# Mostly DIY House and Barn



## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

I'm starting a thread here to highlight the building of our house and barn in upstate South Carolina. Although both are mostly done, I'll post the progress over a period of weeks or months. The original project is going on 4 years, so this way I spare you the waiting.

Our story: In 2006, we bought 7 acres of sloping, wooded land in upstate SC. We are about 15 miles north of Greenville SC, the nearest city. It's been a life-long dream of mine to build my own house, so here goes. I say 'mostly DIY', because I did hire some work out. Excavation, concrete, and drywall, for the most part. I did everything else, mostly single-handed, although I had help on big stuff like hanging the roof trusses. This habit of mine of working alone makes for slow going, and I should have hired help for some of it. I'm 62 years old, and though I'm in good shape, I ain't what I used to be. Other than home repair and maintenance, I've never done most of this before.

I'll start with the barn, since that's the order I did things. We got the barn done, and I lived in it while building the house. I had a driveway cut in, and set up an old pop-up camper to live in. I immediately built an 8 X 12 shed to house my tools, as loading and unloading the van every day got old. The first few weeks I worked off of a generator until I got the temporary power brought in. I started the barn in August of 2011. I hired a framing crew, as the 13' walls were WAY too big to tip up alone!





The camper is tarped because the roof leaks (right over the bed, of course) and it kept it cooler in the summer. I had no plumbing at first, either. I used a home made sawdust toilet (Ol' Splinter) and a solar camping shower. First, I built a shed:



The barn is 28 X 48 on a concrete slab. The ceiling on the main floor is over 12', and over 8' in the big loft.









An inside shot of the barn:



It's about 27' to the peak of the barn roof. The roof is Galvalume over 5/8 sheathing. The big doorway is 12' high and 12' wide.





That's a good start. I'll be back next week with the finished pics of the barn, and then I'll start the house. Meanwhile, if you have any questions, fire away. I love to talk about this stuff!


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

I look forward to this thread---7 acres with trees----that is unheard of here in the flat lands.


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

Chapter two. Here's some shots of the barn being finished. Hanging the huge, heavy sliding doors was an adventure for working alone. I hauled them up with a cheap winch, and then attached them to the track hardware.





A shot of the loft. It is over 8' headroom, and covers 2/3's of the barn. The final third is going to be finished as a great room with a 22' ceiling.



It took a while, but I finally got it painted, and poured a concrete slab. Eventually, I'll run 240 power out there, and insulate and finish it up. Meanwhile, I had a house to build!


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

Here's an aerial shot of our property. This pic is more recent, with the house and barn in place. The barn is in the lower right. We have what is called a 'flag lot', because the entrance is narrow, like a flagpole, with the bulk of the property behind it. I've been trying to buy about an acre from my neighbor, which would give us a lot more frontage, and thus increase the value of our property. My real reason for wanting to do this is so that no one builds right in front of us.



Here's a floor plan of the house. It's pretty small by today's standards; only 1295 square feet on the inside. There's only one bedroom on the main level. The basement is the same size, though, and dry and fully insulated. We are on a walk-out basement, so the basement has large windows in the back. Future plans include finishing at least one bedroom in the basement, as well as a full bathroom, which is already roughed in. The entire back of the house faces a view of the mountains when the leaves are off the trees.



The house is ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms). For those not familiar, they are basically like giant Lego blocks, with 2-3/4" foam inside and out, and the 8" thick cavity in the middle is hollow to be filled with rebar and concrete. The blocks are very light, and interlock, so you just stack them up.

Here's the big hole in the ground, and shots of the footing being poured. I used a local contractor who specializes in ICF. He did the site work, footings, slabs, and filled the ICF forms. He was also great as an advisor on ICF.









ICF makes an extremely strong, tight, and well-insulated house. I installed a couple courses of ICF, laid the under slab plumbing, and then we poured the slab before stacking more block. It's a lot easier and cleaner working off of a slab, then slogging through the mud.





After the first (basement) story was stacked, I installed bracing, which keeps the wall in place during filling, and lots of rebar. There is rebar every 16", both horizontal and vertical. The ICF blocks have horizontal plastic webs that hold it together, provide a place to lay in the rebar, and there are plastic strips every 8" for fastening wall coverings both inside and out. The horizontal rebar is laid in as each course is stacked. The rebar is left long so that it will connect to the next story.





Next week, I'll show pics of the forms being filled.


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## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

Love it. Looking forward to the progress photos and I love the construction (ICF) type!!!


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

I almost missed the update what with all of the snow excitement. We had 7" here in SC, basically an extinction-level event in the deep south.

Here is a typical window buck. There is pressure-treated wood that stays in place, and all of the other bracing is to resist the weight and pressure of the concrete. You can't see them, but the insides of all of the PT lumber has galvanized lag bolts with the heads sticking out (in) to the concrete. This keeps the lumber from warping or twisting over time. Now they have specially made buck material instead of lumber. I made most of the window openings oversized so I could have angled window returns. The walls are over a foot thick, so there is a tunnel effect if the returns are straight. This is my own design- more about it later.



The big day! It's interesting to watch the guy filling the forms and the pumper operator. They never say a word; they just watch each other and know what to do.







The blue tape is to keep the top of the forms clean, as another floor will be getting stacked on it later.



To mount the main floor, you have to have ledgers to attach the floor joists to. You're not allowed to bolt them over foam; the ledger has to contact the concrete where it is bolted. I made a number of plywood patches which covered the 6" holes I cut in the foam. Each patch holds a J-bolt in place for future mounting of the ledgers. I also installed these outside on the back for attaching a future deck.



We had record heat during that summer- officially 107 degrees F., the highest temperature ever recorded in our area. Brutal! When you build your own house, you will see the hottest, coldest, driest, wettest, snowiest weather ever seen.



With the basement pour completed, the braces got stripped off, and I built the floor deck.





