The NOT Christmas, Christmas

They are here!!!! My windows were delivered today and it felt like Christmas Day.  I had a hard time getting to sleep last night because I knew they were coming today and I felt like a little girl anxiety filled impatiently waiting for the day to come so I see my presents waiting around the tree. (sitting in the garage) They are just windows, I know....... but I have been waiting a month and a half for these gigantic pieces of glass.  I have to say I'm very proud of myself for not getting overly annoyed about being behind schedule. This entire process has been behind schedule.  I really like a plan, I always have. I gave myself an ulcer in the 2nd grade because I had a B on my report card............so silly.  But this year is symbolic for me, as a year of complete change and I'm welcoming it in waves, some days I shrug off the schedules and planning and take some deep breathes and just say o-well will tackle that tomorrow.  Other days I miss my 9 to 5 life,  my routine, my schedule.  I'm looking to find my happy medium and  my balance in life that will give me the stability I need and the freedom and excitement of the adventure of life I crave.  Oh gosh just listen to me......................all I wanted to do was tell you that I got my windows and now I'm ranting about my life discovery ................... I guess these are some darn good windows!! Stay tunes progress is about to pick up!!

Tight rope walking

It has been eons since my last post........sorry.  I have been out of town taking care of business,  and patiently waiting windows to be made so major construction has been on hold. Now we are back to work doing death defying soffits. Not many things really scare us,  I'd say were pretty open to just about anything, will try anything once......but this chapter has taken things to a whole new level.

We have remodeled our 1930's bungalow, and have restored a 5 unit brick 1930's apartment building that before we bought it was a drug and crack house.  (will have to share that experience sometime....) So we have some experience knotches under our belt, taken on challenges that most wouldn't tackle, and that's us.  This is what we do, we have always had the philosophy that we can do anything we are smart, capable and when all else fails we research it on the Internet.  So I thought, soffits.....no big deal.....we can do it.  I can save some money for my mom for labor costs, and its going to go up easy no big deal......

Well, I didnt figure the height factor.  It is one thing to work and hammer 10 feet in the air, no problem. The ground is close enough that you wont get seriously hurt if you fall (only a little hurt) and you quickly forget the fear of heights after you start working and get into what your doing.  BUT, climbing up a ladder 28+ feet in the air and holding up a 16 foot long t & g cedar board, beating it into place is terrifying.  We started on the sloped side of the building and worked our way to the highest point.  The fear was instant, as soon as you started up the ladder it would begin to sway.  The ladders are meant to move a little but when your half way up and you feel like your on a wild bucking horse there is no comfort in feeling safe.  Plus your hands begin to sweat and you feel like you could just fly off at any moment. I had to keep singing out loud "rollercoaster" everytime I mentally began to loose it.  I love rollercoaster rides and it was the only thing that got me to smile and laugh while getting to the top. However, to add another layer of terror getting up to the top adds no comfort because from there you are actually begining the process of working.  Moving, pushing, banging, stapeling, measuring all invloves leaning out hanging on to joists.......terror!!!!!! It has been slow going, and Im glad to report we made it past the highest point of the soffits with only mild mental damage and have made our way to the large overhang on the living roof where heights are only 14 feet. 

I'm very excited about the result of the wood soffits.  I had envisioned a driftwood feel from the texture of the grain of the cedar with the stain that I applied.  Thank god that I like it, because I'm not going back up there to restain it any time soon!  Well, we have to side the building in a month or so, so till then Im comfortable just looking at it from the steady ground.

360 degree tour

The pace has slowed down on the construction due to my window predicament so I have been able to take a little break and play around a bit.  I wanted to give you all a little guided tour of the garage and the upstairs Treehouse.  Make sure you check out my old / new recycled newly hung doors, they look fabulous!!



Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Getting back to the positive side of things minus the window setback I started this project with a big promise to myself to actually practice what I preach.  There is so much waste / damage that occurs when building a house that I have attempted to cut down some of that waste on a small / medium scale.  Of course, I would love to build a completely "green" house, but when you start running the numbers it's SO expensive (corporate corruption at its best) so I attempt at most things like buying local products to save fuel consumption and using products with low V.O.C.   Throughout the project I will re-post some Reduce, Reuse, Recycle items, below are the beginning steps.

