FEBRUARY - MARCH 2005
FEBRUARY - MARCH 2005
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2005
In the
section of this blog, I often talk about the long walks we take in the
forest. Long walks have always proven to be of great benefit whenever we're working
on something together. It's away from the clutter of our surroundings and gives us
a chance to bounce ideas off each other. We solve a lot of design problems this way
and often come up with some very creative feature. I always carry a notepad with
me, and when I get home I enter all our new notes into a computer file that is a
running record of any design elements or problem-solving ideas. With a big project
like building a home from scratch, you can never remember all the details without
some record for reference. This blog in itself is a great tool.
I have now taken to calling Greg General Taylor because building this house is very
much like mounting a military campaign. It is mind-boggling how much detail is required
to build a house.
Our neighbors up the hill from where we're living now own this mountain we all live
on and have developed all the home sites here. Right now, they're in the process
of clearing more land for more homesites. And, of course, that means more trees are
going. They can make a bunch of money selling these huge old Cedars and Firs. But
the branches end up in the burning pile. So we asked if they would mind if we took
some of these branches off their hands and yesterday we spent the afternoon slogging
around in the mud and rain cutting branches. We plan to use them for handrails and
balusters for our exterior staircases and decks. Taking advantage of such resources
as this is called "green building". It's good for the environment because
you're not wasting anything you take out of it, and it's good for our budget - these
were free. If we had to buy the lumber for these projects it would cost in the neighborhood
of $3000.
Well, in the last entry I told you about the doors Greg found at the salvage yard
and last Thursday we went and bought the majority of the doors we will be needing.
This too is "green building" - recycling something that already exists.
Since our place will be decidedly eclectic, the fact that all of these doors are
different will work just fine. Our ceilings are nine feet and so I was hoping to
find big doors and we definitely lucked out here. Almost all of the doors we found
are eight footers and three feet wide. With tall ceilings and big rooms, scale is
important. This door with a Craftsman leaded glass design is for Greg's office; this one with a large leaded-glass panel will lead from
our livingroom to the deck;
downstairs this solid wood exterior door will lead to the mudroom and features a 15-panel design;
this leaded-glass door leads from the rear stairs to the outside; this one to the shop is vintage and probably dates from the 1920s; and this huge
door that stands eight feet tall and
three and a half feet wide will go to my office. The fact that some are brand new
and some are painted or stained won't be a problem. Ditto the fact that they don't
come with jambs (the wood frame that holds the door in the wall) because building
those for Greg will be a snap - one of his specialties when working as a carpenter/contractor
was hanging doors. It's practically a lost art today because store-bought doors come
with jambs included.
Doors need hinges, and big doors need heavy duty hinges, preferably with ball bearings
to keep the movement nice and smooth. And those are expensive. A set could cost upwards
of $100. Multiply that by about 35 doors and you've got some money invested. So our
old friend Ebay has helped us out here. Greg was able to buy several hinges for about
$6 a piece. And he's on the lookout for more and doesn't think there will be any
shortage of listings.
We are so cramped at our rental house, we keep having to find ingenious ways to make
room for working on plans and such. Greg needed to make some duplicate plans to give
out for bids and was able to create a "light table" by taping the plans to the big picture window that goes
to the deck and back lighting them with construction lights.
As for me, after thinking about it for more than six months, researching the materials
via the internet, and using pliers and hot glue, I have finally finished my "masterpiece"
- the jewel encrusted,
jewel-toned crystal
and brass chandelier
project. For about $250, I was able to take my old chandelier and turn it in to a
homemade version of a $10,000 fixture I saw in a design magazine. I cannot wait
to see it hanging in the diningroom.
.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2005
We are approaching the point of no return. We're taking a monumental leap here, both
terrifying and exciting, and yesterday was a milestone day. We picked up the plans
from our designer! With any luck, Greg will be able to complete the permit application
this morning and we can drop the plans off at the County offices. This is definitely
the busy season here as people begin submitting plans so they can begin building
when the weather gets warmer - although it's definitely been a mild winter so far.
Meanwhile, we delivered a set of plans to the engineers. As I've been saying, this
is an unusual house and so requires a bit of engineering.
I had to laugh, yesterday we were talking to a sawyer (someone who mills lumber)
and he asked us if we were planning to die in this house - just a quaint little term
meaning this is the last place we're planning on living (and definitely building!).
We have decided that we're building it just for ourselves and so damn any thoughts
about resale. Although our broker did say there's a buyer for every house.
And we also made a trip to 
yesterday to stake out the driveway, a requirement before
we can submit the plans. We also made sure that where we're putting the house is
exactly where we want it to be.
