Welcome

Glad you’re back to follow our progress.  We’ve accomplished a lot,  and are both tired and energized because of where we’re at and what we’ve done.  To summarize:  we’ve moved back upstairs,  the house is move in ready sans much interior decorating, and we’re learning how to live in our new home.  There’s a lot to cover,  I’m going to show all of the upper floor so let’s get started.

I’ll begin with the entryway at the front door.  Very pleased with how this turned out because we knew it had lots of potential but were gobsmacked by the final result.  Entry walls are rough finish plywood which is what was used when the house was built.  By staining it we were able to capture the beauty of the natural wood.  You can’t go wrong with an inviting entryway and front door.  And yes,  that’s Carlie photobombing blog pictures again.

Let’s go thru the front door

This side of the front door lights the whole entryway which is what we had hoped for and Carlie loves that she can sit and monitor everything that goes on outside.

You’ll see this flooring throughout  the house.  It’s Lifeproof vinyl plank that was installed floating rather than nailed or glued.  This is the 1^st time we’ve used engineered flooring and very impressed.  It’s cost effective, looks good, and expected to wear well.

The reflection in the mirror looks a bit strange because it’s showing what’s on the opposite wall.  It’s a currently a blank white canvas so adding some interest to it is high on the to do list.

So let’s set the stage for where we go next

Here are the hallways to the front of house from the great room.  You can see the entryway on the right, the hallway next to it leads to the media room and our bedroom, and on the left is Renee’s office and the guest room.

The TV and soundbar are an experiment I’ve never tried before.  There is no amplifier or speakers installed,  all audio and video are thru the TV and the Sonos soundbar.  I’ve always had a connected amp/TV with speaker zones in all my previous setups but the simplicity of this one was too compelling .  All the connectivity is wireless and the Sonos ecosystem is easily extensible so I can add speakers as I choose.  And it’s all driven by an app or single remote.

The fireplace is propane which is our backup heat if the electricity goes out.  Happy that it’s both functional and attractive.

Let’s go down the hallway to the media room

This is a 3^rd bedroom that has been adapted to a media room.  It has a flat screen TV and sound system for surround sound A/V living in the closet without any doors.   If we ever want to sell it’s easy to add the doors and convert to a bedroom.  The room is comfortable and we both hope to take advantage of it.  Movies haven’t been a part of our lives for a while.

Moving down the hall we pass the powder room

I’m getting better at taking pictures of small spaces but still feel challenged.  I really like what Renee did giving this powder room a warm elegant look.  Vanity is from BathOutlet and gives a European influence with clean simple lines.  There is a bathtub that doesn’t show in the picture so this is a full bathroom in spite of it’s size.  I love pocket doors for rooms like this because they are so efficient at using available space.  You can see a bit of it in the lower right.

The end of the hallway is the entrance to our bedroom

This bedroom moved from the view side (east) of the house to the street side (west) and think it was a good decision.  You can see this location takes advantage of the adjoining greenbelt and gives the room a natural feel which is another theme of the house.

Here is another view

This picture does a good job of showing the minimalist approach to finish trim we used.  Windows have casing and 2” flat trim that are painted the same satin sheen as the walls.  The baseboard is too.  The house has evolved into a combination of northwest contemporary and mid century modern so trimming it this way fits that motif.  And it’s very different from the craftsman style that we’ve been so comfortable with in the past.

The dresser and rocking chair are heritage from my mom and help to give the room some warmth and character to contrast with the minimalist look.

Onto the the master bath

Very pleased with how the niche and vanity work together.  Love it when the final result looks like it was  designed that way.  As I’ve noted in prior posts,  I built the niche using material that matches the vanity and cabinet which is why they fit so well together.

Have discussed the shower in previous posts, it’s from Pacific Crest Showers.  The back walls are tempered glass with a Shutterstock image printed on the back.  Image options are only limited by what’s on Shuttterstock’s site which is overwhelming.  Very cool the way technology and manufacturing came together to create a striking shower.

That’s a heated tile floor using a custom Nuheat mat.  The mat only raises the floor 1/8” so transitions to other rooms are low and graceful.  The warm tiles are really nice as the nights get colder.

