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Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

Dr. Chim Richalds posted:

Another great thread, Slung Blade. How you manage to do it all, I'll never understand. How do you find the time to work full-time, work on your tractor project, deal with building a new home, drive to and from work/your parents house/your new house, and update these threads about your projects? Do you ever have free time? Thanks for the great reads, they're an inspiration to be sure. The only thing I don't envy is that cold, cold weather.


It's very simple, I don't have a girlfriend.
:goonsay:


Thanks though, I'm glad you guys like these threads. I consider my various projects to be my spare time. They're how I unwind and relax.

My job is that of a typical office drone. Go in, sit my rear end in a chair for 4 hours, then it's lunchtime, then another 4 hours, then home, with nothing to show for it other than a paycheque, and maybe some documentation saying the customer is happy/pissed with their software.

It's good to have hobbies.

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grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
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Your house looks awesome! I must say, I'm disappointed, though. For someone as DIY as you with such clear skills for this stuff... you go and... hire contractors? For shame!

Which half of your garage will be the auto shop, and which will be the wood shop?

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

grover posted:

Your house looks awesome! I must say, I'm disappointed, though. For someone as DIY as you with such clear skills for this stuff... you go and... hire contractors? For shame!

Which half of your garage will be the auto shop, and which will be the wood shop?

I had to, I need the time to work on the tractor.

Besides, I've never really been good with wood. Metal's not so bad, since you can almost always add metal back on and shave it down to what you need again, but wood, once cut, is hosed forever.

I think I'll use the single door for the tractor, and the large door for my truck. I want to get a little light commuter car to go with it and save on gas, but I also want to build a custom tube-frame electric car someday. I'll probably start with a cheap little corolla or something because I'm gonna be plenty busy for the next few years anyway.

Behind the house will be a smithy. Not 100% decided on how I'm going to go about that, but I'm working on it.

So no woodshop, it's not my thing. Though I will have some basic woodworking tools so I can build everything else I need. I think I mostly just need a good mitre saw.




In other news, I finally got around to screengrabbing my floorplan.


The master bedroom is huuuuuuuge. I've considered sleeping in the den and using the MB as a kind of living room. The kitchen/living room isn't separated, even though it looks like it is, that's just a support beam that juts out of the ceiling.

It's sort-of inspired by this:
http://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plan-31082d.asp

Going to check up on the place this weekend, I'll post images if anything interesting has happened.

Socratic Moron
Oct 12, 2003
*sigh*
Cool stuff dude. I think you and I would have gotten along quite well if you would have come out here like you pondered.

What sort of fruit trees are you looking to plant?

Sounds to me like you're working towards sustainability, yes?

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

Given my commute, that's pretty well impossible.

But I can do a lot to mitigate my impact.

Fruit will be mostly apples, raspberry bushes, saskatoon berries, and hakasp berries if I can get some. That's mostly all that will grow here, though strawberry, blueberry, and some hardy cherry breeds will live, but I'm not terribly interested in those.

Socratic Moron
Oct 12, 2003
*sigh*
Have you thought about building a greenhouse at some point?

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

It's on my list. Not sure if I'll get to it this year, but maybe soon.

It has to be strong enough to hold up to snow like this:


Fortunately, this guy is in the same province and climate as I am, and he did it pretty easily and cheaply.
http://www.albertahomegardening.com/my-hoopframe-greenhouse-in-the-snow/



I would build it bigger than that though, I would like to be able to drive the tractor into it to cultivate the beds. Or maybe I'll just get a little electric tiller or something. Or make one.

Barn Owl
Oct 29, 2005
"text"
The den is only accessible from the Master Bedroom? is this common?

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

Barn Owl posted:

The den is only accessible from the Master Bedroom? is this common?

Not at all. But it is what I wanted, and the architect did as I asked.



I wasn't expecting much to have happened this week. Paint, maybe a little sanding.

I was pleasantly surprised. My counters were installed.










Also, all my trim has been stained the same colour as the cabinets.


Doors were painted.




And a parting shot of the front with the trim all done.



Hell yes.

M_Gargantua
Oct 16, 2006

STOMP'N ON INTO THE POWERLINES

Exciting Lemon
I like the speed this is getting done. My family built our house seven years ago and it didn't go nearly as fast. I think it was mostly patience on our part, for cost reasons. We ended up getting 3x the house that we otherwise could have afforded by doing alot of work ourselves. I actually had a blast doing it, learned alot in the process.

