Quote from: Danfish on August 05, 2012, 10:39:58 AM
  Hard to believe that this house has consumed 120 gallons of paint and stain.

It becomes easy to understand why contractors buy paint in 5 gallon pails....

Looking nice 


I think Karen & I will need to make another trip to CA next June.   

Are you using natural gas or propane? 

Mountaindon...Thanks for comment and yes those 5 gallon paint buckets stack up!

Rick...fourtunately we have natural gas at this site, came to town about 12 years ago.

Making some progress on fireplace surrounds...living room about 2/3rds framed...

3 fireplaces down and one to go before ready for mechanical inspection.  After inspection I can install plywood and prepare for stone work...

Living Room



Master Bedroom



Kitchen



Start of layout for beam end profile for Corbels on living room fireplace...

Cannot believe a month has gone by since last post and yet it seems I hardly have any progress worthy of a picture.  Finally closing in on completion of fireplace surrounds in preparation for stone work.  Got held up for a week because inspector went off on a tangent during the mechanical inspection.  Approved the mechanical and was just about to leave when he decided the gas appliance valve (provided and installed in access compartment by unit manufacture) was not accesible enough in an emergency.   He wanted me to install a log lighter type valve within 6 feet of the upstream side of the unit.  Tried to explain that this is a "service" valve used to work on appliance without the need to shut gas off to the entire building, it is not an emergency shutoff valve.  The valve at the gas meter serves as the emergency shutoff.

Now I am held up completing the enclosures until this is resolved, so I contact Chief Building Official and ask him to render a realistic decision.  He comes out, looks at installation and I show him how easy it is to turn off gas and he says he agrees it is not an "emergency" shutoff, but he is still not sure about accessibility and has to go back and read code (this as after I gave him a direct quote of the code in an E-mail).  Finally he gets back to me and states code says it has to be "accessible" it does not use the wording "readily accessible"; therefore, he will pass...but I still have to demonstrate it is accessible at the time of final inspection (what ever that means).  I discussed this with the dealer and they said they have installed hundreds of these units in this area and this has never come up before...they questioned how accessible the valve is on gas stove or dryer!  Anyway the piping is now buried in the surround and will soon be buried under rock!!!

Gas meter has been installed and fireplaces all fired up.  Electrical panel complete and about 80 percent complete on electrical terminations, permanent lighting installed in garage and shop, temporary lights hung throughout interior  Several  meetings with cabinet shop, meeting with tile supplier, trips to rock yard for choices on fireplace surrounds, and meetings and decisions on appliances.  Put down epoxy coating on garage and shop floors and set up temporary steel racks in shop to get tools and materials off of floor.  Wood flooring has been delivered and sitting in one of bedrooms climatizing.

Just need to install and paint trim on fireplace surrounds in area of rock work and then it's on to waterproofing showers and my second to last inspection...the shower pan test.

Guess I have been doing something!!!

Spent a ton of time terminating electrical (plugs, switches, smoke/CO alarms, etc.), gathering materials, visits to tile supplier, installling doors, etc.  Met with steel fabricator on design of hand rail for front porch stairs...as usual, new building codes making this anything but simple.  Requirement for extension of rail beyond top and lower stair tread make this one ugly accessory.  May have to go back to building official and argue my case...soon they will tire of me questioning code interpretations.

Been receiving some pressure to hang the better half's prize...antique chandler someone pilaged from a French chateau...it's up!

This summer I had the opportunity to attend a training class put on by the Schluter Corp at their Western Regional Distribution Center in Reno, NV.  They make Kerdi water proofing membrane, Ditra underlayment and many other products for the tile industry.  While their product prices may be a bit on the high side for the average DIYer, the quality and bomb-proof solutions they offer can't be beat.  Needless to say I am sold and using these products on my project.

First test was building a shower bench using Schluter Kerdi Board, beginning to end in one hour.  All starts with layout and using a table saw for all cutting...



Assemble the parts and glue together with tile thinset and Kerdi-Fix adhesive...




End product, since Kerdi Board already has waterproof membrane finish, the bench is about 90 percent waterproof...only requires Kerdi Band on edges to complete...



Also used the board to finish off shower niche...

I have two showers that I want to be 100 percent water proof and as mentioned in my previous post, using Kerdi membrane by Schluter Corp.  Installation takes a bit longer than other water-proofing methods, like hanging wallpaper using unmodified thinset.  Here is the result on wall and niche...