Last stop is the master closet

I can’t do the master closet justice with my photo skills,  but it’s works very well .  You get a glimpse of the built in closet(s) which are from Ikea. There are also the mandatory bathing suit hooks just inside the door for drying Renee’s extensive collection.  We added a skylight because there aren’t any windows in the center of the house and it’s nice to have some outdoor connection.

Let’s come back to the picture of hallways from the great room and explore the rooms on the left side.

The 1^st doorway is into Renee’s office.  It’s in the center of the house but she gets a view looking across the great room.  It’s big enough for her needs and she’s made it functional but still a work in progress to make it her own.  Notice there isn’t a door but she’s kind of a neat freak so that shouldn’t be a problem.

The next door leads to the guest room and bath

I like this room because it is as finished as any room in the house.  It feels comfortable and much of that has to do with the big window that looks out onto the green belt.  The window seat is 2 teak boxes from Ikea that fit that space almost perfectly.  I’m sure there will be more bling added to it, but it feels open yet private and inviting.  In the back you can see the guest bath.

Again,  I’m photo challenged with small spaces but the mirror helps bail me out by letting you see the shower.  It’s also from Pacific Crest Showers with tempered glass walls similar to what we have in the master.  That is a double vanity from Wayfair with only a single sink installed to give more counter space.

We’ve looked at rooms on the street side of the house so let’s move back to the view side and check it out.

Here you’re standing next to the fireplace and looking toward the laundry area and my office.  Entry is on the left behind the appliance carport.  The 1^st door you see is the pantry and 2^nd is out to the garage.  I’ll skip past those and move to the laundry area.

Renee is trying a stacked washer/dryer to see if it’s better because of the space saving.  It looks promising.  Note the folding rack on the wall for hanging items before they’re put away.  The laundry sink has been a challenge for me.  It’s almost too nice having the same countertop and backsplash as we used in the kitchen but I’m uncomfortable using it to wash out paint brushes and the other messy projects that happen all the time.  The stainless steel sink makes cleanup easier but I’m accustomed to a basic utility sink.  I’ll have to learn to adapt.

 

Here is a view of the opposite wall of the laundry area.

Lots going on here in a corner.  That’s Carlie’s food and water bowls on the floor, above it is a shelf I built from reclaimed sauna redwood.  It’s space for things that need a home like wallets, keys, and cell phone chargers which can all live here.  I struggle with losing those things and this space really helps.

The whiteboard keeps us on track listing house projects, grocery lists, and whatever other reminders we need.  I added the frame to a basic whiteboard so it’s attractive and functional with hinges allowing it to swing out and provide access to the electrical panel behind it.  The hinges are from HiddenHinge.

Last but not least is my office

It has some of the best views we have to offer but the trade off is it’s small.  I love it when the camera distorts perspective and makes things look bigger than they really are.  Notice the pocket door to the left saving floor space.  Like Renee’s office, mine is functional but still a work in progress.

So that’s all the rooms on the street side,  let’s move back into the great room and see what we’ve done there.  Here is a view I’ve showed in several previous posts, the appliance carport.

I’ve spent much time on it because it is such a big part of the design.  This side of the entry wall houses the carport on the countertop with some of Renee’s favorite appliances with their accessories hidden in the baskets on the upper shelf.  The appliances are used regularly especially the toaster oven and coffee machines on the right.  The pot filler on the wall is working flawlessly keeping them full.

The entry wall behind the carport isn’t full height to the ceiling so there is connection between the great room and the entryway.  From the entry side you can tell there’s something on this side but you can’t really see what it is it.  We’re hoping you’re curious to explore and find out what’s here.

So let’s turn and look into the great room

This is a view looking toward the dining and living spaces.  There was a wall about where this picture was taken,  and another one between the dining and living areas.  Lots of detail about how those changed in previous posts.  The open floor plan works really well in this space and I appreciate the advice and guidance I received about creating it when the project was in it’s infancy.  That advice helped to make it what it’s become.

Here is what it looks like when you turn around

Now you’re looking into the kitchen.  The original kitchen was in roughly the same place but now embraces the views and has a layout that fits us and the space well.  Much of our time is spent here and when friends come over this is where the gathering starts.

