From Concept to Reality

Success.......we have walls......actual walls.  How quickly a space can change...... even the environment around the building has changed.  The juxtaposition from soft nature of organic trees and earth to hard structured human form has a mixture of emotions that flood my mind.  At first glance my heart skips a beat realizing that my dreams have come true and I'm looking at a concrete idea that I developed.  All these insecurities rattle thru your thoughts....."are the windows to big"......."is the proportion off on the right"........"it looks so huge".....but really it doesn't matter, it can't be changed now so your better off taking it all in and enjoying every damn minute of it.  I have to tell you, there is nothing better then looking out these "wonderfully" huge windows and seeing the breathtaking view of wooded trees and water in the distance.  I called this dwelling the "Treehouse" because it's placed within a large grouping of older growth trees, but I had expected that some of that idea would be lost with the walls closing up the space.  To my surprise...... you feel like your suspended high on a platform and that the only thing missing is the small rope bridge crossing to the nearby tree.  WONDERFUL!!!!

A Ground to Walk on

We have a solid floor!!!! Its a major deal to climb up upon a hard surface and take in the "new" view of the space in which your building sits.  Things change SO much from 10 feet up.  Remember those first initial shots we took back on the ground floor, things are still the same only a little higher.

It has been bone cold and rainy here lately but that doesn't seem to stop my framing guys. Its amazing to watch them construct this space, I can't stay inside because I'm always peeking out the windows looking and memorizing there process.  I do have some challenging areas, the first being a cantilevered entry and the second is my "green" living roof. 

Note to self: Make sure you find a better engineer for the next build who can actually reads your plans that you spend hours on so that he doesn't cost you extra money from his stupidity in the end.

My green living roof has extra fun steel framing that is suspended off my overly large steel I beam that has cost me quiet some $$$$$$.  This has not only left me with some stresses for my budget, but also my framer's mood as he loathed building it and believed I could have just dropped down my already tall garage ceiling and used cheaper wood trusses.  AHHHHH! Live and learn......

By the way.....I changed things up, did you notice.  I get bored easily so out with the old in with the new. 

Hand me that beam

It's an exciting day when you get a package in the mail, it's an even more amazing day when you get a steel beam delivered to hold up your second level.  From afar it doesn't look that big or heavy, but when you walk up to it and try and lift it up you decide that hiring the boom truck operator was a wise decision. 

Oh look...... I have a garage.....kind of

Before I left  for the holidays we had the main garage level framed.  I didn't have any time to post these pictures so I wanted to catch you all up on where we are in construction.  I had some (issues) lets just say.... with getting some electrical lines removed from above my framing and placed underground so my framing contractor got as far as he could until I was able to resolve the problems.  Its so amazing to walk around an actual building now. 

Things I suppose will really start to take off from here.  We are in full swing again with framing the main living space and I cant wait to see how it feels from up there, the view, the experience of being in the trees as I had imagined it in my mind when I sat on the ground designing it in my head.

My belt that I had on was found in a thrift store awhile ago and feels like a tool belt to me, its leather that has been hand tooled and has lots of pockets and hidden compartments, so I found it appropriate to where it for these framing photos. I also made the headband last year, I usually where it as a scarf, but its made out of a old tee shirt that I cut up. Just some fun facts......

Choices, choices choices....

Well, framing is starting and I'm in panic mode......I have been procrastinating on designing the exterior building's finishes for a while now.  There are so many choices as what color is the fascia, roof, what are the soffits, windows, exterior trim, doors etc. And I'm also balancing the budget constraints and the promise I made to myself when I started this project that I wouldn't go typical, that I would keep my mind open. It's not easy folks.........So I headed down to the water, I have a thing for rocks, I'm always picking them up and putting them in my pockets carrying around like a ton of extra weight.....but I pretty much designed my color palette around these rocks from my mom's shoreline. 

So yesterday I finally sat down, turned on some music and started sketching away.  I really haven't gotten my markers and pencils out for quite some time (since school like 8 years ago) but I think it gives me some reassurance that its going to be what my mind has been working on for the last couple of weeks.  I have been really struggling with modern buildings lately.  Not because I don't love them, but because they are starting to all look the same.  They are beginning to become a common formula, or at least they are up here in the Northwest.  So my challenge was to create something similar but a little off the grid.......

