Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Modern House - Eastern Shore
- Thread starter Brian R
- Start date
Workspaces between 485 and 705 squarefeet.
Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Brian, glad you finally got to enjoy the house. It's been a long time coming.
Growlertdi
Well-known member
The important question is, once you got the kitchen all ready to go...
Did you have any M'Fn Pancakes? (darn you Gregor!
)
Congratulations, this place is truly one of a kind and its been amazing watching it come together.
Did you have any M'Fn Pancakes? (darn you Gregor!
)Congratulations, this place is truly one of a kind and its been amazing watching it come together.
The important question is, once you got the kitchen all ready to go...
Did you have any M'Fn Pancakes? (darn you Gregor!
Congratulations, this place is truly one of a kind and its been amazing watching it come together.
Hell yeah we did but it was not as easy as it should have been. Always, always there are problems with this place.
First, they call to tell me that the microwave they received from shipping was wrong color. They ask if I want to re-order it and I say no. I want them to order the correct color. Fine, more about this later.
They show up with fridge, stove and DW. I was worried about getting them up the stairs and when I ordered the appliances asked about this. I was told that generally they do but the crew decides based on what they find. I could not sleep the night before and wondered how my son and I could get them to second story -
1. Built ramp to unscreened portion
2. Block and tackle like vanity
3. Use lift that we need to finish screen
All that worry for nothing. They muscled them in and the fridge was the only real hassle. They used a canvas strap under appliance and attached to each guy. Real difficult because they had to keep unit straight up and down.
My son and I installed the fridge to start keeping stuff (mostly beer) cold.
Then I checked the plug for oven and we raced over to pick up UHaul. I was given a list of items - mostly beds, furniture and kitchenware, but of course most of this was in back of unit and we had to move stuff to get access to it. Plus it was just around 100. But we fill up truck and then move it inside since it is now evening and threatening rain.
I go inside to install stove - f*ck. Not so brilliant cabinet installer used two 2x3 to get cabinets 3 inches from wall. This was critical in design which features 27 inches of countertops instead of more typical 24 and this design was partially based on the 4x4 posts that flank each end of L-shaped counters. Anyway, the 2x4s interfere with plug (see pictures) so I've got to use sawsall in tight space and then screw loose ends to make room for cord (since it can't bend around 2x4 to fit in plug).
A 15 minute job now lasts over an hour and then I go to flip it on and no power. Txt electrician and he says that range breaker was only one not on truck. Says he will stop by next day and does.
So, Growlertdi (with a nod to Gregor) M'Fn Pancakes!
Funny thing is my wife was like - what's with the picture of pancakes?
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y'sguy
Well-known member
I like!
Growlertdi
Well-known member
Congratulations, Those pancakes are well deserved!
Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Good stuff Brian! 
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
And the controls are on the front of the stove! I hated having to reach around a boiling pot of water enough to replace an otherwise usable stove when we bought our current house. Was told it was a child safety issue but I recall seeing one of my grandchildren standing on the open door of the dishwasher to get a glass -- exactly what they would have done to turn on the oven with rear control panel (to warm up a kitten).
That last picture says it all!
That last picture says it all!
Thanks.
You bet. I'm not certain I've commented on your thread but I really enjoy your garage and VW work. I own a '73 Thing and can't wait to take it back to and park in the garage I'm itching to build.
Good stuff Brian!
Thanks, Finally.
It's the little things in the house that I'm really digging. Like a dishwasher and fridge with ice and water. I don't deserve such opulent stuff but my wife does for putting up with me.
The pier has turned into loads of fun. Not only can we swim off of it (our other cottage only had 1 foot or 2 at low tide (this one has 6 feet at low) but when you stand on it you can hear most of the conversations of the boaters going by. My Irish friend Tony and I were doing just that when we heard a guy say to his buddy in the boat -
"Man, that's a cool house"
Mini Update
The night before we left the property in July there was a big rainstorm and soon enough water was poring into the kitchen behind and to the left of the refrigerator. I grabbed a bucket and was pretty certain where the water was coming from.
When we installed the blue Hardie plank siding and white trim we left the 4x4 posts at the corners of decks and porches unfinished. This was due to the fact that at the time the siding was installed I hadn't determined how we were going to handle railings and porch screen systems.
After the screen and railing systems were finished I kind of neglected these corners because of other items (and at the time I did not have a table saw to rip some of the siding to correct width) and beer and crabs and boating but a big rain storm with water on the inside of the house will refocus your attention.
Only problem was it was now my last day and need to shove off. I knew I wouldn't be back for over a month and so rigged this flashing on top to direct rain away from corners where there was a 1/8 to 1/4 inch gap between siding and post and was directing water into crevices at bottom and into house.
