Monthly Archives: September 2015

Week 16: Roof Sheathing & Well House Foundation

Posted in Concrete Work, Footings & Walls, Framing, Office, Private Well, Utilities by

This week the framers were at the house and primarily focused on sheathing the roof.  Sheathing is when the put the plywood on top of the trusses – this creates the structure for the roof to be installed on.  Joel and I swung by on Thursday early afternoon to see the progress on our way out to Suncadia for a quick getaway with Joel’s work.  They had quite a bit of the sheathing already installed and although it doesn’t look like much was really ‘built’…it’s amazing how adding the roof really makes it feel like rooms.

A glimpse of the progress on Thursday morning.

A glimpse of the progress on Thursday morning.  I’m still not sure when they’ll put the gable on the front of the garage. I would have thought it would have been more logical to build that first and then put up the sheathing.  But what do I know about building houses!?

Quite a bit of the roof sheathing went on this week.

Quite a bit of the roof sheathing went on this week.  The space at ridge of the roof will be where our ridge vents will be located.

We dropped by the house on the way home from our weekend getaway on Sunday and quite a bit more work was done on it…they even started the gable on the garage!

We stopped by the house on the way back from Suncadia on Sunday and they definitely got a lot more done!

We stopped by the house on the way back from Suncadia on Sunday and they definitely got a lot more done!

They even started on the gable on top of the garage!

They even started on the gable on top of the garage!

This will be our office, which will have a vaulted ceiling.

This will be our office, which will have a vaulted ceiling.

The dormers above the window in the master closet and the laundry room haven't been started yet.

The shed dormers above the windows in the master closet (shown in pic) and the laundry room haven’t been started yet.

Cameron checked out the house with us this time, and liked the sawhorses!

Cameron checked out the house with us this time, and liked the set of sawhorses!

The back of the house still needs some sheathing, but it's coming along!

The back of the house still needs some of the roof sheathing, but it’s coming along!

Now it's really easy to see the covered bbq area outside of the kitchen.

Now it’s really easy to see the shape of the covered bbq area outside of the kitchen.

Here's what the house looks like from the front as you'd drive up to it.

Here’s what the house looks like from the front as you’d drive up to it.

Also on Thursday they poured the slab for the well house.  Sheds are allowed to be built to a size of 200 square feet without needing to be permitted through King County.  We ended up building a shed that’s 12′ x 12′ so 144 square feet.  I contemplated building it as big as we could, but Matt convinced me that 12′ x 12′ is definitely big enough to hold everything we we want to and it won’t look huge and out of place.  So…what do we need a well house for?  We will have water storage tanks that will store water as it comes out of the well.  I think the intent is to have 2 large storage tanks.  One for water that we use in the house (potable water) that we’ll end up treating for water quality.  And the other tank will store water that will serve two purposes – the lawn sprinkler system and our house fire sprinklers.  We’re required to have fire sprinklers at our house because King County requires that the fire department needs to be able to reach all exterior walls of the house by walking 150′ around the house.  Unfortunately, with the shape of our house, and how it sits on the property you can’t walk 150′ around both sides of the house and cover the entire back of the house.  So we’re required to put in fire sprinklers.  One good thing is that it’s safer for us – after building and spending so much time on the house, at least if there’s a fire I know that it’ll be put out instantly – or at least delay our house from burning down until the fire department could reach us 🙂  Plus, I think we’ll end up getting lower insurance rates too!

The foundation for the well house was poured this week.

The foundation for the well house was poured this week – a little hard to see, but it’s way down there and actually there’s a guy down there finishing the concrete surface!

Up close pic of the well house foundation slab.

Up close pic of the well house foundation slab.

Week 15: Framing Starts Up Again & Roof Venting

Posted in Framing by

No real major progress this week, but the exciting thing is that the framing crew started back up on Thursday!!  Whoo hoo!  So now they’ll be here to stay until the house framing is complete.  Here’s some quick pictures of what the house looks like now that they’ve worked a couple of days.  More trim (barge) boards are up, and it’s hard to tell but the roof sheeting has started to go on the backside of the garage.

A little bit more progress to be seen as we drive up this week!