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

I wish I could have built it myself, but I'm really not much of a carpenter or finisher. I wouldn't trust myself to do code-grade wiring and plumbing either. But that's ok.


I'm pretty sure the painters are all finished.








I like the colour. I was kinda worried when I picked it, but it looks good next to the cabinets and granite.


Coming up next:
Flooring
Lighting

Coasterphreak
May 29, 2007
I like cookies.
The dark stain on the cabinets and trim is very classy. I like it.

Barracuda Bang!
Oct 21, 2008

The first rule of No Avatar Club is: you do not talk about No Avatar Club. The second rule of No Avatar Club is: you DO NOT talk about No Avatar Club
Grimey Drawer
Yeah, the hardware looks great too.

You gonna go with stainless appliances? I think they'd look great with the hardware.

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

Coasterphreak posted:

The dark stain on the cabinets and trim is very classy. I like it.

Thanks :) I was able to pick everything I wanted at the various building suppliers in about 15 minutes each. Having no one to please but myself was a huge boon and timesaver. The sales guys were all like deer in the headlights as I picked everything because I was so quick about it.

:v: well sir, as you can see have 150 different types of cabinets, finish, stain, and hardwar-

:colbert: Give me that one, with that hardware, and in this colour.

:confused: sir you can take more than 5 minutes to think about this if you like, this appointment is for 90 minutes

:colbert: Nope. That's good. Let's move on.

I could have done the whole thing in a day if I could have made the appointments work. I thought the poor lady at the plumbing place was going to have her wrist explode she was trying to write so fast.

Barracuda Bang! posted:

Yeah, the hardware looks great too.

You gonna go with stainless appliances? I think they'd look great with the hardware.


Yup, all stainless. I've got a dual fuel kitchenaid gas stove/electric oven, side by side fridge (never had one of those before, it was always top/bottom) and a decent dishwasher. Hopefully the hood fan is good enough to clear the smoke as I start cooking on that awesome stovetop.

Dane
Jun 18, 2003

mmm... creamy.
Possibly a stupid question, but why were the kitchen cabinets / counters installed fully before the floor was laid in? Isn't that rear end-backwards?

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
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Dane posted:

Possibly a stupid question, but why were the kitchen cabinets / counters installed fully before the floor was laid in? Isn't that rear end-backwards?
No, that's normal. Why would you lay down finished flooring that's just going to get covered up by the cabinets?

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

Yeah, that's square footage on the flooring that I don't have to pay to have done. Works out pretty well in my opinion.

AbsentMindedWelder
Mar 26, 2003

It must be the fumes.
Also, what would happen when it comes time to replace the flooring in the future for whatever reason? You'd have to rip out the cabinets to do it (properly) if you had flooring under them.

Ahz
Jun 17, 2001
PUT MY CART BACK? I'M BETTER THAN THAT AND YOU! WHERE IS MY BUTLER?!
Just make sure your cabinet height is sufficient for the dishwasher to fit under the countertop. MOST cabinets assume they will sit on finished floor and the dishwashers are built for a standard cabinet height. Many dishwashers have allowances to lift their front up higher in case the cabinet/counter is higher, but not lower. You may screw yourself if your floor doesn't go under your cabinets and dishwasher because that floor will add 3/4"+ to your height and the dishwasher may not fit.

As far as I know, most kitchens have flooring installed first, but they just run the flooring to just underneath the cabinets if you want to save square footage. Spacers are then used under the cabinets to ensure the whole cabinet support frame is at the right height on top of the finished floor height.

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

The flooring will go under where the dishwasher sits, same as the oven. Those are open to the front unlike the cabinets themselves. My builder's good, I'm not worried about it.

Nebulis01
Dec 30, 2003
Technical Support Ninny

Slung Blade posted:

The flooring will go under where the dishwasher sits, same as the oven. Those are open to the front unlike the cabinets themselves. My builder's good, I'm not worried about it.

should go under your fridge as well!

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

Right, yes, it will :downs:

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
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Will your walls go the entire way from the floor to the ceiling? Make sure your builder doesn't forget!

