The floorplan...updated

We had a meeting with our framer Friday evening at our house. I had quite a list of things I wanted to "tweak", but wasn't sure it they were all possible to be structurally supported and meet code. Our framer is David, who builds a lot of the houses that Matt's mom's company builds. Those houses list for $750,000 and up. Nice stuff. Very well made. Yeah, we want THAT guy. He's also used to very picky rich people, which is exactly how I am, minus the rich part.

Here's a refresher of our floor plan as it is written(click to enlarge):






















































Now here is my list of changes:
1. Add laundry room upstairs
2. Add half-bath in garage
3. Remove corner closet(we'll add later once we know where we want them)
4. Raise knee-walls 1 ft. to give us more usable wall. This raises the roof 1ft.
5. Bigger windows
6. Vaulted ceilings to make the space feel bigger
7. Move master bedroom over to make room for 2nd bedroom
8. Add a dormer window to both bedroom(increases light and usable space)
9. Create attic space somewhere.

Some of these are easy. The most difficult one was adding a laundry room and still having room for a tub. You wives and moms out there know how crucial it is to have a laundry room that you don't have to leave the house to get to!!

You'll notice that there is a huge amount of dead space behind the tub in the original plan. That's the space above where the stairs come up. After 2.5 hours of brain storming, we came up with a solution. It will end up cost $500-1,000 more(not including the bigger windows), but that's nothing in the grand scheme of this project and it will make the space SO much more livable.




















(the lines with numbers on them are not wall, just measurements)

Here's what's changed:
1. Moved the stairs to the other side of the garage wall downstairs.
2. Moved the bathroom to the other side of the hallway, making the hall more centered.
3. Moved master bedroom over and create one walk-in closet.
4. Created a washer/dryer closet in hallway.
5. Created a 2nd bedroom with pocket doors.
6. Added dormer windows to bedroom(not shown. just envision a big window sticking out of the big roof area in the very 1st picture)
7. Created half-bath in garage(not shown. just envision a toilet)

There is so much less wasted space in the new plan. The old plan had small closets all over the upstairs. We've consolidated it into one big closet. Yet, to be discussed is the attic space, which will go over the bathroom/hallway/closet area maybe with a drop down stairs access. The living room and bedroom will have no room for attic space because we are raising the ceilings.

Here's a representation of the ceilings in the original plan:










That's standard height for most homes, but most homes have more than two rooms and 800sq ft.

Here's a representation of the ceilings the way I want them:










Much better! We won't feel so closed in, in our tiny house!

Firm Foundation

This foundation has taken us far, far longer than we ever expected. We also didn't expect Matt to lose his job and having to work twice as many hours to pay the bills. And we didn't expect his dad to have a near fatal accident that will take years to recover from. So, we've had a few delays. Doing construction yourself is a great way to save money when you don't have much. But you do have to have TIME. And well...we haven't had either.

Most of you know already that Matt got a fantastic job about two months ago at Siemens. He is a manufacturing engineer at their facility in Charlotte where they design and build steam turbine engines for power plants. It's very hands on, and Matt loves it! We are so blessed! So what that means, as far as our house is concerned, is we have a little bit more money and can PAY someone to finish the foundation for us. Hooray!!!

Through the connection of a family friend who is a contractor, we got the name of a guy that does concrete foundations for commercial properties(like hospitals. woah), and he was willing to take our little job on. It would only take him like two days to finish what would take us 3 more months. So we paid the man and he came out with his crew and had truck load after truck load of gravel(it's actually crushed concrete because it's a fraction cheaper) poured under our garage, never to be seen again. What a fun way to spend $3,000!!





































Next, the same concrete guy got our garage slab poured. This also happened to occur on the coldest week of December Charlotte has ever known. Concrete needs to be within a certain temperature range to cure correctly. There is a chemical reaction taking place and if it happens too fast(ie, too hot and the water evaporates too fast) it could mess it up and not be as strong. In addition, if it happens too slow because it's too cold or because it the water in it freezes, that would be bad. So, when I heard they were there pouring it and it was below freezing, I got nervous. But I did a little research online to see what they do to combat this. Construction goes on up north where it's below freezing all winter. Then, I drove over to talk to the concrete guy and he put my mind at ease. He covered it with several layers of plastic and an insulated blanket to help hold in the small amount of heat the concrete creates on it's own. It's not warm by any means, but it just has to be above 32 degrees. His crew was out there all day on their knees, smoothing out our slab as it set up. I was so impressed with how smooth it was. I don't have pics of it when it was first done because it was covered the whole time.

Our framer, David Ross who is the framer for the company Matt's mom works for, was running short on time. He has a big project coming up and needs us to be ready for him within the next week. There was one other thing(well...several) we had to do before he could come. Our bedroom will be over hanging the garage and supported by 4 pillars. So far, Matt had only built 2. He found time one weekend to build the other two. They also had to be filled with concrete for strength just like we did for the entire wall. And he was working late all week and couldn't do it. And we had to drive to Raleigh Saturday for a wedding and spend the night. And it was Matt's birthday and he had find time to see his parents. And we had to be at church by 6:00pm Sunday night.

