Sheetrock, Siding, Tile, Grading and other Stuff
The sheetrock work continues...
We hit a snag and lost some time when the door order got delayed. Since the sheetrock crew couldn't continue without the doors being hung, they disappeared until the doors arrived. They're back on the job now and hopefully the plaster coat work will start soon.
We also did the walk through for the tile today and finalized exactly where the tile goes and what tile to use. We want to use a 1"x6" tile in the master bath which looks really nice but requires a skilled tile setter. We've located someone who has great recommendations but it is still a gamble.
Meanwhile the horizontal siding continues to go up. This is a slow process because it is mitered at the corners. Normally, trim would just be butted to the adjacent trim strip. That way is easy and quick but our architect wanted the cleaner lines of a mitered joint. I have to agree that it is much, much nicer. I mentioned to the contractor that every time I looked at a mitered corner I'd appreciate the amount of work involved. He responded that it was nice to have an owner who noticed.
The final grading below the house was also completed and it is wonderful to get that huge pile of dirt spread out. The end result really changed the look of the house from below by softening the lines. The pool no long sticks up like an above-ground pool.
At the same time the grading was done, we had a new road cut to Susan's working garden below the house. This will provide a path for trucks delivering material and our utility vehicle. Even though the valley follows the typical California pattern of no rain from late spring to late fall, we have lots of water due to springs. At one spot, in the middle of a dry meadow, the road hit a spring. Fortunately, it isn't very big and will be easy to deal with.
The landscape plan is finally coming together. Our architect feels very strongly about virtually every finish detail in the house and the garden is no different. The design we settled on is very close to what he proposed. The view over the valley from the covered porch will be completely untouched with no plantings whatsoever; all you'll see is natural vegetation and the view. When looking in the other direction, you'll look over a sizeable garden with beds of low plants. At the far side of this garden is a low retaining wall above which is a another garden which is wilder and contains native plants. Beyond this is a grove of magnificent ancient oaks.
Before we can start the garden work, the last retaining walls need to be built. We are rushing to get this done before the first rains so we can do the final grading. After that, it's time for topsoil. As we watched houses being rebuilt after the Oakland fire, it was amazing to see how most landscaping was done. In many cases, the landscaping took one day. They (usually) picked up the debris, dug a couple holes through the concrete like soil, dropped in plants, then spread mulch everywhere. Seemed to us that when you build a house, you should spend more than $100 landscaping it.
We started to look for furniture and immediately got discouraged. We went to a place in the city and found that we really didn't like new styles. The couches are so low I felt like I had to roll off onto my knees first. (Someone told us that with a low couch and a glass of wine or 2 it's easier to just sleep on the couch that try to get up.) Our architect realized that we were furniture impaired so he recommended an interior decorator. After meeting with her, I now have a very, very long list of things I need to build in my new shop. Thankfully, I can't make rugs and I'm terrible at upholstery.
We hit a snag and lost some time when the door order got delayed. Since the sheetrock crew couldn't continue without the doors being hung, they disappeared until the doors arrived. They're back on the job now and hopefully the plaster coat work will start soon.
We also did the walk through for the tile today and finalized exactly where the tile goes and what tile to use. We want to use a 1"x6" tile in the master bath which looks really nice but requires a skilled tile setter. We've located someone who has great recommendations but it is still a gamble.
Meanwhile the horizontal siding continues to go up. This is a slow process because it is mitered at the corners. Normally, trim would just be butted to the adjacent trim strip. That way is easy and quick but our architect wanted the cleaner lines of a mitered joint. I have to agree that it is much, much nicer. I mentioned to the contractor that every time I looked at a mitered corner I'd appreciate the amount of work involved. He responded that it was nice to have an owner who noticed.
Mitered corner.
The final grading below the house was also completed and it is wonderful to get that huge pile of dirt spread out. The end result really changed the look of the house from below by softening the lines. The pool no long sticks up like an above-ground pool.
At the same time the grading was done, we had a new road cut to Susan's working garden below the house. This will provide a path for trucks delivering material and our utility vehicle. Even though the valley follows the typical California pattern of no rain from late spring to late fall, we have lots of water due to springs. At one spot, in the middle of a dry meadow, the road hit a spring. Fortunately, it isn't very big and will be easy to deal with.
View from new garden road.
View from below.
Panorama from below. (Click for a larger image)
The landscape plan is finally coming together. Our architect feels very strongly about virtually every finish detail in the house and the garden is no different. The design we settled on is very close to what he proposed. The view over the valley from the covered porch will be completely untouched with no plantings whatsoever; all you'll see is natural vegetation and the view. When looking in the other direction, you'll look over a sizeable garden with beds of low plants. At the far side of this garden is a low retaining wall above which is a another garden which is wilder and contains native plants. Beyond this is a grove of magnificent ancient oaks.
Panorama from above. (Click for a larger image)
Before we can start the garden work, the last retaining walls need to be built. We are rushing to get this done before the first rains so we can do the final grading. After that, it's time for topsoil. As we watched houses being rebuilt after the Oakland fire, it was amazing to see how most landscaping was done. In many cases, the landscaping took one day. They (usually) picked up the debris, dug a couple holes through the concrete like soil, dropped in plants, then spread mulch everywhere. Seemed to us that when you build a house, you should spend more than $100 landscaping it.
We started to look for furniture and immediately got discouraged. We went to a place in the city and found that we really didn't like new styles. The couches are so low I felt like I had to roll off onto my knees first. (Someone told us that with a low couch and a glass of wine or 2 it's easier to just sleep on the couch that try to get up.) Our architect realized that we were furniture impaired so he recommended an interior decorator. After meeting with her, I now have a very, very long list of things I need to build in my new shop. Thankfully, I can't make rugs and I'm terrible at upholstery.
posted by Jim Barstow at
11:40 PM
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