[ 08/13 ] Well, it took a while, but we at least got a start on the xeriscape of the front yard. Some ground cloth, mulch, and river rock can go a long way! Still a pile of each in the front that we'll move the backyard when we start on that (couple weeks)... Starting to look like a real house?
  
Here's a shot of the south side of the house. Dry river bed theme that winds its way all the way to the street
  


   [ 07/18 ] So I know there is a bunch of detailed news about the end of construction that I should post, but I put this week's (?!) effort into a new section: living. The idea is that you can look there for shots and details of what it's actually like to live in the house. Right now it's just shots, but I hope to put details on the solar water heat, bills, temperatures, etc... This page will eventually just become a log of the building process... Hope y'all dig it!


   [ 07/04 ] So after a bunch of busy days moving, we're starting to feel like we're at home! Can't really explain in words how thrilled we are to be in here. I'll just get on with the photos! First, here are two shots of the interior stairs. The treads are the same material as the beams, and the runners were custom built by steelworker extraordinaire, JP (This photo is actually a few days old - the whole stair case is completely finished)...
  
  
And some shots of the outside stairs...   
  
He also built the railing for the loft. Beautiful!
  
Next, here's a photo of my rig to single-handedly get the entertainment center upstairs. Not pretty, but 100% successful: no damage to it or the house (or me!)...   
Finally, a nice shot of the morning shadows on the east wall of the house. I don't know if anyone expected this, but I love it!
  
Next time I'll get some photos of the rooms with furniture in there. Too tired today! Thanks for reading...


   [ 06/30 ] Too tired from moving stuff all day (and Erik's bachelor party last night) to load any pix or change the front Milo page, but the news today is huge: WE'RE IN! All inspected and everything. I'll load photos of the beautiful stairs, railings, finish work, etc. tomorrow.


   [ 06/25 ] Okay, by "early this week", we mean mid *this* week. Well, we'll see! In the meantime, the big news in Boulder this weekend was the super hail storm. Here's the house in the aftermath. Gutters and sump pump running at full speed, but everything seems okay!
  
Check out the hail building up at the gutter. A frozen slush mound was still there 24 hours later!...
  
Here's a shot of the current state of the stairs. They should be done by Tuesday. Beautiful!!
  


   [ 06/21 ] So it looks like we really, really, really are on track to move in early next week. The plumbing is in the home stretch (just short one toilet at this point?). And the stairs and railings are coming along. These are the runners and we'll have Glulam treads installed tomorrow...
  
And here's a detail...
  
Also, here's something that really made my day. I asked the dudes to pull the baseboard off so that the bookcases would be flush against the wall. Without saying anything else, they went ahead and put this detail back in. Totally cool...
  


   [ 06/18 ] Some more pictures from the weekend. Alas no new news - the picture of Milo on the front says it all: we're still waiting for stairs and railings (among other things, of course!) Okay, first, here is the picure of the island counterop that I promised. Awesome!...
  
And this weekend I finally got to do some work of my own. First, the job I was dreading: getting the in-ceiling speakers installed. Way back in March, I mentioned that my friend John helped me run the speakers wires before the drywall went up. Well, somehow we ended up below the electrician's and drywaller's radar, and they went right over it without leaving a little bit of wire sticking through. Luckily I had a treasure map on where the wires were, and though it was scary to saw through all that nice smooth new drywall hoping to find the wires hiding on the other side, everything was were it should be, and the speakers went in without a problem...
  
I also got the big bookshelves (repaired and) installed up in the loft...
  
Finally, someone with a strong opinion stopped by and left this on our front step. As Julie says about her art - "At least they had a reaction. That's all I ask for!" I still think it was someone who left it about the original house. Hee hee!
  


   [ 06/10 ] If you can read this, it means that the prettygoodradio server is up and running in the new home! Long story involving some travel, but it'll be the end of the week before I can get some new pictures uploaded. The short version of the story is that we're only a week or so a way from moving in! The last few things we're waiting for before we can get our "CO" are the stairs, railings, and kitchen counter top. Everything else is basically done! More soon...



   [ 06/03 ] Well, long story, but we're out of our rental - getting close to moving in! Most of our stuff is in the garage at the new place (though we need our CO before we can move it into place), in a storage trailer, at my office, at Julie's folks' house, and elsewhere. Here's a shot of the garage...
  