The first stairs I ever built, and they came out right!



Once the floor deck was done, we waterproofed and backfilled the basement. I used a peel and stick membrane, plus a dimple board drainage plane. Most of the backfill was gravel for drainage, covered with geotextile, and then topsoil at the surface. I do NOT want a wet basement! Next week, we'll start building the main floor.


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## WhatRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

WOW, thats looking great!!!!


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

BTW- If you have any questions about the process (or my sanity) fire away. I could talk about this stuff for hours!


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## bigyellowones (Jan 27, 2016)

looks really cool - nice progress photos


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

I like the ICF forms----that is some nice neat work---

(doesn't it feel good to have your stair cuts work out right?)


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

Here we go on the main floor. Rebar was left sticking up from the basement pour, and the concrete was left good and ragged so the upper floor would bond strongly. Filling the forms requires some experience. The concrete has to be vibrated to get the air pockets out, but if you overdo, the concrete can blow out the foam forms. They fill the forms about three feet at a time, starting in one corner and working their way around. By the time you get to the starting point, the concrete is stiff enough for the next lift.



All stacked up! The lintels above door and window openings are just poured with everything else, but there is a lot of rebar in there.





After getting the walls filled, we poured the slab for the attached garage and the front porch.





I did conventional stick framing on the attached garage. It is an oversize one car garage for my wife's car. Don't feel bad- I get the whole barn! I put the garage roof trusses up by myself, but we hired a crane and had a couple buddies help with the main house trusses. They are some 37' long- not something you can handle alone.









Phew- Got the last one in! We carefully braced each truss as it went up. A man was killed near here when they put up all of the trusses without bracing, and they collapsed.



The trusses are 'raised heel' trusses, which are about a foot taller out at the edges rather than coming down to a point. This allows for full attic insulation all the way out to the edge of the walls. I also had the trusses built to a higher wind rating, and attached them with big H-10 hurricane clips. Not required here, but I lived in FL for 30 years, and wanted a strong roof! Next week, we'll start sheathing.


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## jackie treehorn (Jan 27, 2009)

MushCreek said:


> BTW- If you have any questions about the process (or my sanity) fire away. I could talk about this stuff for hours!


 Holy cow, I just filled out the fox block estimator today trying to figure costs and such for building my own home. What are the odds I'd log on and see an diy and icf house to boot! 

So what's your impression of the block so far? I helped out a local icf contractor for a few days for free in trade for seeing how things were done. I've come to the conclusion to do it like you did where I hire out the footing etc but Id also hire out the first row down and then do the other blocks and such myself until ready to pour. I also figured hiring crew to help layout scaffolding, that seems like a bear.

I also plan on raised heel trusses too. I'm a few years out till build date but have spent the last 8 months or so designing the house and researching all I can. I'm pretty sold on the icf especially given it will eliminate the first floor exterior framing.

I'm really trying to figure out the cost of the icf vs stick built with blown in and 1.5" rigid exterior for a thermal break. I keep thinking of how much time would be wrapped up in having to trim out all the exterior foam on the stick built.

This is way too exciting to see, looking forward to more pics!


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

We used Fox blocks, and I was very impressed with the quality. Everything came out extremely square, level, and plumb. The overall dimensions came out within 1/4". It's extremely important that the footing be perfect, and the first course laid out square. I bought a good foam gun, and used a lot of foam canisters. The first course gets glued down with foam, and I glued the corners, and used tie-downs everywhere else to prevent the blocks from floating during the pour. I can give you lots of tips and pointers. ICF requires more planning, as it's hard to drill holes, or God forbid, move a window!

As for performance after the fact, the house is amazing! Extremely strong and quiet, and the temperature uniformity is remarkable. We condition the whole house (1400 square feet) with a single 12K BTU mini-split year-round. Temperatures here range from single digits to occasional triple digits. It's important that the HVAC system is designed by someone who understands energy efficient structures. Old-school HVAC contractors will try to sell you a system that is way to big! I bought a $50 HVAC program, HVACCalc, and carefully entered all of the data to the best of my ability. The thermal mass of the ICF performs particularly well in areas that aren't really extreme. We turned our HVAC off in September, and did not need the heat until early January, despite some nights in the 20's. Our basement has no HVAC, but stays above 60 all winter, and below 78 during our long, hot summer.

As I said, I could talk about this stuff all day, so feel free to ask, or PM me.


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## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

Great progress pics. 

Looking good.


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## 123pugsy (Oct 6, 2012)

Looking great. :wink2:

Thanks for posting.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

Anyone care to share financing institutions thoughts on DIY - ICF construction?


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

Good luck. We paid for everything out-of-pocket. It's also challenging to get construction insurance for a DIY build.


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

Great thread. I can't wait for more.


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## jackie treehorn (Jan 27, 2009)

MushCreek said:


> We used Fox blocks, and I was very impressed with the quality. Everything came out extremely square, level, and plumb. The overall dimensions came out within 1/4". It's extremely important that the footing be perfect, and the first course laid out square. I bought a good foam gun, and used a lot of foam canisters. The first course gets glued down with foam, and I glued the corners, and used tie-downs everywhere else to prevent the blocks from floating during the pour. I can give you lots of tips and pointers. ICF requires more planning, as it's hard to drill holes, or God forbid, move a window!
> 
> As for performance after the fact, the house is amazing! Extremely strong and quiet, and the temperature uniformity is remarkable. We condition the whole house (1400 square feet) with a single 12K BTU mini-split year-round. Temperatures here range from single digits to occasional triple digits. It's important that the HVAC system is designed by someone who understands energy efficient structures. Old-school HVAC contractors will try to sell you a system that is way to big! I bought a $50 HVAC program, HVACCalc, and carefully entered all of the data to the best of my ability. The thermal mass of the ICF performs particularly well in areas that aren't really extreme. We turned our HVAC off in September, and did not need the heat until early January, despite some nights in the 20's. Our basement has no HVAC, but stays above 60 all winter, and below 78 during our long, hot summer.
> 
> As I said, I could talk about this stuff all day, so feel free to ask, or PM me.