A little bit more progress to be seen as we drive up this week!  Shed dormers still need to be built above the master closet window and the laundry room window.  Maybe that’ll happen next week!

Love seeing the trim (barge) boards on the edges of the roof line.

Love seeing the trim (barge) boards on the edges of the roof line.  The entry above the front door (and the big window to the right in the dining room) will eventually be arched – that’ll make the entry look a LOT better than what it currently looks like.

Another view from the driveway.

Another view of the front of the house from the driveway.

I think they now have all of the trim up around the roof line!

I think they now have all of the trim up around the roof line.  Can’t wait for them to start framing the gable on top of the garage – that’ll add some architectural interest for sure.

We also discussed roof venting this week.  In addition to having vents in the eaves, we had the option to do standard box-type roof vents (black box that pokes out of the roofing, ridge vents (continuous venting on the peaks of the roof), or gable vents (circular louvered vent on the sides of homes).  We opted for the ridge vents.  My main reason is that I didn’t want to have the box-type ones be on the front of the house (and I think that the less holes we have coming through the roof the better…we do get lots of rain in the Puget Sound).  Another reason is that one they add ridge vents to all the roof lines that show from the front of the house, there really isn’t many other ridge that are missing them.  So for easiness and consistency, we stuck with the one type of venting.

Plus, from the articles I’ve read, it sounds like ridge venting is the way to go.  The ridges are the highest point in the roof so as warm air rises it won’t be trapped anywhere in the attic; and since they’re continuous along all of the ridges, there isn’t worry about warm air getting trapped in corners.  The only thing we may do is add in a couple gable vents on the sides of the house.  Matt’s concern is that when it snows (which is really only a couple times a year), the ridge vents do get blocked – so having another source of ventilation is a good idea.  Gable vents work by allowing a breeze from one end of the house to the other. So you’d install them in pairs.

From the articles on the internet, people debate whether having both ridge vents and gable vents are a good idea.  We know that the cooler air will come in through the soffit vents and push the warm air out through the ridge vents.  But the debate is if adding gable vents on the sides of the home interrupt that flow of air.  Does it end up pushing air ‘sideways’ instead of allowing it to rise straight up?  Alternatively, others argue that the more venting you can get in your attic the better.  We’ll see if we end up adding any gable venting.  Maybe we’ll live without them for a bit and just see how hot it really gets up there.

Week 14: Plumbing Fixtures & a tiny bit of Framing

Posted in Boys' Bathroom, Guest / Rec Room Bathroom, Kitchen, Laundry Room, Master Bathroom, Mudroom Bathroom, Plumbing, Powder Bathroom by

This week was pretty slow at the build.  Last week I mentioned that the framers had to work on another job that they committed to prior to ours – so they were there all week.  As it turns out though, a few of their guys actually snuck away to work on our house on Thursday and Friday.  We visited the house this weekend and it didn’t look like much had changed except for a few more ‘barge boards’ were up on the front of the house.  That was, until you actually went inside and then we noticed that the roof was put on the mudroom. This is the transition area that turns the house 45 degrees.  As such, it looks like it took some time to build, and a bit trickier than the other areas of the house.

Here's the progress from this week's work. Not too much changed from last week.

Here’s the progress from this week’s work. Not too much changed from last week.

The temporary construction ramp leads up to the mudroom door. The roof framing above the mudroom is what the guys worked on the couple of days that they were at our house this week.

The temporary construction ramp leads up to the mudroom door. The roof framing above the mudroom is what the guys worked on the couple of days that they were at our house this week.

Here's what the framing looks like from inside the room!

Here’s what the framing looks like from inside the room!

Beside that, the guys also worked on a small area of the back deck which connects the mudroom to the outdoor BBQ area near the kitchen.  Joel and I debated for a while over how much of the back deck should be covered.  We ended up only covering a small spot for Joel to put his BBQ.  The house that we’re renting now has a great covered BBQ area, so that’s now a must on our list.

The crew built a little part of the deck this week that has the covered BBQ area.

The crew built a little part of the deck this week that has the covered BBQ area.

This is a straight-on look at the covered BBQ area. It's right outside of the back door to the kitchen so it will be super close and handy!

