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I've been working towards this thread for some time now, after dropping info into my tractor thread and the metalwork thread, some folks asked me to document the construction of my house, and all the things I'm going to build to make a life for myself in the country. So here goes. Back in the late 90s, my folks bought an acreage just outside Calgary. Having just started university, I moved out there with them and immediately decided that I never wanted to live in the city again. Apartment/condo life is fine for some folks, but not for me. I consider suburbs to be a blight on the face of the planet, and I can't afford an inner city home. It's difficult to justify living in the country just for the sake of living in the country. There are environmental reasons not to, the commute is longer and wastes energy for one. Houses aren't as thermally efficient as concrete built apartments, though they're pretty good nowadays with modern insulation. One of my friends likes to say that he turns his heat off in his condo and lets his neighbours heat his place. Grass yards, while sort of pretty, are an awful waste of water and otherwise productive soil, not to mention the machines you need to care for a large yard in a reasonable amount of time. Fortunately, I think I can justify it and reconcile my views with my actions. As many of you know, I like to blacksmith. A hobby that makes a lot of noise, takes up a fair amount of space, and requires a sizable yard to keep all the equipment in. New suburb lots in Calgary are all of 30' by 90' (if you're lucky) and cost around $120k+ Canadian. Not only would it be extremely difficult to put a shop on such a small parcel of land, I would make my neighbours extremely mad at me with all the noise, light, and smoke. Back in February of 2009, I found a listing for a newly subdivided group of single acre parcels out in a tiny little Hamlet not far from my parent's place. There wasn't much to see, a few trees on each side of the land to separate the lots from each other. Power poles and a bit of earth. A recently drilled well, all ready to go. However, it's out in farm country, and the view is pretty nice. The people across the road have some horses and a nice big area for them to run around in. In March, I bought my lot for $135k Canadian, given Calgary's real estate market, it seemed pretty reasonable to get what I need.
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# ¿ Feb 7, 2010 20:49 |
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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 11:38 |
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In March, I took possession. Everything from where my truck is sitting, to the fence at the back and between the trees is my lot. This is looking east. Looking south. Looking north east. Straight north. And here are the horses on the west side. They seem pretty friendly, and quite intelligent as horses go. They're complete attention whores when their owners come home. This is about the time that I bought my tractor and started restoring it. I knew I wanted a garden to avoid having to look after a lawn, and I may as well grow some food for myself in the dirt. I figured it would be a little difficult to look after a garden this size and work full time by myself, so a general workhorse machine would be of great use.
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# ¿ Feb 7, 2010 21:00 |
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The summer passes by without event. I go out to my place a couple of times to trim the grass at the front and the weeds that grow everywhere. Thistle and dandelion are the most invasive, but they won't be as much of a problem once I get my tractor out there to start cultivating everything. Doing it with a weed whacker that's underpowered isn't all that effective, but at least it works. In the meantime, I'm looking at house plans, getting quotes and ideas from builders and getting all of my finances in order. By the time October runs around, I've got everything pretty well settled, and construction begins. The basement is excavated, and the footings go in. The trench from the power pole to the house. Then the concrete wall itself goes up. And the pilings for the garage pad. The power meter and the circuit breaker board. Piles for the porch, and the roof. The guy who does the water and septic is like a loving construction ninja. He dug the hole for the tank, put the tank in, and buried it along with all the water and sewer lines in a single day without anyone knowing he was there. He's the same guy who did my parent's septic system and he did the exact same thing. He also put in a hydrant for me. The lever opens a valve that's deep underground so it can be used in the winter, hopefully, and doesn't have to be drained before freeze up. I was extremely lucky in that October and November were pretty mild. The cement went in without the ground being frozen which means it should be nice and solid. Hopefully my foundation will last for a very long time.
