Joy and Doug's Hood Court House Web Log

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Tuesday, March 1, 2005

Making his first of a few appearances to set basement plumbing was our plumber Tom. He dug trenches in the gravel to run pipe for the bathroom, utility and bar areas. Inspections happen Wednesday.

Friday, March 4, 2005

It was supposed to rain today. Since it didn't, our concrete flatwork man, Dan poured the basement slab. He and his helper got a 6 a.m. start and finished before noon, smoothing the surface like frosting a giant concrete cake.

The pipes Tom set Tuesday poked out like birthday candles. Fill in your own lame cake analogy here. Next up sometime into next week will be the start of framing!
Will the rain hold off a little longer?

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Camp's lumber delivered part of our wood package today in advance of Ron's framing. We're missing some beams that had to be reworked. Ron showed up earlier in the week to do some preliminary work and we will be meeting him to discuss framing details. As the floorcovering portion of Ron's pool of contractors, our business has done countless installations for Ron and his wife, Cheryl's home building projects over the years. It's fun being able to turn

the tables and hire him to do the framing for our house. We've changed a few things from the plans. Window sizes have been altered in many areas. The basement bonus room had windows totalling about nine feet in width. We received word from Jim the engineer that we could do closer to twelve feet in width to match what we were doing with the great room windows on the main level. Ron was a bit concerned about a particular bolt placement that had already been set during the foundation wall pour and how that window change would change the bolt's placement.

Little details like these can have a bearing more on passing inspections than passing safety tests, but we want to do things by the book and we're glad Ron is anticipating those kinds of issues. We're also discussing changes to the showers, going from preformed in a couple cases to mudset, which have a bearing on how things are framed. Joy's been finalizing window selections and we've decided to go with the majority wood-clad. The only catch is a six-week production time which may be a bit long, but we understand that Ron can return to set windows if need be. Joy will meet Ken, the window guy and Ron to discuss options Monday morning.

Monday, March 14, 2005

Ron and his sons, Kevin and Rich, banged together the basement walls in earnest today, helping us visualize the space even better. Joy met with Ron and the window man, Ken, and came to some interesting conclusions since my last entry in this internet log. The big decision was going back to square one with vinyl windows.

Over the weekend, Joy got a chance to see the wood-clads in a showroom and was not impressed with the thinness of the wood veneer. The other option was a paintable fiberglass, but after considerable thought, we both realized that one of the vinyl window color options was close to what we would have painted anyway. With that out of the way, we had the weekend to finalize our sizes.

With twelve feet of width to play within the tendency was toward three four-foot wide by eight-foot high dimensions in both the basement and main level large rooms. That layout seemed a little too balanced for me so Joy suggested a larger window in the center and two smaller widths on the sides: three, six and three. That was what we went with.

In the basement we were restricted to seven feet tall due to the header beams, but on the main level we could do eight feet high. We may appear a little preoccupied with windows, but the reality is that this house is all about the view. When Joy saw the pictures from today,

she noticed the guys leaving space for a one-foot tall window over the shower in the basement bath. I should know better than to make decisions on the fly without first consulting her because she was adamant about having more light enter the space and wants it changed to a two-foot tall window. Hopefully it's a minor change for Ron and the guys. When they ask me anymore questions, I'll hand them my cell phone and say, "Ask the builder!" She'll be bringing them some change-order donuts Tuesday morning.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Despite some windy, wet weather coming our way this week, Ron and the guys managed to finish the basement framing and beam and decking installation for the main level by the end of Wednesday.

Joy and I went up that evening in the middle of a badly needed downpour to look at the basement to see what the rooms looked like with a ceiling. We were greeted with standing water trapped behind two-by-fours where they hadn't been cut off yet at doorways, but we could appreciate the progress as we jumped the puddles.

Standing on the main level, we realized we'd never seen down our hill at this height before. Joy made me nervous when she gets too close to the edge so I grabbed her and we left in the dark.

This morning I returned about 6 a.m. and got some sunrise illumination of the past day's work. The guys finished the day with the building of all the perimeter walls of the main level and will move to interiors tomorrow. By the way, Joy won the basement bathroom window battle. She was able to visit Ron in the afternoon and he talked her into

doing a solid 5x7 window over the kitchen sink instead of a window with screens. It's all about the view. We've found that we go with the majority of Ron's recommendations. We're using his roofer, the truss company and his hardwood floor installer, to just name a few. We can use all the advice he cares to give.

Friday, March 18, 2005

As I drove up to the site this afternoon, Ron's work on the main level framing was making much more of a visible impression. Up until yesterday the work had been going on, by all appearances, below ground.

So the word "Wow" comes to mind as my first reaction. That and, "Damn, these guys work hard and fast." They had all the interiors of the main level up so we could see the pantry, small bath, entry hall and the outside room details.

They were putting the finishing touches on the north garage wall and were carrying beams up ladders to get ready for next week's joist and upstairs installation. They were leaving the south garage wall for next week also. Talk about consistent strength in these guys.

Putting a beam on your shoulder and hoisting it up a ladder to its final resting place didn't look easy. In fact I know it would have broken me in half. And Rich and Kevin would be right at home with any traveling circus where tightrope walking was needed because they walk along the tops of the these skinny walls like they were down on the ground. Later after work, Joy and

I came back up to get a perspective on things. The bathroom seems like it's going to need to be totally reworked. Planned toilet placement appears to have plumbing falling right into a floor joist. Moving the location slightly will crowd it into the pedestal sink and bring things too close to the shower.

