Diary of a Mad House Builder

Winter views












Skylight reflection















View from the new Master suite






Not going crazy. Not yet. But definitely crazed with a more than full life, which is my excuse for the paltry number of entries I post on my blog. I know the other bloggers are giving it their all – 2, 3x a day. Obviously, they have no other life. I limit my access to the Internet as well, since we all know that it can suck hours out of your day.


Steve's favorite perch on the ridge - reinstalling the solar panels


And now, not to waste anymore of yours –my news on the house building.

We’re in that phase of stagnation, which I point out in my home remodeling planning courses (upcoming in Falmouth, Sandwich, Lexington, & Lincoln/Sudbury – write me for more info) is one of the psychological down periods where its hard to discern what progress is actually being made. Following the highs of seeing the exterior completed, though Pete’s Shingles still has a precious few pieces left to install, and the framing completed, we’ve been in the electrical and plumbing roughing stage for what seems like weeks.

The wall frames are there, and nothing much changes physically from day to day, and people seem to be there working, most days, but great leaps of change are not evident. It’s a subtle period.
There are miles of electrical wire however, now tying the entire house together – another precaution against the wind?


- Wiring Men At Work

And you can follow white PVC tubing from the depths of the basement, to the heights of the solar panels – creating a strong link from room to room. Plenty of “tweaking” is going on: a movable platform covering the old bulkhead, now located in Jonathan’s studio, the bar wall framing so the cabinet maker, Bill, could visualize how to connect the glass-sided boxes to the wall and ceiling, the redesign of the remaining bathroom that was going to happen at a later phase, but why not just do it now, and other related activities.



A Big Hole is dug for a new retaining wall - This will hold up the catwalk and patio



Another view of the Big Hole



Concrete forms go on





Voila - we have a wall







Fill it in and you have the makings of a patio too.




I have been working closely with Steve to finish up all the details. There have been lighting schedules, door schedules, flooring schedules – all depicting the individual elements of each finish item room by room. Every doorknob gets considered, every window sash, every bookcase and closet shelf. The beauty will be in the details, and our success, how well we stay on top of these.


Shingling is almost done



I could describe how the new shower surround came in with a laser cut that was so wobbly as to disgrace the medium and how I spent half a day last week finding a suitable – meaning quick and relatively cost effective – solution. But I won’t. Just suffice to say that one should remember the time commitment required for this endeavor, and the possibility of insanity setting in as you get overwhelmed with the number of decisions that need to be made each day, at a moment’s notice.

Oh, you can take your time with decisions. That is certainly an option. But the price you will pay is time – the time it takes to finish the project. We’re definitely working on a deadline. We need to be in sometime in May for all kinds of reasons – family-related and otherwise. So delaying decisions will just prolong our finishing date, the agony, and our insanity, and forestall our ecstasy.

Jonathan was on hand today as I was up in Boston. He organized the team of technology experts from Nantucket Sound as they wired up the sound system throughout the main floor. Meanwhile, up in Boston, I was touring the finished product of a “This Old House” project in Cambridge that I’ll be doing an article on, that also included what they called an “audio room”. I call our wiring Mecca the technology closet, but clearly I am downplaying the importance of this brain trust. All signals will lead back to this intersecting spot – music, Internet, television. What I don’t get is why we had to be so over wired when everything is going wireless? Keep my mouth shut – huh?

After my tour in Cambridge, I went over to visit our kitchen cabinets, under construction in Brighton. Lots of progress since I last visited in early December (good thing). The deadline is still set for March 1, and given the number of “boxes” (what the wood guys call these cabinets), it looks like they will make it. The boxes are gorgeous! The wood is phenomenal – grainy, exciting, rich with color and luster. The Makore, or African Cherry, has been applied in its veneer form to the exterior of these birch plywood boxes, and brought to a deep shine with tung oil. This is not going to be a subtle room. There are fair quantities of cabinets and the wood will be making a strong statement, but the size of the space, the lightness of the walls and transparency of the numerous windows will help ease the impact.


