Labor Day trip

I’d like to interrupt our regularly scheduled Housebuilding programming to let you know what we’ll be up to for the next week.

We’ll be in Eastern Washington BBQing with grandparents, discussing wedding stuff, Mullan Roading, maybe checking out vineyards in Walla Walla, hitting Bend, OR, seeing Newport, OR and Cannon Beach, OR, having dinner with Erin in Astoria, OR, seeing DJ’s family in Rastle Cock, going to Seattle for the first time in 12 years (for me), eating delicious seafood, taking the underground Seattle Tour, more Mullan Roading, staying at the lake, and returning to Bozeman on Sunday the 13th.

About 40 hours of driving. I borrowed 3 books on CD from the library and bought new camera batteries. For the first time, this trip is planned out to a minimum, at best. The spreadsheet is generally empty, save for some information about how far it is between points. I’m thrilled!
And by the time we get back, we’ll probably have a roof.

Map of my 'hood that is Eastern Washington, showing the Mullan Road in Eastern Washington and around Lake Coeur d'Alene. (Map courtesy of the Library of Congress).

Flying Dogs and More Framing

I barely have time to upload some photos, but I know what you guys are here for: to see the progress of the house! It’s coming along, as you can see.

Funny story: This morning I stopped by the house on my way to the gym (Gym Time =’s Stress Management). To my delight, the crew was standing on the decking for the second floor of our home at 7:20am, starting to frame the second story walls. Also on the second floor with them was one of the guy’s dog (a bulldog of some kind).

The contractor came down and we were standing over a saw-horse and plywood table discussing how to move the east bedroom closet ablove the stairs in order to save space in the bedroom, when we heard the dog moving rapidly on the second floor plywood flooring. Now our house isn’t big; a 750 square foot footprint at the most. And the dog was hustling. And the then we heard it start to skid. My eyes god big and I glanced out the hole in the framing that will be the window above the sink, fully expecting to see the dog flying off of the second floor, across the back yard and into the barbed wire fence! Thankfully, the dog understands his stopping distance, more than I gave him credit for!

But it reminded me of how fun it is to play “chase” with a puppy on hardwood floors. They get all excited and floppy eared and run after you… and then you stop or suddenly change directions and they go sliding by.

“I’m gonna hit the brakes and he’ll fly right by.” “You’re gonna do WHAT.” Man who doesn’t like to end their day with a Top Gun reference. I wonder if DJ would let me name our golden retriever “Maverick”? He he he, golden retriever puppies and our wood floors!

Ok, on to pictures of the house!

The front of the house! It will be two stories, obviously, but we're going with a concrete front porch. The front porch faces south, and I was afraid that a wood porch would get absolutley decimated by the exposure.
The driveway is on the side to the right (east). The garage floor was poured on Wednesday, and I'm sure they'll frame it up soon. The garage is detached.
Looking at the house from the west towards the east. The house to the left (west) of us will be as close as 10 feet, so the window openings in this elevation of the building are high, and used only to let light in and for ventilation. The trick? They're 5'6" off the ground. The top of my head is 5'5" off the ground, so I totally can't see out of them. The contractor offered to lower them, but I'm not sure... thoughts?

Walking in the front door and looking to your left. First the living room, then the dining room (the long window hole is centered in the dining room), then the kitchen where the sawhorse table is.

A more direct view through the house. Unfortunately, the garage will block most of the 1st floor's view of the Bridger Mountain Range. We're only 2 weeks in and I have regrets about that. My only comfort is that the master bedroom is right above the kitchen, and will have kick ass views of the Bridgers!

Back in the living room looking at the area that will be the gas fireplace. It'll be centered on the wall between two windows I can't see out of.

Looking south from the kitchen towards the dining room and living room. The window opening on the left side is super-oversize. We'll get some awesome light into the kitchen in the morning!

So if you'd walked in our front door, you'd be immediatley facing the back door, which will go out to an east-facing side porch and the driveway area and garage. See the column footers in the dirt? Looking south over the garage foundation at the back of the house. The square window opening on the wall is above the kitchen sink, and I'm wondering if I should make it taller... the ceilings in this house are 9', so the cabinets will be a bit taller too... decisions decisions.

This morning at 7:45am.

Homesickness, Framing, Flooring

We moved into our interim apartment this weekend. More like apartment purgatory. Actually, it’s not that bad… I was thinking on Saturday night how lucky we are that our interim place is a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom ground floor apartment that has never been lived in before. Really, we’re both lucky.

But, the apartment (pictures soon, I promise), is way the hell out 19th. And it is kind of isolated. And there are very few sidewalks to anywhere other than the Lowes/ Home Depot/ N. 19th suburban mess. So any outside activities are pretty limited. Boo. I already miss taking a walk after dinner around Valley West. Or running in the morning before work. But there is not a chance in hell I’m running down the narrow two lane road that is Baxter Lane. Even if DJ did get my ring insured yesterday (thank god!).

We are also lucky to have some very kind friends who helped us move. Joe, aka our realtor, showed up to help move a load or two. Our co-worker Doug came with the little trailer he has, madding it easier to move furniture. Co-worker Allyson also came by to help me with the lighter stuff and getting the kitchen put away and organized. DJ and I shifted so much stuff to the apartment during the week before that the actual moving part went pretty quickly. We started at noon and by 6pm our crew had been fed Papa Murphy’s, plied with beer, and sent home already.

Again, the apartment is a nice place. But… but it’s not ours, you know? Given a wide open range of places to live, we probably wouldn’t have lived there. It feels a bit like an island- isolated. Especially since we haven’t had the cable or internet hooked up yet. We both miss our Valley West Condo. It was a great place, in a neighborhood we love (obviously, we’re building in the same ‘hood), and convenient to everything we like to do. DJ especially had a hard time on Saturday night. He just sold the first home he owned, and I can understand the emotion. Well, I’d like to think I can. Between family moves, college, grad school and internships I haven’t lived anywhere for a continuous year since I was 16!

Suffice to say, it’ll be a quick three months in the apartment. And then it’ll be over. Just get through it.

After pouring the foundation this week they put the decking down for the first floor yesterday, and are framing up the first floor today! By the end of this week we might be able to stand on the second floor of our house, and by the time we get back from Oregon the roof trusses will likely by on! Holy shitballs. Moving quick!

Heeeeeyyyy pretty sunset!

Garage foundation

To that end, DJ and I made a lot of choices in the last 20 hours. We picked out flooring for the living room, dining room and kitchen (dark wood floors) and tile for the entryway, powder room, and to the bottom of the stairs. Today we went back and picked out carpet for upstairs and batted around options for the linoleum in the upstairs bath. Depending on where the budget comes in at, we might go with a marmoleum or a tile. Joe, the mover/ realtor RAVES about their marmoleum, so it’s in consideration. Sorry, I forgot to photograph the carpet we chose. It's a pretty standard speckled grey...

The tile in the upper center is the tile we chose. It has taupes, greays and creams in it. I think the water melting off snowy boots will blend into it really well. We chose the wood to the right, with the more finished look. It'll get scraped up a little bit when we get a dog, but the wood on the left was a little too rough for me.

We also picked out appliances. The refrigerator and dishwasher will be a Whirlpool stainless steel. Yes, the refrigerator will have ice and water in the door, which every American but me has had for like 10 years now! I’m always bringing a glass of icewater places with me, and my mom associates the sound of ices clinking in a glass to me. So! Ice maker! Yay!

Oh hello refrigerator!

The dishwasher is a tall tub, with the buttons on the inside lip of the tub. So from the outside it’s a stainless steel front and a handle. Very clean looking.

Yeah! No knobs, buttons or other stuff cluttering up the front of the dishwasher!

The stove is a stainless gas range Frigidaire. I know, mixing appliances. Living on the edge! Buuuuutttt… I really liked the 4 burners plus an elongated middle burner look of this Frigidaire model. And it came with a convection oven, which DJ thought wasn’t going to be something we could get in our price range. But all together everything came in at just under $3,000. Not bad! I love cooking with gas, although DJ’s never done it. I think the convection oven will come in really handy for baking sheets of cookies- thankfully we will move in right before the holidays so I can knock myself out baking Christmas cookies!

Since we're already running an additional gas line from the fireplace to the range, we'll do a third one out the kitchen to the back yard, where we'll plug the BBQ into the gas line. No more running out of propane!

Oh hello range! You'll make sure and remove any of the calories that come with the delicious food I... er, DJ... will make using you, right?

I also made decisions this week about the windows, window placement, front porch (will be concrete) side porch and back deck (wood), and door hinges (brushed nickel). I’m pretty certain the contractor calls me about every single decision… I guess he knows who the boss is on this project!

Refocusing, Foundations

I swear, I’m trying not to let this blog become all Housebuilding ALL THE TIME. I do other things, really, I do. I work, I go for bike rides, I… pick out cabinets…

Can we also, just for a moment, acknowledge the following statement: What kind of nutjob agrees to build a house and plan a wedding in the same year? Oh….>>>>>this one<<<<<
We’ve agreed that as of right now, wedding planning takes a back seat to house decisions. Siding, finish work, etc. all take priority as they are so much more immediate. And, have I mentioned that I’m still more excited about the house than the wedding? Don’t get me wrong, I love DJ and the life we’ll build together… but I’m impatient and the house will be done so much more quickly! And yes, I’m thinking about asking my mom for my Legos when I’m in Clarkston next week in hopes I can build a scaled model of our house in Legos. What, that’d be weird, wouldn’t it?

Regarding wedding stuff though, we’ve narrowed it to two places, both about 400 miles apart. My parent’s lake place in Idaho in July of 2010 and the Livingston, MT Depot in September 2010. Both have their pros and cons. Harrison doesn’t have many hotel rooms, like 15 TOTAL, but anywhere in Montana in the fall is emotionally painful for my family. The Catbobs do have a bye the weekend of September 18, 2010 we could try to work around, and there IS a campground in Harrison, as well as 15 hotel rooms, one Bed and Breakfast and a handful of weekly vacation rentals… How many of my dear friends are willing to camp?

Regardless of the location, the wedding will be very low key and easy. My sister Gretchen is the only bridesmaid. DJ’s brother the only groomsmen. Keep it simple, small, and SHORT. We’re going to do what my friends Mark and Joslyn did in 2007; the 8 minute ceremony, and if you’re 10 minutes late you missed it!

But back to the immediate future (now where did I misplace my delorean?), they poured our foundation today! And it looks like they’ll start framing on Monday. Orange shirt guy in the photos said they had the house next door framed in 18 days… so when we get back from Oregon we’ll probably come home to a framed out house. Now who wants to come over and take a progress photo every day for me? I’ll be without 10 days of Housebuilding photos!

First the set the forms on top of the footers they poured yesterday.

Then a giant squid leg delivers the "mud" into the forms.

The pump truck is fed by the mixing truck.

And they've got all of these forms to fill...

The concrete is poured into the squid-armed pump truck.

Then the squid arm drops concrete! Or is it cement? I always get confused; is concrete an ingredient in cement or is the other way around?

The guy in the black shirt is holding a long vibrating hose that helps the material settle out and get rid of air pockets.

More foundations and kitchen inspiration

Construction Update:

Stopping by our lot on the way home is becoming a ritual for both DJ and I. We also loop past it anytime we are going for a walk or a run. Yes, that’s right, I’ve become a jogger. I won’t call myself a runner because I’m pretty certain that the snail’s pace I move at doesn’t qualify, BUT, still, I swing by the house as a mouth breathe my way around the neighborhood.

On Wednesday they finished digging the hole for the foundation and put down the liner and gravel! And I’m told that they poured footings for the foundation walls today! Sadly, I’ll have to run… ha… over there tomorrow morning to get a picture in the AM. It is currently 9:51pm and I’m still at the office.

DJ asked me if I wanted to camp in our lot on Wednesday night. If the gear hadn't been over at the apartment, I might have!