Yeah, the fox blocks just seem so well engineered, it seems to me a lot of problems like you suggested, are based on planning. I've been drawing up everything in sketchup over the last 10 months. Once I got into the icf I went back and changed the house plan to more align with the blocks. I eliminated an inside and outside corner too. Now I'm trying to decide on window sizes that allow me to use the fox bucks but keep me from having to cut the main blocks down. Seems faster that way.

What did you use to cut all th blocks? I was thinking a job site table saw with tall fence extension would work well. 

I also see you used the form a drain, that also seems like a no brainer, any problems with that product?


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## jackie treehorn (Jan 27, 2009)

SeniorSitizen said:


> Anyone care to share financing institutions thoughts on DIY - ICF construction?





MushCreek said:


> Good luck. We paid for everything out-of-pocket. It's also challenging to get construction insurance for a DIY build.


I've scratched the surface a bit on this. From what I gathered it's difficult to get financing unless you've been in a construction field for a long time. I planned to get my general contractors license and figure out financing there but apparently that won't work. Basically need to find a contractor who will charge based on what hours he puts in, or a lower rate based on not having to contract as much stuff. (That's assuming you want to contract and do your own labor). Finding a contractor who will contract the job and let you do some of the trades shouldn't be too difficult I would think. 

I contacted one guy and he wanted to charge 25% for an owner builder :surprise: 

In my situation I'll have my property paid for, and also a big downpayment if need be so I'm hoping I can get financed. I plan on bidding out everything as if I wasn't doing any of the work, this way the lender doesn't see a house that on paper looks to be too low per sq ft to build. For example, if your lender is used to seeing electrical come in at 15$ a sq ft and you have down 8 or 10, that could raise a flag...


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

When planning your walls, take into account both the block dimensions and the locations of the embedded strips. My basement is 8" block, and my main floor is 6". They don't have the same sized corners, so I had to make cuts in the basement blocks to get it all to line up. To save blocks, I didn't pay attention to fastening strips at first, so in one corner of my basement, the strips aren't in line from block to block. I had to make a map, and adjust accordingly screwing the drywall on. After learning this, I laid out all of the walls in Sketch-Up, generating a drawing of the block layout for each wall. This also helped minimizing waste and planning my cuts. I had little waste, and cut it very close, even gluing partial blocks together in one spot. By contrast, I've seen some builders that just stack the whole thing, then cut the openings out and toss out the scrap. I'm too cheap/poor for that!

You're going to have to cut blocks no matter what. Each course is staggered, so if one block ends at the window buck, the next course won't. I've cut them on my table saw, hand saw, and circular saw. The circular saw works best; for some reason, they bind and grab on the table saw. It was safer to cut just short of all the way through, then part them with a hand saw.

Think about how high you want your walls to be. If you go 6 courses, you'll get 8'- before the finished ceiling and floor is built. I went 7 courses, for 9' 4", plus I used a double top plate so I had a good place to fasten the big hurricane clips I used. I had to strap and shim my ceiling, as the trusses were pretty uneven, so I lost a little height there. Still, I wound up at about 9' 6"; a nice height. You can also cut blocks in half lengthwise to get 1/2 block (8") increase in height. After living in houses with 8' or less ceilings my whole life, I wanted tall ceilings. It really opens up our small house.

I've never used or seen Fox Bucks. They were just coming out when I built, and I did a custom window installation with angled window returns to minimize the tunnel effect of the thick walls. It was extra work for sure, but we love the way it came out, and have several people use the idea. Someone should make a window buck that would feature that! My window and door bucks are PT lumber, with galvanized lag screws on the inside with the heads protruding 3" into the concrete so the wood can't warp or move.


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## jackie treehorn (Jan 27, 2009)

I pm'd you so I don't clog your thread with questions


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

With the trusses up, it's time to work on the roof. The eave at the back of the house is about 20', which adds a level of excitement working up there. 







When I first started sheathing, I hadn't built the porch roof yet, and getting the 66 lb. sheets of 5/8 OSB was hard work. I tried using the ladder as a ramp, and used a winch to haul the sheets up. It worked, but was sloooow. I then decided to build and sheathe the porch roof. With a lower pitch, it was a safe(r) staging area, and I was able to just push the sheets up ahead of me. Still hard work, though!









On to drying it in! I used old-fashioned 5V tin in Galvalume, as I want an old-time look to the house.





I didn't install the tin on the garage roof, as I wanted to finish the gable end before installing the slippery tin.


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## Rienne82 (Feb 7, 2016)

Amazing build. Thank you for sharing!


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## jackie treehorn (Jan 27, 2009)

Looking good! How did the top plate get attached? Did you mount anchor bolts in the form during pour?


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

MushCreek said:


> With the trusses up, it's time to work on the roof. The eave at the back of the house is about 20', which adds a level of excitement working up there.


I'm not trying to pick at you or anything, but are the rafters on the porch spliced? If so is there a kicker from the top plate to each one? Just curious. :smile:


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

There's no kicker in that picture, but I did put them in. I'll have to see if I have a picture that shows them.

The top plate is a double PT 2X8. There are J-bolts embedded in the concrete. I used a double top plate because I used big H-10 hurricane ties, and a single plate wouldn't have had enough space. I also nailed sheathing over the outside, from the top plate to the end of the trusses where the energy heel is. That roof isn't going anywhere! I lived in hurricane country for 30 years, so I tend to go overboard on roof structure. I also had the trusses built to a higher wind rating than required in our area.