Desi
Jul 5, 2007
This.
Changes.
EVERYTHING.
That's pretty cool. I'm doing the same thing in Ottawa, but GC'ing the project myself. I was granted my permit in November and am only just doing the drywall inside and masonry outside at the momment, and even then, everyone I talk to says I'm doing one of the fastest owner-builds they've ever seen. It's quite amazing to see how quickly yours went up in comparison though.

Few things I noticed that are very different between Ontario and Alberta (or Ottawa and Calgary).

1. Hydro-Ottawa would have probably killed me if I tried to install my hydro service that early. We were running generators on site until after the roof was shingled and all the doors and windows installed. They wouldn't even think about letting me do it a day sooner.

2. Nice choice on the cabinets. Mine are very simillar and the install date is only a few days away! I too chose to make a liquor cabinet, except I got a bit carried away and ran some beer lines down to the cold storage for beer on tap. Not that expensive really, you should think about it if its not too late!

3. Cabinets, here, go in after tile. The tract-builders do it the other way around, but all three kitchen designers I talked to before settling on one looked at me like I was crazy for thinking that they go in before. Must be a regional thing.

4. I really like your doorframe idea. I may steal it.

5. I like your doors. I wanted to go with the same ones but with the rounded out top on the patterns. I got vetoed and we went with the 6 panel ones. Please please please tell me you went solid core, those make a world of difference!

6. Holy poo poo, you didn't forget to wire a doorbell! My neighborhood is all custom built homes and I've gotten to know alot of the people there. I'd say a solid 75% of the houses forgot to put a drat doorbell on the front door!

I've also got some questions for you, out of sheer curiousity really.

1. How much did you building permit set you back? I got hosed. My Ottawa permit cost me close to $35k with development fees, and I'm outside the urban boundry! Inside the city they are more, and in suburbia they are astronomical!

2. Fill. Did you have to truck in any of it? In my case, the water table is so high that they couldn't dig very deep. So as a result they just stripped the topsoil off, compacted some gravel, and built the foundation on top of that. Then I got to pay for 300 dump trucks of dirt at $150/piece. Good. loving. Times.

3. Don't know if your GC talked to you about this, but how much of a hard time did the various bureaucrats give you? I'm quite apt dealing with bureaucracy and such, being a Federal bureaucrat myself, but holy gently caress, the only people involved in this project that I would fire if I did it all over again would be the City, Hydro, and the Provincial Ministry of Labour.
-The city was just asinine when they came to their inspections, I mean, I overbuilt everything... just about nothing only "meets code" and everything pretty much exceeds it. But the stuff this little twit found was ridiculous. Example, he failed me 3 times for "not having enough nails in Truss T25". Fourth time, I meet him there with my framer and engineer in tow... his response? "Oh gently caress, that's Truss T38", pop in two nails and bam, passed.
-Provincial ministry of labour kept giving me grief about not having fire extinguishers on site (it was right by the front door) and not having a clean site (I honestly don't know what else I could have done). I swear that tool was probably just looking for a bribe.
-Hydro, don't get me started on Hydro. From the day I called to the day I got service was about 40 days. I also had to redig my hydro trench twice and got into a shouting match with the inspector twice.

All in all though, I'd do it again. I'm actually looking at doing it again for profit (build then sell) in the not-so-distant-future.

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

grover posted:

Will your walls go the entire way from the floor to the ceiling? Make sure your builder doesn't forget!

:ohdear:


Desi posted:

1. Hydro-Ottawa would have probably killed me if I tried to install my hydro service that early. We were running generators on site until after the roof was shingled and all the doors and windows installed. They wouldn't even think about letting me do it a day sooner.

2. Nice choice on the cabinets. Mine are very simillar and the install date is only a few days away! I too chose to make a liquor cabinet, except I got a bit carried away and ran some beer lines down to the cold storage for beer on tap. Not that expensive really, you should think about it if its not too late!

3. Cabinets, here, go in after tile. The tract-builders do it the other way around, but all three kitchen designers I talked to before settling on one looked at me like I was crazy for thinking that they go in before. Must be a regional thing.

4. I really like your doorframe idea. I may steal it.

5. I like your doors. I wanted to go with the same ones but with the rounded out top on the patterns. I got vetoed and we went with the 6 panel ones. Please please please tell me you went solid core, those make a world of difference!