I’ve talked about the island before but it’s worth commenting on it’s size and scale.  It’s been referred to as a continent and neither of us is attracted to oversized as a design element.  That said,  the kitchen takes up 1/3 of the great room so it’s a big space and the island feels appropriate to it.  The reclaimed redwood countertop increases the size too,  but the contrast with the countertop helps diminish it and the chairs help with the scale.  This area was a design challenge and I think we’ve addressed it to best fit the space.

Let’s wrap up the tour with some before and after pictures

This picture was included in the original listing for the house in 2021.  I am still struck by how disjointed and disconnected this side of the house looks. The roofline is broken up and the recessed area between deck and house doesn’t make much sense.  A smart real estate agent summarized it by saying that the deck is too small and I took that to heart as a basis of the redesign.

Here is what resulted

The deck did grow.  It now wraps around the south side of the house so we have sun if it’s shining,  and extends north to under the covered porch.  The covered porch has lights and seating so the best option when we’re outside and want to be covered.

The decking between south and north decks connects them and with that wall of windows unifies this side of the house.  Having the deck wrap around the house and extend across the entire front addressed the disjointed look and connects the house with the view. You can actually see that if you look at the reflection in the windows.  My thanks to my realtor and the other professionals who helped make this concept come to life,  we couldn’t have done it without you.

So we’re back upstairs – finally.  We moved downstairs in October of 2023 so have been living in construction for a year.  It feels longer than that because the project actually started in 2022.  It was a long and winding road but the house is now a reflection of who we are and what we hoped it would become.

It has passed final inspection so technically it’s done but anyone who knows us and our history rolls their eyes if that question is asked.  Yes, there will be more projects but now we can do them on our schedule and our priorities.  The Adventurer Project is complete but certainly not finished.  I look forward to the next phase but also want to learn to be retired and take advantage of the beautiful location we live in with so much available to do.

I’ve enjoyed writing the blog and hope you’ve enjoyed following it.  I think I’ll continue blogging because it was satisfying to document the progress and expect there to be future projects worthy of a post.  Certainly want to post about the upcoming landscaping project.  Expect that to be a dramatic change like the house project has been.  And Renee may contribute some posts too.  She is a master gardener so landscaping is in her sweet spot and sharing her insights should be a good read.

 

Thanks for reading.  If you’ve gotten this far you’re now a fan and I appreciate it. – Cheers.

 

 

Welcome back,  my apologies for how long it took to create this post.  The good news is that much has happened and we’re seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.  Sadly, I got sucked into the vortex of it happening and the blog suffered.

So let’s look at what’s taken place since my last post.  The countertop install was a milestone and included the kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and the laundry room.  We found an oversize piece of quartz we liked and there was enough to do almost all the counters.

Here is an example of the smaller pieces that were installed.  This is the laundry room and includes backsplash.

 

At the other end of the spectrum is the island top being installed.  It actually shrank in size as the project moved ahead,  but it still borders on being a continent rather than an island.

And here is a more finished view of the island that turned into a mini continent.

The countertop on the end of the island is a fun story to tell.  The wood is clear redwood that came out of the sauna that was described in an earlier post.  I repurposed it to make this counter.  The picture above is a test fit before I do the final finish and install.

I was able to find 5 2×4’s that would work for what I wanted with the countertop.  They’re full length and just under 7. ‘ It was very cool to take 40 + year old wood and transform it into something new and different.  Pretty simple project to biscuit join them together which I’ve done on other projects.  I’ve learned much about the resources we have here on the Olympic Peninsula and a wonderful one is Edensaw Woods.  Among their many features is production for all kinds of woodworking projects like mine and their 36” belt sander made quick work of sanding my countertop.  They made it perfectly flat, which will make the final finish with Seafin oil look great.

 

Next up cabinetry we designed and I built.  This is the appliance carport which was just installed

I touched on this project in a earlier post.  Renee was the vision for what it could be and I helped make it a reality.  It too will be another ‘final’ post but here it is just after installation.  It will house all of her cool kitchen appliances on the counter with storage on the shelf above for their accessories.  She wanted them to be seen but look like they have a home so no doors like an appliance garage would have.

I built it using material from our cabinet supplier so it matches the rest of the kitchen and very pleased with how it turned out.  I’m not a cabinet maker but this makes me want to learn to be one.  And note the pot filler on the wall,  there are 2 coffee machines just waiting to be installed for it to fill.

I built another niche for the master bath.

The whole vanity sits proud of the bathroom wall about 5″ allowing the niche to be recessed about 4″.  The hope is that we can have some things on the countertop without leaving it looking cluttered.

 

The showers installs are almost finished.  Both master and guest shower walls are JPEG’s that were downloaded from Shutterstock and printed onto tempered glass.  Elaborate process with very cool results.  Fortunately, about the same cost as tile because of that labor but much easier to maintain.  They’re not quite ready for initial testing and that’s going to be a delicate post I haven’t figured out yet.

 

 

Decking is going down and mostly complete.  The deck framing was where we started this project so my contractor had good access to the east wall which needed to be completely rebuilt.  The framing was randomly covered with sheets of OSB so we could walk on it (carefully) so we had deck access but it wasn’t very pretty.

The decking is Wolfe Serenity and being installed so any movement in the boards is hidden.  This is done by installing a deck board parallel with the deck joists and then installing the deck boards across the joists so they’re close but not touching those pieces.  All the boards will move,  but it doesn’t show when installed this way.  This is a huge improvement from the old days of just laying down rows of decking.  That’s what I know how to do and am very glad I let the pros show me a better way.

Also note that the railings are going in too, they’re stainless steel cable railings from Muzata.  They’re marketed as a DIY project but I deferred to my contractor for the installation and very glad I did.  Similar to the decking install there are a gazillion details that he knows about and I don’t so the finished product will look simple and elegant.  I watched and learned,  it isn’t simple to make it look elegant.

 

This is one of my favorite shots of the house exterior as you are probably aware of if you’ve followed this blog.  The east side of the house capture’s so much of what the big picture is about this project that I keep going back to it.  That includes a deck with a covered area that also gets sun,  and the east wall taking advantage of the view.  Enough said, pretty sure you’ll see it again.

 

So we’re getting close to moving back upstairs from the basement and that can’t come too soon.  It’s wonderful that this can happen pretty quickly since the projects needed to get us upstairs are so focused.  Trim out for Electricity, Plumbing, Appliances and Finish Trim happen much faster than all the infrastructure needed for them to happen.  Days vs weeks or months.  We’re very much looking forward to the move, and sharing it when it does.

 

Thanks for reading – Cheers.

 

Welcome to the latest edition of my blog.  This one was fun to write because we’ve made significant progress toward the goal of moving back upstairs.  I’ve noted in earlier posts about the project slogging but we’re  past that now and get to show some milestones completed plus a couple of fun projects too. Hooray, no more slogging.  So, here is what’s happening.

 

We’ve painted the interior,  it was pretty easy to spray since it’s empty.  Walls and ceilings are the same color but the walls are a satin sheen and ceiling is flat.  We chose to go with smooth wall finish meaning no texture.  It makes the drywall work take longer because there’s nothing to hide mistakes but it looks great now that it’s done.  That sheen on the ceiling at the end of the great room shows because the paint hadn’t completely dried when I took this picture.

Olivia was our painter.  I liked that she backrolled the paint her brother Ty sprayed just ahead of her.  This made the final finish very even and gave us the smooth wall look we wanted.  Very pleased that professionals in the trades notice the quality of the finish.

 

Everything we’ve done so far has been leading up to another milestone which is the kitchen cabinet install.  Bathroom vanities are part of it too.  I’ve always installed custom cabinets from local cabinet shops on my jobs but Renee found our cabinets on www.cabinets.com and will confirm ordering cabinets online isn’t for the faint of heart. Working with a local shop is easier but more expensive.  She learned to use the site’s design software and worked online with their designer who helped with the gazillion details that go into a kitchen design.  Here is a picture of the 1^st set of cabinets ready to be installed.

There is a tease here with the sink base cabinet sitting in front of the kitchen window.  It’s countertop will extend all the way to the window so getting the cabinet height right with the window was really important.  I’ll explain in more detail later.

 

With the walls painted and base cabinets in place we were ready to install flooring.  Our flooring of choice was Lifeproof LVP vinyl wide planks.  This is a floating flooring which means no nails or glue,  the planks click together.  I’ve never used it before,  but it came highly recommended and we used it thoughout most of the house.