This entire process is so immense that we are always in danger of "reinventing
the wheel". By that I mean, we will have discussed something to the nth degree
and made decisions based on a myriad of facts and then the subject comes round again
and we forget why we came to certain conclusions. Like the other day, Greg thought
he had a good lead on the plantons we would have needed for the exterior if we were
going to go with the English Tudor look. But I reminded Greg why we gave up on that
idea: the time involved in preparing the plantons and the difficulty and cost of
finding someone to do stucco up here.
Later today we have a site meeting with the company who will be installing our septic
system. And also a meeting with the person who will be grading the property. This
is the same person we met through the company who is developing the land and he's
been extremely helpful and saved us a bunch of money. He has brought us Cedar logs,
old growth tree stumps, and huge boulders which we'll use later for landscaping and
building our exterior decks and stairs. For what we have paid hundreds for, we could
easily have paid thousands. The huge tree stumps alone are prized for landscaping
and could be sold for upwards of $600, but he sold them to us for about $50.
One of our neighbors up the hill from where we're living have a sheet metal business
and they took us on a tour of their shop. We got to talking and found out they moved
here a few years ago from the "big city" (Seattle) and said what a different
mentality there is here. Where in Seattle, people are very guarded about giving out
information, here people are only too happy to advise you and help you get a break
on a deal. When we toured their shop and their home up the hill from it, we were
able to see some of their sheet metal work and were just blown away. They are truly
artists and we see that they could do an incredible job on the beams we want to design
for the livingroom. And there may be some other projects we'll discuss with them;
just seeing what they can do has got my creative juices flowing. Our budget is always
a big concern but if they can do the job and still work within our budget, we're
very excited about adding their artistic efforts to ours. Not to mention the fact
it will free up Greg's time to work on other projects.
Last week we happened to be in Port Angeles, the largest city here on the Peninsula
and saw an antique shop we hadn't had the chance to check out before. No sooner had
we walked in the door did I see this magnificent chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
It's very reminiscent of a Fortuny design. If memory serves, Fortuny was an Italian
designer back in the 1920s and was famous for fabrics and covered his lamps and light
fixtures with his fabric designs. In fact, they are making a big comeback today and
many companies are making knockoffs. One thing I'm looking for is a large, spectacular
fixture to hang in the entry, especially since our ceiling there will be upwards
of 20 feet. And as I said before, scale is an important factor to consider. To my
way of thinking, there's nothing worse than something skimpy in a large space. When
I saw it I said to Greg, boy if this thing is even remotely affordable, even to the
point of stretching the budget a bit, it will be very difficult to pass up. It turns
out it's a one-of-a-kind, originally artist designed for a commission that fell through.
His original asking price was.....$14,000!!! But this shop had it at bargain prices
for $7,500. Well, needless to say, NOT in the budget. But Greg took a good look at
it and decided it would be very easy, and not expensive to duplicate. We just need
some metal for the "skeleton" and a good lamp shade maker. Here's what
the original looks like,
all seven feet tall and five feet wide of it.
.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2005
Well, the plans are IN! And our wallets are lighter. Our building permits are about
$2500. Add to that the fee for hooking up to the county water system ($1100) and
electrical hook up ($800), and you can see why. And this is only the beginning! (And
part of the trade off for living in a state that doesn't have Income Tax.) The plans
may be "in" but that just means our plans are "in line". There's
always a backup to get your plans back from Building & Safety. Right now it looks
like the County is taking between 4 to 8 weeks to complete plan check. Meanwhile...
The best laid plans: nothing I've said before now, or planned to do up to this point
is written in stone. Things change and will continue to change right up until any
particular project is complete. For instance: one of the big jobs Greg was planning
to do (working alongside our local expert and jack-of-all trades, Mike Stringer),
was installing the roof. Roofing is a major expense, and the labor to install it
is a big chunk of it. But after giving it some hard thought, we're pretty sure we're
going to go with a pro. For several reasons. First, there may be some difficulty
with the warrantee if a "certified" installer doesn't do the job. But most
importantly, we're building a two-story structure, and that's a considerable distance
from the ground, leaving plenty of opportunity for someone to sustain some major
injuries. And lastly, this job would probably take Greg and Mike at least three weeks
to do, taking them off other big jobs and pushing back completion dates. So, for
now, we're starting to get some bids.
And another problem. Energy considerations play a big role in building requirements,
especially here in Washington. And this requirement relates particularly to windows
and doors. Our "score" on those expensive doors is partially in jeopardy.
