716 sq. ft. Cuyamaca Cottage

[flyingvan]

  Funny you should ask---I had a good conversation with my inspector about that.  He wanted to see 1/4" mesh with louvers over them.  My plans as approved just called for the mesh, but it was easy to just nail the louvers over the mesh.  he said something about plenty of data showing firebrands blowing into attics but none for blowing through crawlspace vents, which makes sense.  I suppose any brands that did make it through would settle on dirt, with little active airflow---compared to ceiling joists, with lots of flow.  But no, I wasn't required to go brandguard for the crawlspace.  I did position all my crawlspace vents underneath the porch so driving rain can't get in.  The access door had to be built to wildland/urban interfae requirements though.  So far he hasn't seen the plastic vent that provides the combustion air for the fireplace. 

[Danfish]

You brought up an item I hadn't considered, the crawl space access door.  I have not built mine yet. 

Do you have details on a design that was acceptable in your area?

[flyingvan]

It had to meet the same fire resistive requirement as the walls.  I just built a 2x4 frame (cut an angle to the 2x4 where it swings in) screwed OSB to it.  I reinforced the corners with little triangles of OSB on the backside, too.  I had bought a 4x8 sheet of cementitious siding I've been cutting pieces from for various odd tasks here and there, so that got cut to size over the front, then trimmed it.  It's heavy so I got good fence hinges.  I wanted a locking hasp, too---there's nothing stored under there but nature abhors a vacuum.....
If you look in this picture you can see one of my vents is too close to the door.  The frame for the door got painted like the rest of the foundation and I sort of faked it and painted the trim around the vent to match the other vents


   The access door for the tankless water heater is different--the hinges are on top.  I wanted to use the lap siding to hide the door.  It's VERY heavy.  Where the hinges are, there had to be a big ugly gap to allow the door to swing open properly (Putting the hinges on the outside would have solved this but they were not attractive and I was afraid the cement boards wouldn't hold up to the compression.  They are scewed directly into wood)  so the solution here was slipping a length of double jacketed fire hose under the trim board.  It took paint well and allows for movement, and hides the hinge gap. 

  Can you guess what astronomical event was happening when this pic was taken?

[Danfish]

Thanks for the detail on crawl space door...amazing how much time and effort goes into these little details that look so cut and dried on the plans!!!

[flyingvan]

  All the interior tongue and groove is in.  Before I can paint though it has to be trimmed, and before it's trimmed I have to finish the chimney.  The chase was built as flat to the wall as possible so it wouldn't block the view from the reading nook out the picture window, and the clearence was 2" to any combustables so the backerboard is supported in the corners with framing.  The flue for the gravity wall furnace is in the chase as well.  Ceiling height here is 18', one of the features that makes this tiny place feel big.  (There will be a register on the ceiling with a thermostat controlled blower so in the winter when the ceiling gets hot, either from the wall furnace or the fireplace, it'll kick on and the air gets ducted to the downstairs.  Both heat sources are independent of electricity so when we get one of our frequent power failures there'll still be heat just not as much circulation)
  Spent two days cutting up stones for the veneer.  Tedious.  Laid them all out so I could select them quickly while the mastic was setting up.


   The chase is clad in hardibacker....These 4 position ladders are worth their weight in gold.  Both ends are clamped so it wouldn't wiggle.


   I wanted the steel mesh to wrap all the way around so it would get screwed into the strongest framing up against the wall.  I added washers to the screws too so they wouldn't squeeze themselves through.   One side was pre-bent so there wouldn't be a lot of measuring or centering once up the ladder.



    Now to start with the stone veneer.  I would have loved to veneer the entire chimney but it would be very heavy, and it would take two weeks just to cut up the stones.

   

    So instead there are stone outcroppings with a colored plaster making up the majority.  I have to keep it to 25 pound batches---with all the ups and downs and not fallings, it sets up faster than I can use up a whole 50 pound bag.



    The stone outcroppings match the fireplace surround, the rest of it matches the foundation.

[Sassy]

   That looks great!

[flyingvan]

  Not a huge drywall fan, but it made sense in a few spots----the kitchen wall that's covered with cabinets and slate, over the fireplace mantel where the TV will be mounted and hidden behind shutters, and the bathroom walls.

  It all got a rough texture that I think goes with the 'cottage' feel.  My wife thought it too rough so I'll sand it with a wet drywall sponge to smooth is some.
   
   She loves the mantel that I cut from a solid beam I dug out of a dumpster---I thout it was fir until I cut into it, then thought it was red oak.  She would really like the railing and balusters to all be the same stuff.  I found some naturally weathered oak but none of it looked like the mantel.  Turns out it isn't oak.
    I went to the boneyard near where I found the original chunk and talked to the owner.  He told me his brother helped build a tall masted ship decades ago and held on to the beam cutoffs, just left them out in the weather.  I had to dig through a lot of stuff and move a bunch of old aviation parts.
 
   These things are HEAVY.  I found five that were relatively check free and had no bug or rot damage.  THey are 8x12 true dimension and about 7' long. 
     