Back at property and with tablesaw and a few hours buttoned up 3 of the 4 posts areas. Here is one before and after.
I was able to get 1/2 way through last one and apply some caulk on that one too so I think we are watertight.
Inch by inch....
The night before we left the property in July there was a big rainstorm and soon enough water was poring into the kitchen behind and to the left of the refrigerator. I grabbed a bucket and was pretty certain where the water was coming from.
When we installed the blue Hardie plank siding and white trim we left the 4x4 posts at the corners of decks and porches unfinished. This was due to the fact that at the time the siding was installed I hadn't determined how we were going to handle railings and porch screen systems.
After the screen and railing systems were finished I kind of neglected these corners because of other items (and at the time I did not have a table saw to rip some of the siding to correct width) and beer and crabs and boating but a big rain storm with water on the inside of the house will refocus your attention.
Only problem was it was now my last day and need to shove off. I knew I wouldn't be back for over a month and so rigged this flashing on top to direct rain away from corners where there was a 1/8 to 1/4 inch gap between siding and post and was directing water into crevices at bottom and into house.
Back at property and with tablesaw and a few hours buttoned up 3 of the 4 posts areas. Here is one before and after.
I was able to get 1/2 way through last one and apply some caulk on that one too so I think we are watertight.
Inch by inch....
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As always, I'm behind. I'm behind at the house, I'm behind at work, I'm behind in training for skiing this winter, I'm behind on fixing the Vincent, and behind in posting. But we got a fair amount done this summer and I thought I would take a few minutes to at least catch up somewhat in posting.
After the lift failed and we could no longer make progress on the screened in porch we shifted attention to the 3rd floor decks. I was going to install a cable system as the infill but I faced a few problems with that system. One, they are designed to work best when each corner of your project has two 4x4 posts about 4 inches from the corner. This way you can run the cable through the posts and the wire turns the corner in the open space between the two posts through 45 degree inserts. Also, they are really built for single posts.
Our deck not only did not have offset corners but there are multiple areas where we had clusters of three 4x4 posts. The setup of our desks would have forced me to purchase approximately 20 times the normal end fittings. They can run $10-20 per fitting and 8-9 are needed at each post. I started doing the math and realized this wasn't going to be an efficient method for this project.
Plan B turned out to be a nice compromise. Dolle Vertical Calbe system is sold at the local bid box store and is much cheaper while still giving the area a clean look. The system works by installing metal strips on handrail and foot rail and then attaching a spring loaded steel wire vertically between the two boards.
My son an I made short work of this with a nice flow to the work:
1. Measure between posts
2. Cut 2x4 (below hand rails) and 2x6 (foot rails)
3. Drill pocket holes on each end of wood to attach to posts
4. Install metal strips on wood
5. install 2x4s and 2x6s
6. Install vertical wires
After the lift failed and we could no longer make progress on the screened in porch we shifted attention to the 3rd floor decks. I was going to install a cable system as the infill but I faced a few problems with that system. One, they are designed to work best when each corner of your project has two 4x4 posts about 4 inches from the corner. This way you can run the cable through the posts and the wire turns the corner in the open space between the two posts through 45 degree inserts. Also, they are really built for single posts.
Our deck not only did not have offset corners but there are multiple areas where we had clusters of three 4x4 posts. The setup of our desks would have forced me to purchase approximately 20 times the normal end fittings. They can run $10-20 per fitting and 8-9 are needed at each post. I started doing the math and realized this wasn't going to be an efficient method for this project.
Plan B turned out to be a nice compromise. Dolle Vertical Calbe system is sold at the local bid box store and is much cheaper while still giving the area a clean look. The system works by installing metal strips on handrail and foot rail and then attaching a spring loaded steel wire vertically between the two boards.
My son an I made short work of this with a nice flow to the work:
1. Measure between posts
2. Cut 2x4 (below hand rails) and 2x6 (foot rails)
3. Drill pocket holes on each end of wood to attach to posts
4. Install metal strips on wood
5. install 2x4s and 2x6s
6. Install vertical wires
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Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I was just thinking about you the other day.
Nice job on the deck.
Nice job on the deck.
Toolfool
Well-known member
Railings look good. As a licensed GC, just wondering if they meet code.
I was just thinking about you the other day.
Nice job on the deck.
Thanks.
Good question. I've read Kent County code and they appear to meet those requirements (4' between deck floor and foot rail and no more than 6' between vertical - wires are 4'). But inspectors will have final say.
