wall" - 13 feet tall. This whole vault will be backfilled tomorrow, creating a compact surface for the upper garage slab.

This vault will be filled in to form the front yard and entry area. That black stuff is the sealer that is applied to the dirt-facing side of the foundation walls. Spray foam will be applied to the inside to form a moisture proof barrier.

Here's the other side of the big wall - note the bottom section is 1 foot thick!

In this pic you can see where the middle floor will be. They will backfill it for lower garage slab also. To the right, you can see the lowest level office space forming.

Here's a wide shot of the whole thing as it climbs up the hillside.

Foundation Walls Poured on Monday

2007-11-12T19:40:00.000-08:00

Wall forms were finished last week, but I didn't have time to write a post before heading off to the peninsula for a few days. Here's a few pics from yesterday's pour. The pour required 5 concrete trucks, which is about 60 yards of concrete. So far we are well over 100 yards of concrete in the footings and walls, with four slabs to go...

Foundation Walls forming

2007-11-04T07:55:00.000-08:00

This is the main retaining wall that holds up the garage slab, and forms the back wall of the 2nd floor. It's 12 feet high by 8-inches thick. A *lot* of concrete will go into this pour.

They'll take a couple more days next week to finish building forms for all the walls. They'll probably shoot for pouring concrete on Tuesday afternoon. After that, they'll backfill dirt up against this big wall, to form the surface for the upper garage slab.

I'll be in New York next week, so hopefully Dorrinda can post up some progress pics...

Concrete Pour Begins

2007-10-30T21:29:00.000-07:00

Right on time, the concrete footings were poured today. Four truckloads were pumped up and over into the forms for the foundation footings. Walls & slab are going to be a big pour indeed!

Inspection went fine & Robert actually wanted to move the pour up by an hour. Alas, the pump truck couldn't find the address right away - the first casualty of many I'm afraid.

Props to Kincaid for some last minute wee hours coordination work to insure everything goes in the right places. The coordination work on a lot like this with a house as big as this one results in a set of extremely complicated calculations. There have been a few surprises - my Billiards room (the living room on the plan) has lost a corner. This was to comply with setback requirements. I hope I can still play some pool in there! On the good side, Robert is providing 10-foot ceilings on the upper floor - this will be really nice. The second floor will feel spacious with 9-foot ceilings - definitely better than 8-foot ceilings for the that theater space (Family room on plans).

Here's some pics of the finished footings from today. Tomorrow, they'll form up the concrete walls, including the 12' tall monster that sits on top of that big footing in this first pic:

Foundation Work Begins

2007-10-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

The concrete guys started building forms on Friday and they made a lot of progress!

They'll finish building forms on Monday - inspection is set for later in the day.

Check out this footing - its six feet wide and will tie into the upper garages' slab via a retaining wall.

So far the construction guys all agree - this house is engineered to be overbuilt. It should be very stout & resist problems from settling, etc. The soil is very sandy, so water drains off very quickly. The excavators said there are plenty of lots that they simply couldn't run their equipment on with the rain we had last week.

I started a new photo gallery for the foundation work too - those are on the left side of the page.

Foundation pour set for next week

2007-10-25T21:21:00.001-07:00

Robert (Kincaid Homes) sent an update, so I thought I'd make another post before we have some pics of the foundation work:

The foundation hole was finished today.
Several loads of sand were taken out (I spoke to the Chad & Heath at Ground Contact excavation this morning & they said around 6 dumptrucks of dirt were hauled out.)

Foundation guy will be on site tomorrow about 7:30 in the morning. He is usually pretty quick, with cooperating weather we intend to pour next week for the footings and then start the walls.

The schedule of events:
1. Dig [a big] hole.
2. Pour foundation [footings & walls].
3. Backfill and compact soil.
4. Do underground plumbing.
5. Prepare for the basement slabs
6. Slab pour: This will be a pretty big pour because we would be doing the upper garage slab, the lower garage slab, lower living slab and the office/apartment slab.
7. After all of this we will start framing.

A couple pics from the dig this morning

Ready for foundation

2007-10-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

Here the lot is prepped for the foundation. The concrete guy should be out this week to place forms - we should have the forms out of here and the finished foundation in a week or so, weather permitting.

Its hard to tell, but there are three levels to the lot. I'm standing at the 1st floor level, looking at the main level. Its easiest to see the dug out shape of the lowest level.

A big thanks to Chad & Heath at Ground Contact excavation for working through torrential downpours this week, in order to keep the project on schedule! They also did some great coordination work with Kincaid to insure the upper floor garage slab will line up properly with the level of the street - hugely important that this phase of the project.

More pics from Day 1...

2007-10-21T11:30:00.001-07:00

This pic is from the upper floor level. I'm standing in front of the upper floor garages, looking down at the second floor level. The building lot is essentially a terraced hillside.

You can see power lines in this picture - those are actually on power poles along the Interurban Trail down below. We'll be able to watch walkers and bikers go by from our deck.

They have to dig down for the lowest level (third floor). They'll be taking out tons of dirt on Monday and setting the forms for the foundation. The concrete pour is set for Wednesday!

Edit: the concrete pour is not Wednesday - the concrete prep begins. They'll place the forms first, then pour concrete next week-ish.

We are finally underway!

2007-10-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

It's been over a year since we first contacted Kincaid Construction. I noticed a home being built along the Interurban Bike Trail I rode each day to and from work. The style of construction was really unique and I liked the look. I made a mental note to bring Dorrinda by the site. We really weren't thinking about building our next home. We weren't even that serious about a "next" home! That was then...

Posted full house plans

2007-10-02T20:04:00.000-07:00

If you are interested in checking out the floorplans, elevations or sketches - go to the photo albums. I also posted a link to them on the left sidebar.

Why the name?

2007-10-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

I named this blog "Our House (in the middle of the street)", because when City of Everett came out to survey our lot, one edge of it extends right about to the middle of the little lane that provides access to the houses along Interurban Trail. Imagine their surprise when I build my fence!

If you look close at the lot layout image (lots 19, 20 & 21), you can actually see the little bump out from the adjacent property.

For additional wierdness, the lot plan shows 48th Street angling past our property. This isn't the case at all. 48th Street dead-ends at our lower level driveway entrance, leaving only trees & other natural surroundings next to our lot. This is because Commercial Ave was never extended through here (where you see "4-035" on the plan). The right of way was sold to the PUD and turned into Interurban Trail.

We are addressed off a street that technically doesn't exist, next to a street that also doesn't exist. Our apologies in advance to the UPS guy!

8-24-07

I added the pic below to show where the property line is. If you look closely, you can see the pink spray paint marking the edges that form the corner of the lot.

(click the pic for the bigger version)