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# ¿ Feb 7, 2010 21:16 |
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In November, I got wood. No, I mean like a lot of wood. Enough wood to embarrass a porn star. The garage. Obviously the most important feature of the house. Braced for the wind. Looking west from my living room. Looking south out the double doors to where the little deck is going. Then about a week later the second floor goes on. Good thing too, everyone that walked by asked why the house was so tiny and the garage so huge. And the roof trusses. Pre-built stairs. In my house. The deck. I was concerned about this being plain lumber instead of treated, but then I remembered that my builder did the exact same thing on my parent's deck and porch and they're over 10 years old now with no sign of rot. We live in a pretty dry environment. The posts are treated, and that's what matters here. My awesome view from my den. It's hard to make out in the pictures, but in person you can see the rocky mountains on a clear day. Looking north from the den, these folks put up a nice looking modular home during the summer. Checkin out the neighbours. This is my closet. Shower goes here. Toilet room. Tub. Laundry room goes upstairs where all the bedrooms are. This is a shot of the two two extra bedrooms and their closets. This is the south side of the house. Looking up to my den. Towards the master bathroom. Kitchen on the main floor, bedroom above. Living room on the main floor, other bedroom above.
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# ¿ Feb 7, 2010 21:40 |
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Still November. The roof goes up, interior framing is almost done. A week later, the exterior doors are on, the windows are in, and the plywood skin is complete. I really like this picture, though the circumstances in which I took it aren't so good. My dad was driving us all out to take a look at my house, we were talking about how it was hard to see the edges of the road, and he drove into the loving ditch. We had to get my sister's boyfriend to bring his truck and tow us out. I snapped this as we waited. It was dark by the time we got out of the ditch, but I was still able to see that the shingles had been put on.
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# ¿ Feb 7, 2010 21:49 |
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Approaching the end of December, things are looking good. That's an insulation company's truck there, they're blowing in insulation where it's needed. Also, you can see the start of the siding. More progress. During this time, they pour the basement floor. Then I get my drywall. In the master bedroom, looking at the den and the master bath. The den. The window is a perfect height to put a desk under. Master bath. Excuse the particles, I have ghosts or something. Secondary bathroom. This is my laundry room again. When I chose my appliances, I got front loading machines, being a tall dude, I wanted those little drawer units to lift them up a little. The salesman suggested against this, being that my laundry room is on the second floor, he claimed the vibrations would be bad for the house. As an alternative, he suggested that I have the framers put in a little raised platform that the washer/dryer can sit on without the amplifier effect of the drawers. The framers and drywallers seemed to like it, I think it became their defacto kitchen while they were working One of the bedrooms looking at the closet.
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# ¿ Feb 7, 2010 22:11 |
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Mid January, finishing materials start arriving. The walls get taped, mudded, sanded, and their first coat of primer. These are all my baseboards, door casings, and window casings. My doors. I like this style, looks like they belong in the country. My kitchen door leading to the mud room and the garage. I had no idea my builder was going to put in that little arch, but I like it. Basement gets insulated, vapour barriered and generally sealed up. Garage gets drywalled. Hell yeah. Drywall gets a nice coat of primer. And the siding gets done. Pretty much. Then the doors get cased in maple. And the windows. I picked three kinds of flooring for this house. Maple hardwood, lino, and a bit of tile. This is subfloor for the tile in the toilet room in the garage door area. The interior doors go up. That black stuff is just some dirt it picked up in shipping, it'll come right off once it gets cleaned. Framing all done in the master bath.
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# ¿ Feb 7, 2010 22:23 |
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This last week, my cabinets were installed. The first thing you see when you walk in the front door is this. My liquor cabinet. Kitchen's starting to look good. Stove goes on the left, dishwasher on the right. Fridge goes here. Slide out pantry. Microwave goes to the left. Spice rack. Medicine cabinets. Half bath. Main bath. Master bath, two sinks. Above the laundry machines. Stair railing goes in. I would really like to re-do the iron work in this myself someday, the basket twists are nice, but they're soulless machine creations. This will eventually get stained the same colour as my cabinets, as will the baseboards and window/door casings. Man, what's all this gravel here for? Insulation under the garage doors? Oh poo poo, I have a garage floor. Also the pillars are getting cased. Classy.
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# ¿ Feb 7, 2010 22:38 |
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Brekelefuw posted:God damnit Slung Blade. Everything you do makes me jealous. Sorry? vv Senor P. posted:If you don't mind my asking, how much did it cost for the land and construction of the house+appliances? Total cost will be somewhere around $470-485k Canadian. But that's not including all the poo poo I'm going to do later, but more on that as I come to it.