You can see the sink base cabinet in place in front of the kitchen window just above Jarred the installer’s head.  There is no flooring underneath it and that was necessary to get the cabinet height needed to make the countertop match the height of the window behind the sink.  If that sounds confusing it’s because it was.  More to follow.

Some of the sub floors in the house were really rough so the flooring crew used a leveling compound that’s mostly Portland cement to smooth them out.  You can see it in the center of this picture.  It worked well,  the sub floors ended up smooth and level, but when some of it leaked thru onto the walls of the 1^st floor where we live it caused a bit of crisis.  We solved it pretty quickly but it did get heart rates up.  No harm, no foul.

 

I didn’t want to do traditional casing and jambs for the windows,  especially on the east side with the view.  We both wanted to have a very clean look without lots of trim hiding where drywall and windows meet.  Doing it the way I did makes trimming the window more complex because the carpentry has to be coordinated with the drywall install.  Fortunately,  I like finish carpentry and was able to make it happen.  I put the 1×6 casing up before the board was hung and then the taper put edge bead over the drywall edge next to the casing so we ended up with a very clean look.  There is ½” reveal of the CVG fir casing with Seafin finish.

 

Next up are a couple of random projects that show the progress we’re making.  The front door has been installed.  Once we picked it out it was an easy project to complete.  Very happy that it fits the mid century modern style we’re looking for.

And here is a view of it from the entryway.  We show a skylight on the house plans because there was concern the entry might be too dark without it.   That turned out to be a non issue because of all the glass so pleased we got a combination of function and beauty.

 

I decided to heat (and cool) going ductless using heat pumps and mini splits.  The original house had a boiler system with radiators in some rooms but it was outdated and expensive to upgrade.  Ductless is the most cost effective solution I could find.  Some people find the mini splits have a modern look but I would have preferred ducting with registers as it would have been a better fit for our look and feel.  Unfortunately,  that wasn’t in the budget and what I chose does look modern and energy efficient.

 

This is a picture of the challenge I’ve noted a couple of times already.  We want the kitchen counter top to meet directly with the window frame for a seamless look without any trim or backsplash.  That meant sizing the window correctly, and also having the framer account for the height from floor we needed.  He also wanted all the window heights to match.  That looks to have been done correctly but I found that putting the cabinet on the subfloor without flooring under it looks to exactly match the height we need.  All looks good,  but queue the drama:  It should work as planned but won’t know for sure until countertops are installed.  That’s a tease for the next post.

 

Speaking of countertops,  we were ready for them as soon as the base cabinets were in place.  There are at least 2 weeks between measuring for them and installation so we wanted to get that process started asap.

There are different ways to measure for countertops.  In the old days wood templates were glued together and used as layout to fabricate the stone.  New technology uses a laser to locate all the points the countertop needs to meet and those measurements are fed into a CNC machine that then makes the cuts.  We’re using the latter and it’s a pretty impressive process.  Here is my countertop tech taking the measurements for the bathroom vanity top,  another milestone down.

 

And finally these pictures show it all coming together.  You can see the finished LVP floor.  Most of the kitchen cabinets are installed as are the vanities.  Window casing completed on the east wall.

Flooring runs throughout the house except our master bath which will be tile.  Walls and ceiling are smooth wall finish.

With a final look at the great room.

 

So this post is a wrap.  I hope you learned a bit more about the project and progress we’ve made.  It’s starting to feel like we’re getting there (finally).  The finish line is to move back upstairs with the house as complete as we can make it before then.  That move date isn’t firm yet but looking likely in the next month.

This was a fun post to create because there was so much progress made and it’s HGTV show type of projects.  I call them the glitter and gold.  It’s very rewarding to be able to show it and I hope you’ve learned a bit about our construction journey.  Thanks for reading – Cheers.

Hi, and appreciate you’re following the progress we’ve made.  I teased in earlier posts about talking about the rest of the house beyond the great room so here we go.  I’ve struggled with creating this post because some rooms are so much harder to photograph than the great room but I’ll do my best to show what we have planned for the rest of the house.

Here is an overview of what the west side of the house looks like.  Picture is taken from the kitchen in the great room (east side)  looking at this side of the house

West Side Rooms

And here is the same view,  with drywall and taping underway.

