Thus Far

Well, now we've gone a done it!  I suppose it's universal that our dreams are much simpler when they remain dreams, and a whole lot harder when one of them shows signs of becoming a reality.  Ironically, we know this  from previous remodel jobs, 

But alas, like childbirth (pardon me fellas), in time you forget the all too familiar pain and agony and your vows of never again!  So here we are, immersed once again, in what I like to call the PURE grunt mode of prepping the site and laying the foundation. (You know how I like things pure! :D)  Here's the skinny.

The head hillbilly jack hammered these 6-8 inch pieces of what once was a patio, to clear the space where the 14 x 20 ft. addition will go. I stacked them here.  We've pretty much decided they will be recycled into a retaining wall around the addition. But please, I can't eeee...ven go there! At least not until I get a full body massage!

It's so great when a neighbor offers the use of his Kubota!  Here we excavated the area to  the  proper dimensions and put in the framing and re-bar for the footing.

We poured the footing and remembered from past experience (I love it when I remember) that measurements are  never exact no matter how well you try to be precise on this point.  And  when you  have a bit of left over concrete it MUST go somewhere.  Our plan worked perfectly this time, take a look.

Just enough pour left over to fill these stepping stone frames.  

The head hillbilly commenced to cutting block for the foundation.  Check out the blower he has duct taped to the work surface.  It blew the dust clear away, and onto our parked vehicles! I must pause here to mention that me and duct tape?  Don't ever come between us!

Mortar, GRUNT, block, in that order.  

Tap, level, tap, WOO-HOO, in that order!

Mortar mixing and the near finished foundation stem wall with 2 vents on each side.  A shout  out here for the head hillbilly's brother from another mother.  I don't know what we would do without Glen.  Add  his expertise, humor, and generosity to the mix and this grinding work was kinda fun.  Well, kinda :D

 Are you thinking what I'm thinking?  Yeah, permeable pavers!  These remnants created from cutting blocks will be recycled back into the landscape somewhere.  The wheels are turning! I'm open for suggestions. 

I hope your having a beautiful Spring *

House Remodel

For the last two years we have embarked on the journey and lessons of home remodeling. The plan was (however nuts it may seem to family and friends) was to rehab a small house for resell (aka flip). The timing however was not on our side. We couldn't swing our hammers or fling paint fast enough to avoid the free fall in the housing market. We decided then to just take our time, work hard, apply the best of our knowledge and skill and pray for the best. Fortunately, we received the much needed guidance and expertise from a friend in the business who kept us on the straight and narrow. Who stopped us from shall we say, "doin' it wrong". That help was invaluable in our eventual sell of a cute little place to some folks who absolutely adored what we had accomplished. Now don't get me wrong, the money, the kind of money we hoped for in an otherwise robust economy did not materialize as hoped for. But every now and again, I pass by that little cottage and say, "Man we built that". A nice snug little home for a family. Makes me feel good. And hey, the days of working in cold rainy weather and peeing in a bucket were over.

Or so I thought.




Our first cottage completed in 2009.
Carlton, Oregon

It was fun building the cedar and elderberry branch trellis for an accent piece.


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It wasn't long, maybe a few months later, we spotted another cottage in need of TLC. This time we joined forces with our friend and his wife for a team project. Aptly named the "Pickme" house. Ahem, that's french. And together we had the most fun completeing this project. A lot of work to be sure, but seeing every skill and design idea come together was way cool. We stripped and polished the vertical grain fir flooring in this ol'girl and she is b-e-a-u-tiful! All the wood trim work re-planed, re-painted and reinstalled. Whew. I don't think this place had seen so much attention in years. But we are thrilled with what we have accomplished together. Hopefully, another family will feel the same.

Our second cottage, completed 2010.
Carlton, Oregon