This is my trash trailer from now until start of project.  Not even half full!! I know this is not a glamorous picture, but only plastic and treated lumber will need to be thrown away.  All scrapes from framing have been used in my wood burning fireplace or burn pile and all extra lumber has been returned to lumber yard. 

Most all my lumber for fascia boards and siding will be milled from lumber yards locally.  These wood boards above are my fascia boards that once upon a time grew miles from my project,  Uncle Bill is the mill owner who runs a small operation in town.  He owns a portable saw mill that can go out to locations where people would like trees cleared from there properties.  Instead of just cutting down and turning into fire wood,  he cuts down the logs, splits them down to planks, dries them, then plains them down in his shop to whatever size you need.  It is quite a process to see in person and to know the actual person who "made" your tongue and groove cedar siding.  A plus factor in reusing someones trees is that he mills only top grade lumber and he is local so my carbon footprint for lumber transportation is decreased.

I have used alot of recycled elements already, remember these great stairs.  We have also begun modifying our recycled garage entry door and front entry door.  Both were bought for $75 bucks total at Second Use, a salvage yard  in Seattle, and will look good as new after installation.

What are we doing anyway?

Don't know if you noticed, but I added a little button in the upper right corner.........I thought it would be fun to clue everyone into the process a little more.  The list below is a condensed list of some of the general contractor items I have on my agenda for the next month.  I will update and check things off from time to time.  Just click on the button on the right or check out my page marked "checklist" at the top below the title.  There are so many items to remember and it's starting to get overwhelming, so this will help me and might be fun for you!! 

 

 



Finding Happy Medium

Problem solved, and new windows have been ordered.  Things happen, I knew they would, nothing can go perfectly, but it gets the best of your nerves some of the time.  Truth be told, I'm kind of relieved that I got to go back to the drawing board.  I was forced to look at the overall picture again and really think about the pros's and con's to vinyl vs fiberglass/wood and I found my happy medium for the first time since researching windows for this project.  I found a new line that just came out in January that Milguard (a local and large business that should stay in business for a long time, lets hope) made, I'm still using a vinyl window however they now offer 4 new colors that have been tested to resist heat/cold/humidity etc. with a life time guarantee warranty.  One of my struggles this entire time was only having A or B to choose from. It is very limiting when your attempting to build a high end custom house on a track house budget..  All these decisions will effect the second phase of the project which is the main house.  

For anyone new reading this, I'm starting with this Guesthouse/ Garage as a starter project to get my feet wet in general contracting, after we have completed the Treehouse as I call it we will be tearing down a 1400 sq. ft. house and building a 2100 sq. ft. custom main house with similar design but a much larger budget.  (Lets hope!!)

I wasn't thrilled with white vinyl windows for the main house, but was going to make do. However with the discovery of the new vinyl color options I also found a new line that Milguard just came out with. It is a higher end wood interior window that has a color selection that matches the vinyl perfectly.  So from the outside everything will look the same, and from the inside you never notice the difference from one space to the next.  Things happen for a reason, and yes I lucked out and now my only setback is waiting an extra 2 weeks.  I think I can handle that, don't you?

Lets hope my luck continues, my rough in plumbing is done, and have a final inspection today, wish me luck!!

Spiraling down the rabit hole

Well folks...the saga continues.......yesterday my windows were scheduled to be delivered.  They didn't show up I got concerned and found out that the company decided to close there doors instead. They are a good company but with all the economical setbacks they just cant stay open.   I just can't win with these darn windows I'm so frustrated, pissed, scatterbrained, annoyed.......HAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!! So what to do, what to do...............

They were made and ready to ship, now they are lost in distribution never to be seen again.  Fortunately, I haven't paid a penny towards them, so I can walk away with only frustration.  Now I'm debating on slashing vinyl windows forever and re-evaluating everything all over again.

Oh boy..........