I centered the top plate so that I could put foam on the inside and outside of it, eliminating any thermal transfer.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

MushCreek said:


> There's no kicker in that picture, but I did put them in. I'll have to see if I have a picture that shows them.
> 
> The top plate is a double PT 2X8. There are J-bolts embedded in the concrete. I used a double top plate because I used big H-10 hurricane ties, and a single plate wouldn't have had enough space. I also nailed sheathing over the outside, from the top plate to the end of the trusses where the energy heel is. That roof isn't going anywhere! I lived in hurricane country for 30 years, so I tend to go overboard on roof structure. I also had the trusses built to a higher wind rating than required in our area.
> 
> I centered the top plate so that I could put foam on the inside and outside of it, eliminating any thermal transfer.


I love it, I was always bad to over build also, but the houses are still standing.


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## jackie treehorn (Jan 27, 2009)

MushCreek said:


> There's no kicker in that picture, but I did put them in. I'll have to see if I have a picture that shows them.
> 
> The top plate is a double PT 2X8. There are J-bolts embedded in the concrete. I used a double top plate because I used big H-10 hurricane ties, and a single plate wouldn't have had enough space. I also nailed sheathing over the outside, from the top plate to the end of the trusses where the energy heel is. That roof isn't going anywhere! I lived in hurricane country for 30 years, so I tend to go overboard on roof structure. I also had the trusses built to a higher wind rating than required in our area.
> 
> I centered the top plate so that I could put foam on the inside and outside of it, eliminating any thermal transfer.


Did you use tie wire or something like that to hold the J bolts? Just curious how to hold without interfering with the guys doing the pour


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## 123pugsy (Oct 6, 2012)

jackie treehorn said:


> Did you use tie wire or something like that to hold the J bolts? Just curious how to hold without interfering with the guys doing the pour



Do the pour and insert the bolts while the concrete is still wet.


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

As pugsy said, we wet set them after the pour. I had marked the location, and had them hanging from pieces of 2X4 until the concrete set. The ones I mounted in the wall for the ledgers were held in place with a plywood square screwed to the strips embedded in the ICF.


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## jackie treehorn (Jan 27, 2009)

Ah, I dig it. I've watched their videos on the ledger bolts but not on top plate yet


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## VirginiaMark (Nov 19, 2012)

Are your ledger boards 2"X12"?


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

Yes- pressure treated. The floor joists are 11-7/8" I-Joists. I could have spaced them on 24" centers, but went 16" for a stronger floor. There's a triple LVL down the center that the joists hang on.


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## 123pugsy (Oct 6, 2012)

MushCreek said:


> Yes- pressure treated. The floor joists are 11-7/8" I-Joists. I could have spaced them on 24" centers, but went 16" for a stronger floor. There's a triple LVL down the center that the joists hang on.


I was told hanging joists off the sides of the LVL beam could lead to a floor hump.
You notice anything like that?


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

Not so far.


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

I finished up the gable end over the garage before I installed the tin roof. I even painted it, as that tin is slick to move around on.



I made the decorative roof brackets out of rough sawn 4X6 cypress, and soaked them with two coats of copper napthenate before painting and installing with heavy square head bolts.







The brackets are decorative, but are through-bolted with 3/4" bolts, so they actually could hold up a LOT of weight.

Next, I tackled the windows. I used Marvin Integrity, a very nice window, and very heavy (also expensive!). The ones on the front porch were easy; just put them in place from outside.





On the inside pic, you can see the angled window returns, which I designed and incorporated to have less of a tunnel effect with the foot-thick walls. Once drywalled and painted, it gives the illusion of a much bigger window. The plywood on either side of the window on the outside later got covered with 2" thick rigid foam as a thermal break for all of the stacked up elements of the window frame.

Once I got to the back, where the windows are 13' off of the ground, it got trickier to install them. I attached a brace to the outside so I could fold the mounting fins, push the window through from the inside, and the bracket prevented the window from falling through. I than scampered up the ladder, unfolded the nailing fins, and pushed the window back into the opening. I wedged the window in place with a piece of foam so that I could go inside and shim it plumb and level. Finally, I went back outside and nailed it off.



This big triple in the kitchen weighs a ton! I couldn't pick it up, so I dragged it into place, then pushed the bottom of it up a ramp into place. Then I cleaned and jerked it into place. That's $1200 if I screwed up!



Although ICF isn't normally covered in building wrap, I wrapped mine to protect the foam from UV due to the slow pace of my build, and it made it easier to do a proper job of weatherproofing the windows.



At this point, the house was finally weather tight. Next week, I'll install the fiber cement siding.


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## jackie treehorn (Jan 27, 2009)

So the housewrap has me wondering how long this whole house took. I know you said earlier it was self financed, so obviously you didn't have time constraints of a construction loan.

I like the angled window returns. I've heard some guys framing the windows halfway between but that seems like a pain


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

About 3 years, start to (almost) finish. I did take time off to work a bit, and my wife was in FL for the first two years, so I wasted a lot of time running back and forth to FL. Also, I was down there two months getting our old house ready to sell. I figure out of 3 years, about 9 months was spent on other things other than the house.

Building a house single-handed, especially if you're old, is a slow process. A helper at certain times would have greatly sped things up. Sheathing the roof, I could do about 15 sheets a day before I was just too tired to do any more. With a young, strong helper, it would have gone quick. But this is a labor of love, something I've wanted to do my whole life, and I'm doing a lot of extra detailing that a builder wouldn't bother with. The process is as important to me as the final product.

The only real time constraint (other than my very patient wife) was scheduled inspections. You have to have one every 6 months max, and you're supposed to be able to show 'progress'. I know a guy near here that is 6 years in, and nowhere near finished. It's pretty easy to show 'progress'. Other places aren't so forgiving, and I know some subdivisions, for example, only allow a year total.