We have about nine exterior doors. Most homes have about two. Each exterior door
has to conform to some type of energy rating and so right now we're trying to work
with the door manufacturer, the building code, the energy code and our final plans.
Will keep you posted on this one.
Earlier this week we attended a lighting seminar. Seattle Lighting here in Washington
gives free seminars monthly and let me just say it was worth every penny we didn't
pay for it!
Lighting is probably the least understood element of home design, and it's one of
the most complicated; as well and the one that receives the least thought. Most people
hire an electrician and leave it up to them to decide what goes where. Or maybe their
architect puts in a few ideas. But good lighting requires much much more expertise
than either of these trades probably has, as we learned by the end of our two hour
seminar (which stretched to almost four hours and would have lasted longer if the
instructor could have stayed into the wee hours of the evening).
We learned that the first consideration of lighting is not the fixture but the "lamp".
And lamp is the term most of us call a "bulb". The lighting task determines
the type of lamp. There are several types of tasks to consider. "Fill"
light which is, to my understanding, basically light that has no particular function
except to prevent you from knocking into furniture in the middle of the night. "Decorative"
lighting, like chandeliers and table lamps. And "task" lighting; reading
or working in the kitchen for instance. Asking the wrong lamp or fixture to light
an area wastes money. It may end up costing you what seems like a lot more to get
the correct lighting, but the savings in the number of fixtures you end up buying
and the energy costs over time will make up for it.
This lighting seminar was very instructive and very visual. They created a working
model, in this instance a diningroom. The ceiling had dozens of different lighting
set ups that at the touch of a button could show you the correct and incorrect lighting
and the huge difference it makes. It's literally the difference between day and night
when you see it. One of the most spectacular was lighting for a piece of wall art.
When the proper lighting was used, the painting practically became three-dimensional.
If you've ever been in a Thomas Kincaid gallery, you've seen great lighting for art.
And this is the kind of effect you can achieve in your home. Oh, and another way
good lighting can save you money is security. Who listens to loud security systems
any more? But rig the outside of your house to detect movement and set off a virtual
light show, and you'll definitely get someone's attention. Greg took copious notes.
Both of us felt we were "fairly" knowledgeable about the theory of lighting
and how lighting can create a room and manipulate space. A little knowledge is a
dangerous thing and we had just enough of it to realize this was such an important
element for us, we need to splurge and hire our "teacher", Al Thomas, as
our lighting designer. He works by the hour ($90) or by the square foot (80 cents)
and in the long run, we feel it will be worth the investment. After all, our home
is basically designed around all the things we've collected in the past twenty plus
years. Greg will be spending hundreds of hours creating displays for these items.
In addition, we have two very tall ceilings in the livingroom and the entry/gallery
and that double-helix staircase (which will be a work of art in itself). If we're
going to do all of this, we feel we should definitely go that extra mile to play
it up right. So, all of this went into the decision to spend our precious budget
dollars on lighting design.
.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2005
Thank you Ebay! The gift that keeps on giving. Greg has made two recent scores; one
for a dumbwaiter which we'll use to bring groceries up from the garage, and another
for some (rare) air-dried White Oak from Oshkosh,Wisconsin which he'll use to build the double-helix
staircase.
After months of looking, he found this manual version of a dumbwaiter that appears to date from the 1940s when such things were
commonplace. And the fact that it's manual isn't a problem, since the pulley system
should make operation easy. Greg found that today's dumbwaiters can run a whopping
$2000-$4500 for a motorized version. From Greg's way of thinking, this is absolutely
ridiculous. So, prior to finding this dumbwaiter, he found the plans for one in a
1950s issue of Popular Mechanics Magazine (again through Ebay) and at some point
he's going to publish the plans to sell (through Ebay) to prove how outrageous the
prices are if you purchase a new one and how easy it is to make yourself. Likewise,
the prices were astronomical for a device to move a painting which will cover the
tv screen we plan to build into the fireplace just above the mantle. He's determined
to build his own version and tell the world how to save the money.
Finding the wood he needs to build this spiral staircase has been a real Easter-egg
hunt. In order to make this thing, he needs to bend wood. And only certain types
of wood are good for bending - which requires steaming - which requires Greg to build
a "steam cabinet". It turns out White Oak is the best choice for this.
But most wood is kiln dried. You don't just chop down a tree, cut it up, and use
the wood right away. It must cure or else the wood will split and warp. Kiln drying
dries up essential oils which affects the ability to bend the wood. True, there was
a place Greg could have bought White Oak here on the Peninsula, but at two to three
times the cost and kiln dried to boot. The White Oak Greg found came from a tree
that had to be cut down a couple of years ago and he was able to win the bid. So
another piece to our puzzle has been found.