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# ¿ Feb 8, 2010 04:26 |
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dv6speed posted:You do realize, that the garage you're going to be building, and the tooling inside of it, will outclass that number by several times, right? The tooling I need won't be too bad unless I get a mill and a lathe. Powerhammer's gonna be around 15k probably, unless I can get a nice used one. Bigger forge, built mostly from materials, probably 5-600 bucks. Power bandsaw for cutting metal around 700. Air compressor and tools, probably 3000. The attached garage is 33x30, so that's pretty good for a lot of stuff. I do want a shop though, separate from the house.
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# ¿ Feb 8, 2010 05:40 |
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Hungry Gerbil posted:Awesome. I'm looking forward to future updates. Out front I will have fruit trees, berry bushes for hedges, and a little grass, though, after the driveway, there won't be a lot of room left. Immediately behind the house, I will have a fire pit, benches, more berry hedge, more fruit trees, a smoke house, a platform for my hot smoker, and a table for outdoor picnics. A shop will be built eventually. Whether I do that now or in a year or ten is up to the financial world. Everything else will be vegetable garden, along with a chicken coop that I can move around (I'm thinking something that I can hitch to the tractor and pull around) a great big compost setup, beehives, and if I can handle it, some meat rabbit hutches. There's a small protected (meaning I can't drain or fill it) wetland at the very back of the land that runs all along the hamlet, if I get really ambitious, I might try to keep ducks or geese in it or something, though it only has water in it until August or September. With this and all the other stuff I plan on building, I hope to produce enough content to keep this thread going for several years, at least.
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# ¿ Feb 8, 2010 17:52 |
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dwoloz posted:Very cool to see the whole process, looks like it'll be a beaut The ones in this picture? Honestly, I'm not really sure. There's fibreglass insulation up there between the garage ceiling and my bedroom floor. But it could be a vent of some kind.
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# ¿ Feb 8, 2010 20:33 |
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Stroph! posted:Yep you're living one of my dreams. What's your day job? I write and design software for SCADA systems. Basically, if you've ever seen a control room where you have a billion monitors with pipelines, electrical grid, traffic control, city water/sewer stuff or things like that, the company I work for probably had something to do with it. I mostly just do database conversions from old systems to new ones and write the odd custom application for a project, or a communication protocol. The little remote terminal units that gather data from devices and send it back to our system all have their own proprietary communication languages and it's always a bitch to get them to talk. It will be a lot of work, but that's why I have the tractor, it should help an awful lot when prepping the land and keeping it all nice and cultivated. This year I'm just going to start with the garden, and see if I can keep up with it. This first summer is going to be busy as gently caress because I'll be planting a lot of my trees and bushes.
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# ¿ Feb 8, 2010 21:41 |
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Messadiah posted:Central-vac pre-wire (pre-tubing? what) Entirely possible, but I think they ran all that through the wall between the garage and the kitchen down into the basement. Koskinator posted:This is a quite big house. I've been following your tractor thread and never seen you mention it, but do you have a family to share the house with, or are you making it this size for the future family you will have? () I mentioned it a few times, but I didn't try to make it a central feature of that thread. The house is just for me right now as I am one goony-as-gently caress bachelor. I would have been fine parking a motorhome on it and building an aircraft hangar to work in, but that would have been a pretty lousy investment. So, house it is, and if you're going to build a house, may as well build a fairly nice one if you can afford it. It's a hell of a lot harder and more expensive to tear one down and build again if you're trying to upgrade.
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# ¿ Feb 8, 2010 23:31 |
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My, uh, garden arrived today. I may have slightly overestimated my seed requirements...
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# ¿ Feb 13, 2010 03:27 |
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Progress is going to be kinda slow for the next couple of weeks as paint prep goes on. Priming, sanding, filling, leveling. It all takes time, and it needs a couple of days in between to dry and cure. Few small things to report though. They moved the rail to the other side of the stairs. I'm not really sure why, I was fine with where it was originally, though it was wrong compared to the house blueprints. Either way, no matter, I'm fine with it where it is now. The trim on the pillars is done. And the garage interior is either primed, or painted. I can't tell which it is, no light, so no picture.