The weather really kicked my butt a lot. In 2012, we had the hottest summer on record, hitting an all-time record 107 degrees. In 2013, we had twice the normal rainfall. When it gets below about 30, I just can't function outdoors, except really rough work. I have a new appreciation for builders, who I see out in the rain, cold, and heat, when I would just pack it in.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Really looks good, I especially like the brackets, they make a home look fantastic.


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

I got a ridiculous deal on fiber cement siding in FL during the housing crash. Construction of new homes virtually stopped, and suppliers were caught with inventory that wasn't going anywhere. Surprisingly, I scored my deal at Lowe's. I went in one day, and they had a whole pallet of Nichiha siding for $3.88 a piece- half price. I hadn't even designed my house yet, but recognized a good deal, and went home to think about it. I went in two weeks later, and the same pallet was sitting there- marked down to $1.88 a piece! I ran up to the service desk and told them I'd take the whole pallet- 250 pieces. Put my name on it! I bought enough siding for my whole house for less than $500, and I still have enough left over to do my shed, when I get around to it. Nichiha is just like Hardi, but a little costlier, which is why no one was buying it.

Later, I scored a bunch of full 1" thick Hardi trim from a lumberyard that got caught holding a bunch of it. I paid about 30 cents on the dollar for that. The hard part of all this was loading 6,000 lbs. of siding on my trailer, hauling it 600 miles, and unloading it in my barn in SC. Gotta love a good deal, though!

Installing the siding turned out to be the biggest job on the whole project. I went back and forth, working on siding during good weather; working inside during bad. I installed the siding over a drainage plane, which consisted of 1/2" PT plywood strips, attached to the ICF with SS screws. I then applied the siding with long SS screws that went through the furring strips and foam to screw into the ICF fastening strips below the surface. I cut and pre-painted every piece before hanging it so that if it ever shifted, it would still look good.



Once I got to the back of the house, which is essentially two stories, I decided to build the planned deck across the back before the siding. This way, I had a good surface to stand on insted of dragging the scaffolding back and forth.







I built the deck to 2012 codes, which are really tough. The inspector didn't even glance at the deck, but at least I know it's strong!





I installed the HVAC before finished the siding. I used Mitsubishi mini-splits, and they are great! I ran the refrigeration lines down the outside wall, cutting a channel in the foam so they would be flush. When I did the siding, I made a removable trim piece to cover the lines so I wouldn't have to remove the siding if I ever had to get at the lines. Because I buried the lines, though, no big ugly cover running down the side of the house.





Doing the gable end was tricky high up on the scaffolding. For the gables, I used Hardi Plank, which comes in 4X8 sheets, and then put battens made of Hardi trim. Hauling a sheet of that stuff up is hard work!



Behind the HVAC unit, you can see the water table I installed. It consists of a 1X6 laid flat, and then an angled piece on top to shed water away from the foundation. Under the siding, I put flashing so that any water that got under the siding would flow over the water table trim. I hired a guy to do the stucco on the lower section. I installed wire lath over the ICF, screwing it to the fastening strips, and then he did the stucco work. After trying my hand at stucco, I decided to let someone else do it, and he was ridiculously cheap.


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## Admin (Dec 8, 2003)

I am loving following the progress...


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## 123pugsy (Oct 6, 2012)

I agree with Cricket.
Fantastic build. 

Looks pretty scary working on that scaffolding like that. :surprise: Good on ya. 

Your pics of the handrail fastening came in handy.
The city has asked for engineered stamped drawings for mine.


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## jackie treehorn (Jan 27, 2009)

Details is an understatement for describing your build. Great idea on ac lines, and I like the electrical meter all flushed in


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

You can google the 2012 prescriptive deck building code and download it for free. Each handrail posts is supposed to be able to take a 500 lb. side load, which is why the big bracket attached to a short stringer, also tied to the next joist. I'm sure the 4X4 would snap off before the attachment failed.

Yes, I'm uncomfortable working up on the scaffolding. I had an episode of vertigo right when I was starting the barn, so my confidence up high is definitely compromised. The worst thing for me is setting up the scaffolding. It's heavy, and there's nothing around you while you're hauling each section up. Even more of a pain setting up on sloping ground like that, since there's no way to move it once it's set up.

The power meter is sunk into the foam. Not quite flush, but much better than having the whole thing stick out. I had to use a meter box with a disconnect because it is offset from the main panel inside. If you go straight through, you only need a meter, but with any offset at all, you have to have a disconnect, and also a separate ground and neutral. In order to get the right height outside and in, I had to offset the main box about 18". I don't get the point of that rule, but it is what it is. I do worry about some jerk shutting off the power outside as a prank or whatever, and you're not allowed to lock it.


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

I'll post a couple more outside pics, then we'll move inside for a while. Many of these pictures are out of order, as I alternated working outside and inside depending on the weather and my mood. I'm kinda ADD, so I jump around a lot.

The first two pics are the stone work on my front porch columns. I had the guy that did my stucco do them, and they came out well, although I had to fight with the guy to get what I wanted. He didn't much like the round rocks, or the sheer size of them, but as you'll eventually see, everything fell into proportion once the columns were finished. The steel post inside is 4" square tubing with 1/4" wall, then primed and waterproofed. The stone part is fully filled with rubble and mortar mix, so those columns are there for the long run.





Next up was the interior framing. I was going to use wood, but the quality was so poor that I went with 20 gauge steel studs instead. I got them from my drywall supplier, as there's are much heavier than the ones in the big box stores, and cheaper, too. Using metal was actually $100 cheaper than using wood! Like anything else, there's a bit of a learning curve, but my walls came out straight and stayed straight. The metal studs are probably a bit more work that wood, as there are grommets to install for plumbing and wiring, and I framed all of the doorways with wood so I'd have something to attach the doors and trim to. With ICF and steel studs, hanging trim is a lot more work, as you have to use trim screws instead of just shooting nails.