This is a straight-on look at the covered BBQ area. It’s right outside of the back door to the kitchen so it will be super close and handy!

Here's the little trusses they used to frame the BBQ area.

Here’s the little trusses they used to frame the BBQ area.

This wall is missing a door - there should be one between the two windows (will get fixed later). That will be the back door from the mudroom which has a bit of a covered porch off the back to let our dog Bella out.

This wall is missing a door – there should be one between the two windows (will get fixed later). That will be the back door from the mudroom which has a bit of a covered porch off the back to let our dog Bella out.

Check out the new view from the kitchen windows - you can see the roof line from behind the mudroom (on the right) and the BBQ area (on the left).

Check out the new view from the kitchen windows – you can see the roof line from behind the mudroom (on the right) and the BBQ area (on the left).

I climbed on top of the dirt stockpile to take this picture - it's hard to fit the whole back of the house in one picture on my iphone!

I climbed on top of the dirt stockpile to take this picture – it’s hard to fit the whole back of the house in one picture on my iphone!

 

This week, my mom and I also did some plumbing shopping.  Actually, over the past 4 weeks my mom and I have been plumbing shopping 3 different times!  I know – I’ve been holding out on you and not telling you this yet 🙂  There’s a few reasons for that actually… Our first plumbing shopping trip was at Rosen Plumbing in Kirkland.  I really had no idea what I was getting into, but imagined that I’d be working with a sales associate, touring the showroom and picking out what I wanted.  I was really a bit under-impressed with actuality though.  We ended up standing around a showroom sink for 2 hours, flipping through manufacturer’s catalogs looking at tiny black & white pictures of different faucet options.  It truly was less than desirable and unbelievably inefficient.  In 2 hours, we didn’t even get through picking out the upstairs!  I went home and decided that it’d be best if I did lots of shopping online to figure out what I really wanted.  Two weeks later, we ended going back to Rosen, this time I was armed with a plan of the exact fixtures that I was looking to purchase.  Now, I was all ready to tell her exactly what I was looking for…the only problem?  They didn’t sell everything I was looking for.  So annoying!!

So this week, my mom and I went to Ferguson to check out the items that I couldn’t order from Rosen.  Ferguson was night and day different than Rosen!  The showroom was GORGEOUS, filled with shimmering lighting fixtures and sparkling faucets.  It was exactly what I was anticipating before we started our original search.  We ended up having an appt with a sales associate there named Hannah and she was fantastic.  She sat us down with us at her desk (novel idea, I know) and went through all of the plumbing fixtures we were looking for.  Then we toured around the showroom looking at fixtures we were interested in and ones she suggested for us.  They had hundreds for us to look at, and it does make it so much easier to see them in person, and they had ALL of the brands we were looking for.  Over the next week, Hannah’s going to send us a quote for everything that was remaining on our list, as well as all the other fixtures that we previously picked out from Rosen.  Her pricing may end up being better, and honestly, it’d be so nice to just deal with one place instead of two (plus Ferguson is conveniently close to where I work)!

Ferguson had HUNDREDS of faucets to choose from.

Ferguson had HUNDREDS of faucets to choose from.

Loved all of their lighting too!

Loved all of their lighting too!

Do you see all of those light fixtures?  I think I might just have to be back another day to look at those.  And bonus, they also sell door hardware!  So, I might have to be back a couple of times!

To give you an idea of what type of fixtures I’m looking at right now, here’s some idea boards I made for each room.  Things are still in flux, but it should be pretty close to what we’ll end up with.  And I haven’t picked out any sinks, but these were my initials after shopping online.  I’m going to wait to order sinks until I have the counter tops and cabinetry all figured out.

Master Bathroom Ideas

Master Bathroom Ideas

Powder Bathroom Ideas

Powder Bathroom Ideas

Boys' Bathroom Ideas

Boys’ Bathroom Ideas

Guest / Rec Room Bathroom Ideas

Guest / Rec Room Bathroom Ideas

Mudroom Bathroom Ideas

Mudroom Bathroom Ideas

Kitchen Ideas - although I still can't decide on a faucet.

Kitchen Ideas – although I still can’t decide on a faucet.

