I have moved the blog to www.oakridgehomestead.com
Check out the new look and catch up on the house progress! :)
Oakridge Homestead
Oakridgehomestead.com chronicles our experience as owner-builders and our transition to farm life. As the build slows down and we move into the house we will transition the blog to chronicling our attempts at slow food, farm to table, raising chickens, gardening and preserving our harvests. There will also be an occasional post about local events or trips we take with the extended family. Please feel free to comment and check back often! :)
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Rooflines and rough electrical marked out!
June 3rd
The framers were able to finish most of
the first floor sheer paneling and have finished 80% of the rafters
that make up the main attic area. It is really cool seeing the
roof line start to take shape!
Front entry door and eventual porch.
Looking back at the front door while standing next to the island area.
Here you can see on the left side of the large beam was were the window was originally and we decided to move it to the right side and make it smaller. The following pictures are all taken as I turned to my right and tried to get a sense of what the kitchen, dining and living space will look like.
Two 8ftx8ft sliders will frame the view from the kitchen.
Living area on the left and pantry on the right.
Bedroom #2
Bedroom #1
1st Bathroom view
Master Bedroom slider
Master Bedroom again :)
The big opening in the middle is the fireplace. they haven't started on it yet. I love the open attic area!
That first step is a doosy! The driveway will require a little fill to finish it. :)
I was able to mark all the electrical
boxes and switches this afternoon. It was really nice doing something
other than research or paperwork that actually moved my portion of
the build forward. I am thinking that we may not be using the
sub-panel idea because it will most likely involve some paperwork for
the county because the approved plans do not show a sub-panel and I
am sure they will at least want to see a “as built” addendum. It
will be easier to just run the wires from the main panel.
I am really hoping we will have
inspections before Thursday next week. Paul the inspector that came
through for the foundation said that he works every other Friday. He
was very friendly and I would like to stick with one inspector for
the whole process.
We decided on the style of the stairs
and what type of newel posts we will be using. The newel posts will
be 4x4 or 4x6 posts with a very simple top cap. The stair tread will
open on the side with the balusters. We are going with a simple,
possibly non-conventional stair rail we saw a blog that used 2x6 for
the hand rail, just like you see on outdoor deck railings. It was
painted white and looked really nice. It would be very sturdy and
relatively inexpensive.
Next week is finals week and I will be
out of school after 11:30. So I am planning on heading up to the
house to start placing boxes. Hopefully the inspector will be there
while I am doing this and I can pick his brain on what I need to
change and how best to run the wires from the main breaker over the
garage and into the rest of the house.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Pigtails and Volunteers!
May 31st.
I met Ron Dinicola my brother’s Father-in-law at the house
because he is a licensed electrical contractor and was willing to walk us
through how to wire our house. As we walked through the house and talked about
what needed to be done and what was involved with completing the electrical it
became more and more obvious that I had underestimated what was involved. Ron
was helpful and pointed out some changes we will be incorporating (including a
sub-panel in the laundry) that will reduce the materials and hopefully the time
needed to install them. He showed me how to use the “pigtail” technique to
connect wires and devices inside a box. Thanks Ron for the help!
I will be heading out to the house on
Tuesday to mark out the switches, boxes and lights, with the hope that on
Saturday I can go out again and start drilling the holes to run the wires. On
Sunday I had two friends (coincidentally both named Dave) offer to help for a
couple of days! So thankful for friends like these (not just because they are working on the house but because they are willing to take time out of their week for us)! I can't thank them enough!
Below are some pics from Friday the 30th. Friday the framers were able to get the main beam up and in place above the main floor! We should be framing the roof and the upstairs above the garage this week and calling for inspections middle of next week! Moving quickly!!
Below are some pics from Friday the 30th. Friday the framers were able to get the main beam up and in place above the main floor! We should be framing the roof and the upstairs above the garage this week and calling for inspections middle of next week! Moving quickly!!
We are ordering doors and windows from ETO Doors in LA. We can drive there and pick them which will save us about $900 dollars! We are also going to be Installing our own HVAC and will be getting the duct design done through ACDuctDesign.com. They will give us a detailed layout and we can take that to KarnAir in Hemet who will help us put together a parts list.
We are going to hire Michael Mark to install our standing seam metal roof because he is our framer and has a very competitive bid (mostly because he is already here).
The Septic system will be ordered this week and should be installed next week sometime along with the utility line and all the plumbing! It is coming together quickly now!!!
:)
This is the main beam that will be moving up 18 feet above the surface of the concrete. They were able to do without a crane. I didn't see it but it must have been a sight!
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Walls, Walls, Walls!
May 22nd
Yesterday I went out to the lot to check on the progress and
there were walls! Lots of walls! It was so surreal walking through the halls we
had seen on paper for the last 9 months. My first impression is that I had no
idea how big our “small” 3 foot by 6 foot window would be let alone the
rest of the windows. The amount of light that will be coming in will be incredible!
I am so glad we stuck with big windows!
We are already seeing that we want to make some minor
changes. The window placement in the master bath and 2nd bath and the
pocket doors in master bath are not the right width.The windows are too close to each other. The master bath pocket doors were built to accommodate
a 30 inch wide door and the plans call for a 36 inch wide door. The header
heights for the pocket doors are not high enough either. We are still early in
the progress and these changes will be easy to make.
K and I are frantically working to decide what doors to order when, and what windows to order and what tubs to order. I feel like we will be playing
catch up for the next couple of weeks. J
My first look as I walked up on Wednesday.
Future location of entry porch.
These three windows are in our master bath and second bath.
Future stair well and garage wall.
Looking back at the entry room and laundry room.
Living room
Living room again.
Looking down the hall with the pantry on the left.
The front door wall going up!
This is the plumbing fail. Those pipes are supposed to be within the cutout in the plate (the plate is the 2x4 on the bottom of wall). Did you catch that?...I used a technical term IN context even!! ;) The concrete will have to be cut more to than it already is to accommodate the necessary changes.
Master bath and closet.
Master bath curbless shower.
Outside the master bedroom.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Lumber delivered and concrete cut?!
May 20th
I met with Michael Mark yesterday at the lot to discuss the
lay out of the walls and the window and door placement. It was very obvious that
the laundry room was not plumbed correctly. The drain and water supply for the
clothes washer were not properly placed; they are in the middle of the hallway
floor! So Michael will be cutting into the concrete and moving the pipes back
to the proper position. They finished placing the wall plates yesterday and
measuring out the location of the windows and doors! Which means today there will
be walls up! We listed our house yesterday and will be out of town for Memorial
Day weekend. Hopefully there will be some interest and a couple of showings
while we are gone. Getting the house ready for showings has been more stressful
than the house build. We have so much stuff! K has been hard at work putting
together some beautiful wall hangings and décor! She is amazing! J
Monday, May 19, 2014
Foundation Finished!!!
May 18th
La Duke Brothers Concrete finished the concrete Thursday and it looks
great! Mimi and Papa and the rest of us went up to the lot on Saturday for a
morning tour. Mimi and Papa brought the three bigger kids hard hats and
construction supplies (they were a birthday gift for N from my whole side of the family) so they were busy hammering rocks and looking official! The
concrete is looking good and Michael Mark is going to begin framing on Monday! J
The Birthday Boy is looking good! :)
Thanks E and K and V and J!
The three pictures that follow are of "knoll" where I pulled out a huge amount of poison oak. it looks sooo much better and wont make you itch! :)
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