I told you about our neighbor here who's let us cut up Cedar branches for balusters and handrails. (The red paint is a special
latex sealer made expressly for protecting the ends of fresh-cut wood from cracking
- another internet find.) So here's a look at Greg in action as well as his trusty companion. See, I'm not just a city girl!
SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 2005
Has it really been a month since my last entry? Impossible. Time flies. And
there's lots to tell.
The plans should be out of plan check within the next two weeks or so. The engineer
made the final revisions and submitted those changes to plan check. Here, it was
possible to submit the plans and at least get in line to be reviewed; and then when
the engineering calculations were done, just feed them in to plan check, thereby
not losing any time. Whether the plans are back or not, we will begin breaking ground
around April 15 (tax day!). It's okay to begin without our permit just as long as
we don't cover anything up that has to be inspected. We plan to make a photographic
record of all wiring and piping for the project so we know exactly what's behind
the walls. The first two projects to be done are grading the lot in preparation to
begin the foundation, and installing the septic system.
I've been giving some thought to the style of the house's exterior. You may remember
that last summer I described it as "a mix of Queen Anne Victorian, Storybook (those whimsical homes built in the 1920s that remind you of Snow
White & the Seven Dwarfs), English Tudor, a little bit of bungalow, Cotswold cottage, a little bit of Thomas Kincaid, and a good measure of Craftsman thrown in for flavor. Ohmigawd, it's a mishmash - let's just call
it eclectic". Now that it's taken shape over the last year, I would describe
it as Craftsman Gothic. Yeah, I like that....
Greg received his White Oak for the staircase and it was everything he hoped it would
be. Even though the shipping costs were more than the wood itself, still the total
cost was about one-third of what he would have paid to buy it locally.
We also received the dumbwaiter. It turns out it's probably circa 1927 or 1928 according
to a Google search on the manufacturer, Ideal Electric Dumbwaiter. And although it
wasn't advertised on Ebay as "electric", Greg may be able to revive that
function. But even if that isn't possible, it will work just as well with a manual
pulley.
It's good to have neighbors....
We scored another great deal on balusters for the staircase. We had wanted wrought
iron but it was pricey. As I said before, we went through many design ideas including
some intricate paneling instead of balusters. But ultimately we realized we wanted
something simple that wouldn't pull focus away from the sculptural quality of the
staircase itself. Our sheet-metal-fabricator-neighbors up the street had turned us
on to a supply house that carries an extensive wrought iron line (among a myriad
of other products); we got on their mailing list and began receiving sale info. As
luck would have it, the latest flyer had one of the balusters we were interested in on sale at half price. Those are now sitting
in our neighbor's shed.
And now that I've settled on the exterior design theme (Craftsman Gothic), I'm honing
in on the design of those living room beams that we want our neighbors to fabricate
for us. I gave them a picture of the type of design I'm thinking of and hopefully by summer we can begin working on that in
ernest. We also want them to make something similar for the exterior front door beam
at the front of the overhang; a variation on the NorthWest theme so popular here.
We're still going round and round about what to do for our roof. I think we've pretty
well decided on metal, expensive though it is, and I haven't given up on that slate
design. As it turns out, another neighbor up the road is a contractor and we'll be
talking to him about installing it.
Almost had a disaster with the bathtub I ordered through Home Depot. I had spent
hours last summer trying to find the perfect tub. I finally found it,
the Fresco by Jacuzzi.
I had several things on my wish list. First, I wanted a soaking tub only - no jets.
After some investigating, I just realized the jetted water made too much noise, the
jets never hit where I wanted them, and the constant churning cooled off the water.
And since this tub is fiberglass, it's already predisposed not to retain the heat.
However, that problem will be solved by placing radiant tubing underneath and behind
the sides of the tub. I also wanted a non-skid bottom, comfortable seating for two
but not too massive a tub, a safety bar to hold on to, arm rests for both arms for
each person (the better to read a book with my dear), and lower back support. Before
I was planning on placing the order, I went to check on it at Home Depot and was
told it had been discontinued! I was heartbroken - especially since I had spent all
that time and found nothing else that I'd liked as well. So, I asked Home Depot to
please call Jacuzzi and see if there weren't more in stock. And miracle of miracles,
they said they had one. Whew! Until I received a call from Home Depot three weeks
after the order was placed telling me...it wasn't available! I explained what had
happened before and had them give it another try, but they were unsuccessful. I decided
to call Jacuzzi customer service myself and see what I could find out. I asked
to speak to a supervisor, explained the whole situation...but still was told it had
been discontinued and was out of stock. But I still wasn't ready to give up.
