Weeks 40-42: Framing it Up

All the cribbing and shoring has finally been removed, so it is finally possible to walk through the house once again—how nice to see it all open!  At this point, there are two main things being worked on: framing (new walls in the basement and office/Melinda's room, replacing existing framing where needed, and minor tweaks here and there) and more demolition in the patio area due to an unforeseen complication (hello and welcome to remodeling) in regards to the plumbing connected to the pool bathroom (accessible from the patio).  Upon exploration, it seems that the old waste pipes have disintegrated, making for some incredibly fertilized soil underneath the patio.  Oh joy.

This is about as open as this entry area will ever be - at some point the
curved staircase will once again reign as the showstopper.

This view, standing in the living room and looking up into the kitchen,
will actually remain fairly similar in the final design thanks to a glass
railing replacing the previous partial wall.  It really ties the two rooms together.

This next photo shows the area that used to be the "maid's quarters" accessed from the laundry room.  The floor is now level with the other bedrooms and opens to the bedroom hallway.  It will have an open beam ceiling at a much greater height than the other rooms, allowing for loft space above the adjoining bathroom.

Excited about this change!

Basement framing - the future bar and wine cellar.

More basement framing - the future theater.

Jeff, our architect, and Brett, half of our construction team,
evaluate structural plates at the corners of the gable windows.

The master bathroom will be so much more open than before!  With a
huge full-height window, sliding door, and gable windows added, you can
be sure we won't miss those dropped ceilings.

New patio beam takes the place of the older, smaller
beams (discarded on the patio behind).

Some birdies seem to have made a home in the corner of Audrey's room.

For reference: existing gutters and lattice  construction
at the master courtyard area.

Weeks 29-35: Engineering and Re-Engineering

The last number of weeks has seen a stall in forward movement as different engineers change their minds and try to come to final decisions on how overbuilt the house needs to be.  The result is a removal (and subsequent reinstallation) of some of the French drain system and adjoining sump pumps (two very large drums sunk below the basement level to protect against water build-up).

Once that issue was solved, the framer was able to begin his portion of work on the house.  This is an exciting development to see, as there is more visual progress, making it easier to imagine the finished product.  To begin with, they have framed in the sub-floor in the kitchen/dining room/laundry area that was removed at the beginning to make room for digging out the basement.  Large I-beams supported by cribbing are still supporting this portion of the house, but soon they will be removed.

Sub-floor in the kitchen is in the process of being built.

A view of the front door - without the bridge and
railings it looks a little odd.

One issue that arose, for me, upon seeing the flat expanse of this new area, was the fact that it is all on the same level, where before there was an elevation difference between the floor of the dining room and concrete pad outside it.  How will we be able to maintain a visual change of depth and interest?  I spent hours and hours stewing about it, trying to decide if we should change up the railing layout or the size of the front porch, but ultimately decided that it was going to be too hard to visualize without having a 3D model to look at (something that is still in the works) and so I let it be.  This is something that we may not really know until the project is nearly done.

Here it is easy to see how strong that horizontal line is at the edge of the
new basement.  Ultimately many more things will be changing (including
landscaping, windows, flooring, railing) which makes it difficult to predict.

This is a view of the same area from the opposite direction.  On the left is
the kitchen, straight ahead is the dining room, underfoot is the patio by
the trash can/laundry room area.

A peak at the basement below - it is no longer an open hole!

The hydronic heating has been installed in the basement floors, and framing
has begun in preparation for the floors to be poured.

Also happening in the past few weeks is a thorough exploration and re-engineering of the balcony off of the great room. That corner of the house was sagging and required repair. What was found was a little frightening - that entire corner was basically being held up by a toothpick. Needless to say, that is being changed. More steel beams are being added to the framework of the deck's flooring system, much larger footings are being installed beneath the patio underneath, and much larger steel posts will be taking the place of the smaller ones that were there before. All of this means our house will be safer and more sound, though it comes at a cost - to the budget as well as the schedule.  Once the engineers decided on what exactly was needed, and the design elements were worked into the plan, the actual work was straightforward.

The faulty corner of the house beginning to be fixed.

A peak down into the holes cut into the patio to house the larger footings.

There is also a bit of work beginning to happen in other areas of the house, now that we are basically "out of the ground" and into the framing phase.  The room that was previously the "maid's quarters" has a new floor at the lower level, which makes it now accessible from the hallway by the other bedrooms.  It's nice to see this begin to take shape!

The floor of the future office & adjoining bathroom
(just beyond lies the master bedroom)

For design reference: the drop ceiling detail in one of the kid's bathrooms
that houses the lighting for the room.

All the Other Bedrooms

Apart from the Master Bedroom, this house sports a maid's room (see this post) that will eventually be converted into another bedroom, two bedroom suites near the Master Bedroom, and another bedroom suite on the other side of the house, above the garage and near the front door.  The two bedroom suites near the Master Bedroom are nearly identical in design, although the colors differ.  The part that the kids love the most about the rooms is the cabinets and counters.  Something with pink counters and tile for the girls:

And one with tan and green for the boys:

The knobs on the cabinets in these rooms, (and throughout the house,) are great.

The bedroom suite on the other side of the house is one of the places that got the most use with the previous owners, and will end up being completely redone.  In fact, the plan is for this room to become a game room/play room and the storage room that is behind the bedroom will be converted into a bedroom.  Currently the storage room is adjacent to this bedroom, but only accessible from the garage.