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# ¿ Feb 15, 2010 07:52 |
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Boll posted:Awesome thread! Insulation is handled through layers of different material. Consider this image of the basement: So, starting from the inside of the house and working outwards, we've got paint, drywall, a plastic vapour barrier to keep out moisture, fibreglass insulation, the plywood skin of the building, a layer of tar paper or tyvek plastic sheeting, and then the siding. The fibreglass and the vapour barrier are the two biggest parts of the insulation equation, keeping moving air currents out and the thermal barrier of the fibre means very little energy is lost or absorbed through the walls. The roof is insulated in a similar fashion, but the fibreglass is generally much thicker and has a higher R value.
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# ¿ Feb 15, 2010 16:52 |
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Everything has been caulked. The builders went through a million cases of the stuff after it was all framed.
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# ¿ Feb 16, 2010 21:11 |
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Dr. Chim Richalds posted:Another great thread, Slung Blade. How you manage to do it all, I'll never understand. How do you find the time to work full-time, work on your tractor project, deal with building a new home, drive to and from work/your parents house/your new house, and update these threads about your projects? Do you ever have free time? Thanks for the great reads, they're an inspiration to be sure. The only thing I don't envy is that cold, cold weather. It's very simple, I don't have a girlfriend. Thanks though, I'm glad you guys like these threads. I consider my various projects to be my spare time. They're how I unwind and relax. My job is that of a typical office drone. Go in, sit my rear end in a chair for 4 hours, then it's lunchtime, then another 4 hours, then home, with nothing to show for it other than a paycheque, and maybe some documentation saying the customer is happy/pissed with their software. It's good to have hobbies.
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# ¿ Feb 17, 2010 03:25 |
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grover posted:Your house looks awesome! I must say, I'm disappointed, though. For someone as DIY as you with such clear skills for this stuff... you go and... hire contractors? For shame! I had to, I need the time to work on the tractor. Besides, I've never really been good with wood. Metal's not so bad, since you can almost always add metal back on and shave it down to what you need again, but wood, once cut, is hosed forever. I think I'll use the single door for the tractor, and the large door for my truck. I want to get a little light commuter car to go with it and save on gas, but I also want to build a custom tube-frame electric car someday. I'll probably start with a cheap little corolla or something because I'm gonna be plenty busy for the next few years anyway. Behind the house will be a smithy. Not 100% decided on how I'm going to go about that, but I'm working on it. So no woodshop, it's not my thing. Though I will have some basic woodworking tools so I can build everything else I need. I think I mostly just need a good mitre saw. In other news, I finally got around to screengrabbing my floorplan. The master bedroom is huuuuuuuge. I've considered sleeping in the den and using the MB as a kind of living room. The kitchen/living room isn't separated, even though it looks like it is, that's just a support beam that juts out of the ceiling. It's sort-of inspired by this: http://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plan-31082d.asp Going to check up on the place this weekend, I'll post images if anything interesting has happened.
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# ¿ Feb 20, 2010 02:23 |
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Given my commute, that's pretty well impossible. But I can do a lot to mitigate my impact. Fruit will be mostly apples, raspberry bushes, saskatoon berries, and hakasp berries if I can get some. That's mostly all that will grow here, though strawberry, blueberry, and some hardy cherry breeds will live, but I'm not terribly interested in those.
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# ¿ Feb 20, 2010 10:16 |
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It's on my list. Not sure if I'll get to it this year, but maybe soon. It has to be strong enough to hold up to snow like this: Fortunately, this guy is in the same province and climate as I am, and he did it pretty easily and cheaply. http://www.albertahomegardening.com/my-hoopframe-greenhouse-in-the-snow/ I would build it bigger than that though, I would like to be able to drive the tractor into it to cultivate the beds. Or maybe I'll just get a little electric tiller or something. Or make one.
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# ¿ Feb 20, 2010 21:11 |
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Barn Owl posted:The den is only accessible from the Master Bedroom? is this common? Not at all. But it is what I wanted, and the architect did as I asked. I wasn't expecting much to have happened this week. Paint, maybe a little sanding. I was pleasantly surprised. My counters were installed. Also, all my trim has been stained the same colour as the cabinets. Doors were painted. And a parting shot of the front with the trim all done. Hell yes.