 

This is the view of the guest room just off of the great room. It has a nice feel with the big window looking out to the green belt.  The green belt and yard are projects that deserve their own posts and that will happen, but suffice to say we’ve been working on them while the house moves forward.

You can see a sliver of a working toilet.  That has been in place since we started the project and probably could have it’s own post as it’s been functional but not very aesthetic especially before we had any walls.  Appreciate contractors who can deal with our managing costs by using existing infrastructure.

 

Next to the guest room is Renee’s office.  There won’t be a door on it so she can appreciate the view.  Her office wouldn’t have been possible in the original house because there was a mammoth fireplace taking up most of the space.  I really struggled with removing it because it seemed like it would be such a big job but that wasn’t  the case and her office is a much better use of the space.

Here is what the fireplace looked like from roughly the same spot Renee’s office picture was taken from.  This picture is in the family room and does a good job of highlighting our 8’ ceilings.  This space was the worst offender for making low ceilings feel even lower than they were.  We’ve chosen to use can lights throughout the house to keep light fixtures from interrupting  the clean open ceiling.

 

Looking down the hallway is the media room which is really a 3^rd bedroom.  You can see we framed 2 closets but only the small one will have a door.  That will satisfy the rules for it being a bedroom and I can stuff a tricked out TV in the big closet without doors.  Bring on the Super Bowl.  The cables on the wall are for mini split head which provides heat/air conditioning.  AC isn’t a big deal where we live but may turn out to be useful because this room is on the west side of the house and can get a lot of afternoon sun.

 

We’ve moved down the hallway into the master bedroom.  It’s walls are all original to the house so it’s a big room.  It has a western exposure, so same as the media room where a mini split provides heat and A/C.  The western exposure means no view of the Salish Sea but it looks out to a green belt which you can see thru the windows and gives it a nice feel.

Let’s peek into that doorway on the left.

It leads to the master bath.  Shower sits in the corner and will get it’s own post.  Shower walls are glass with digital artwork that tested Renee’s create juices which is hard to do, more to follow about those details.

Next to the shower is the vanity with future base cabinets and quartz countertop.  The vanity wall has a 4” profile to allow two medicine cabinets with tricked out mirrors with a niche beneath to minimize countertop clutter.  Toilet is just out of view under the window.  There will be a heated floor under tile.

And off the bathroom is our walk in closet.  Sorry, this is the best photo I can show as I don’t have the skills or equipment to show smaller rooms.  We added a skylight since it’s an interior room and wouldn’t have any natural light without it.

 

So that’s a tour of much of the rest of the house.  Rooms I haven’t shown include a powder room, laundry, and my office but I’ll wait on showing them until I upgrade my photo skills.

I’ll wrap this up with this picture of the great room which has been taped and almost ready for paint.  Look closely and you can see blue tape marking imperfections my taper found,  there’s a lot of them.  He fixed them so we can have a smooth wall finish throughout the house which means no texture.  It’s a clean look that fits this house well.

We’re just about finished with the slogging I referred to in my last post and getting ready to start doing the projects that get shown on HGTV where floors are laid, cabinets installed,  and final finishes happen.  Couldn’t be happier we’re at this point and my tease for this post is I’m really looking forward to creating the next one.  Thanks for reading.

Welcome back, we’re in the slog part of the project I find very challenging.  Slogging means we’re doing the infrastructure projects necessary for the house to function so we can move the project forward.  Our envelope has been created,  foundation and framing are done and the house is sealed.  Now we need to have all the things built out that make the house function,  like plumbing, electrical, heat and insulation.  It’s boring, takes too long, and most of it gets covered up.  That said,  it’s really important and needs to be done right.  I show this picture because it was a good day with lots of subs onsite making things happen. I think you’re seeing plumbers,  gutters, and contractors.  Days like this don’t happen often enough and help to make the slog worth it.