One problem with being an owner-builder is that the permit process might not allow enought time for completion within the normal term of the permit.  My permit's two year term expires the first week of Janary 2013 and as I look at the number of details to complete between now and then it's overwhelming!  So why kill yourself...went down to the building department and talked them into a two year extension.  Of couse it cost me $550 and the wife said I better not take that long.

Been a busy two weeks with delivery of appliances, and start of cabinets and rock work on fireplaces.

Cabinet install...



Living Room fireplace...



Master Bedroom fireplace

Rock work finished on two of the fireplaces (kitchen will have to wait until counter top in place).

Living Room arch...



Rock fnished in Living Room...



Master Bedroom...

With the exception of some crown molding, toe kick trim and adjustments, cabinets are all in.

Kitchen south wall...



West wall...



North wall...



Coffee Bar and China Hutch, north wall...



Pantry...



Laundry...

Very nice stonework! Ive always admired craftsman who can manipulate the stone so perfectly to achieve "dry joints".  Is that a pizza oven in teh kitchen?

Thanks...there was a lot of cutting and chipping to fit the stone.  While cutting was done outside, all the chipping was done inside.  Fortunately no windows got broken, but I am sure there will be a few dings in the walls to touch up.

No pizza oven, that is a gas fireplace unit to take chill off morning coffee.

Last of the major projects...stairs to the loft over porch.  Access to the loft has been a design challenge from day one,  minimizing the impact on floor area was overall consideration.  Building a complex stairway was not something I felt qualified to tackle, so turned design and construction over to the experts...



Foundation in, center pole and landing...





Loft railing...

Such a gorgeous place you have there! I may have missed it but are you heating the home with all those fireplaces? Thank you for including all of the pictures. It sure is cozy and inviting!

Germangirl, correct sole heat will be the four gas fireplace units.  These units are quite efficient and allow for heating only occupied zones (each unit has a separate thermostat).  Installed two of these in a house down the street and very comfortable in 1900 sq. ft.  Fired up the living room unit while installing stairs (20 degrees outside and no heat in building overnight) and in 30 minutes everyone was working in shirt sleeves.  In 45 minutes had to shut unit off.

Getting ready to shutdown project for winter.  Some iron balusters glued in place to support railing, other 118 will have to wait until finish is on the wood...

Completed one more detail before year's end...steel hand rails for front porch stairs.  Now we are "code compliant"!

Back at it after long Winter layoff.  Sure are a lot of little details in building a house.  Just finished installing knobs and pulls on the kitchen cabinets.



Rockler Products offers a simple template and center punch that makes this process a bit less painful!

Also installed plumbing fixtures to insure all was in in working order before counter tops go on sometime next month.  In spite of the fact I will have to take it all apart, better to find problems now (which there were a few) before counter tops limited access. 

Spending time mocking up proposed trim around fireplaces...



Finally a bit of decoration for the 4th of July.

Have not been to your site in a long time.  WOW!

Cabinets?  Did you make them?  Love your pulls.

Your staircase is not to shabby either......

I was through there a couple months ago.  Thought about driving around and see if I could find your build.  I had to be over at Yuba City to pick up bees at 3:30 PM and I was way early about 9:00.  But I stopped a Cabellas instead...    

Rick,

Thanks...no I did not do cabinets, felt (or should say wife felt) those where best left to professionals.  Interior Wood Design in Auburn, California did the work.  Stair case also
done by pros, Sierra Stairs in Loomis, California.

Wife took some time deciding on cabinet pulls and knobs so she will appreciate the fact that others might like the result.

The house is just two blocks up the hill from main street (Donner Pass Road) in old town Truckee, so don't hesitate to stop by when in the area.

I too often drop a few coins at Cabellas while traveling to and from Reno!

Finish on the stair case and railing, three coats of Tung Oil did a nice job on the walnut...now just install balance of iron work and one more item checked off the list.



Wrapping up fireplace trim, paint and that too can be checked off!

Time to start tile work...in the old days laying tile over plywood started with putting down cement board, but thanks to Schulter Corporation we now have an easy to install substrate.  Ditra mat installs with ease and makes for a bomb-proof setting bed.



Just mix up a batch of "modified" thin set.  Always use modified to attach Ditra to plywood.



Burn the thin set in.



Run over with notched trowel.



Lay down the Ditra mat, press firmly into thin set and work flat from center to edges with a wood float.



Finished product ready for tile.



The fabric backing bonds to thinset like a glove.

One tile project down, counter top over Ditra shown earlier...only 500 sq. ft. of tile left!

Finally...counter tops installed...

Travertine  in kitchen...



Used same material for kitchen window sills...



and pass-thru to dinning room



Marble in pantry...



and master bath...