JordonMusser
Well-known member
Thought I would share since I learned a lot reading the wealth of threads here on GJ. It has been a long journey, and I am just today getting into day 2 of framing.
It started with a desire to expand my current garage. After 9 month of meetings with the city council, etc, they finally approved it. At this point I had started looking at new homes more my style (mid century modern and modern), and ultimately decided I wanted to design my own house so I can get the garage I want.
I was lucky to find a nice chunk of land in the city, which is rare.. and I started the design process. I purchased the land in Feb12, but ended up slaving through lots of issues with the city regarding build lines, etc. Finally got 100% approval on the original plans in June, by the time the slab actually got poured, it was August, and then framing took 4 weeks to start.. the first framer was going to be there "next week" for a month.
So, ill post pictures up to today.. and update progress as I go. My GF and I did the design and architecture. Unfortunately I have to go on a 10 day trip starting tomorrow, so I have reduced the framing crew to 3 to slow things down.. and my GF will be going onsite daily to verify what they did that day is to plan. So far the only big hiccup is they made the smaller 10ft wide door, 9ft. header is right.. but the concrete was poured wrong, so they framed the wall as the concrete was poured. Working on fixing that as we speak.
Thanks to this site, I discovered Paul Birds clever install of the Ever Eternal lift, so I am doing the same. The ceilings are all 10ft on the first floor, except over the farthest bay in the garage which is vaulted, 11ft up to roughly 15ft for lift clearance (no second floor over that area).
The renderings are a few months behind in design from the final, but it gives you an idea of what it looks like... or should.
My GF and I did all the design work up front, and will be on site daily as needed to support the subs.. but I work a lot, and so does she. I will be pulling all of the low voltage myself, doing the home automation myself, etc. I also designed the lighting system for the interior of the house, which is mostly LED lit hidden coves (behind walls, uplighting ceiling). I also plan to construct the fence myself, as I want a fairly unique modern horizontal slat fence, and all the bids are coming back way out of place.
https://scontent-b-sjc.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/533703_10102740241610724_1980000569_n.jpg
https://scontent-b-sjc.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/p206x206/229905_10102740241605734_740326734_n.jpg
https://scontent-b-sjc.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/735223_10102740241600744_99897285_n.jpg
Garage area of the slab:
The house is positioned 14ft off the north property line, so I can park my trailer(s) between the house and that tree-lined property line to hide them.
Excited and scared shitless a the same time. I have zero experience designing a home. Luckily I found a good builder that would work with a owner/designer/architect/engineer etc. and all of the draw backs to dealing with somebody like me
EDIT:
Latest rendering showing close to what we are building:
https://scontent-a-sjc.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1379934_10103844148712044_939055396_n.jpg
EDIT:
floor plans, interior elevations:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-oaQiiK5wHsbmMtaFR2NVMyUVE&usp=sharing
It started with a desire to expand my current garage. After 9 month of meetings with the city council, etc, they finally approved it. At this point I had started looking at new homes more my style (mid century modern and modern), and ultimately decided I wanted to design my own house so I can get the garage I want.
I was lucky to find a nice chunk of land in the city, which is rare.. and I started the design process. I purchased the land in Feb12, but ended up slaving through lots of issues with the city regarding build lines, etc. Finally got 100% approval on the original plans in June, by the time the slab actually got poured, it was August, and then framing took 4 weeks to start.. the first framer was going to be there "next week" for a month.
So, ill post pictures up to today.. and update progress as I go. My GF and I did the design and architecture. Unfortunately I have to go on a 10 day trip starting tomorrow, so I have reduced the framing crew to 3 to slow things down.. and my GF will be going onsite daily to verify what they did that day is to plan. So far the only big hiccup is they made the smaller 10ft wide door, 9ft. header is right.. but the concrete was poured wrong, so they framed the wall as the concrete was poured. Working on fixing that as we speak.
Thanks to this site, I discovered Paul Birds clever install of the Ever Eternal lift, so I am doing the same. The ceilings are all 10ft on the first floor, except over the farthest bay in the garage which is vaulted, 11ft up to roughly 15ft for lift clearance (no second floor over that area).
The renderings are a few months behind in design from the final, but it gives you an idea of what it looks like... or should.
My GF and I did all the design work up front, and will be on site daily as needed to support the subs.. but I work a lot, and so does she. I will be pulling all of the low voltage myself, doing the home automation myself, etc. I also designed the lighting system for the interior of the house, which is mostly LED lit hidden coves (behind walls, uplighting ceiling). I also plan to construct the fence myself, as I want a fairly unique modern horizontal slat fence, and all the bids are coming back way out of place.
https://scontent-b-sjc.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/533703_10102740241610724_1980000569_n.jpg
https://scontent-b-sjc.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/p206x206/229905_10102740241605734_740326734_n.jpg
https://scontent-b-sjc.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/735223_10102740241600744_99897285_n.jpg
Garage area of the slab:
The house is positioned 14ft off the north property line, so I can park my trailer(s) between the house and that tree-lined property line to hide them.
Excited and scared shitless a the same time. I have zero experience designing a home. Luckily I found a good builder that would work with a owner/designer/architect/engineer etc. and all of the draw backs to dealing with somebody like me
EDIT:
Latest rendering showing close to what we are building:
https://scontent-a-sjc.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1379934_10103844148712044_939055396_n.jpg
EDIT:
floor plans, interior elevations:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-oaQiiK5wHsbmMtaFR2NVMyUVE&usp=sharing
Last edited:
