little house remodel

Started by Jens, November 13, 2008, 11:28:09 AM

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Jens

We went up to the Smoky Mountains last weekend for three days of camping, and to see the synchronized fireflies.  For those who have no idea of what I am talking about, there are two places in the world, where blue fireflies will come out by the thousands, and blink at the same time.  Unfortunately, it rained, and we didn't get to see them! 

We did, however, get to come home to find 12 eggs in the chicken coop, and fresh veggies ready to be picked!

Zucchini and yellow squash, beets, and radishes. 

just spent a few days building a website, and didn't know that it could be so physically taxing to sit and do nothing all day!

Bishopknight

Jens,

What have you been up to since June? Love your garden!


Arizona Highlander

Very cool. Killer garden, loft and woodworking. Great work.
[cool]
Gathering info here on Country Plans while in awe of other members skills.
Goal is to start a small 15x15 in the Spring of 2015.

Jens

BK, haven't been doing too much since then.  Had good harvests, work has been slim, but finally sold our big Craftsman to and am remodeling it for friends.  Done a bit on our house, ceiling fan, cieling in the bump out, built a sukkah in the yard.  Picked up some vinyl replacement windows on Craigslist for $200.  Enough to do about 2/3 of our house, but will take some good remodeling to get them installed (they are smaller, and there are multiples that are replacing 1, etc).  I will have pics soon, but not until I have more done.  Re-doing the hearth on the fireplace, to relocate the woodstove out in front of it, and then tiling the hearth and fireplace.  Making some light fixtures soon, and doing loft railing.  Most of this stuff is just projects that are related because they are the same process...drywall at the same time, carpentry at the same time, paint at the same time, etc.
just spent a few days building a website, and didn't know that it could be so physically taxing to sit and do nothing all day!

Jens

got some updates.  First off, my wife quit her job in the bakery about May, and we switched roles back.  I found work for a month, then had nothing for a couple of weeks, then gutted (all except lath and plaster) and remodeled this bathroom.  49 hours, in 3 days, because he had tenants moving in.





after this job, I basically had no work until the end of October.  We sold the 2800 square foot craftsman that we bought in foreclosure 2 years ago.



and now I am fixing it up for our friends who bought it.  I had about 4 weeks off while the lead abatement crew was doing their thing, so I got a few things done (or rather, started) Photos are kinda grainy, low light, camera phone.

the ceiling fan was first



then I worked on the curved ceiling in the bump out.

first framing with two layers of 3/4" plywood cut to the curve and screwed to the sides of the rafters.



then followed with two layers of 1/4" sheetrock







then the loft railing was requested before we hosted a get together the night after Thanksgiving with 5 students from UT's Hillel, and three friends.





wife was cutting in a bit, and decided to write this on ceiling so that "you could read it when you are sitting on the couch and look up".  I guess she didn't realize she'd written it mirrored



here is the view toward Patrick's (10 years-old) space.



They totally dig it.  It is like a fort.  All three kids have built in beds, which will have 3 drawers underneath them.  The girls beds are head to head, separated by a bookcase for each, and have special valances to make them, well, girly.  I will get photos of the beds soon.

the impetus for getting the kids into the loft, was the 4'x4' puppy corral that we couldn't figure out a place for.  They couldn't stay in the kitchen.


there are 8 American Stratfordshire Terriers

we also had 3 kittens born.



we now have 21 souls living in this house, and 5 outside (chickens, we only had 4, but a friend gave us one of hers)

today I started refinishing the front of the fireplace, so that I can get the woodstove back in.  It is now ready for the coats of thinset, in preparation for the local tile we are going to have made.  The heath will be slate, and herringbone slate tiles will be on the panel that blocks off the fireplace opening.

This job I will be doing first, since we need to put the woodstove back in



The main reason I was doing bits of each project, is because an insurance inspector is coming out next week.  Had some things to button up, but not enough time to finish them. 

working on getting my contractors license too, and have been spending a lot of time at our kids school.  Three kids, who are honors students...it takes a lot of time to go to all of the awards ceremonies, teacher conferences, spelling bee for 1 today, etc.
just spent a few days building a website, and didn't know that it could be so physically taxing to sit and do nothing all day!


Redoverfarm

Hope all goes well with your license and you can get some steady income.  Nice work.

Jens

That's the trick, not just the license, but getting the work, and having income.   ???  Still have a hard time finding that a lot of the time.
just spent a few days building a website, and didn't know that it could be so physically taxing to sit and do nothing all day!

Redoverfarm

Jens if you do good work (which you have shown you can) and you keep your commitment of starting when you say you will there then there shouldn't be a problem.  Most contractors in this area are so independent and in short demand they don't care if they show up when they say they will or not.  I guess that is my biggest gripe not only with trades people but in general.  If I say I will be there you can bet I will be on time or early.  If I can't I have the decency to call ahead and let the person know I can't make it.  When and if they do show up the person hiring then are so alienated that it wouldn't make any difference what kind of a job they do it is still in the back of their minds.

MountainDon

When we moved here to the land of maƱana, a quarter century ago I had a chance to do some finish carpentry work for a contractor who lived across the street. When I showed up for the first job when I said I would he seemed surprised, which puzzled me. He told me some time later that he decided there and then that if the quality of my work matched my timeliness, he would use me or as long as I wanted to work for him. I did all his finish work, trim, doors, cabinets and the like for three years until he passed away.

That's just a little personal story to illustrate that, like John said, if you do everything you say you will, when you say you will, and do good work, you should be on your way. O course the general state o the construction business at present adds to that challenge. Best of luck on all fronts.



Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.