I did a Google search for the CEO of Jacuzzi, got the number for their corporate
offices, and asked to speak to the highest ranking officer possible to get to the
bottom of this. And lo and behold, they found me my tub!!! It's on it's way!
The lesson here was: never take no for an answer, do your own investigating,
and always go to the top. I can't tell you how many times I was able to get
what I wanted by taking this stance. (Of course, I won't stop worrying until it's
in my hot little hands.)
Lots of our "early" buy items are arriving. I've received most of the light
fixtures I ordered from Home Depot as well as my kitchen sink - which is a thing
of beauty. It's an Executive Chef by Kohler, cast iron, divided, and deep at 10+ inches (something my casual
survey of friends said was a must). And the one we ordered is an incredible cobalt
blue - yummmmm.
On the never-ending bargain-hunt front, I took advantage of a good sale on paints
through Home Depot. They carry Behr brand paints, among others, and our research
tells us it's a very good product. Behr was having a big rebate sale and so we decided
to purchase the majority of our interior paint now. Although we won't be painting
'til probably year's end, I spoke with the tech support at Behr and was told there
was no problem in storing it for that long. So, we were able to get a hefty $450+
rebate. All of my interior paint colors are deep base (jewel tones) which is not
something a novice should attempt to do. Deep tones are famous for streaks if you
don't know what you're doing, so we're definitely planning on having a professional
painter do the work. A few years ago in Los Angeles, I noticed an office building
along Sepulveda Boulevard that was painted the most luscious cobalt blue; and if
you haven't guessed by now - I'm obsessed with cobalt blue. When we were doing Kelton
some 15+ years ago, I tried in vain to find the cobalt color I wanted and was never
happy with what was available then; it happens to be a very tricky color to achieve.
So after months of passing by, I finally stopped in and begged the owners to tell
me where they got the paint. It's made in Mexico and is nothing like what's available
here. I even took a swatch of it to Home Depot once to see if they could duplicate
it on their color-match computer, and they couldn't. Back then, I had the company
send me some product info - never guessing I would ever have the opportunity to use
it. After my tub incident, I didn't want to run into another "discontinued"
debacle, so I got in touch with the manager I spoke with a few years ago, and he
gave me a great deal on the paint and a break on the shipping costs.
As I explained before, we'll be using a product called HardiePlank siding on the
exterior of the house. This product is made of lightweight cement and requires little
upkeep. At the recent Home Show in Seattle we checked out the HardiePlank booth and
found out about a translucent stain that gives the look of actual cedar. That was
a great find and fits in wonderfully with the Craftsman design. So again we did research,
found a source, and I'm planning on learning to use a sprayer to apply it myself;
which should save us a few thousand dollars.
We're also closing in on what to do about heating. We're definitely going with propane
(there is no natural gas on the Peninsula). At one point we were considering also
using oil heat which is more energy efficient. But we found out it has an odor, so
we've decided to stay with just the propane. What type of water heater to go with
has also been a great debate. For years Europe has used the tankless systems which
are energy efficient in that you're not constantly heating water 24/7, paying for
heating even when you're not using it. But I think we may still stay with a tank.
And then there's the household heating system. And we're definitely going with radiant.
Again, Europe has been using radiant floor heating for years and years. We attended
a recent seminar on this type of system and learned a lot. The expert's opening statement
was, "what is comfort?" Some said not being too hot, others, not being
too cold. But the expert had a great answer: when you don't have to think about it.
And that's what radiant heat does. It just keeps it constantly comfortable. Plus
it's quiet and doesn't create dust - a big plus for cleaning and allergies. My big
question was whether or not it works well with carpeting and I was happy to learn
from the expert that it does. Greg had already bought the "radiant heating bible"
and had learned just enough to know that although he felt he could do a good job
laying down the tubing, he definitely didn't want to tackle the mechanical end. As
for materials, there have been great improvements with the tubing used for radiant
heat. It used to be the tubing was made of copper, but now a plastic product called
Pex has not only changed this industry but plumbing as well. There are no seams to
leak and this material has proven to be all but indestructible. And the seminar netted
us another savings: the expert was more than willing to do a design work up for us
(a definite must) at no cost - saving us about $1200.
and...
DON'T FORGET to KEEP CHECKING BACK at
2004
and
2005
to see what we've been up to lately
(the newest entries are always at the bottom of the page)