I then turned my attention to plumbing and wiring. The drain/waste/vent system was difficult because solid information about plumbing seems to be hard to come by. I have three books, and each one has different rules! Compound that with regional differences, and it becomes a nightmare. Online help was hard to find as well. Electricity, on the other hand, was very cut and dried, and I found helpful people all over the internet. I labelled all of my boxes, wires, and devices, so for future work, I can tell right away what circuit a device is on.

These next pictures show how I got wires from the upstairs down to the basement on the ICF walls. I cut an opening for a box upstairs, then cut an access hole directly underneath it down in the basement. I heated a 1/2" ball bearing red hot, and dropped it in the hole. About 30 seconds later, it pops out in the basement access hole, melting a perfect hole straight down. I put a piece of foil in the lower hole to catch the hot ball, or it would keep going and be lost forever.



Access hole in basement. This allows the wiring to be behind the ledger board.







Running wire horizontally from box to box is easy, too. I used an electric chainsaw with rollers attached to the bar to keep from going too deep and hitting concrete. The resulting groove is a snug fit for the Romex, pressed into place. In our jurisdiction, no further securing is required of the cables. The boxes get glued in with foam, and then I ran in a couple Tap-Cons, although they are not really needed. Once all of the plumbing and wiring was done, I took a picture of every wall of the house, carefully labelled, so I know where all of the hidden stuff is once the drywall is up. I recommend doing this regardless of who builds your house.

The last couple of pictures show how I leveled my ceiling. The trusses I got were pretty wavy on the bottom chord, and with 24" spacing, drywall will sometimes sag under heavy insulation. I ran 1X4's perpendicular on 16" centers, and used strings to shim each intersect until I got a flat plane. I think that there are over 500 intersections, and nearly every one had to be shimmed, sometimes as much as 5/8th's of an inch. It was a long, tedious process, but my ceilings came out perfect! The last pic shows 1/2" plywood being installed on the ceiling so I would have a good nailing surface for the tin ceiling in the kitchen. Despite being covered in tin, I put two coats of fire-retardant paint on the plywood, just to be sure.


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## mrsavard (Feb 29, 2016)

very cool!


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

Time for drywall! If you've ever had a house built, the interior spaces just seem 'wrong' until the drywall goes up. Drywall is one of the few things I subbed out, and I'm glad I did. It's hard, dusty work, and mudding is a skill I've never quite figured out. The guys hung all of the rock in one day, and had it finished in about 10 days. They did excellent work, too.

To load the drywall inside, they took out the bedroom window:



This stack of drywall scared me. It was all being supported on about two floor joists. It's about 4400 lbs.! I went down to the basement to check, but couldn't measure any deflection of the I-Joists. They certainly are strong!



The only damage to the house during the entire build: The drywall truck hit the roof when backing up to leave. The company quickly paid to have the damage repaired, though.



Looking in the front door:



Looking from the living room, through the dining room, with the kitchen at the end. You can see the large openings I added to give the feel of three separate rooms, even though it is just one big room.



The kitchen, where the prep sink and fridge will go. To the right, you can see how the wall is recessed for the fridge. I did this by making the wall essentially one-sided, with no studs in that area. The recess is 5", just enough to make a standard fridge look like a more expensive counter-depth model.



Now the walls are all taped and mudded. Looking in the front door, the living room shot again, and a view of the stairwell, showing the angled window returns.







And another shot of a window with the angled returns.


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## jackie treehorn (Jan 27, 2009)

Nice work as always! I have the recessed fridge idea on my 'idea' list too. I don't understand why builders don't do that. I also want to do that with the dryer hose so the dryer can actually sit farther back. Looking forward to more pics!!


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

There's some nice dryer boxes that do the same thing, without recessing the whole wall. I find my washer already sticks out further than the dryer due to the hoses, etc.

I made the recessed wall with a sheet of 3/4" cabinet grade plywood so it wouldn't warp. It is drywalled on both sides, and has stayed very flat. The back side is our bedroom, and the wall is flat, and we can't hear the fridge in the BR. I put the water valve for the ice maker in the recess, so it doesn't take up any space, and placed the electrical outlet on the other side. Our fridge is as close to flush as you can get and still have room for the door to open. I made the opening plenty oversize, as we hadn't picked out a fridge yet.


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

Your angled windows turned out nice.


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

Sorry I missed last week; I was in CT for my mother's funeral. She had a long and fulfilling life. With that out of the way, we can get back to the house.

I had the main drywall done professionally, but did the inside of the attached garage myself, as the contractor wasn't available. I went ahead and insulated the garage, and hung 5/8" Fire-X drywall, as required by code. I made my own drywall lift out of my engine hoist, and it worked well. One good thing is that it goes all the way to the ground, so you just drag a sheet over and lay it on there. Pump it up, adjust position, and then put slight pressure on it to hold it while you put the screws in.





No, I'm not very good at drywall, but it works for a garage.

I got busy tiling the master shower. It's about 3' X 6', with a bench and three shower heads. One regular, one hand-held, and a big rain shower head over head. I lined the inside with Hardi Backer, filled the seams, then used RedGard to seal it. I made a mud pan for the floor. The floor is pebbles, sawn flat and glued on a scrim like mosaics. Easy and good looking. The bench was a kit I bought. You just mount it, fill it with mortar, then tile.









Tiling this niche was not fun-



I've never done much tile before. The shower took over 900 subway tiles, plus accent colors. I ran the tile 7' up, then put tile crown molding on top. More tile work later on the powder room.

I put up ceiling fans early on, as we were living in the house at the time. The first one is a Hunter we bought about 25 years ago. The second one is an original Westinghouse Dated 1906. It does run, but I don't have it hooked up. I'd like to get it rewound someday for safety sake. The last one is a cool new fan I bought to go with the tin ceiling in the kitchen. This pic is before I installed the tin.







We also have a cheap fan in the bedroom, and plan on getting two more galvanized fans for the front porch.