Speaking of the garage, here's a shot of our cool mail slot. This way we can leave town without mail piling up in a box, and the slot won't freeze out the house...
  
James helped me get the fridge out of the rental shed and into place. It literally fit with about 1/16" to spare! You can also see the mighty prettygoodradio server there in the he corner...
  
The master shower is done, and it looks great! I love that Hakatai...
  
Check out the great job James did on the trap door to the crawl space. There was no plan - he just whipped this together! Birch veneer door with Glulam (stair tread and beam material) border.
  


   [ 05/24 ] Done with yet another trip, and came back to find the house transformed once again! The birch doors are all installed, bathroom fixtures going in everywhere, the Duravit kitchen counter tops are in (waiting for stainless steel on the island side). Door locks even! Starting to feel like a real house. Here's a sampling...

First, here's a shot from the backyard. Spring has sprung! The house is definitely different now with all the leaves everywhere. Check out the time lapse page for another example...
  
Here's a shot of the cabinets basically done and the countertops...
  
A shot of the office with the birch closet doors, lights, and fan installed...
  
I love how the concrete turned out along the upper floor hallway. The steel railing work (and stairs) should show up in a week or so...
  
And the verdict is in - people seem to love (well, at least an apparently enthusiastic like) the tiled front doorway. Here's a shot in the morning light, and we have to admit it's pretty appealing. It'll stay!
  


   [ 05/07 ] Okay, back in the saddle (well, for like a day)! We got back from some work and fun in Brazil, and the house is looking fabulous! Almost too much to list here, but we'll give it a try.

The appliances were delivered and installed, and they're well underway with the installation of the cabinets. You can now finally get a feel for how much room the kitchen will have and how it will work. The countertops & sink will happen in the next couple weeks...
  
The solar hot water heat is on a roll, but I'm kicking myself because I forgot to get a picture of them (you sort of have to go a ways up the street to even see them), but here's a shot of the tanks down in the crawl space. Again, these are for our domestic water and a bunch of the house heat...
  
In the backyard, they've got the concrete patio poured. Looking forward to a long summer of landscaping...
  
In the front, is the tiled entryway. We love the tile and, well, the whole area in general, but we're a bit on the fence on the actual tile color. From one angle we agree we love it...
  
From another though, we're not so sure. This actually looks okay in the shot, but there is one angle at which the whole thing looks like some kind of disco ball. But it seems to be growing on us... Swing by and tell us what you think!
  


   [ 04/20 ] The concrete floors are now dry, and they ended up with this really cool mottled effect. Beautiful! Spent the day today bringing all the IKEA stuff over to the house. Really feels like it's getting close. All the stuff is piled in the garage as they're going to seal the rest of the floors tomorrow.

Here's a shot from the living room back through to the office...
  
They're also getting ready for another outside pour next week...
  
Finally, here's a shot of the birch they've put under the front door eave. I heart birch, for sure...
  


   [ 04/18 ] So today was definitely a big milestone: The concrete floors are poured! Wow, what a huge job. Note the plastic up on the walls. Apparently it all went well, and both floors and the garage were done today. Amazing...

  
  


   [ 04/15 ] Things are definitely going quickly right now. They're still getting ready for the concrete floor pour on Tuesday, but on the outisde things are cruising as well. The metal work (edging and gutters) is basically done. Looks great!

  


   [ 04/13 ] The heating system is installed! They laid out all the heat tubes, ran the pressure tests, and everything's a go for the concrete floors. Stay tuned!

Here's a view of the office...
  
...and a view through the kitchen into the living room...
  


   [ 04/09 ] Home sweet home! Back from the frozen north to a fabulous spring in Boulder. As promised, the house has been flying along while I've been gone. First, the drywall is done, and the interior painting is in the home stretch. Here's a view from the living room...
  
And a view from the loft (the painter said, "I love this house, the whole thing is a giant solarium!")...
  
Definitely stay tuned through the next week: the hot water tubes for the radiant heat will get placed on the subfloor, and then the concrete goes in on Thursday(ish). To give you a clue as to how thick it'll be, here's a shot of the drain sticking out from the subfloor in the laundry room...
  
Finally, make sure to check out the time lapse page for an exterior shot. The stucco is completely done, and the scaffolding is gone!


   [ 03/29 ] Well, I wish I could say I'm back in Colorado and that I took these pictures, but alas, I'm still in the frozen north (-31F this morning!). Anyway, the house is still flying forward while I'm away. Julie stopped by and got these shots yesterday. As you can see, the biggest news is that the stucco is finished! We're totally happy with how it turned out - just some flashing here and there, and the outside is basicaly complete...
  