6. Holy poo poo, you didn't forget to wire a doorbell! My neighborhood is all custom built homes and I've gotten to know alot of the people there. I'd say a solid 75% of the houses forgot to put a drat doorbell on the front door!

I've also got some questions for you, out of sheer curiousity really.

1. How much did you building permit set you back? I got hosed. My Ottawa permit cost me close to $35k with development fees, and I'm outside the urban boundry! Inside the city they are more, and in suburbia they are astronomical!

2. Fill. Did you have to truck in any of it? In my case, the water table is so high that they couldn't dig very deep. So as a result they just stripped the topsoil off, compacted some gravel, and built the foundation on top of that. Then I got to pay for 300 dump trucks of dirt at $150/piece. Good. loving. Times.

3. Don't know if your GC talked to you about this, but how much of a hard time did the various bureaucrats give you? I'm quite apt dealing with bureaucracy and such, being a Federal bureaucrat myself, but holy gently caress, the only people involved in this project that I would fire if I did it all over again would be the City, Hydro, and the Provincial Ministry of Labour.
-The city was just asinine when they came to their inspections, I mean, I overbuilt everything... just about nothing only "meets code" and everything pretty much exceeds it. But the stuff this little twit found was ridiculous. Example, he failed me 3 times for "not having enough nails in Truss T25". Fourth time, I meet him there with my framer and engineer in tow... his response? "Oh gently caress, that's Truss T38", pop in two nails and bam, passed.
-Provincial ministry of labour kept giving me grief about not having fire extinguishers on site (it was right by the front door) and not having a clean site (I honestly don't know what else I could have done). I swear that tool was probably just looking for a bribe.
-Hydro, don't get me started on Hydro. From the day I called to the day I got service was about 40 days. I also had to redig my hydro trench twice and got into a shouting match with the inspector twice.

All in all though, I'd do it again. I'm actually looking at doing it again for profit (build then sell) in the not-so-distant-future.


The electric service was trenched, and the meter was put on, but it wasn't activated until after the house was framed. I think they turned it on roughly the same time as the roof trusses went on. I can't remember when the transformer showed up on the electric pole, exactly.

Thanks, I really like the cabinets too. There's a closet behind my liquor cabinet, so I could install a little kegerator in there and punch some holes without too much difficulty. I don't drink enough beer to justify it though, I prefer whiskey, bourbon and wine. A place to pour and store my glasses is plenty enough for me :v:

The doors are solid core. It's just LDF inside though, I think.

Which doorframe in particular? The standard interior door frame? Front door exterior?

My builder knows her stuff. She built my parent's place 10 years ago, so I trust her with little stuff like doorbells :)


I have no idea on the building permit, I didn't have to get it, my GC got it and it's part of my bill. I'm certain it wasn't that much though, they practically give those things away here.

They did bring in some fill, mostly a little clay. A lot of that went into the driveway, or what will eventually become the driveway.

She's never mentioned the building inspectors, so I doubt they're giving her a hard time. We have strict building codes like everywhere else, but people aren't insanely anal about it like they sound like they are back east.

Nebulis01
Dec 30, 2003
Technical Support Ninny
The electricity thing is weird. Here in Washington State, at every home site I've been to they put up a temporary electrical service for the contractor to use, it just sits in on a 4x4 in the ground and has a couple quad outlets and the meter. I don't even want to imagine the cost of running a build site on a generator

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
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Yeah, they do the same thing here. You'd only need a small gen, though, and they're not that bad on gas. Guess it all depends on how much the utility charges for a temp pole.

Desi posted:

3. Cabinets, here, go in after tile. The tract-builders do it the other way around, but all three kitchen designers I talked to before settling on one looked at me like I was crazy for thinking that they go in before. Must be a regional thing.
This sounds more like a kitchen designer thing. Makes it easier for them if they can change things all around without having to worry about the floor. But it's the wrong way to do it, and costs you way more money in the long run.

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

I can see the cabinets after flooring thing as a kind of renovation inertia thing.


"Man this floor sucks, but if we're going to change it, we'll have to replace the cabinets, countertops, and appliances while we're at it. gently caress, that's a lot of money, maybe in 15 years..."


"The cabinets suck, but if I replace them, I may as well do the flooring while I have them out. poo poo, that new tile's expensive, maybe in 10 years..."