Maybe next week, we'll start finishing up the outside.


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

I'll wrap up the outdoor pictures this week. It was a long time coming! The first picture shows the house from the road. We have great privacy! I fought long and hard with the contractor to make the driveway curved. He really wanted it straight; I wanted the 'country road' look. It amazes me how contractors sometimes don't want to give the customer what they want.



The most recent shot of the front of the house. I finally painted the used, $100 garage door.



Our official guard dog, Daisy. I got her off craigslist 4 years ago, and she's been a great companion.



A few shots from different angles-







The upper part of the porch columns were a real challenge. Each one consists of 48 separate pieces, most with compound angles. To make it worse, the stone work wasn't very accurate, so each one had to be somewhat custom. I love the way thye look, though!

The porch ceiling is tongue and groove pine in a beadboard pattern. I used a very light stain, and then a coat of satin spar varnish. The little black things are brackets I installed to hang a porch swing. There will be a ceiling fan on each end of the 12 X 28 porch.




The deck is finished for now. I used galvanized hog panels instead of regular balusters. They give a much more open view. Eventually, I'll build stairs going down to the back yard. We have a nice winter view of the mountains from the deck, and it is cooler in the summer, as it's in shade most of the day.



I found a guy to pour a slab in front of the garage. It extends about 25', giving a nice clean place to wash the car without making mud on the gravel driveway. I also poured a 28 X 28 slab in front of the barn for the same purpose.

I'm not sure when I'll do next week's update. I'm having hernia surgery a week from today. Then, about 2 months of recovery, so I won't be able to do much. I've been living with the hernia for some time, not wanting to interrupt work on the house. Now, with things pretty much wrapped up, it's time to get 'er fixed!


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

MushCreek said:


> I'll wrap up the outdoor pictures this week. It was a long time coming! The first picture shows the house from the road. We have great privacy! I fought long and hard with the contractor to make the driveway curved. He really wanted it straight; I wanted the 'country road' look. It amazes me how contractors sometimes don't want to give the customer what they want.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You have done a fantastic job that anyone would be proud of, congratulations on your wonderful country home, it looks great. I wish you a very speedy recovery, that is no fun working with a hernia.


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

One more pic of the porch. I got the ceilings fan I wanted; they finally went on sale, just in time for summer sittin'. There are two, one on each end.



Now, on to the kitchen. We both like to cook, so the kitchen is roomy, with two sinks. There are no upper cabinets, but there are 32 drawers! I custom-built all of the cabinets, a first for me. Boxes are made from 3/4" cabinet-grade plywood. I put them together with Kreg fasteners and glue- very sturdy. Here's a small cabinet under construction:



I made spacers to line up the drawer slides, making hanging the drawers quick and easy. Did I mention that there are a LOT of drawers?





This is the main sink; my 'wife's' sink. It has a great view! The sink is a monster 43" I found scratch-n-dent on ebay. I also found the matching 25" prep sink on ebay.



I did a lot of innovations to make the kitchen more functional. Several drawers have a drawer-within-a-drawer:



All of the bottom drawers incorporate the toe kick, adding depth to the bottom drawers instead of wasting space:



On the other side of the peninsula, I used the dead space to make a rolling bin:



A pull-out for baking pans is disguised as a stack of drawers:



The pulls are from antique typesetting trays. It took me 4 months to collect the 37 I needed to do the entire kitchen, shopping on ebay.



To be continued next week, or when I'm feeling up to it.


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

> All of the bottom drawers incorporate the toe kick, adding depth to the bottom drawers instead of wasting space:


That is such an excellent plan. I love it.


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## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

Hope your fans are weatherproof. If not by the end of the summer the blades will sag like a gooney birds wings.

Great job on the cabinets!


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

Yea, I paid a premium for those fans, even on sale, but they are rated for wet location, and I like the way they look.


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## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

Gorgeous.


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

I took last week off to recover from surgery! I had a hernia for about the last three years, and finally went in to have it fixed. It turns out I also had a problem with my bladder, so they stitched that up, too. The big downside was having a catheter in for 10 days. Very unpleasant! I couldn't even comfortably sit at the computer!

Anyhow- feeling much better now. I can't do any heavy lifting, so I have lots of time to kill. Lets look at some more kitchen shots.

I made the peninsula top out of rough-cut maple I got a deal on. I had to plane it, joint it, and glue it up. I found a place with a 51" wide (!) thickness sander to smooth it up. I put 5 coats of Waterlox on it. I finished it in the garage, so there was a lot of dust in it. I hand scraped it, then buffed it with steel wool, so it is silky smooth. At a full 2" thick, the 42 X 86 piece is HEAVY.



A couple overall views of the kitchen. There are two sinks, and the prep corner is open underneath so you can sit down to do prep work. The rest of the counters are a black Formica, similar to the soapstone I would have liked to have had, but it was out of the budget. I've never done Formica before, but I had no problems.







I used scraps from the peninsula top to make a piece for the prep corner. This is finished with food-safe wax so you can prep on it directly.



I put up a tin ceiling, something I always wanted. Note the different square in the center where the ceiling fan is, and the tin crown molding. It was tricky mitering it around the range hood.



I built this little beverage center to hold coffee mugs and wine glasses.



That about wraps up the kitchen. I still want to finish the range hood, and will put a tile backsplash- some day.

One thing I omitted earlier was work in the attic. We had R-49 cellulose blown in. First, I built boxes over all of the can lights, and foamed and caulked everything carefully. Can lights, even so-called 'air tight' ones are notorious for leaking heat into the attic.



I built a catwalk down the center of the attic about 18" above the ceiling so I could get up there after the cellulose was blown in.