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# ¿ Feb 21, 2010 07:28 |
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I wish I could have built it myself, but I'm really not much of a carpenter or finisher. I wouldn't trust myself to do code-grade wiring and plumbing either. But that's ok. I'm pretty sure the painters are all finished. I like the colour. I was kinda worried when I picked it, but it looks good next to the cabinets and granite. Coming up next: Flooring Lighting
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# ¿ Mar 1, 2010 04:02 |
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Coasterphreak posted:The dark stain on the cabinets and trim is very classy. I like it. Thanks I was able to pick everything I wanted at the various building suppliers in about 15 minutes each. Having no one to please but myself was a huge boon and timesaver. The sales guys were all like deer in the headlights as I picked everything because I was so quick about it. well sir, as you can see have 150 different types of cabinets, finish, stain, and hardwar- Give me that one, with that hardware, and in this colour. sir you can take more than 5 minutes to think about this if you like, this appointment is for 90 minutes Nope. That's good. Let's move on. I could have done the whole thing in a day if I could have made the appointments work. I thought the poor lady at the plumbing place was going to have her wrist explode she was trying to write so fast. Barracuda Bang! posted:Yeah, the hardware looks great too. Yup, all stainless. I've got a dual fuel kitchenaid gas stove/electric oven, side by side fridge (never had one of those before, it was always top/bottom) and a decent dishwasher. Hopefully the hood fan is good enough to clear the smoke as I start cooking on that awesome stovetop.
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# ¿ Mar 1, 2010 18:04 |
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Yeah, that's square footage on the flooring that I don't have to pay to have done. Works out pretty well in my opinion.
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# ¿ Mar 4, 2010 18:02 |
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The flooring will go under where the dishwasher sits, same as the oven. Those are open to the front unlike the cabinets themselves. My builder's good, I'm not worried about it.
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# ¿ Mar 4, 2010 19:43 |
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Right, yes, it will
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# ¿ Mar 4, 2010 23:48 |
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grover posted:Will your walls go the entire way from the floor to the ceiling? Make sure your builder doesn't forget! Desi posted:1. Hydro-Ottawa would have probably killed me if I tried to install my hydro service that early. We were running generators on site until after the roof was shingled and all the doors and windows installed. They wouldn't even think about letting me do it a day sooner. The electric service was trenched, and the meter was put on, but it wasn't activated until after the house was framed. I think they turned it on roughly the same time as the roof trusses went on. I can't remember when the transformer showed up on the electric pole, exactly. Thanks, I really like the cabinets too. There's a closet behind my liquor cabinet, so I could install a little kegerator in there and punch some holes without too much difficulty. I don't drink enough beer to justify it though, I prefer whiskey, bourbon and wine. A place to pour and store my glasses is plenty enough for me The doors are solid core. It's just LDF inside though, I think. Which doorframe in particular? The standard interior door frame? Front door exterior? My builder knows her stuff. She built my parent's place 10 years ago, so I trust her with little stuff like doorbells I have no idea on the building permit, I didn't have to get it, my GC got it and it's part of my bill. I'm certain it wasn't that much though, they practically give those things away here. They did bring in some fill, mostly a little clay. A lot of that went into the driveway, or what will eventually become the driveway. She's never mentioned the building inspectors, so I doubt they're giving her a hard time. We have strict building codes like everywhere else, but people aren't insanely anal about it like they sound like they are back east.
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# ¿ Mar 5, 2010 05:46 |
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I can see the cabinets after flooring thing as a kind of renovation inertia thing. "Man this floor sucks, but if we're going to change it, we'll have to replace the cabinets, countertops, and appliances while we're at it. gently caress, that's a lot of money, maybe in 15 years..." "The cabinets suck, but if I replace them, I may as well do the flooring while I have them out. poo poo, that new tile's expensive, maybe in 10 years..." And then they move out and the old, perfectly serviceable stuff stays in place and nothing is wasted.
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# ¿ Mar 5, 2010 20:17 |
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Sure, next time I'm out there I'll get some pictures of that. There's not much to see though, really. Kitchen/living room are basically one medium sized room (for what it is) and there's not much of a transition. There's no wall, no flooring change or anything like that. But I'll try to capture it. The flooring guys were supposed to start on the yesterday, so hopefully when I go to check up on it this weekend they'll have a bunch done.