Jens

I have fired guys for not calling, and not showing up.  It's one of the first things I tell new guys, and one of the only big things I request.  I have not always been perfect on the other end of the scale, and have paid the price too.  The biggest problem I usually have, is just that most people don't trust somebody with less than 50% gray hair, and a brand new truck, to hire them for working on their house.  Either that, or everyone already has all the help they need.  Or they want cheap, fast, and high quality.  You can't have all three though!
just spent a few days building a website, and didn't know that it could be so physically taxing to sit and do nothing all day!

MountainDon

Quote from: Jens on December 04, 2009, 12:35:15 AM
.... and a brand new truck,

That's funny, because a couple years ago when we were getting estimates for the polybutylene re-pipe job, I found myself mentally marking down the guy who showed up in a quite new dually pickup with Alcoa wheels and a bunch of other shiny stuff, including some very fancy sign work. The guy who got the job had an ex-Ryder rental box truck, still yellow with painted over Ryder signage. He also had superb references for getting the job done when and as promised. Less than half the price as well. So that time cheap, fast and good did materialize. The fancy truck guy also had the biggest splashiest yellow page ads. The one we used was word of mouth advertising.

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

poppy

Nice work Jens, thanks for the update.

Squirl

Great curved ceiling.  Quality work on the railing too.  I wish I could even think of details like those.  Great job.

d*

Jens

Squirl,  Pick up cottage magazines, and bungalow magazines, they are full of neat little touches, and different styles.  Bungalows are especially eclectic (sometimes), and were quite often designed by a creative carpenter, or very good architects.

I just finished the oak border around the hearth, and will mud the front of the fireplace on Sunday, hopefully.  until then (next pics), gut Shabbos!
just spent a few days building a website, and didn't know that it could be so physically taxing to sit and do nothing all day!


rick91351

Maybe a little off thread but a couple books that came very highly recommended to me because we are really in to Craftsman style homes. 

Shop Drawings for Craftsman Interiors by Robert W. Lang

Shop Drawings for Craftsman Inlays and Hardware by Robert W. Lang

Lang also has several books of furniture plans from Gustav Stickley as well as Greene and Greene. 

I did pick up a book of Lang's titled The Complete Kitchen Cabinetmaker.  I found it well written and easy to understand.  No color photos but good line drawings and B/W photos.  Picked it at Woodcrafters but Amazon carries them as well.  Also Barns and Noble does carry a good selection of interior design books for the bungalow style homes.  Or check out the library for more ideas.  I am planing getting the Craftsman Interiors Book right away because we are starting to get some ideas down on paper for a home.     
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

WoodSprite

Quote from: Jens on December 04, 2009, 12:35:15 AM
Or they want cheap, fast, and high quality.  You can't have all three though!

In a previous life, my wonderful boss had scrawled on the chalkboard that covered a whole wall of our shared office:

"Good, fast, and cheap.  Which two do you want?"

For the benefit of the miracle-seekers who regularly visited us.  He often answered their questions by pointing at the chalkboard.
The Chronicle of Upper Tupper
This place was made by doing impractical things we could not afford at the wrong time of year.   -Henry Mitchell

Jens

I got the fireplace ready for tiling.  The face is going to be custom made 5x5 tiles from a man at synagogue, the hearth 12x12 slate.  The opening to the firebox will have a panel of 2x6 herringbone slate.  Border is made out of oak salvaged from the big house. 




this is one of the built in beds in the loft.  Still needs to be painted, and build the drawers, and add a curtain.  A bookcase for each girl separates the two beds.

just spent a few days building a website, and didn't know that it could be so physically taxing to sit and do nothing all day!

Redoverfarm

Jens nice work on the 45's of the transition.  I hope you allowed the distance of the grout joint.  I always lay my tile first then the transition but that's just me.

Also the last picture did not show up.  It had a Photobucket notation that it had been moved or deleted.

Jens

yeah, ok, Syd's bed



Didn't figure for grout, will cut tile to be what it needs to be.  The border needed to be what it is to replace some bad floor boards, and get me the dimensions that I liked for the tiled area.  Didn't have time to do tile first, and didn't quite know where it was going to be.  I also find it easier to massage individual pieces of tile, with grout joints, than pieces of wood which need to fit tight. 

Almost ready to visit ya! 
just spent a few days building a website, and didn't know that it could be so physically taxing to sit and do nothing all day!

glenn kangiser

"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.


Jens

The kids totally love being in the loft.  I still haven't built the stairs for them, so they go up and down my 8' ladder.  Great part is that if they piss us off, we can take the ladder and then they're stuck! :)
just spent a few days building a website, and didn't know that it could be so physically taxing to sit and do nothing all day!

Squirl

Great Bed.  I love the idea.

Sassy

I like all your beautiful wood working, too, Jens.  Would have loved a loft like that when I was a kid - and the neat bed - you can be a part of what's going on in the rest of the house & still be in bed - best of both worlds!

lol about the ladder   [rofl2]
http://glennkathystroglodytecabin.blogspot.com/

You will know the truth & the truth will set you free

speedfunk

Great work Jens.... Quite the wood worker you are  d*  .  Also cool loft area.  I remember a loft we had that my dad built ...they will remember it also...  Good stuff  8)

Redoverfarm

Quote from: Jens on December 27, 2009, 09:22:42 AM
yeah, ok, Syd's bed



Didn't figure for grout, will cut tile to be what it needs to be.  The border needed to be what it is to replace some bad floor boards, and get me the dimensions that I liked for the tiled area.  Didn't have time to do tile first, and didn't quite know where it was going to be.  I also find it easier to massage individual pieces of tile, with grout joints, than pieces of wood which need to fit tight. 

Almost ready to visit ya! 

You ready to install a 1.000 pound staircase?