The Boxes

Dining Room Table

Table Base

On the other hand, the dining room table, built in a dramatic Purpleheart, will be another powerful visual statement that will demand attention. The sheer size (4’x 8’) and weight (over 700 lbs – does that sound right Bill?) forces you to take this table seriously. The elegant legs have a beautiful line, but don’t look gangly. And the construction looks permanent and strong as an ox. I am really looking forward to putting people around it. Getting a look at these elements just makes you want it all the more.

Well patience, patience. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. If we keep on schedule, as it seems we may, we’ll have our plumbing, electrical and framing inspections within the next week. The insulation will follow quickly thereafter, and then the wallboards start going up. When this happens, that psychological barometer will swing into overload because progress will again become tangible. Perhaps then the kids won’t say, “It looks the same as the last time I was here.” Oh, from the mouth of babes.

Shock of the New (Year)

Hope the New Year has found everyone well and geared up for a busy and productive year. Our project took little time off for the holiday - a couple of slow days around Xmas and New Year's, but momentum was never lost, and if it was good weather, in particular, the roofers kept on hammering.

As we greet the New Year, we're about half way through our project. If we got started, for real, in September, perhaps this means we'll be done by the projected date of May 1 - that would be sweet, as my 12 year old says. The framing is virtually done - just a few adjustments here and there.

Some last touches - like the frame for the bar area of the kitchen -


The roofing and shingling is also so close you can taste it. Apparently they will be putting back the solar panels this Thursday, which means that we've re-roofed, new roofed and over roofed just about everywhere. Our retaining wall has been poured and the footings placed, so we'll be refilling the gapping hole in the front yard in the next couple of days. Then the roofer can get up to the last side - the east side, and the shingling will be done.

Big Gapping Hole












The electrician has been wiring away - Mike and his team have been swift and quiet, I might add. They go about their work with little interference and little trouble. The top two floors are complete and they are lacing their lines throughout the main level at this point. I went through the other day and made a list of all the fixtures I'll need to purchase - basically anything decorative - pendants, bathroom vanity lights, outdoor lights, reading lamps in the master bedroom. Jonathan's doing his own plan for the studio - yesterday they were talking about line voltage track lights in there which do seem like the right idea - that way you can point them either up at the ceiling for reflected light, or spot light areas down below. If they can’t be on wheels (Jonathan's preferred venue for all objects in the house), than at least they are still flexible, so your options are never hampered.

Mike, the electrician doing his handiwork










The final plumbing lists have been submitted and Steve, and plumber John, promise that everything will be roughed in on that end by the end of January. They have a few things in place but the bulk of the work still remains. We did add in the 2nd floor bath, which was originally supposed to be part of phase 2. But then I realized - I can’t live through another phase!!! So we tore out the old bathroom - it never looked better - and they will have replumb in there as well. We were able to reconfigure the floor plan in that area as well by decreasing the size of the closet adjoining the guest bedroom, and carving out a space for an upstairs laundry. Apparently since the laundry is going to open up inside the bathroom we can’t use the gas dryer from downstairs - a code thing. If we had left it opening into the hallway, we could have used it. But this would have made for a much more awkward space in front of the stairwells, so inside it went. Steve recommended getting front loaders with the controls along the front panel. This way we can have a counter right over the machines for folding - could be quite the efficient set-up.

Demo-ing the old bath




When all the electrical wiring and plumbing are complete, they will move on to the insulation and wallboard. Following that comes the plaster and tape, and the spaces will really start to look like their intended selves. This next step is slated for the month of February, so that the kitchen and baths can go in at the beginning of March, followed close on their heels with all the trim. I think I can taste it - but probably shouldn't get too ahead of myself.

Earlier in December - the deck frame going on


All in all it’s going well - oh the shock... I finally got an accounting from Steve on where we stood with the add-ons, surprises, and budgetary variations. He threatened all through the holiday season to get it to me, and finally faxed something this past Sunday. I wasn’t sitting down, but I should have been. Let's just say that it was another 20% over what we've put out thus far, which isn’t unusual for a contingency budget, I just hope that we don’t see another chunk like this required at the end as well. With taxes coming up next week when I'll need to reconcile our capital gains from the sale of Concord house, the savings are dwindling. I know, costs more, takes more time, but always works out in the end. Let's hope.