    I'm hitting a friend up for yet another favor.  He's got access to some big band saws.  I tried every local business----no one wants to mill lumber they didn't sell you.  It's getting cut into 1 1/2"x 1 1/2" for the balusters.  If it seems like stable stuff and the saws get through it OK, I might make the rail and stair treads out of it too.  I'll still have some left over.
    I'm pretty sure it's teak.

[flyingvan]

     OK.  Now I'm embarrassed.    I used to go to Frost Hardwood just to look at the different species, but this has me stumped.  It's not teak, might be some sort of oak or mahogany.   In any event it's the same as the mantel which is what AnnaMarie wanted, and that's what is important. 
      NOBODY in Sandy Eggo will mill stuff they didn't sell you.  Scared of nails, I suppose.  What am I gonna do with 8x12's I want cut into 2x2's of some unknown hardwood?
      So I loaded them in the old truck (passed 200,000 miles on this trip) and lugged them up to Newport Beach where a buddy has access to some big tools.

       Here we're ripping the beam into slabs.  It was slow going until we replaced the blade (after blowing the circuit breaker) then it was like cutting butter.
       
     Then the slabs got ripped down to baluster size.
     
     This is my go to guy that bails me out whenever something like this comes up.  More than enough balusters, ready to go.

[CjAl]

that looks like.it may be cypress but that would be a strange wood to find in socal

does it hqve a very smooth undefined gain?

[flyingvan]

It's got about the same grain definition as oak, just without those little brown lines oak has.  I'll try to get a picture of the grain to post.  For the record, I tried to wear my safety glasses, but this was a whirlwind trip and I didn't get home first for my good pair.  The plastic ones kept fogging up so bad I couldn't see, and decided not to cut off my thumbs and risk the eye damage. 

[rick91351]

It's got about the same grain definition as oak, just without those little brown lines oak has.  I'll try to get a picture of the grain to post.  For the record, I tried to wear my safety glasses, but this was a whirlwind trip and I didn't get home first for my good pair.  The plastic ones kept fogging up so bad I couldn't see, and decided not to cut off my thumbs and risk the eye damage. 

I do not have a pair but Bug-Eyez Mesh Goggles, or wire mesh safety glasses from Bailey's seem to work well.  If they fog up you really got problems.   

[CjAl]

cypress looks kind of like teak without the color. and it has very little color variation.

its very common around here. most all tue old barns are cypress because it doesnt rot

[flyingvan]

I looked online at cypress, I don't think that's it.  Here's what I know----it's hard and heavy.  It was cut into 8x12 beams for a shipwright 35 years ago.  The surface patina is thin.  It's reddish when first cut and sort of oxidizes to a warm pale after a few weeks.  It is very stable, not twisting or warping even when left outside for a long time

[CjAl]

i looked up ship masts and it says most all masts were made from the trunk of a conifer tree. google conifer for a full list but they include redwood, douglas fir, cypress, yew, junipers and spruces

[flyingvan]

It's definitely a hardwood so that excludes conifers....I know keels were often oak, sometimes bulkheads were too.  Teak and mahogany were often used too for the hull.  I don't think this was used for the mast---8x12 isn't very mast shaped

[CjAl]

no they arent are they lol. i thought you said something about ships masts, i wasnt asking questions. 

[flyingvan]

OK here's a picture of it.  If it's oak it isn't the same species I've done stuff with in the past


   I think I'll post this under general discussion too and see what folks think

[flyingvan]

In the homestretch now.  There's going to be a countertop that turns an 'L' and forms a bar...My mom was down for a visit and suggested a pantry behind the bar seating under the stairs.  It was a good suggestion.  Also the parallam beam that holds up the second floor got a deep sanding a a few coats of polyclear varnish.

 
  The chimney chase was a challenge.  My wife wanted it to match the boulders outside, and have some cut stones, too.  The stones all came from the lot.  This view is taken from way up a ladder.  It looks best kind of edge on, the only way you'll see it from inside.

    Here's the mantel.  It's the same mystery wood that I've cut up to use for the stair rails and balusters.  I'm not sure what it is but it sure is pretty with a few coats of varnish on.

[flyingvan]

    Woohoo!  Now have a toilet that flushes and electric all hooked up.  The toilet install had a slight issue--I had to sweat off the cap from the copper stub for the angle stop and even with a shield made from hardieboard, melted the plastic wainscoting.  Fortunately I have enough left over I replaced it.
     Energizing the house-- I really could have months ago, I just needed a 2 pole breaker.  I guess I didn't want to deal with any problems that would arise, and arise they did.  First that 'arc fault interrupt' circuit required for the bedroom tripped---tried to reset it and it tripped again.  Shut it all the way to the 'off' position and reset it and it was fine.  Probably some circuitry thing.  Then the quadruple gang box for downstairs lighting had a wire loose, fixed that, and it shorted----suspected the 50 year old porch lights from architectural salvage in Little Italy.  Rewired those, restuffed the box, everything's good now.