BTW - rebuilt support for sink per your suggestion and specifically beefed up front of sink that had rested on thin cabinet remnant from removing front panel for farm house style apron sink. Thanks for spotting that - I'll post pictures of my solution.
54earl
Well-known member
Railing looks good.
QwikKotaTx
Well-known member
Very cool project!
Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk
Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk
Like I said I'm behind in my posting but wanted to share something I learned recently.
The screened-in porch is now complete and I'm thrilled with the results. It was a great project to do with my son. We can even now laugh at the failure of the lift from the first attempt and the end result is worth all the planning, work, cost and aggravation.
The first two pictures show the table that will be used for meals (note that the paper bag is full of crabs) and card games and then how it looks with our Adirondack chairs lined up (there are five in total).
The third picture is a close up of tow chairs I had built 20 years ago. The one on the left is made from old canoe paddles and oars. The one on the right is kind of a shadow image and they are both fantastic. The artist is named Daniel Mack and he actually wrote a book about Adirondack Chairs and ours are included in the book.
Funny thing is when I searched for his website I also found this:
http://www.guysandgarages.com/book.php
Daniel and his garage were included in a book about how people use their garages.
It certainly is a small, circular world.
The screened-in porch is now complete and I'm thrilled with the results. It was a great project to do with my son. We can even now laugh at the failure of the lift from the first attempt and the end result is worth all the planning, work, cost and aggravation.
The first two pictures show the table that will be used for meals (note that the paper bag is full of crabs) and card games and then how it looks with our Adirondack chairs lined up (there are five in total).
The third picture is a close up of tow chairs I had built 20 years ago. The one on the left is made from old canoe paddles and oars. The one on the right is kind of a shadow image and they are both fantastic. The artist is named Daniel Mack and he actually wrote a book about Adirondack Chairs and ours are included in the book.
Funny thing is when I searched for his website I also found this:
http://www.guysandgarages.com/book.php
Daniel and his garage were included in a book about how people use their garages.
It certainly is a small, circular world.
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QwikKotaTx
Well-known member
It reminds me of the Chesapeake area somewhat but different due to climate. I lived in Newport News for a few years and had family in MD on the water. Growing up after that in St Thomas has me completely spoiled with the water quality down there but cost of living and lack of engineering jobs keeps moving back from being a reality. Seabrook was just voted best place to live in Texas but it depends on your lifestyle.
Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk
Toolfool
Well-known member
Merry Christmas.
Closet #1
We learned from our first cottage that closets aren’t that important for summer homes (we mostly live in bathing suits
). As a matter of fact the first thing I did at our old cottage was ripped out two closets (one in the loft to make room for a queen bed and one in the kids room to make room for bunk beds). Then when we swapped the kitchen and the master bedroom so that the kitchen would be on the water-side we did not build a closet for the master bedroom but rather used a wardrobe from Ikea.
New house – same plans – minimal closet space. So here is the progression of what I did in the master bedroom. We removed the door from the master to the bathroom but the area that was used as a closet (basically shelves and a clothes rod covered with a curtain) was retained to use as a closet space. We decided that we did not want a typical closet and also did not want to pay California Closet $ to dress it up.
So here was my plan. Lift the Ikea wardrobe off the floor so that we can retain the 5.5 inch baseboard. Then install cubby holes to the left since there is some space to fill. I still need to install a few pieces but overall pretty happy with the outcome.
We learned from our first cottage that closets aren’t that important for summer homes (we mostly live in bathing suits
). As a matter of fact the first thing I did at our old cottage was ripped out two closets (one in the loft to make room for a queen bed and one in the kids room to make room for bunk beds). Then when we swapped the kitchen and the master bedroom so that the kitchen would be on the water-side we did not build a closet for the master bedroom but rather used a wardrobe from Ikea.New house – same plans – minimal closet space. So here is the progression of what I did in the master bedroom. We removed the door from the master to the bathroom but the area that was used as a closet (basically shelves and a clothes rod covered with a curtain) was retained to use as a closet space. We decided that we did not want a typical closet and also did not want to pay California Closet $ to dress it up.
So here was my plan. Lift the Ikea wardrobe off the floor so that we can retain the 5.5 inch baseboard. Then install cubby holes to the left since there is some space to fill. I still need to install a few pieces but overall pretty happy with the outcome.
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Toolfool
Well-known member
That should work out great.
Thanks. This project has reinforced that I'm strictly a framing carpenter. This place needs a finish carpenter and screams built-ins. So I'm trying to learn as I go and this project was the first one where I used a newly bought table saw all by myself.
Can't tell you how thrilled I was when I measured the width of the cubby space at 8.75 inches and ripped three boards on that table that fit perfectly.