 

My biggest challenge is keeping track of the all the details of the project.  So many vendors and trades, so many inbound and outbound phone calls, so many different folks onsite.  To keep track of it all I created this spreadsheet.  Day of the month for headings, different projects by month on the rows,  time needed in the columns.  The projects are sequenced by critical path whenever possible.  Green bars are scheduled,  yellow isn’t scheduled yet but pending,  and red isn’t a good thing.  Wish I’d invented it but I stand on the shoulders of giants.  It’s the best view I have on project status for what needs to be done, yet in another sense it’s a fantasy because there are so many variables and constant change.  I feel like I have some control but accept that the chart has to be massaged pretty much daily.

 

So, let’s take a tour and see the progress we’ve made.  As I said, we’re slogging right now but that’s necessary to get onto the next stage.   Here’s the new entry way which is a blank palette right now.  Renee and I are of the mind that the entry establishes our home’s feel and are starting to have visions of what could be.  We want it to be inviting and capture the natural feel of where we live.  She is a Master Gardener so there will be lots of plants and trees surrounding the entry and probably a cool planter or maybe some sculpture.  The door you see is a temporary dunnage door which will be replaced with the permanent door when construction is further along.

This is a before picture.  I won’t miss the giraffe rock.

 

So let’s step inside on the tour.  First stop is after you’ve walked thru the front door and thru the entry way into the great room.  I’ll explain that shortly.  You’re looking into the kitchen and with a bit of imagination can see that the framed wall (center of the picture) will have our refrigerator next to upper/lower cabinets and the induction cooktop with lowers and kitchen sink against the exterior wall. There is a big island where that 2/10 electrical cable is coiled up on the floor.  The man door leads to the covered deck.  Laundry room and my office are behind the framed wall.

 

Here is looking to the other end of the great room from the kitchen.  Lot of thought into making this space happen.  Again, the island sits where the coiled cable is on the floor but otherwise the rest of the space is a blank palette that will become our living and dining rooms.  There’s a spirted discussion going on about which room goes where so stay tuned to see what we decide.  Man door at the end of the room leads to more deck on the south side of the house where we get sun when it’s out.  The fireplace is propane and our alternate heat source if the electricity goes out.

 

Here’s a view of the other side of the kitchen space looking down a hallway leading to the back half of the house with bedrooms and bathrooms.  Those are topics for a future post.  To the right of the hallway is the front door behind that 3/4 wall. This side of the 3/4 wall is an appliance carport which will be installed on the framing behind the garbage cans.  If you don’t know what an appliance carport is you’re not alone and that too will be a future post.  Try googling it and you don’t get many hits because it’s not very common. It is Renee’s inspiration when she’s in full on creative mode.  It’s a bit hard to explain but imagine an appliance garage without any doors that looks attractive.  I’ll do a future post to show what she’s come up with, I think it’s pretty cool.  To the right of the carport is the new pantry.  And another shameless plug for my girder truss which in running down the middle of the picture in the ceiling, sorry, can’t help it.  None of the great room would be possible without it.

 

So let’s wrap up with this picture of the 3/4 wall, but just after you’ve walked in the front door.  It’s 5’ tall leaving 3’ of open space to the ceiling so you won’t really see the kitchen but will have the feeling it’s there.  The opening looking into the great room frames the view from the big windows but you only get to see part of it so again teases you about what’s there.  The intent is to give clues about what’s above and behind the wall when you walk in and invites you to come inside and find out more.  We  thought a lot about this and like the idea of some mystery,  looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

 

So we’re close to wrapping up the slog with insulation and drywall being the last steps.  Then we get to start doing projects that are much more exciting because they get us back upstairs.  Still too early to forecast when but Renee does have a birthday at the end of May.  Could be the best present ever.

Thanks for reading, appreciate your support and look forward to the next post.

Welcome back, this post is all about hitting a major milestone in the project where we finished installing the new roof.  Living with plywood and tarps as substitutes for roofing gets old, and dealing with water on the main floor was beyond tiresome.  For those who don’t know our living situation: the house is two stories and we’re remodeling the upper level and living in a MIL apartment on the lower level.  Water never made it downstairs but there were some stressful times.

 

There were lots of things going on to reach this milestone so let’s break them down.

 

Roof to be replaced with the guard dog on duty

This picture highlights the part of the roof we had to replace to open up the main floor.  The entire roof is constructed of trusses and we needed to replace 12 of them to accommodate the girder truss I discussed in the last post.  Installing it meant we could remove the wall under it and have a great room that includes the kitchen, dining, and living rooms.  Doing this was central to the design of the house and allows us to highlight the view we have of the Salish Sea.

