Insulation ~ A little boring :)

I believe this will be the most boring blog I write on this project :)  Not a lot of flash or issue when it comes to insulation.  My main request on the insulation was to max it out, and I requested extra insulation in the floor and ceiling between the two levels.  If someone is working in the workshop AND there is someone cooking upstairs, I'd rather they not feel they are in the same room together. 

The top pictures show all of the final framing, headers, etc. before the insulation process began.  It went fast and without incident...Yeah!!

Moving on...

Doors ~ Finally! (mid - March)

Doors!  I came in for the weekend in mid-March to the most glorious site - doors.  Just with the windows, I must now begin to focus on the blessing of their arrival and beauty, and forget the nightmare that came in getting them to this point. 

They are gorgeous, aren't they??  They are solid wood - alder doors.  It was the knotty appearance that sold me.  Now the hard part begins, I am going to be the one who stains and seals all of these doors.  I am SO excited.  Actually, I am....I need some sweat equity in this place.  The most sweating I have done since around Christmas was sweat over how to cover the checks ;)  So I start trying to figure out when I can do it...how about the next weekend in March (last one)?  I am running out of time.  So I begin to prep for a long weekend of staining...at the very least the exterior doors must be done.

One other thing I want to point out is the ventilation you see in the third picture from the top. It is right below the roof line and above the doors.  I never noticed or even knew this was needed, but it lets your house breathe.  Who knew??  I do now. :)

More Siding & Windows... (more March 2010)

Now both sides of the workshop and front are progressing as the windows and siding are installed simultaneously from one side of the workshop, around the front, and over the other side.  I am getting more and more excited as it goes up, and the CWF hasn't even been applied.  Once applied, it will only enhance the wood's natural beauty.  As the windows go up, it also allows me time to breathe and let go of some of my frustration with the window and door retailer.  It may have been an awful process, but the end result is that I have beautiful windows.  Lesson learned ~ will never use them again, but I will definitely use Jeld Wen in the future. 

I say "some of my frustration" because as of these pictures there are still no doors on site.  These were ordered from the same retailer, but a different manufacturer.  As you will notice there is no siding on the front of the workshop, second floor.   That is because those three exterior doors have to be installed BEFORE the siding is put on.  Welcome to delay number two as a result of the window and door retailer.  Grrrrr....but what can you do?  Learn and move on.  Steve and his crew did a great job of getting others things completed while we waited, waited, and waited some more ~ one additional month.  :(

Moving on, another amazing site is the scaffolding.  You do not really understand what it takes to do something until you see it in action.  In addition, this is not the first - or the last - time they will have to use it.  That is a tedious process too when you think about building it, tearing it down, moving it, and then starting all over again.  Just little things to remember when you appreciate getting a really good builder who is safety conscious and clearly competent. 

So, we are progressing further...waiting, and adapting.  A flexible GC ~ this week's (and month's) best practice.

P.S.  I also had to add the beautiful shot of the sun going down and the road.  Simply breathtaking down there in the hollow, and that has alleviated a lot of stress along the way :)

More Heat & Air, Electric Sub, Plumbing Sub (March)

The sub work on the heat & air, electric, and plumbing continues in March as it becomes a race against time to get everything in the walls before the sheetrock sub is scheduled to be on site.  The pictures show the story.  You can also see the pine beams clearly in these shots.  This was a "Heather add-on" that I absolutely love.  Phillip Fouraker has been invaluable on a lot of this lumber - the pine beams, cedar deck railing and cedar deck roofing, and the pine for the interior ceiling (to be discussed later and completed later this summer).  There is a lot of extra wiring upstairs in the office for satellite Internet, etc.  I am trying to get everything planned out now so at some point it will be "hot wired for speed" :).

It is clearly a lot of work, a lot of wire, but smarter to do a lot of this now rather than later.  Continuing to be excited and amazed.

Sewer...Again :(

Let me just say that your sewer system should not look like the first picture (above) :) 

There was a pin hole in the tank which revealed itself weeks after the system was installed and all of the water (temporarily held inside until put into use) drained out.  Big :(!!  Poor Anton had to come back down and dig it out so that Wesley could repair it (poor me had to pay twice too).  Then, Anton had to reset it again.  Wesley then filled the tank up again with water.  Anton only covered it partially up so we could watch it, and I am happy to report it is working fine.  One of the last things to be done on the job will be Steve (GC) covering it up completely and leveling out the spot.  As you will recall, this is a future picnic spot!

Another problem fixed.  Next?! :)

Heat & Air, Electric, and Plumbing Subs ~ Picking up steam!

Well, it is the fourth weekend of February, and we are really picking up steam!  Every weekend when I get up home, I have more and more to see...which leads to more and more decisions to be made.  This weekend when I got in, three of the main subs had been hard at it all week ~ heat & air, the electrician, and the plumber.  I had met with all three on the same day a couple of weeks back on a day that became known as "sub day" because I met with something like seven subs all back-to-back throughout the day. 

