Category: Building Materials

Posts in…Ugh.

It took an entire weekend to sink the four framing posts for the treehouse.  Yes, there were birthday parties and soccer games to slow us down, but still…one entire weekend to sink four 4′ x 6′ x 12′ posts? SHAMEFUL.

Not really our fault….never is, is it?  Ha!  It’s always SOMETHING beyond your control that crops up…or, in our case, seeps in, that really makes everything just go all to hell.

Meet our hole full of water.

The ground water runs pretty close to the surface on this hill…BUT, the good news is, we can have a well here one day and be able to dig it ourselves!  Might be a nice thing to tap into for landscaping down here where hoses won’t reach.

The CC assures me this is all going to be OK from a going forward perspective…we don’t have to change sites, it’s just going to make things a much bigger pain in the ass.  Being the clever boy that he is, he devised some quick home made water bailing devices.  Below was the workhorse…

The posts were painted with roofing cement for an extra punch of protection against water and rot.

What would we do without levels?  Working on a slope for the first time was really a challenge…nothing that was level, LOOKED level….trees all bend slightly toward the sunlight and distort your sense of plumb.

Here is the portable workstation….

…that is shared by Thing Two.  There will be VERY IMPORTANT WORK done here.

We decided given the lack of large trees in the area we wanted to build, the persimmon tree was our best bet, but we decided against using it as a support post.   We are building the house so that the Persimmon is adjacent to the front “porch area” to be used for hijinks, like alternate transportation?  Not sure yet.

The view from the front of the treehouse will be this, but higher.  It will face the State Natural Area so they will feel like they are really in the wilderness…just 100 yards from the back door of home…

So what’s this place going to look like?  My previous ideas were restructured.  We decided that if we were going to make the effort, it needed to be something we could enjoy together.  Translation=adult height ceilings, and when the Things are off in college, maybe we can convert it to a pottery studio…SURELY I’ll have mastered the wheel by then!

I can only preface these images with a profuse apology.  I tried to learn Sketch Up over the holidays and got annoyed and walked away.  I tried again last night with the tree house and this was the best I could pull off so far.

 

I need to spend days on those tutorials to learn what I’m supposed to be doing rather than trying to wing it by instinct.  So, there is no grade of the hill here, or windows/ventilation yet, but I will try and work on it…there’s just not time right now, and our crazy drawings on graph paper are getting us through.  Our cost cutting inspiration was Stephen Atkinson‘s approach to designing his parents’ cabin…all standard lengths/widths to minimize waste and cutting.

We’ll see how we go…but, IT HAS BEGUN.

To Do: Patio

Here’s what I think I want to do with the CC’s new cement mixer.  The area known in the past as the ugly poor man’s patio, will be an oasis of concrete circles, like Jenn Ski did here.

photos via Jenn Ski

Wexler House via Housepet via PSMod

Housepet’s patio, image by Housepet

I think a circular firepit should be worked into the plan as well, no?

 

What do we think Billy?

 

 

Will it Go Round in Circles?

Railings and Steps in Progress

One of the many things that has us a bit crazy lately is that we are rushing to add those finishing touches to the deck that we mentioned here, here and here.

It has to be done before Halloween so that children unfamiliar with the place don’t fall 3 feet off the deck onto the pine straw patio. Yes, we are hosting a Haunted Forest shindig, so time is a-ticking to keep the kiddies safe…except that I may scare them all away cuz I’ll be wearing this.  Too bad.

So what are these “finishing touches” you ask? More hog panel, of course, since we ripped out that old railing during the staining, and…well, while you’re there…let’s move the steps and expand them!

Since we’re all feelin fall-ish, I thought a snow shot of the old railings might be soothing…

OK, so here’s how it’s been going…some new hog panel up, some fugly lattice still hanging out to taunt me…your days are numbered so enjoy your limited life….

New steps will center on the door where all those tools and crap are….

But the ground isn’t level so the CC poured a concrete pad….. (can you BELIEVE the mess?)

and last night he got the first treads up….

…and here it is next to the old steps, which should be coming down shortly.  Getting close, but yet so far….soon!

