Building a new house and shop (1 Viewer)

[1911]

The fireplace finished. I would not want to be a stone mason for a living! The mrs. picked out that 8-1/2' slab of mesquite for a mantle. It has a very "live" edge on the front with a unique shape; I had to cut and trim the stone very carefully to try and fit it. It's not really wider than the space between the windows, foreshortening of the photo makes it look like that.

The high outlet is crooked, it was cast into the concrete that way. Fortunately, the tv will cover it.

 

[BadReligion]

The fireplace finished. I would not want to be a stone mason for a living! The mrs. picked out that 8-1/2' slab of mesquite for a mantle. It has a very "live" edge on the front with a unique shape; I had to cut and trim the stone very carefully to try and fit it. It's not really wider than the space between the windows, foreshortening of the photo makes it look like that.

The high outlet is crooked, it was cast into the concrete that way. Fortunately, the tv will cover it.

View attachment 3883135

Wow! You set all of that stone!? Nice work!

 

[Michael B]

Good job! I really like the mantle.

 

[1911]

Wow! You set all of that stone!? Nice work!

Thanks. I did do the stone myself, but it is ledger stone and comes in panels of individual stones glued together, so I didn't have to set every single stone. It's real travertine, so every piece is a little different but in similar sizes. The hardest part was cutting all of the corners for the shelves, nooks, and the fireplace surround. Fortunately I have access to a high-quality wet tile saw that does miters also.

 

[1911]

Good job! I really like the mantle.

Thanks; my wife picked that out - I would have preferred something not quite so thick and irregular, but it's growing on me. The room is big enough (24' x 24') that it fits without being overbearing.

 

[1911]

A fair amount has happened in a couple of weeks. The flooring is completely finished everywhere, still working on the baseboards and under-cabinet trim however.

I’ve been methodically working on the central heat pump installation, and it’s all done except for the thermostat. My experience installing the mini-splits gave me the confidence to try the central system also. It was a big job but I broke it down into smaller steps over two plus weeks. The hardest part was running the copper lines through the ceiling/ roof vent stack with its 180-degree bend, and from there through 3” conduit that I then buried. A ton of bending, trial fitting, and etc. Really glad to have that all done now.

I’ll have to drill a small hole through a 10” concrete wall to get the thermostat in the family room.

Mrs. 1911 made me a celebratory dinner last night; steak and kidney pie, homemade mashed potatoes and carrots.

 

[1911]

She also started on her kitchen backsplash today; marble mosaic tiles in a beehive theme like her knob pulls and etc.

 

[knuckle47]

Great job! I just hope it’s not upside down….

 

[1911]

Great job! I just hope it’s not upside down….View attachment 3902643

It's upside down on purpose; the air handler is modular and made to be convertible to up-draft, down-draft, or horizontal-draft in either direction. The default configuration as delivered is up-draft, but since my ducts are all under the floors, I converted it to down-draft. You take the evaporator coil and attached condensate drain pan out, flip the cabinet upside down, and reinstall the the evaporator coil flipped 180 degrees, so that the drain pan is still on the bottom. The coil is now on top, and the blower motor and squirrel cage is now on the bottom and blowing down. It's even more obvious with the bottom cover on (after finishing the thermostat wiring).

Good eye though!

 

[thatcabledude]

View attachment 3902035

Roof is looking great!

 

[thatcabledude]

@1911 doing a roof replacement like

 

[1911]

Roof is looking great!

Thanks, I’ve been trying to weed it this year instead of mowing it. Letting the grass grow taller gives more shade to the roof and less heat transfer.

 

[1911]

@1911 doing a roof replacement like

View attachment 3911053

I actually did buy some more grass seed to sow on thin spots. Wish I would have spread it before the rainy season started, but I was too busy inside the house.

 

[1911]

Realized it was time for another update, but some major things have happened:

Had to wait a week or so since the last few posts for an HVAC professional friend to come by and blow out my lines, pressure test them, and vacuum down the system for the central heat pump that I installed. Everything went fine, and now we have central air up and running, while the house was still relatively cool by itself and before the heat of Texas summer is upon us. The timing was really fortuitous; with this kind of construction, it's way easier to maintain a given temperature than it is to change it by much. It takes some getting used to, in that you can't get up in the morning and decide you want one temperature, and then change it back when you go to bed. You have to find a single temperature that is comfortable/you can live with all the time, and leave it at that. The only exception is the master bedroom (and my office), that have mini splits installed, so at night we can just close the doors and cool down the master more than the rest of the house.

Having the central heat pump up and running was all that we lacked to start moving in, so exactly one month ago (in June) we started that. It's been a slow process, doing it mostly ourselves with some help from nearby friends for the heavier stuff. It only has to come about 250 feet, from the apartment and from shop where stuff is stored to the house, but the larger pieces of furniture have to be loaded from the shop onto a trailer, and then from the trailer into the house. We've been taking it pretty easy and doing a few pieces or boxes a day. We still have a ways to go, but there is enough already to live comfortably.

The inside is not yet finished - still need to do the rest of the baseboards and some under counter trim for the floor, paint three more doors, install two more backlit vanity mirrors, and some light fixtures in the hall and few other places. But we can do that while we're living in it. The outside still needs a lot of work for it to look nice, but that will be this fall/winter.

Mrs. 1911 did the rest of her kitchen backsplash with the same marble and gold tile as previous. Still have to do the backsplash above the range on the island, and maybe in the master bath.

It's kind of dream-like living in here now, after eight plus years of working on it, but we're definitely enjoying it, and the kids and grandkids are pretty excited to all have beds and way more space when they come.

 

[knuckle47]

Love this …. It just screams comfort. Is the strong temperature fix due to the mass of the surrounding earth materials?

Now for the big question: Who plays the harp? I have been working on building a mid size harp for a few years now and need to get it finished in order to play it….i have read that the vibration of the strings in a harp when the soundbox is pressed against the body can have healing power. I realize that sounds like 1960’s hocus pocus but, I do enjoy the concept

 

[scrapdaddy]

I realize that sounds like 1960’s hocus pocus but, I do enjoy the concept

Pass the pipe, brother.

 

[imyahucklbrry]

I’ve somehow missed keeping up with this lately…….. Such an awesome place to live - Congratulations, I’m sure the time it took to get this completed was well worth it!

 

[1911]

Is the strong temperature fix due to the mass of the surrounding earth materials?

Yes, exactly. All that thermal mass makes the temperature easy to maintain fairly constant, but the downside is that it takes forever (weeks anyway?) to change it.

Now for the big question: Who plays the harp? I have been working on building a mid size harp for a few years now and need to get it finished in order to play it….i have read that the vibration of the strings in a harp when the soundbox is pressed against the body can have healing power. I realize that sounds like 1960’s hocus pocus but, I do enjoy the concept

My wife plays the harp; those are only two of about seven or eight that she has. Most of them are lever harps, used mostly for Irish and Scottish traditional music. The big one in that photo is a Lyon and Healey (concert) pedal harp. One of my favorites is a little Scottish lap harp that is made from a single piece of wood and strung with metal wire. It's a modern reproduction of a Scottish museum piece from the 16th century. A very ethereal sound.

 

[Michael B]

Maybe a video is in order?!

 

[1911]

Maybe a video is in order?!

She is super shy, so a video is probably not likely, sorry! We used to play together at the memory care center my dad was in when he was still alive, but that was 10 years ago and I don’t think she’s played in public since.