They blew in about 16" of stabilized cellulose. Unbeknownst to the insulation contractor, I used my laser level set at the insulation height, and made numerous marks all over the attic on the trusses so that I could check the depth. As it turned out, they shorted me about 6" over 25% of the attic. I took pictures and emailed them to the owner of the business. They hustled out and blew in 22 more bags, so now I have more than R-49. It pays to keep on eye on these guys! You can see the little black mark on the truss where the insulation should have come up to.



That's it until next week- Thanks for tuning in!


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Very nice job, looks great. Rest well and recover soon so you can get on with your projects. Thanks for the update, we appreciate it.


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

One more kitchen picture. This is our spice drawer. It holds 100 jars! We're still working on organizing and labeling it.



On to some more construction details. The angled window returns were my own idea. I then wanted to figure out how to construct the window sills. One problem is the exposed concrete core. With all of the other insulation in the house, it bugged me. Once I framed it in, I fitted a piece of 2" foam to cover it. I shot foam around the foam for a good fit, and then capped it with the window sill.







Next up is the flooring. I tried to get a final inspection without it, but the local regulations require finished flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms before issuing a Certificate of Occupancy, a very important piece of paper! Since the kitchen was to be the same wood flooring as the rest of the house, I decided to do all of the floors and get them over with. First up was the little powder room. I decided to do a mosaic, and had to figure out how to get and keep everything straight. I made a plywood template the size of the inner field and screwed it in place. Then, I could do the accent tile around it and keep everything straight and centered.





The nearly finished product:



On to the main flooring. I got a great deal on some reclaimed pine flooring. It was milled out of massive timbers from a local textile mill, built in 1896. It has a lot of character with scars, bolt holes, nail holes, and great patina that comes with age. I had quite a trailer load.



I moved it into the house to acclimate. I later stacked it on spacers to let it breathe better.



I had to do a fair amount of grinding on the floor to get it even. The Advantech decking was exposed to weather and water for a period of months. It held up pretty well, but there was enough edge swelling to interfere with the flooring.



Next week, we'll see how it came out!


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

We hope you are mending well. The flooring looks great, are you going to hand scrap the joints? It all looks fantastic.


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## Admin (Dec 8, 2003)

That kitchen is beyond amazing. WOW!


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## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

Did anyone else have trouble opening the pictures in post #62? I could only view one of them.

The one I see is the tile job on the bathroom floor... you did a fabulous job on that tile MushCreek - and the wall behind the toilet too.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Barb, they all opened for me.


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

Running late again! One last picture of the flooring prep- I laid felt paper down before laying the floor. The flooring is tongue and groove, and I bought a cheap flooring nailer to install it. Worked like a champ!



I don't know why, but I didn't take any pictures of the flooring before I put the finish on it. Probably something to do with being tired of living in the basement, and thus being in a hurry! I used Waterlox to seal and finish the floor. Four coats of Original, plus a coat of Satin on top, as we didn't want a high shine. The old wood absorbed the finish like a sponge; the first two coats just disappeared.







In the closets and other areas out of view, I used up some of the poorer wood and short pieces, such as in the broom closet:



I spent a lot of time on the little powder room, which is right off of the foyer. I made my own wainscoting and trim. The little corbel blocks are a copy I made of commercially available ones- that cost $8 each! Mine are made of scraps. The decorative plates hanging on the wall are suspended from picture rail molding which is at 8'. I painted the walls and ceiling the dark red, and with the picture rail, it reduces the height of the room so it doesn't feel so much like an elevator shaft. I made the two little cabinets to match the wainscoting. The wall sconces are antique from the 1920's. The little corner sink is antique as well, but I had to buy an expensive adjustable bridge faucet to fit it. You can barely see it on the far right, but I even put in reproduction old fashioned pushbuttom wall switches for the lights.









The door is antique, and slides barn door-style, using antique rollers I found on ebay. All of the interior doors are antique, from a matching set of ten that I found on craigslist for $100 (all ten, not each!)



More interior shots next time!


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## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

Bravo Mush. Very nice work!!


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Absolutely beautiful workmanship, I love the older antique materials also. You made out like a champ on the doors. Did you strip them yourself? 

It all looks perfect.


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

Yeah, I stripped them myself- lot of work! I stripped all of them, and painted several. My wife likes the old, rough wood, so three are them are going to stay as-is. I also found matching antique glass door knobs and brass back plates- pictures on the next installation.


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## MushCreek (Aug 10, 2012)

Kind of wrapping it all up now. I need to take some more 'finished' pictures, as the baseboards aren't in yet in these pics.

First up is the foyer, looking in the front door. I created a fake doorway from the foyer to the hall. I have a friend who is a stained glass artist that is making a custom piece to go in the transom. The over head light is from the 1920's, and I re-wired it. At the far end of the picture is my old grandfather clock, circa 1790. It has all wooden gears, and still runs, although I no longer wind it.





This is the antique door handle I got for the rolling powder room door.



The next two pictures are of one of the old doors I refinished, and the antique knobs and backplates. I was able to find enough matching ones to do the whole house. The backplates are solid brass, but we like them in their old patina rather than polished.





Here's a shot from the living room through the house, towards the kitchen as we started furnishing. Almost all of our furniture is antique, from many years of collecting. Nothing fancy; they were all 'bargains'.



Another shot of the dining room. The french doors go out to the deck, and have a nice mountain view in the winter.



Here's the master closet, as yet unfinished. I plan to build in all sorts of storage some day. Big closet- about 8 X 12. You can just see the laundry on the left so it doesn't have to get hauled anywhere.



Here's a shot of our bedroom. Not really finished or decorated yet. It's 12'6" X 16' 6"; plenty big.



Here's another shot from the master bath into the master bedroom. I got the floor tile for 75 cents a square foot from a buddy who decided not to try tiling his own bathroom. The transition from the bathroom to the bedroom is a marble threshold. I carefully matched the flooring heights throughout the house in case either of us winds up in a wheelchair.



I'll try to get some better pictures with the baseboards in soon.


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