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Now let’s talk kitchens. DJ and I are both foodies. We love simple fare like meat and potatoes and asparagus and corn on the cob, but we want it to be GOOD simple food. We both love to bake, and I’m not ashamed to say that DJ is a better cookie baker than I am. And believe me; I have some experience eating chocolate chip cookie dough… I mean, baking chocolate chip cookies.

While his condo had a great layout, the kitchen was problematic. The work triangles overlapped to the point that we really couldn’t cook without tripping over each other. So When I had the chance to redesign the layout of the kitchen, I jumped at it!

PS: Work triangle knowledge comes from my Grandma Jan, whose kitchen is so well laid out for a one woman cook for a family of nine that I actually thought about replicating it at our house. Then I remembered that we don’t want to have seven children. But! Work triangles! Grandma Jan!

The only tripping over someone will likely come when DJ is going out the doors to the BBQ...

Once I got the layout done and got DJ’s approval, it was time to look for kitchen inspiration. Usually, this search leads me to delicious bruschetta recipes or yummy sangria concoctions, but in this Google image search, it was all the look of kitchens.

I should add that we’ve already decided on a couple of finish materials for the house (in our heads, we still have yet to actually chose the materials. But they’re there, in the warm fuzzy spot of our imaginations). The floors in the kitchen, dining and living room will be some version of a darker circle sawn. The trim will be white, and the windows will be white. We’re trying to find a color somewhere between grey and a sand color for the walls. I’m ready for a dark grey, but too much color is hard for DJ’s palette to handle.

I love how light and airy this kitchen looks! Hmm... a prep sink in the island...

With that in mind, I Googled the you know what out of kitchens. I clicked and “save as-ed” everything that I like (I also failed to save sources, so I’m being a bad blogger and throwing photos that aren’t mine up without naming the source or asking for permission. Sorry. Hopefully the owners see it as free advertising?). And when I looked back through them I realized that I liked white kitchens!

In my mind’s eye I could see the grey walls, white trim, white kitchen with big north facing window and a lighter speckled granite countertop. When I ran the countertop by DJ, he wasn’t so sure. He liked darker countertops. Thinking he was smoking crack, I tried to keep an open mind. Then I realized, in all my inspiration photos, the white kitchens have dark countertops too! Well damn, I knew there’s a reason I like this guy.

I love the look of the base of these cabinets. They have legs rather than a toe kick area! But that's expensive...

Love love love love the door hardware in this kitchen. And the concrete countertops and accents of blue!


More blue!

So the plan for the kitchen is: dark circle sawn floors, white cabinets and trim, stainless steel appliances and drawer pulls, dark granite countertops on the wall and high bar at the island, subway tile backsplash with some sort of glass tile color accent band in it and a butcher-block working table on the island. Thankfully, it’s not a big space.. so hopefully we can afford it????

We have a hole!

Ha ha that title made you laugh, didn't it? Especially if you know DJ's sense of humor (and yes, apparently it has rubbed off on me!).

The builder called this morning to say that his crew was going to start digging for a foundation on our lot today. When DJ was home for lunch they were weed-wacking the property; they probably weed wacked down the weed my ring was under (how's that for alliteration?).

After that, they found the property pins and used a laser to establish where on the lot the foundation would sit with regards to setbacks and height. The little tripod thingy in the center right of the top picture has a laser on it for this purpose.

I stopped by tonight on my way home to check out the progress. I considered asking Caterpillar Driver if I could ride in the cab while he dug for the foundation, but my better judgment took hold, so I just snapped photos like a crazy lady. I'm sure Caterpillar Driver enjoyed being the center of attention...

Is it just me, or do these machines remind anyone else of a dinosaur?

The asess the scene...

They streeeeettttchhhh out to get their prey (dirt).

They haul their prey towards them...

And when they've got their prey where they want it, they toss it over their shoulder!

Since the site of our engagement was being desecrated to make way for some McMansion... or, er, 1,500 square foot house, I had to take a photo of all of the eventful things that have happened at this house so far. Ohhhh shiney!!

Excuse the hairy knuckles.