Look carefully and you can see there’s a chimney which was the exit for a large fireplace.  We removed it last fall and were left with a gaping hole in the roof.  A sheet of plywood solved that problem but wasn’t completely water tight,  just mostly.  The chimney wasn’t the only hole in the roof as the project moved forward so we learned to pay attention whenever an atmospheric river was forecast.

 

 

Living the Dream under Blue Tarps

There were lots of concerns about opening up the roof mid winter because making all the parts of that project fit together was really challenging with our typically unpredictable winter weather.  We needed several days between starting tear off and resheeting the new roof with plywood.  In between those steps included removing old trusses and installing new ones so tarping the exposed roof was critical.  The challenge is having something in place to support tarps during the transition.  This is what we looked after the roofing was removed but the old trusses were still in place.  And yes,  I know that’s a lot of gray tarps but blue tarps are industry standard and we just weren’t able to meet it.

 

 

 

Roof Off, First Truss Installed

Old roof and trusses are in the dumpster, this is the first trust being installed,  and that big pile on the ground soon followed.

 

 

Here is the girder truss after it has been installed, it’s the one that looks like a big beam made out of 2×6 lumber. The other half of the roof is being hung off of it and you can see there’s no wall under it any more.  It’s pretty wonky technically  and I apologize for my obsession with it, but it’s been the biggest challenge we’ve faced.  It took 2 engineers, an experienced crew, and some breaks in the weather to get us to this point.  Sort of disappointing that all that time and energy will be covered up with drywall.   Fortunately we’re past it now and can focus on taking advantage of the new space it gives us.

 

 

 

How to Install a Roof

This is what it looks like when roofing pro’s show up.  Roof sheeting is complete and the tarps pulled back giving them room to work.  This was the crew with machines to make it happen and they installed my roof in less than 2 days despite the rain.  I was starting to be able to exhale watching them work their magic.

 

 

Finished Roof

And here is my finished roof.  The roof has been a long time coming, we’re looking to the next chapter of the project building out the interior.

Thanks for reading, look forward to showing the cool stuff we’ve been planning.

 

Welcome back, in this post I’ll show what we’re planning inside and thoughts about our design decisions and why we made them.  Adventurer is a big house with big rooms,  but very cut up and disjointed.  The flow of the house was very confusing and a common refrain from guests once they were inside was ‘where am I?’

This picture captures a hot button for me:  Try to find the view of the Salish Sea thru the slider and kitchen window.  Yep,  it’s there but hard to see and that needed to be fixed.  The markup you see here is what we’re planning to change.  The wall with the slider will move out 8’ and get lots of new windows and the wall to the left will disappear.  How does that happen since it’s a bearing wall?  Well, let me explain.

 

 

We’re going to install a girder truss across the house which will support the roof without needing any beams or posts.  Doing this opens up the kitchen, living room, and dining room to each other which will create a great room with lots of natural light and windows taking advantage of the view.  You can see the girder truss location in red on this floor plan.  The picture above was taken as if I were standing at the right side of the new island.  The magic of the girder truss is that it is buried in the ceiling and you won’t see it, just uninterrupted open space.

Before we move on,  I want you to pay attention to where my new office will be located in the upper left corner of the plan.  It has some spectacular views, and looks directly at Mt Baker.   When we walked thru the house the first time I was taken aback with what I saw.

 

 

If you can’t believe what you’re seeing neither could I.  Building a sauna where a spectacular view exists isn’t common but there it was.  This may not be the biggest transformation in this project,  but it’s a contender.  I’m looking forward to moving into my new space.

Wish I could capture the progress we’ve made so far but it doesn’t photograph very well yet.  Here’s a quick summary:

Demo work almost completed

New deck is framed

Most of the new windows and doors are installed and trimmed

Most of the exterior is re-sided

Interior framing is in progress.

 

Next project is tearing off some of the roof to install new trusses,  and then we’ll be able to reroof and seal up the exterior.  If you read my last post at the end I teased about the ‘cloud’ over part of the roof.  That ‘cloud’ is what this post is all about.

 

Thanks for reading, hoping my next post has some dramatic changes to show.