Laundry Room Ideas

Laundry Room Ideas

Joel's Bar Ideas

Joel’s Bar Ideas

Week 13: Trusses are Up & Barge Board Design

Posted in Dining Room, Entry, Exterior Design, Framing, Great Room, Laundry Room by

They really focused on getting the trusses up this week, and unfortunately it’s going a bit slower than expected.  The framers had committed to another job (before taking ours) so they only had a couple of people out there Monday-Wednesday and then nobody worked on Thursday or Friday.  Matt’s expecting that next week it’s going to be pretty slow out there next week too.  Luckily the other job is a pretty small remodel, so it should only take about 10 days to complete.  Nevertheless, that still leaves not too much progress happening on our project, but they did get a lot more of the trusses up!

By Wednesday I think they had all of the trusses up and in place.

By Wednesday I think they had the majority of the trusses up and in place – it looks like they’re still missing some over the mudroom.

Another view from the other side of the front of the house.

Another view from the other side of the front of the house.

The entry started to take shape this week - the doorway and the big dining room window on the right will eventually both have arched tops. I'm loving the oval window up top though!

The entry started to take shape this week – the doorway and the big dining room window on the right will eventually both have arched tops. I’m loving the oval window up top in the bump out though!

Here's a view of the dining room ceiling and you can see that we added in a 10" tray ceiling into the truss design.

Here’s a view of the dining room ceiling and you can see that we added in a 10″ tray ceiling into the truss design.

A view of the trusses from below.

Another view of the trusses from below in the dining room.  Here you can really see the tray ceiling.

This is the ceiling in the laundry room. I went round and round with Matt on the best look for the ceiling in here - I never really liked what the architect came up with, but I'm super happy on what the builder and I designed.

This is the ceiling in the laundry room. I went round and round with Matt on the best look for the ceiling in here – I never really liked what the architect came up with, but I’m super happy on what Matt & landed on.  The ceiling will be sloped and will be raised up in the area where the window is located.

For the main roof that runs side to side, the trusses were so tall, they couldn't fit in on the truck (and be able to fit in a standard driving lane). So the top of the trusses come separate and will eventually be installed.

For the main roof trusses that run from over the main massing of the house, the trusses were so tall they couldn’t fit on the truck (and be able to fit in a standard driving lane). So the top of the trusses come separate and will eventually be installed.

The trusses are up in the great room!

The trusses are up in the great room!

Another view of the trusses from underneath. Love the blue skies!

Another view of the trusses from underneath. Love the blue skies!

On Wednesday during the day Matt called to ask what shaped ends I wanted on the barge boards…the what?  It’s basically the ends of each of the gables, and the tails at the bottom can be cut at whatever angle I wanted.  Most of the homes in the Pacific Northwest have a craftsman look and feel so the barge boards end up being cut with a straight vertical edge to them.

Here's a home that was recently for sale in our area - typical northwest style. Do you see the white trim at the ends of the gables? Those are the barge boards.

Here’s a home that was recently for sale in our area – typical northwest style. Do you see the white trim at the ends of the gables? Those are the barge boards.

In the close up you can see that the ends are cut vertically.

In the close up you can see that the ends are cut vertically.

Matt says that ALL of the homes around here that have been built recently have them cut vertically.  Of course, I HAVE to be different though.  I know it looks just fine, but really I’m not a fan.  I think that it screams craftsman and I’m tired of that look – like he said – ALL homes around here are like that.  The homes that I really like the look of have the ends cut at a right angle (90-degrees for all of you who don’t remember that from geometry class).

Here's another house built on Lake Washington. Do you see the ends of the gable on top of the house - that's the shape I want, 90 degrees. So maybe not ALL homes around here have vertical ends, do they!

Here’s another house built on Lake Washington. Do you see the ends of the gable on top of the house?  That’s the shape I want, 90 degrees. So maybe not ALL homes around here have vertical ends, do they!

So, the first ones went up and our house and I think they look great.  I can’t wait to see how they look on the front of the house!

After installing just a few of the barge boards, I can already tell I made the right decision. Love 'em!

After installing just a few of the barge boards, I can already tell I made the right decision. Love ’em!