We got back from Raleigh and to the land around 3pm Sunday and started working. That's when we discovered our first problem. One of the pillar(the tallest one actually), had come loose from the footing. As in, it could wiggle around. Somehow the mortar didn't set to the concrete footing correctly. Or it was from drilling and hammering the rebar down the center of it(but that hadn't happened to any others. This had to be fixed before we fill it with concrete. But it was too heavy to pick up. And if we tilted it to put fresh mortar under it, it would just squish all the mortar out to one side. It had to be lifted off.

Fortunately, we have a skid steer(also known as a bobcat). Matt put straps around the pillar and hooked one to the scoop on the skid steer and one to a tree(to control the bottom half) and used the skid steer to lift the pillar up. He cleaned the footing and put out new mortar. Then with my help positioning it, lowered the pillar back down. I know I made it sound really smooth, but it was actually a kind of harry situation and I left out some of the trials and tribulations(thats why there is no picture).

We ended up having to say until after 7pm to get finished. Matt mixed concrete and brought it to me in a wheel barrow. I scooped it into the cells of the cinder blocks. Each one taller than the last. It was also 45 degrees and dropping fast. If you know me well, then you know I have issues with my hands and feet getting extremely cold(and not it's not just me being a wimp. It's an actual medical condition having to do with my blood vessels closing down because they think I'm freezing to death and are trying to save my vital organs. My body is happily willing to lose my hands and feet if needed. Annoying, right?). It started out rough, but I found some insulated(fuzzy inside and so thick you can't bend your fingers) work gloves and put on some toe warmers and I was good to go!

Here's a little taste of what it was like:





































Stay tuned for pictures of the frame! It's going fast!

I stole this dresser.

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. We had a family emergency. My father-in-law had a motorcycle wreck and has been in the hospital with a brain injury for the past 3 weeks. He's doing much better now and is moving to a rehab facility very soon. You can follow his progress here: www.carepages.com/carepages/mikekelly . Maybe you'll get to see some progress on our house again soon.

So, backing up in time here, do you remember the antique vanity bench? My mom, aunts and I go to the Roxboro, NC flea market every year after Thanksgiving. Well that same day, in that same place, I found a little dresser that had so much potential I couldn't pass it up. It was painted this awful yellow color with primary colored knobs(blue, red, and green).




















It actually hurt my eyes.

I'm not kidding.











































The silhouette of the piece looked old, so I walked over for closer inspection. Firstly, I saw the price: $25 Yes, sir! Then, I took the drawers out and inspected the wood and the back panel, and the drawer construction. This baby looked really old. I could also tell from a place where the paint was chipped, that this was oak. Oak(especially stained oak) is easy to recognize. Those little vertical marks are called rays. Pine does not have these.

This is oak. Notice the grain pattern with "little marks".
























This is pine. We'll call this grain "big swirlies".



















I was very excited about my find. An antique oak dresser for $25! Wrap it up!

Wait, not so fast.
We have to haggle.
"Can you do any better on the price since I'm buying two pieces?" (remember the vanity bench)
"I'll have to go ask."

I think the bench was $17, and the dresser was $25, so that's $42 total. The man came back with a slightly lower price. In my head I'm thinking "I'd really like to get them both for $30." It's hard to remember the details since it was last November. Somehow he came back with $12 for the bench and $16 for the dresser.

Seriously?

$16 for the dresser??

I almost feel like I'm stealing it.

Yes, please. This is why I drive an SUV. You just never know what you'll find and where you'll find it.

I had to wait until this summer to work on refinishing it, since paint stripper is an "outside toy". My plan was to strip the paint off, refinish the wood, and add new drawer pulls.

I use Jasco paint stripper and have been pretty happy with it. Just make sure you wear gloves because it will eat your skin if it gets on you. Use a cheap brush that you won't mind throwing away afterward. Don't use those foam spongy brushes. The foam with be eaten by the Jasco. This stuff has to go on really thick to do the job right. Then it sits for 15 min and does whatever it does to the paint to make it bubble up. I lay all my pieces out and do the top surface of each one. By the time I'm done brushing it on the last piece, the first piece is probably ready to be scraped.

This is what it looks like when it's ready to scrape.



















A drawer after one round of scraping. Did I mention it takes more than one? Look! There's a sticker of a baby duck! I found six different stickers. This must have been a child's dresser at some point. Jasco takes care of them too.




















When the paint and stain started coming off, I noticed that the grain was looking different. On closer inspection I realized that this wood was NOT in fact oak. It is pine! At first I panicked because I thought the drawers might be a different kind of wood than the rest of the dresser and that would NOT work.




