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# ¿ Mar 16, 2010 16:49 |
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It's going to be my office. Also, that's where I will sit in an easy chair in a smoking jacket and sip bourbon whilst reading the classics of literature.
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# ¿ Mar 17, 2010 06:32 |
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Wandering Knitter posted:You seem to be living my dream life, right down to the garden and chickens. Well, now that all depends. Are you willing to live in Canada's frozen plain? Also, dv6speed posted:We all know "Den" or "Office" is just a nice synonym for dungeon. How open minded are you?
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# ¿ Mar 18, 2010 16:47 |
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Basilson posted:I just wanted to chime in and say that that, sir, is a drat fine house. Thanks for sharing the pics. I'm just starting to study architecture at uni, and we're doing sub-floor systems (slabs, joists, bearers, etc) and it's always nice to see some work in progress examples. Also, the vapour protection and water proofing systems in your walls, as we're covering that next week! Hey thanks. If you want any high-res images of anything I've posted, let me know and I'll be happy to send them your way. The nights are getting short enough now that I can visit my house during the week, I saw last night that the wall and floor tile has all been placed and I think it looks pretty good. I didn't have my camera with me unfortunately, but I will get some shots this weekend.
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# ¿ Mar 18, 2010 16:51 |
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Wandering Knitter posted:Yes. And I can knit a cozy for every single item in that house! Ok, I guess you can come then.
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# ¿ Mar 19, 2010 06:45 |
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Dobermaniac posted:The house looks amazing. Would you mind taking a few pictures to show the kitchen and living room area? My wife wanted to see how large of an area there was and how the transition looked. To take these pictures, I stood where the stove is going. Looking southwest. This door is on the same wall, looking south. This beam is the only thing between the kitchen and living room. This is standing in the southwest corner looking to the kitchen. So there really isn't much of a transition, it's basically like one big room. Here's my backsplash. I like the smaller tiles. My lino in the upstairs main bathroom. In the laundry room. That drain's going to have to be trimmed... Tile on the tub surround, lino on the floor. Tile backsplash. Some of my lights work. Like the ones in my garage Awww yeah, look at that cavernous space. My pressure tank's in, good to know I'll probably have water when I move in. Look at all that water in the slough at the back. Too bad it'll be gone by august
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# ¿ Mar 21, 2010 03:15 |
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I looked at modulars, believe me. But considering how much it costs to dig a proper basement foundation and hire the crane to dump the bits onto the concrete, it just didn't seem worth it. There's going to be a gravel driveway of sorts leading around the north side of the house from the garage to the rear and a gravel pad that will extend to the east of the garage. I wanted to be able to use as much of that wall as possible and keeping a door-width area clear so I could get through seemed like a bit of a waste when it will only take 5 seconds to drive around. Plus it would reduce the wall space in the garage too. In retrospect, a man door would have been a good idea though. I'm regretting not putting that in the garage. As for the mudroom, well, my parents have one, and it just becomes a junk storage closet. I have a hall closet at least, so I can hang up some coats, and some boots maybe, but that's all there's room for. That's all I wanted, it'll keep me honest and prevent me from storing poo poo I don't need. I might be able to make the slough bigger, but I bet the local ducks unlimited people wouldn't like me. It might drain the water from the lots adjacent. Besides, it's big enough to drop a floating chair in there, float around, and get totally hammered in the summer heat. Slung Blade fucked around with this message at 17:00 on Mar 23, 2010 |
# ¿ Mar 23, 2010 16:57 |
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Well, that whole area between the garage and the kitchen is tile floor. The bathroom, the closet, & the little hall. I think of it as the "back landing" which I guess you could call a mudroom. (I wanted tile in the whole area so I could come in wearing boots and use the bathroom without marking up the floor.)
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# ¿ Mar 23, 2010 21:27 |
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Oh hey, my hardwood's in It occurs to me that I've never taken a picture of the small area with actual tile on the floor. Stairs look pretty good. Master bedroom. Master closet. First time I've stood on the garage floor
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# ¿ Mar 28, 2010 02:49 |
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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 11:38 |
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I can cook too ps: totally looking for a housemate
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# ¿ Mar 29, 2010 03:34 |