Also, work is rolling on the inside too. The drywall is all done, and there are a bunch of heaters in there drying up the completed mud work. Here's a shot looking from the front door towards the kitchen...
  


   [ 03/15 ] Wow - it looks like a real house (well, close up anyway). The stucco is underway!
  
Remember, the finished coat will be an off-white on the South portion of the house and a warm grey on the middle and North portions. Here's another shot looking back South...
  
Finally, as promised, the dry wallers start tomorrow. Before they get started, DoneWright had the good idea to put some insulation between the studio and main portions of the house. You can see they've also moved the temporary (!) stairs to make room for the drywall that's going to go all the way up that space. Cool.
  


   [ 03/11 ] Everyone's getting ready for the stucco & drywall crews that arrive next week. The outside of the house has been inspected and is ready for the stucco, and they've been getting the inside all buttoned up. I went back and re-did some of the stereo wiring (keping everything away from the power lines and using wire with sheilding) with a Daily Camera photographer in tow. Stay tuned for that - definitely a bit self concious!

Here's a bunch of insulation ready in the garage...
  
And the cool window seat bench is ready to go in the office. I'm worried Milo might have already claimed this space...
  


   [ 03/05 ] Okay, lots of news this week! First, the roof is done!! Sealed, flashed, and shingled. It's quite a relief to have all that behind us.

Then John Dunn came up and helped me figure out the audio, and we ran a bunch of cable to the future site of some in-celing speakers (gotta wait until the drywall is done to place 'em). There will be two over the kitchen bar and two near the fire place for the living room - all controlled from a stereo in the office. It was definitely super cool of him to help with that!

The painters have done a lot of work staining the window frames and exposed wooden beams, and they've got the orange up on most of the soffits (I'll get a photo soon, promise).

When the painters are done later this week, the drywallers will show up and do their thing. It's going to look like a house inside! One related point is that someone had the good idea to insulate the studio bathroom from the stairwell - that would really reduce noise between the house and the studio. We'll get on that...

And finally, the outside of the house looks radically different - the sealant and the chicken wire are in place for the stucco application this week.
  


   [ 02/24 ]
  
I think that photo wraps up the week's work on the inside of the house. There is a lot of wire running through the house!

On the outside of the house, they're still getting the scaffolding and walls ready for the stucco, and they've got the parapets installed:
  


   [ 02/22 ] Okay, the latest news is that we're finally putting a lot of details to bed: stucco colors, door colors, counter tops, and the roof (!) have all been sorted. The guys have been going through a lot of inspection stuff, and apparently it's all going well. The plan is to do a lot of the finish work (staining windows, painting doors), then the drywall, then the painting, before the floor plumbing (for heat) and the concrete goes in.

Check out the time lapse page for a shot of the house all scaffolded up getting ready for the stucco. Here's a shot of Julie's dream come true: the fireplace installed and just waiting for drywall!
  


   [ 02/17 ] Well another big delay here, but this time we had a real excuse: we were all in Arizona doing some hard time at IKEA! By "we", I do mean "we": Julie and I were accompanied by Brandy & Joseph of VaST Architecture, and their daughter Carmen! We all really had a great time. Here they are soaking in the local Arizona architecture:
  
We spent the weekend on a nice mini-vacation with them and Julie's family, and even had some time to check out Taliesin West...
  
But by Monday, it was time to get to work at IKEA. We rented the smallest truck we thought we could get away with: a 12' Penske...   
...and loaded it to the brim with 1000s of pounds of kitchen cabinets, a couple sets of bathroom and washroom cabinets, a two piece couch, and a bunch of stuff for friends!
  
The VaSTers then flew home, while Julie and I started off in the truck Tuesday morning. We stuck to the freeways, following old route 66 through Flagstaff, Albequerque, a night in Santa Fe, and then back to Boulder before the storm hit on Wednesday. Whew!

I'll be back over the weekend with the latest on the actual house! Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!



   [ 02/04 ] The biggest news this week is that the windows are in! Definitely a bit less breezy in the house!

Also Manfred, the solar water man, sycnhed up with Len, the plumber, and they've come up with a plan to get the solar-heated water into the radiant-floor heat system. So it looks like we're good to go with solar water heat, a super-efficient boiler, some giant hot water tanks down in the crawl space, and tiny utility bills next winter. Awesome!