It didn't take me long to figure out that the wood grain I had seen in the store was coming OFF with the Jasco. It was a fake oak finish applied on top of pine. What the what! That sounds really cheesy, but I guess oak was too expensive back in the day. But I'm surprised they went to the trouble, or even had the technology, to imitate oak grain.

I was really bummed at first, but after I sanded the drawers I saw how amazing the pine looked with all the old character in the wood.

This is the side of the dresser after one round of jasco and scraping. The second coat is getting to work.



















Don't underestimate the amount of work that is involved. The sander will take care of some of this. The goal is not perfection.



















Scraping is done. But that was the easy part. Sanding is next. Make sure you have a mouse sander, which has a point on the end perfect for getting in those crevices. I always use the coarsest grit, which is 60 grit, to get off old finish. It has the largest pieces of sand on the paper and will save you time because it takes wood faster with less effort.



















The drawers were my friends. They were the easiest to sand and came out beautiful without a lot of elbow grease.
























I like to do all the easy to reach, flat areas first. Then go back and focus on the difficult parts.




















After getting the paint and old finish off the top, I was able to see a huge mildew stain that went along the front two boards(the left side in this pic). I worked for an hour to sand it off. I don't have a picture of it before. After I did the best I thought I could do, I dampened it with a rag to see what it would look like with an oil finish. The mildew stains popped up all over the place. I still had a lot of work left to do. I just can't leave it like this. At some point, water got trapped under the paint and the wood couldn't dry out, so the whole top had mildew damage. There's nothing else you can do but paint over it, or sand it off. The goal is not perfection.
























Now I'm using a razor to removed paint that the sander couldn't reach.



















For some reason the sander wasn't doing a good job at removing the old color from the recessed panels. I had to do the old fashion way. It actually worked a lot better.



















After sanding the old color off, don't forget to switch to 120 grit sandpaper. This won't take long, but it will make the wood much smoother. Use your power sander.

The wood still won't be completely smooth. You have to step down to finer and finer grit to get the smoothest finish. Since all the old color is gone, this step only takes about 5 min. I used 220 grit but didn't think it was smooth enough, so I did 320 last. You could probably skip the 220 grit paper.

The look I was going for was very natural. I didn't want to stain it dark, but wanted to let the natural color show. So I chose tung oil since I was very happy with how it turned out on my coffee table I refinished years ago. It is like stain in that it gets absorbed into the pores of the wood. But unlike stain, it does not require a polyurethane top coat to protect it. So that saves time, but that's not why I did it. I didn't want a glossy finish, and tung oil has a more rustic finish to it.



















This was my test spot.




















Tung oil on:



















The back panel of the dresser was extremely stubborn. It was also warped, making it impossible to sand. So I figured, why bother, no one will ever see it. And it could be neat to look back on the history of the furniture and see all the colors it used to be. If it bothers me later, I can just paint it off white, like I did the inside of the drawers. Remember, the goal is NOT perfection.



















I wasn't sure what kind of finish would look best on the drawer pulls, so I bought 6 different ones at Lowes to take home and try.

Vintage Brass: No



















Aged Nickel: No



















Oil Rubbed Old World Bronze: Ooo, Ooo, Yes!



















Color was not the only consideration when choosing pulls. Shape is equally important. First, I thought I wanted a hanging swan neck pull(aka old fashioned flappy, hangy downy kind) in cast iron or oil rubbed bronze. But the top of this dresser hangs over about 3 or 4 inches, leaving plenty of room for a drawer pull to stick out. The hangy downy kind is typically used on dressers that don't have an over hang because they don't want the pulls to jut out and get in the way.

Also, this dresser has a very boxy look to it, so a curvy feminine drawer pull would just not match the personality of the dresser. The last pull pictured here fit the bill perfectly. It's boxy, rustic, and dark. The only problem....they were $4.50 each. The most expensive one. I searched and search online for a comparable option or a vendor who was selling it cheaper. No luck. These are one of a kind. And Lowes was half the price of the manufacturer's price online! It had to be these. Drawer pulls can really make or break the look of a piece of furniture. They are like accessories to an outfit. They can make it or break it. Girls, you understand.

So yes, I bit the bullet and got them. They look spectacular.
















































































I painted the inside of the drawers Antique White in a semi-gloss finish. It was paint I already owned. You could really paint it any color you want. It would be a neat surprise to open it up and see a pop of color. You can see the original locks on the backside of the drawer front. I love that feature.



















Here is the cost break down:

Dresser: $16
Jasco: $10
Tung Oil: $8 (plenty left for another project)
Power sander: already had
Sandpaper for power sander: $5
Finishing sandpaper: already had
Scraper: already had
Razor: already had
Paint: already had
Drawer pulls: $30

Total: $69

Ok, so that's not a total steal by my standards, but it's still pretty cheap considering what you get: solid, antique pine.