And then they move out and the old, perfectly serviceable stuff stays in place and nothing is wasted. :unsmith:

Dobermaniac
Jun 10, 2004
The house looks amazing. Would you mind taking a few pictures to show the kitchen and living room area? My wife wanted to see how large of an area there was and how the transition looked.

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

Sure, next time I'm out there I'll get some pictures of that.

There's not much to see though, really. Kitchen/living room are basically one medium sized room (for what it is) and there's not much of a transition. There's no wall, no flooring change or anything like that. But I'll try to capture it.


The flooring guys were supposed to start on the yesterday, so hopefully when I go to check up on it this weekend they'll have a bunch done.

mcsuede
Dec 30, 2003

Anyone who has a continuous smile on his face conceals a toughness that is almost frightening.
-Greta Garbo

Barn Owl posted:

The den is only accessible from the Master Bedroom? is this common?

Den = Toy Room. It's a great idea. Could also be a private retreat/reading room, those are getting popular off master bedrooms.

mcsuede fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Mar 17, 2010

Barn Owl
Oct 29, 2005
"text"
I just think it's weired that there is a room for this. Like: "I know these things don't belong in my bedroom, but I don't want to share them with anyone." The idea that -understandably- the bedroom is private space, but the den is double-private space. I would feel like I was retreating in my own home. Then again I won't allow kids in my workshop. So I guess would be getting my private time alternatively.

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

It's going to be my office. Also, that's where I will sit in an easy chair in a smoking jacket and sip bourbon whilst reading the classics of literature.

AbsentMindedWelder
Mar 26, 2003

It must be the fumes.
We all know "Den" or "Office" is just a nice synonym for dungeon. :black101: :quagmire:

Wandering Knitter
Feb 5, 2006

Meow
You seem to be living my dream life, right down to the garden and chickens.

Can...can I live with you? :ohdear: My knitting doesn't take up that much room, and I'm told I make a mean meatloaf.

Basilson
Sep 21, 2005

Yeah, right, buddy, liquor store robbery, officer down. Sure. And I'm Edward G. Robinson.
I just wanted to chime in and say that that, sir, is a drat fine house. Thanks for sharing the pics. I'm just starting to study architecture at uni, and we're doing sub-floor systems (slabs, joists, bearers, etc) and it's always nice to see some work in progress examples. Also, the vapour protection and water proofing systems in your walls, as we're covering that next week!

And count me in as a fan of the cabinet choice.


Slung Blade posted:

It's going to be my office. Also, that's where I will sit in an easy chair in a smoking jacket and sip bourbon whilst reading the classics of literature.

I'm so jealous right now.

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

Wandering Knitter posted:

You seem to be living my dream life, right down to the garden and chickens.

Can...can I live with you? :ohdear: My knitting doesn't take up that much room, and I'm told I make a mean meatloaf.


Well, now that all depends. Are you willing to live in Canada's frozen plain?

Also,

dv6speed posted:

We all know "Den" or "Office" is just a nice synonym for dungeon. :black101: :quagmire:

How open minded are you? :ninja:

Slung Blade
Jul 11, 2002

IN STEEL WE TRUST

Basilson posted:

I just wanted to chime in and say that that, sir, is a drat fine house. Thanks for sharing the pics. I'm just starting to study architecture at uni, and we're doing sub-floor systems (slabs, joists, bearers, etc) and it's always nice to see some work in progress examples. Also, the vapour protection and water proofing systems in your walls, as we're covering that next week!

And count me in as a fan of the cabinet choice.



Hey thanks. If you want any high-res images of anything I've posted, let me know and I'll be happy to send them your way.



The nights are getting short enough now that I can visit my house during the week, I saw last night that the wall and floor tile has all been placed and I think it looks pretty good. I didn't have my camera with me unfortunately, but I will get some shots this weekend.

Wandering Knitter
Feb 5, 2006

Meow

Slung Blade posted:

Well, now that all depends. Are you willing to live in Canada's frozen plain?

Yes. And I can knit a cozy for every single item in that house! :eng101:

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madlilnerd
Jan 4, 2009

a bush with baggage

Slung Blade posted:

Well, now that all depends. Are you willing to live in Canada's frozen plain?

You said we could play with fire so it's surely just a matter of finding enough things to burn to keep warm!

I wanted to learnt blacksmithing :( You should run a summer school.

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