But, before we can actually get the solar panels up, we have to figure out what's going on with the outer roof material. We're still trying to decide if we should go with acrylic foam, rubber torch-down, or possibly even metal. Stay tuned on that front...

Okay, onto the pictures for this week. The theme? Non-typical views. This first is from the NW corner..

And the view from the SW...



   [ 01/27 ] A bunch of good news to report.
1) The sewer is all hooked up, and our worst fears of having to dig into the street were not realized. Whew!
2) The windows have all showed up, and we've got some nice dry weather to help get 'em installed.
3) And the lab house will be solar! We're going to have five 4x8' panels on top of the house to provide our domestic hot water (DHW in the 'biz') and to help heat the radiant floors. This is not to be confused with photovoltaic panels that provide electricity. In this case, a liquid (basically antifreeze) is cycled through the solar panels and then through a heat exchanger that heats our water and concrete floors. You can find out more at the links page.



   [ 01/21 ] So yeah, the roof is on, and the plumber has been through getting all the sinks, tubs, showers and washer & dryer sorted out. Plus most of the interior framing is done. Just a few details here and there to decide which ceilings (all!) should be vaulted... Next week should bring in the windows! Still no news on the solar water heat - hope to get that sorted next week as well...

Here's a view looking up from the living room with the roof on

A detail of how the roof goes together (looking NE from the bedroom)




   [ 01/18 ] Well, even though it was windy as hell today (peak gust of something like 60mph early this morning!), the crane guy showed up as scheduled, and the guys got the roof on! Julie swung by for some photos...








   [ 01/14 ] Sorry! I've been out of touch for a bit there... The second article in a Daily Camera series on the house came out yesterday, so I figured I'd better get this updated today!

As usual, a week goes by, and there's been a huge amount of progress. All the walls are up, and most of the interior walls have been framed. The current plan is for the crane to show up at some point next week to lay the roof panels. Stay tuned for that!

Julie has been working hard with Brandy to pick out and get the elecric and plumbing fixtures and to find a decent fire place to go on the south wall between the dining "room" and living "room". I've been trying to see if we can afford to get solar water heat panels for either just domestic hot water or both domestic and floor heating water. Lots of math...

But on to the pictures. Here's one from about the drive way looking up at it...

Here's one looking west as you just walk in the front door. Eventually there will be some "see through" stairs going up right in front of you...

This is looking back east from the "lounge" out over the living room. Can't wait to hang out here!!





   [ 01/05 ] More of the same - cruising! Check out the time lapse for the latest. They're putting down the flooring on the second level and getting ready to start on the second level SIPs.

Got my first view from up in the studio. Our neighbors have a lot of backyard cleaning to do!

Here's the same view from the first floor bathroom looking east through the kitchen, dining and living rooms. All framed in now - so except for the see-through stairs (which will be about where the ladder is), it'll look like this. That's Dave in the foreground...





   [ 12/31 ] Well, people told us that SIPs go up quickly, but this is pretty unreal! First floor walls are done, and they're joisting up the second floor. They'll start the second floors walls next week. We can definitely tell what it will be like inside now, and it's going to be really, really cool. Here's looking up at the windows in the living room...



Here's a view from about the first floor bathroom looking east through the kitchen, dining and living rooms...





   [ 12/26 ] They're taking a little break for the holidays, but you can get your first sense of what it'll be like to be in the house. This is looking west from the living room, through the dining room, kitchen, and into the office. There won't be many more walls downstairs...



looking from about the dining room back towards the lofted living room. not quite as tall as the trees!...





   [ 12/22 ] Wow - going fast! The walls are going up as we speak!






   [ 12/21 ] Well, we swung by today, and this is really starting to get cool! The floor decking is done and the SIPs have arrived via flatbed truck from the factory in Arizona. James, Matt, and David (DoneWright Builders - now with a new link!) are sorting them all out. There's a lot: all the walls and the ceiling are there. They plan to start propping 'em up next week - should really start to look like a house! (Thanks to Brandy for this first photo...)
















   [ 12/14 ] Okay, I'm back in the saddle after a "wonderful" 3 weeks in the Middle East. Matt & James have made a lot of progress while I was gone: the caissons were all drilled and filled, the foundation forms put up, and the foundation poured! You can see the forms are made of styrofoam which is left in place - an R value of something like 42! Julie also got this great photo of the concrete distributing machine - those are so cool...