Slab Happy

I’ve been wanting to incorporate some live edge slabs in here since we bought the place…it just seems to fit…and with these trees toppling around me, sooner or later, one of them might just be the right kind for milling something fab.  I gave up on my dreams of a Nakashima dining table long ago, but have moved on to other slabsessions.

Back when I still read Apartment Therapy, I got all slobbery over this post…especially if I had about $13k laying around.  I’d love to have any of these as my headboard…maybe then we’d finally get our bed off the floor…one can dream.  These first two from Meyer and Wells and Urban Hardwoods are my faves….

Photos via AT

Then there’s this one ….

Photo via JC Sterling

and of course, the classic….

via Nakashima Woodworker

Photos via Live Edge Design

Another avenue is to possibly incorporate a slab in one of the bathroom renovations….the half bath might be the most feasible one.

Photo via Western Art and Architecture


Photo via Design Milk

And remember when I so loved this?

I still do….breakfast bar/backsplash…ahhhh…gorge.

Currently, the only wooden benefit from these trees falling around us is lots of firewood…..and some stumpytime.

Photo via Design Milk

We’ve got quite a collection of similar stump stools and tables going now….but it’s the slabs I covet.  One day….


Stairs to Die For

I mean, for real.  I get hard time because of our yet to be redone railings, but this post on Emma’s Designblogg got me thinking….

What kind of “favors” are the homeowners slipping the code inspectors for these houses?!  I think these are stunning to look at…as an art installation.  Scares the crap out of me to think of climbing them after cocktails.

Seriously, I LOVE the look, but,  practical or safe…uh…no.  How is this allowed?

I ask my architect (and lawyer for that matter) friends to educate me on how this is legal, when I couldn’t have 3 measly steps to the driveway without a honkin’ railing to meet code.  REALLY.  I need to know.  Is there a waiver you sign that says “…whoever lives/visits here can be maimed/killed with a single misstep (heh), yet the stairs will remain blameless….”

via Stair Porn

via stair porn

From where I’m sitting, some code inspector must be planning his next vacation home purchase when he sees plans with these in them, cuz frankly, I don’t think a night out with some lap dances will suffice here.  Thoughts?  Insights?

Firewood Fashions

It’s really cold today and I’m thinking fire.  I’ve been looking for something attractive to keep the firewood contained indoors….

dwr firewood fab_2

I LOVE THAT.  Lurv it sumtin’ awful.

No idea who/where/how…I tore it out of a DWR catalog ages ago…probably a custom job.

UPDATE: Finally figured out it’s by Olle Lundberg in his California cabin.

When the CC gets comfortable with his welding, maybe this can be the ultimate project?  Although, that’s a lot of heavy metal…I don’t really think that’s DIYable for us.  Paying a metalsmith to make it sounds great, but it will probably be $1000…so…dream on….

475_ftf log holder remodelista

This is cool….but, since I’m too cheap to pay $475 for it on Remodelista, maybe we can mold some lucite in the same shape…we’ve had success with lucite molding in the past (with the heat gun-not the crafty one, the real one that peels paint).  It would have to be thicker than anything we’ve done before though….hmmmm…

Bebop+Wood+Basket all modern 355

This doesn’t look like it holds enough wood to get through one night.  I want something that can hold 2-3 evenings worth so when it’s raining, you don’t have to drag in wood from the wet.  Blomus for a mere $355….ouch!

conran spirograph basket $95

This is nice…and only $95, but again, impractical b/c logs drop stuff. Lots of little bits of dust and wood shreds.   I’d have to vacuum under it daily.  For outdoors…great, but I’ve got that covered.

creative-firewood-holders-by-ak47-design-1I’m sorry, but I think this is just stupid….uncomfortable and stupid.  You can’t keep the same wood in there because of bugs, you’d have to rebuild your chaise every time you had a fire.  Really, AK47.

$15 bin from Lowes

Fugly.  But it’s all I got, so I guess I’ll just stick with this $15 bin from Lowes until we fire up the heat gun and see what happens in lucite land…..