It was great to finally see stuff going in the walls and ceilings.  The heat & air guys had walked me through every inch of the workshop allowing me to pick out where I wanted floor and ceiling vents.  We talked through my concerns and questions.  I wanted to be able to shut the heat & air off downstairs or upstairs depending on which areas I was using.  I wanted to be able to shut them down too if I was working in the workshop downstairs and needed the windows open for ventilation, but wanted the air conditioning on upstairs because I was staying up there at the time (or someone else was).  As my father would say, "I'm not paying to air condition the world."  It was amazing to walk through the structure and envision all of the scenarios.  I was impressed by how responsive and helpful they were, and they had great ideas and solutions for everything we discussed that day. 

The electrician my GC had selected was equally as helpful.  We also walked through the entire workshop deciding on where lights needed to go, what kind of lighting, etc.  It was an eye opening experience.  I knew from my house in Little Rock though that you simply cannot have enough lights, AND that I wanted a dimmer switch on everything.  Also, the dark room and workshop areas had special lighting and electric needs for future tools, access, etc.  It was very important to get this right ~ the first time, and I appreciated the electrician taking the time to help me get it right.  We also talked a lot about where to get lights, switches, etc.  Let me say that Lowe's has a great offering and saved me a lot of money on switches, etc.  Who knew those things were so expensive??

Finally, the plumber was great and came up with a lot of solutions to questions that arose on the master bath shower.  Also, during our meeting it was determined there was space and it would be helpful to have a laundry tub sink in the workshop.  That area, which had gotten tweaked at the beginning, now provided the perfect spot for this....I have a feeling it will prove invaluable down the line. 

All-in-all I could not be more pleased with the progress in these three areas.  Frankly, the biggest concern is will I have the lights, faucets, etc. picked out and ready for them when they need them to install...I am struggling to make these selections :( with all of the choices out there, PLUS there are simply so many decisions to make at one time.  I am not complaining, but it is interesting that after months of steady as she goes progress....the train has not only left the station, but the brakes might have gone out :)  As my friend Sher always says, "onward and upward!"

Siding ~ West Coast Cedar & Windows Going In

After all of the drama with the windows, I have to admit I had begun to wonder if the windows would ever arrive, much less be installed.  That drama only intensified as I began to learn for myself the importance of a construction timeline.  No windows...no west coast cedar siding.  Ohhhhh...

Well, as you know the windows did finally arrive (not the doors...yet), and since the main sliding door on the downstairs came from the window company ~ yeah ~ I got it with the window order.  The double sliding patio door is very important, and I worked really hard to get exactly what I felt was needed for the space.  This is the main door for the downstairs, and it also enters into the actual workshop.  In theory, this door needs to be wide enough to get anything you might be working on, in and out easily.  For example, I like to refinish furniture.  Considering the size of some pieces, you need to make sure the opening is going to be large enough to get in and out of without having to tear it apart.  I also needed a lot of light.  I am slightly addicted to sunlight, light, etc.  In addition, this is a small space (objects may appear larger in pictures than they are) so light is crucial to prevent you from feeling like you are in a cave (I already have one of those up the creek).  I had also found a renovated barn in a magazine that had what looked like a double sliding patio door with a sliding barn door on the outside.  So suddenly, I had everything ~ looks, functionality, and a picture (not just a crazy vision in my head) ~ now I needed to find the door.  Though I still have nothing good to say about the retailer I used for the doors and windows.  The manufacturer of the windows and my double sliding patio door, Jeld Wen, is phenomenal.  The end result was perfect.

Steve could not believe how large and heavy the door was when they went to install it.  The pictures do not show the whole story because the two center panels are missing.  Those will be one of the last things installed (in May ~ fingers crossed).  The barn doors will be made by the carpenter later on. 

The windows look beautiful.  They are a rustic bronze color on the outside trim.  I love the color, and it looks great against the siding.  I also got a stained glass window for the downstairs half bath.  That is another funny story of disaster.  I finally find the perfect stained glass window ~ it has sun rays and everything, and it breaks in transit.  No time to fix or order another one...I am stumped on what to do as I head to Fayetteville for a board meeting.  Wesley to the rescue (again)!  He goes out on Craigslist and starts searching...he finds one at an antique store in Rogers, Arkansas (30 minutes from my board meeting).  Go Wesley!  Steve had to pop it out of the makeshift frame and install and seal it, but it looks beautiful.  It is not insulated...yada yada, but it is a small window in a small room, and it is okay to not have every square inch energy efficient :) 

One note....if you really know me you will recognize immediately why this window was "perfect" for me :)

That brings us to the West Coast Cedar siding I selected for the outside of the workshop.  I knew I wanted board and batten siding (though I did waffle slightly at the beginning).  I knew I needed a high quality siding due to the location.  The west coast cedar siding fit the bill on all counts.  It is beautiful, but slightly expensive.  After it is installed, we are going to put multiple coats of CWF (clear) on it to enhance the natural color of the cedar.

With only a little more than half of the workshop done, you can already tell it is going to be amazing.  It looks just like the vision in my head, the sketches, etc.  I am getting giddy all over again.  This is happening...maybe it is down hill from here :)  Not!