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Striker-7
Active member
Nice work with the Ikea wardrobe blend, and yes, that sign outside the "Window House" is an inspired bit of whimsy.
Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Test....Check
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Picture posted just fine in the post.
Storage
As I said in earlier posts there will only be one closet but we do have a need for storage. Our old cottage had very little storage and this house is a challenge to create it with the open floor plan.
Here is one place where I was able to carve some out. We built a platform for a mechanical area. It includes the furnace air handler, water heater and expansion tank for the well. Those items only take up 2/3 of the space. The storage is reduced by the air return but other than that this area will store a fair amount of items.
This picture shows where I removed a 4x4 post that used to be the corner of the mechanical room and used new 4x4 posts to frame the doors for access to mechanical platform.
Here is a picture of where the entire area is enclosed in plywood. Hard to see but there are 3 large doors. Two provide access to mechanical area and open wide enough that there is plenty of room to service and easy enough to remove if we need to replace any of the units.
Interior painted with supports built for shelves.
Test fitting special cut pieces
Finally here is end product.
Again, super happy with table saw. Cutting pieces at 45 degrees to get angle fit was rewarding and I'm happy with the end result. Plus more practice for when I start working on built-ins.
As I said in earlier posts there will only be one closet but we do have a need for storage. Our old cottage had very little storage and this house is a challenge to create it with the open floor plan.
Here is one place where I was able to carve some out. We built a platform for a mechanical area. It includes the furnace air handler, water heater and expansion tank for the well. Those items only take up 2/3 of the space. The storage is reduced by the air return but other than that this area will store a fair amount of items.
This picture shows where I removed a 4x4 post that used to be the corner of the mechanical room and used new 4x4 posts to frame the doors for access to mechanical platform.
Here is a picture of where the entire area is enclosed in plywood. Hard to see but there are 3 large doors. Two provide access to mechanical area and open wide enough that there is plenty of room to service and easy enough to remove if we need to replace any of the units.
Interior painted with supports built for shelves.
Test fitting special cut pieces
Finally here is end product.
Again, super happy with table saw. Cutting pieces at 45 degrees to get angle fit was rewarding and I'm happy with the end result. Plus more practice for when I start working on built-ins.
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Ground Floor Covering
I struggled with what to do with the ground floor. It is concrete and in need of repair. I considered a few options (stain, paint, install wood floor, durable carpeting, etc.) I wanted something that would both look good and also be impervious to water. The possibility of water ruled out carpeting and wood.
And in the end it was decided for me. Last March we visited friends and they had just installed an epoxy floor in their basement and garage and my wife was thrilled with the look and feel (and price was no worry for her).
I had some trouble finding a contractor but finally got someone to meet us down there in over Labor day weekend. He showed a few color combinations and measured it out.
We pulled the trigger (I had requested some feedback from the Flooring folder but no one chimed in with any experience regarding the Granuflex system we ordered). I wasn't able to make it out there so I've just seen pictures but I'm pretty thrilled with the results.
This first picture reveals the original covering - outdoor carpeting.
And here is a picture during demo.
This next picture shows how crummy the cement is and you can see the outlines of walls we removed.
Here is a shot during prep.
More progress.
First coat.
Finally, the end product with sealer.
Really pleased with the end result. I apologize for the poor quality (they are from the installer's phone).
I struggled with what to do with the ground floor. It is concrete and in need of repair. I considered a few options (stain, paint, install wood floor, durable carpeting, etc.) I wanted something that would both look good and also be impervious to water. The possibility of water ruled out carpeting and wood.
And in the end it was decided for me. Last March we visited friends and they had just installed an epoxy floor in their basement and garage and my wife was thrilled with the look and feel (and price was no worry for her).
I had some trouble finding a contractor but finally got someone to meet us down there in over Labor day weekend. He showed a few color combinations and measured it out.
We pulled the trigger (I had requested some feedback from the Flooring folder but no one chimed in with any experience regarding the Granuflex system we ordered). I wasn't able to make it out there so I've just seen pictures but I'm pretty thrilled with the results.
This first picture reveals the original covering - outdoor carpeting.
And here is a picture during demo.
This next picture shows how crummy the cement is and you can see the outlines of walls we removed.
Here is a shot during prep.
More progress.
First coat.
Finally, the end product with sealer.
Really pleased with the end result. I apologize for the poor quality (they are from the installer's phone).
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Toolfool
Well-known member
Good choice on the floor finish. That should handle whatever you drag in and mop out easily.
BoilermakerFan
Well-known member
Love that tile in the shower and the Danger sign is awesome!