  "I could have made this place a three level but that's another story"

[Alasdair]

Love the cottage! And enjoyed your blog too - those curved rafters on your first place - WOW!
You don't make things easy on yourself do you!
Great stuff
Al
 

[flyingvan]

  Thanks, Al!  By making things more complicated, it slows construction which keeps things so the building doesn't outpace the finances.  I'm paying cash as I go so we own these outright.
   Plumbing issues---finishing the bathroom now.  THe window had to be lower so my wife could reach it which meant cutting the tub surround and adding vinyl corner trim around the window opening.  The trim is gooped into place with silicone and no voids so water won't get underneath and no nails to corrode.  The drywall mud on the sill is waterproof too.  I wanted to slope the sill so shampoo bottles won't end up there but that would have meant cutting more of the surround.
 

  Months ago when I sweated in the plumbing mixer I placed it in the middle of the wall so nails couldn't reach the pipes from either side.  So when I went to install the tub handle and faceplate, it was too deep for the screws to reach.

  I got onto efaucets and they offer a variety of extension kits that solved the problem for me. 


This harkens back to the 'lessons learned' thread---had to stop working in the bathroom and go do something else until the kit came.  There were plenty of 'something else's' to do.

[flyingvan]

    All my lumber was ordered as grade #1 btr.  Being a natural product, there were still some really good boards and some not-so-good ones.  The longer they sat, the easier it was to tell the sheep from the goats.
    This is my cottage, sitting in my driveway---along with the project foreman.

     The building site is across the street, so lumber could get re-categorized while it was moved and re-stacked next to the build.
      Really bad boards were set aside for short pieces like fire blocking.  The vast majority, which were just fine, went into framing.  The rare clear board---straight with few knots and good grain---were set aside for the trimwork stage.
      I can just buy a stick of crown moulding for around $14.  Lots of it gets wasted.  With a table saw and palm sander, it's a lot cheaper to make my own (and I get exactly the shapes I need)
        Hidden inside one $8 2x10x12,  there were 5 crown mouldings, 3 outside corners, 3 inside corners, and a funny angle piece for where the sloped ceiling meets the wall (this one actually got cut further for an inside corner piece too)
   
   They all get sanded smooth.  The outside corners get run through the table saw set at 45 degrees to round off the corners, then sanded really deep---people always scrape against outside corners so the more rounded, the better

[flyingvan]

   OK time to stop trolling and start updating......As much as I hate deadlines, I'm coming up against one for the final----so I'm putting in 18 hour days here when I'm not at the paying job....
    My subfloor got rained and snowed on repeatedly.  I stored heavy table saws and lumber on it while wet, so I had some dips, soft spots, and swollen joints.  The finished floor is this 40 year old quarter sawn oak I found, and it needs to go down on a perfectly flat surface.  Plus, I had an issue with the first stair riser----when I put the 7/8" tread on it it would have been too high for the first step (only 3/8" difference is allowed) So, I planed all the joints, sanded, put down tar paper, then a whole new layer of t&g subfloor.


   My wife and I both really dislike making a television the focal point of a room, but the only logical place for it was over the fireplace.  The wall mounted box is made from scraps of the mystery wood left over from the mantel, with bifold shutters to hide the TV.  The cables were all run before the siding went up.
   
   The flush mount ceiling speakers look great, but one of the wires was on the other side of a joist.  I didn't want to cut a huge hole in it...I drilled a number of different sized holes through cardboard and had my middle daughter put her arm through them until I found the smallest size she could reach through (2 1/2"), drilled that through the joist, put her on my shoulders, and stood on an OSHA approved paint bucket so she could reach through and grab it.

    Our neighbors had strong opinions about leaving the beautiful spruce interior siding a natural finish, but AnnaMarie insisted on white---"This is a cottage, not a cabin"....it required primer and two coats of Behr Plus satin paint, mostly rollered on, then a brush for the joints.  Lesson learned----the Wagner sprayer WILL NOT spray primer.  after 20 seconds it dries on the piston and clogs it all up, even if thinned to water-like consistency.  A little better luck with the paint after adding Flotrol, but still with masking, overspray, and cleanup, it wasn't worth it. 



   We varnished the ceiling at least.  It kept the place from feeling like a sterile surgical suite with all the white, and we're throwing the neighbors a bone.
    Here's the bathroom.  My wife chose a tub surround with a diamond pattern, which I matched in the ceiling moulding---just 1x3's with 160 cuts through each 8' board. 

[flyingvan]

  This is the flooring I bought on Craigslist.  I got 600 square feet for $120.  It's quarter sawn oak that she says she bought 40 years ago in Ohio.  It was stuffed in cardboard USPS boxes and stacked outside.  Most have some sort of rot on one end that looks like the wood got burned, and a few are too warped to use and will become kindling.  So the ends get trimmed, and they get glued and face nailed down.  It isn't going quickly but it's exactly the look we wanted.   I just wish we had enough to do the upstairs too

[Sassy]

You just keep outdoing yourselves!  The flooring looks great as does everything else