   [ 11/20 ] Just swung by to check it out before they start drilling tomorrow. Wow - those are some serious piles. I think every square inch of the lot that isn't a hole is a pile of dirt!




   [ 11/18 ] And the horse has finally passed the cart: we closed on our loan today! We are now the proud owners of a big dirt hole. YES!!

Oh, got our gas capping bill from Xcel: $150! Wow, that whole gas line digging thing really does look like it paid off.

Okay, I'm not sure how I spazzed this bad with the camera, but here is a crappy shot of the excavation. Note the cool pile of giant rocks by the tree. Should come in handy for some landscaping next year. They're getting it all ready for the caissons on Monday!




   [ 11/17 ]I'll get some photos up here tomorrow, but some major news is that the ground has been (further) broken: excavation on the new house has started!!

And in "horse is catching up to the cart" news: we got the building permit!!! As you might imagine, this is really quite a major relief. Whew...




   [ 11/11 ]The first in a series of articles on the whole project appeard in today's Daily Camera! In other news, it sounds like we should be able to pick up the building permit early next week, and we should close on the loan late next week! We're getting there...



   [ 11/05 ]Not really news, but just a photo to show that it is truly gone. Foundation, walkways, and driveway! (Just to point out: it'd be cool to have the building permit and/or loan soon...)




   [ 11/03 ]House is gone! From the starting gate to completely crushed and ready for the truck in about 45 minutes! Wow.

ready to go...

2 minutes later...

bedroom gone...

studio gone...

lot looks better?

well, maybe not from this angle!



   [ 11/02 ]Still playing the waiting game for the most part (loan should close late next week - still no news on the building permit: still "any day"), but it looks like a go for demolition tomorrow! Apparently the whole thing comes down in an hour, then the rest of the day "cleaning up" (including a lot of concrete). Wow.

   [ 10/27 ]Again, not much news today, but Xcel did come and cap off the gas line. So all that digging looks like it paid off (well, we'll see what the bill comes to...)!

   [ 10/26 ]Good day - no real news from anyone, but we got the gas hole finished (or so we hope - Xcel will ultimately let us know. Keep your fingers crossed). Once again, Lance the Hero was there to save the day. Knowing where the line was helped a lot, but it still pretty nerve wracking... These pictures make it look like Julie didn't do anything, but when not documenting the process, she was "Scoopy Doo" - manning the small buckets to remove the heart-breakingly small pile of chips from the latest pick effort.

Lots of time spent deciding where to aim the pick next

The secret is not to hit the line



   [ 10/25 ]Contract signed with the builders, DoneWright! One more milestone in this whole big thing... In other news, Xcel has disconnected the gas and the power from the old place. Should make it safer to demolish!

   Well, conservation of good news and bad news: After the contract signing, we learned that the demolishing crew would not take down the house with the gas line so close (we asked them about this weeks ago). So no demolition tomorrow. Xcel says they can do it in two weeks, but it will cost about $1000. Ugh

   Ah, but then some good news: we can excavate the gas line ourselves! All we need to do is locate the gas line (marked by Xcel last week), dig down 1' below the it, 2' to each side, and 3' back from the sidewalk! Woohoo, we save $700!

   But of course there has to be some bad news to balance it all out: Turns out that it is nerve wracking agony to "dig" through these rocks trying to find a gas line. Luckily Lance, our neighbor hero, was willing to help us dig, pick, and bucket brigade the earth out. We worked for about 3 hours, until we finally and safely found the line about 1' from where Xcel marked it for us. It ultimately got dark, but we should be able to finish it tomorrow. That means Xcel can cap it on Thursday with a possible demolition on Friday? Hold your breath...

   [ 10/22 ] The old house is still standing, but it has been "soft stripped" by Resource (2000). They've removed the windows, hardwoord floors, cabinets, doors, etc. for reuse/recycling. Pretty grim! Each day we're getting more and more committed (it'd be nice to have the permit and/or loan!)
front
  
living room. note the creepy shoes - sort of a post-hurricane feel
  
bedroom
  
rear. Don't worry, we are keeping Milo's house safe and sound
  


   [ 10/21 ] meta news - as things happen, we'll list 'em here... current status is that we're waiting for a bunch of things: builder contract, building permit, loan. So yeah, a lot!