There was one certain material that after seeing IT I knew it would be a yes right off. However figuring out how it has to be installed, waterproofed and trimmed out is another battle.
I have THREE exterior building materials:

1. Rusted Metal siding / rust and orange rocks from beach........ It's cool as hell and it's really maintenance free for a long time.  I have been letting a piece of metal rust outside my house for the last month to see how long the process will take to get to fully rusted The rusted metal element will be the lower part of the garage below the green living room. 

The green living roof was a great way to pay homage to the green building side for the environment, it allowed me to cut my square footage down for the living space, and not have a ugly metal roof in your view from the living room.......instead you will see a wonderful succulent garden.

2. Grey Cedar tongue and groove Wood / grey rocks from beach...........Everyone uses cedar siding up here, its readily available so the price is good, but by staining it grey its changing it up a little and makes me think of old used up barns, or beach cottage houses.  (I have to admit I saw a great modern house at the beach last weekend with grey siding and it rocked, so it definitely added to my curiosity) It is the horizontal stripes on the drawing and will be trimmed out around all the windows and doors.

3. Maxi Panel Cement 4 x 9 sheets painted / Yellowish rocks from beach.....Again it is a common material for modern design however, I was able to salvage it from my favorite place, Second Use, for half the cost!!!! It will be painted a nice golden yellow tone and is also a very low maintenance material that stands up well to the elements. Also, I bought my exterior front door for $50 dollars at Second Use as well.  Its a brand new Douglas Fir commercial rated door that has one baby scratch on the bottom, no biggie will sand it right out!

The white rocks represent my windows....I originally wanted aluminum windows but have changed my mind for cost and energy efficiency reasons.  These Milguard white vinyl windows are going to save me a ton of money and are really going to pop against the grey texture of the wood. That's the plan people, hope it all comes together, at least I have a plan!!!

Mucker Duties

 Probably to most it doesn't look like much, but all 25 yards of concrete you see before you "just didn't happen"........  I used to go out to job sites and it would magically be done, and I would think to myself It doest look like much, or why does that cost so much? But after being exposed to the entire process (and its only the first step) I see what goes into one of the most important parts of a building. Your foundation is your rock, if its not built right everything else will follow in its footsteps.

The steam is from the concrete.....yikes!!

 For those of you who know me personally, you would know that I couldn't just stand on the sidelines and watch.  And Don my foundation buddy (after week one of building forms) quickly caught on to my ways of wanting to work.  So sure enough as the concrete truck was backing into the driveway at 8 am he was yelling at me to get some boots on and get to work. I was officially given the tittle "Mucker".  As the mucker you are typically the grunt worker, moving concrete around trying to make it even on the slab. Its no easy task I assure you.  That concrete comes down off the truck and within seconds everyone is pulling and pushing mud around as fast as you can.  Then after a series of leveling techniques (two guys with a 2x4 and one girl filling in the holes) and your slab is complete.  Well not really, its takes a full day of finishing, going over and over the concrete, letting it set up and buffing out the bumps. I signed the concrete with my official logo and dated it in the corner.  Open Door Studio's first official design/build ya, next step is framing which should be starting in a week or two.  Hopefully my new framing buddy will let me strap on some bags and go to work.....we shall see!!

Hiding under the sheets

Sorry guys, I guess I just needed to slow down for a bit and re coupe.  Sometimes I get myself involved in so many things that I just crash after my body decides it needs a break. So I'm getting back on my feet, ready for the next round and wanted to show you what's been going on.  We are all poured and finished with the foundation but these shots were the day before the final concrete slab was poured.  There is so much prep work that happens before the pour, the waterproof membrane, gridded out the rebar, the rough plumbing installed under the slab.......you get the drill.  Oh..... and aren't these old Sperry Top Slider rain boots amazing!!!! I found them thrifting before I moved up here and feel like I'm going to be living in them come winter time.