Category: Current House

Beam Me Up, Scottie

Published on by Our Humble Abode6 Comments

As I mentioned yesterday, we were able to get some work done in places other than the roof this weekend.  One of those projects included tearing down a load bearing wall.  In a word, gulp.  We’ve torn out walls before, like a load bearing one to open up the kitchen at our first house, but it was a short span.  Worst case scenario, our roof fell in.  Ha.  This time, we took out a wall in the garage supporting the upper level of the house.

Here’s the thing, our garage is roughly two and 3/4 stalls wide, with only two garage doors.  The 3/4 part was separated into two storage rooms, one accessible from the garage, the other from the utility room.  Because we’ve got two cars and a boat to park, we decided we could live without the storage rooms.  So Ben tore out the separating wall and the sheet rock to prepare for the change.

Then we started the time-consuming roof project and not much else happened throughout the house, garage included.  On Thursday, Ben ordered a 24 foot long 18 inch tall by 6 inch wide glue lam beam to take the wall out.  The next day, a truck dropped it off and Ben got antsy to get started.  After making us chocolate waffles and eating breakfast, Ben and Handy Sammy got started with operation wall removal and beam placement.  I stayed in the house with the boys, so I don’t have pictures of the process, but Ben borrowed a set of beam jacks from a contractor friend to hoist and support the beam in place.

Once the beam was above their heads, Ben added support posts consisting of three 2 by 6 pieces on either end.

I guess Ben enjoyed that part, learning something new and using borrowed tools and all.  Of course demoing the old wall was fun, too.  And hey, hey, we’ve got ourselves an open garage.

Still to come, cutting these bolts off.

Building a wall in place of the door to the utility room.

And framing out the exterior walls, adding insulation, and moving our stuff in.  Although, the garage currently has construction supplies in place of our cars.

Regardless, we’re breathing easy now that we’re done with the big part.  We’ve also ordered new garage doors, so we should get those installed in a few weeks.  We’ll have to clean crap out before then.  Eek, the garage might look okay and be usable in the near future.

Anyone out there have a garage that looks like ours?  How do you like to contain the tools and mess?

The Sky Is Falling

Published on by Our Humble Abode23 Comments

Wow, it’s crazy how much we can get done on the house now without the roof demanding so much attention.  We’re currently between big projects, having just finished the roof and waiting for our windows to arrive.  Which gave Ben some time to tackle a few, slightly smaller projects, including installing the Sky Tube in the bathroom.

After some debating from everyone (you included!) we landed on centering it over the tub width wise, and centered over the shower curtain depth wise.  Ben started by tracing and cutting most of the outline of the light.  Before cutting it completely through, dumping a pile of insulation on our heads, be climbed up in the attic and moved the offending insulation.  From there, Sam cut the rest of the sheet rock left, and installed the bottom glass part of the light, screwing it into the joists above.

Ben attached the flexible duct work to the cover he had already installed while roofing and we were ready to rock.  And on an overcast, rainy day, this bathroom saw its first shred of natural light in existence.

Monumental, right?  Haha.

When the clouds parted and the sun popped out, our bathroom lit up, too.

Of course I had to hop in the shower to see what it was like with the curtain closed.  Look at all that light, without any electricity.

Ben was right, I’m glad we decided to center it over the tub.

Not only does the sky tube give great light to the tub area, but the rest of the bathroom as well.  The vanity area is light and bright.

Trust me when I say the change is dramatic.  Actually, why don’t you take a look at the before and after:

Light, bright, airy, and not at all yellow toned.  Ahh, I see the light.

How was your weekend?  Did you spend some time crossing things off the honey do list?  Or relax knowing fall is around the corner?

Gimme a Giveaway Winner: Lemonade Makin’ Mama

Published on by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

I find V and E’s chubby cheeks irresistibly adorable.  Yes, they both get annoyed by incessant kissing, pinching, and squishing, but hey, I”m their mom.  That’s my job, right?!

 

Heather, can’t resist her cats, Linus and Lucy.  With names like that, how could you?

Hopefully you all can’t resist the items I added to the shop this week.

Gray Large Arrow Pillow:

Red Arrow Pillow:

Navy Arrow Pillow:

Gray Arrow Pillow:

And a friendly reminder to Enjoy the Little Things:

Like what you see?  Use the coupon code OHA2012 to get 10% off your order.

I might work on another print design this weekend.  Or I might try to tackle a project on my to do list.  What are you doing this weekend?

Green = Green: Norwex Cleaning

Published on by Our Humble Abode34 Comments

Shortly after returning from Minnesota, a lovely reader, Sarah, sent me a set of Norwex Enviro and Window cloths.  After hearing Sarah’s description, I knew Norwex was something I had to try.  After all, a product that can quickly clean, leaving a streak free shine using only a microfiber cloth and water sounds too good to pass up.

I opened the package the day I got home, and my mom (who drove back with me) saw them and started cleaning our appliances and glass.  Apparently she had a set and loved them.  Here’s a look at the cloths.  I appreciate that they’re labeled.

Getting mirrors and glass clean without leaving streaks and fuzzies has always eluded me.  So that’s where I started, with the main bathroom mirror.

I don’t know what caused that, but it wasn’t looking good.  After wetting the blue cloth, wiping the mirror, and polishing with the purple cloth, the mirror was clean, and lint free!

Okay, so the mirror is clean, but what about the water spotted chrome faucet?

Worked like a charm, with minimal scrubbing and no chemical cleaners.

That’s when I wandered around the house looking for things to clean.  Hmm, what about the streaked, finger printed dishwasher?

There’s an app rag for that.

I like it.  What’s not to like?  No cleaner, good.  No smell, good.  Clean appliances, goooood.

I bet Joey (and Monica!) would love Norwex, too.

Have you tried Norwex?  What’s your favorite green cleaner?

A {New} Roof Over Our Heads

Published on by Our Humble Abode15 Comments

Almost two months after starting the process, Ben and Handy Sammy have finished the roof.  Whew, that’s a relief.  It was a long, hot, sweaty process and I know we’re all thankful to have it behind us.  Take a look back at what we started with:

Cedar shakes and an odd solar panel hut which caused the roof to leak.  Not a good look.  I won’t get into the whole re-roofing process (partly because I don’t know every step of it, fortunately Ben does) but it took a lot of time and effort.  Working on the house part was easier, but the eight skylights in the pool room caused a few headaches.  For the two larger skylights, Ben and Sammy had to build their own step flashing.  Boo to that.  So here they are, on their last day of roofing.

In the home stretch, the boys had high spirits, striking Olympic athlete poses in the process.

Back off, ladies.  He’s all mine.  Haha.  But here’s the roof now, looking sleek and finished.

After talking with his roofing supply friend, Ben decided to use Pabco Premier architectural shingles in Pewter Gray.

A new ridge vent allows maximum attic ventilation without ugly vent holes.  Not that it matters much, because most of the roof isn’t visible unless you’ve climbed up our back yard…

The house looks sleek and modern.  Ben plans to paint the vent pipes to blend with the roof, too.

Next up, digging up the back yard to prepare for new windows and siding.  Windows are on order and should arrive in about two weeks.  Can’t wait to get that party started.

What projects have you just wrapped up?  Something outside, like a roof?  Landscaping?  Let’s celebrate our newly finished projects.