So Joy grabbed a measuring tape and scrap wood to simulate a sink and toilet and we played with moving things to opposite walls and shrinking the shower slightly. We think we solved the problem, but that will be up to Ron and Tom, the plumber, ultimately.

The east wall is full of gigantic windows. The kitchen will now draw me to doing evening dishes by hand just to see the sunsets (you'll have to see the effect the sunset lighting has on the mountain to understand what I mean). The sliding door to the deck could have Kareem Abdul-Jabbar enter and exit without bending over. And the great room windows are a little monstrous. We feel like we're in kindergarten in that room because of the height of the windows and walls. Everything looks larger as a kid and we're in the candy store right now.

Monday, March 21, 2005

The views changed again, even making Ron a little queasy, as he and the boys put floor

down for the third level after stringing all the joists above the kitchen and dining areas of the main level. Waiting for trusses, the great room was left open to the sky because no rooms go above it. It appears we can make the main level bathroom changes we talked about on Friday.

Joy and I have also decided to go with gas fireplaces in the main and basement big

rooms instead of the originally talked about gas stove units. When we saw how "great" the great room was becoming, it seemed to me that a gas stove would appear a little puny. Ron doesn't worry about framing the hearth areas in until the end of his involvement. Now we're on to thinking about the master bedroom and bathroom areas with the third level going up this week.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Ron installed stairs up to the third level today. They finished setting all the exterior

and a few interior walls as well. With the protection of an east wall in front of me, I studied the view from what would be the master bedroom. Once hidden roads and houses suddenly came into view at this new height. Again, the windows seem bigger than expected.

Maybe the lay of the land flowing down and away makes everything look larger inside, too. I showed up in time to watch the guys lift the wall dividing the master bedroom from the bathroom and also watched them struggle a couple glue-lam headers

into position over the master tub and laundry room. I remember saying something stupid behind my camera like, "Need some help?"

They politely stayed silent. Later, we discussed bathroom wall placement, slightly altered again by the toilet setting too close to a joist. The unintended benefit was the chance to deepen the bathroom slightly and expand the shower at the expense of loosing a little width with Joy's vanity counter. By special request from Deanna and Tracey, here's a rare photo of Kevin, Ron and Rich without hammers. Very good sports.

Friday, March 25, 2005

Wednesday, Thursday and part of Friday were clean-up days for the guys as they put up the south garage wall, built the master spa-tub deck, secured and nailed where needed, installed headers over walkways, cut out bottom door frames in the basement to

let the water flow out and attached plywood siding. Uncle Dave drove over from Portland to see the shape of things and when I got to the house he was up in the master bedoom staring out the window. Mt. Hood was clouded in. The weather has really changed in the past few weeks returning to normal for March. His favorite area is the great room. He got

a kick out of going from the entry with its nine-foot ceiling into the great room with its twelve-foot height and being bombarded with this amazing view.

He grabbed my camera and told me to go stand in the window to give the windows perspective. I asked him if he really meant that I stand in the window or on the floor in front of the window and he said up in the window again. He said, "You're 6'3" and that's an eight-foot window." I said OK and hopped up on the sill and clung on to the side pretending that I didn't care about the massive drop behind me. I'm happy to report that no tragedy occurred today. Roof trusses next week!

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

My respect for these guys reached its peak today as Ron and his boys fought the elements to install trusses. After the proper permits were issued to allow a really long truss truck to weave its way through the culdesac to its final destination in our easement/driveway, they installed the pre-fabricated triangular pieces row by row across the top of the house. This was an amazing process to watch made more dramatic by the extremes in weather testing their skills. The crane operator and cable guy hooked and

lifted each piece up to the guys who somehow found a way to grab hold of the incoming piece and not fall off the house in the process. Once again, the circus was in town as they walked the skinny edges without a net below. As the guys received each section they nailed it off and waited for the next one. This was fun in the wind and rain especially with the south-most piece, which was over sixty feet long and had the plywood attached ready to fly off like

a stealth bomber at just the right gust. But smooth as silk, just like they'd done countless times before over the years, they worked together by instinct and made it look easy. The trusses obviously give us the final view of what the completed house will look like. It's taller than we thought it would be, a carry-over from the initial bungalow ideas Joy had studied.

Thursday, March 31, 2005

What a productive month it's been! Ron, Rich and Kevin attached plywood to the roof trusses, put the framework together for the main level deck and got ready to

assemble the front door roof overhang. We also briefly discussed fireplace hearth framing. The guys said, "You ought to get a shot from up here." So I climbed the ladder placed in front of the garage door and crept up the plywood to the roof peak, knees shaking the whole way.

Ron wondered how a guy who could climb Mt. Hood twice could have the fear I had. I guess I feel safer with

an ice axe and crampons. As a six-year-old kid, Kevin said he begged his dad to let him run around the roofs of the different houses Ron built decades ago. I imagine that wasn't an easy thing for Ron to control. These guys grew up without the fear of heights a lot of us suffer from and now it's a walk in the park for them. So Ron snapped my picture and the adrenaline flowed. Mind over matter.

Continue on to April