Long story I'll try to keep short. I bought an unfinished house on an incredible piece of property. Almost 7 acres, some wooded, over 1200ft of creek frontage, out in the sticks. The house sits 800ft off the road. No need for curtains on the windows.

The house is a ranch w/ a walk out basement. The basement was finished in tired 70's decor. The main floor was dried in w/ ext. walls and roof but little else. The house had been just a basement for 15 years w/ a flat roof before the main level was framed up.

Since I've been here, I've updated the basement so I don't feel like I'm living in a Shaft movie, and thoroughly changed the exterior. I added on in a couple places and moved the garage. The garage was quite an undertaking. I cut it loose from the house and moved it 10ft to the right as viewed from the ft of the house and cut 2ft off the bottom to make it shorter. I was just getting ready to start on the interior upstairs when I had the accident. A least this gave me the opportunity to revise my floor plan to accommodate the chair. Now the upstairs is being worked on by friends, volunteers, and myself. It's slow going but I hope to be living up there by spring some time.

Pre accident I did everything myself except for the concrete flatwork.

This is what it looked like when I started.





Now.....



In between....







Upstairs original....







Interior so far.....

Way cool bro...

Great transformation! The exterior is amazing...

Must be frustrating to not be able to do everything yourself like before. I get SO much enjoyment remodeling my house.

Lookin great though... I love winter for the fact that it gives me LOTS of time to work on the house without feeling guilty about not being out riding or boating/drinking

I put in 10 more new windows last weekend. My house is SOOO much warmer. No more drafts... Uniform warmth everywhere I go in the house instead of warm by the thermostat, and cold spots elsewhere.

Nice!

That's a pritty awsome transformation, Good Job.

I'm still alittle confussed as to why you shortend the garage, although I have to admitt it does look better now.

I had big plans for the house we are in, wanted to build a Sun Room on the back and build a large Family room on top of the Garage, but with the wife not working......

Maybe in a couple years when the kid starts school and the wife can go back to work full time.

Are you a carpenter by trade or hobby?

What no Power Blocks?
What no Jim-Dandies? :nono:
(Rafter Corner Braceing)


Nice Fan by the way.... I'm still trying to get one of those myself. (Free of coarse)

[/quote]

And where are your "Tornado clips"?

That top plate doesn't joint within 4' of that window does it?

It's funny how Codes differ so much from state to state.

Oh and put some leg supports on those Horses. ( 1x4's across the bottom work great)

Sounds like you got yourself an expert volunteer Todd!!!

:lol:

You know I would volunteer if I lived closer. :grin:

And that would be EXXExpert to you bub. :lol:

Shit, the bad thing is I have already forgoten most of the codes around here. :oops: Those were just some of the easy ones.

Dooooooaaaaaa! :banghead:

Flights to IN are real cheap too. I am sure Eric will pick it up and drop ship his tool belt!!!

MaXX

I don't do the flying thing.... unless I'm dreamin!

Hey Todd..... Are you done with the remodel / rebuild on the inside?

Sorry.... that was another..... :banghead:

Lack-o-sleep doesn't help..... but I should know better by know.

Yes, it is. I have a lot of control issues and being in the chair makes me face them every day.



The upstairs has 10ft ceilings and the trusses extend out over the garage. But the garage floor is 2ft lower that the house floor. That made the garage walls 12ft tall. As you can see from the "Before" pic it has quite a warehouse look. I thought bringing down the scale by shorting it and bumping out the front helped a lot.



Hobby. Like to do everything I can myself. Remember the control issues?

Power blocks? One thing I've learned is construction nomenclature and codes are very regional. If your talking about blocking between the trusses, it's not required. I've got the tornado clips, I'm just a little too short to put them up............

I've got a couple of those fans. They move some serious air.



Um, er, well............Shhhhhhhhhhh

Is this the bracing you were looking for?

Nope. It looks just like it does in the pics. Just took the truss bracing pics this morning. When should I expect you? Waiting on my plumbing-HVAC man to get time to do the rough ins.

I'll rough up your ins!!!

MaXX

Promises, promises. :roll:

HVAC guy was supposed to deliver the new furnace and water heater today, but it's 3pm and nothing yet. :???:

Yep.... I'll say it again, you impress the shit out of me every time you post something like this, and I have the same Control Issues, I love helping others, but when it comes to my projects.... I want it done my way... period, which often means I will do it myself without asking for help.



I read this comment and thought..." Not many people could measure up to your shadow..... to short..... Ha. "



It's a furnace fan right? Ya they move a boat load of air, and they don't sound like an Prop Plane is parked in your house either.



Actually No, but maybe it serves the same purpose. We / I used to put a corner cross brase on top of the lower stringer from outside wall to outside wall, whenever the wall or walls extended more than 15' without an interior wall to brace it. I just never liked the thought of haveing the ceilling drywall supporting the corner. I would always put them in and put in the Gable braceing as well. But , like I said you probably don't have to have them.... I can't really tell from my house.



Man.... It would be an honor to work with you, ( Seriously ), and I really wish you didn't live so far away. ( Where the F*** is Indiana anyways? :oops: Just kidding ) but with all of my own Family problems... well you know what I mean... If I was a single guy.... I'ld take a 2 week Vacation, grab my tool belt and be there.

But until something in my life gives..... I'll just have to suffice to trying to help from the other end of this keypad.

One last question.... I noticed you are insullating and installing the flooring in one of those pics after you already have the walls up, Is that a normal practice out there?
Around here you always put the walls on top of the flooring.

Yep, furnace fans.



No, it's not. The insulation is there because right now the basement is heated and the main level is not. The subfloor is missing because in the 15 years it had a flat roof on the basement, it leaked enough to do serious damage to the 5/8 non T&G plywood that was there. I replace it all w/ 3/4 T&G, glued and screwed.

Looks great Todd!

The outside looks amazing...Is that brick on the corners??

It's a manufactured stone veneer. A little bit of a learning curve to putting it up, but I think I did OK.

The ft door is being replace with one with side lights and a transome window across the top. Then that wall will be covered w/ stone too.

In this pic you can also see that the garage is now 2ft lower thatn the house.

How did you Move and Shorten the Garage Walls....

Did you jack up the Roof rafters and cut the top of the walls, or did you cut the bottom, or what?

Looks great Todd. I read the description of the land and was thinking hell yeah...thats perfect.

Then I saw the first pic as though hmm...I guess its OK.

Scroll to the after pic...man that shit looks GOOD, yo.

Fantastic transformation. Sounds like the perfect place out in the woods.

:shock: :burn: :banghead:

I can't beleive I did it again. :oops:

Write up!!!!

I'm thinking of doing some fake-stone on the inside of my house. (there's a square partition that that the heating duct and furnace/water-heater exhaust run-up that I want to make look like a real chimney with stone.

Its about a 3'x4' 4-sided 'wall'

Does the stone go up first, and then you cement/grout in between the stone?

Write up!!!!

Don't have any 'in progress' pics. Sorry.

First you staple up 30 pound felt paper to protect the substrate. Then nail up wire lath that is similar heavy chicken wire. This is to give the mortar something to grab on to. This is covered by a coat of mortar. You want to force it down into the lath so it gets a good bite. Let this set until it stiffens some.

The stones are flat on the back and about 3'' thick. W/ a mason's trowel, back butter each stone and stick it on the wall, starting maybe 1'' high and sliding the stone down into position. This helps adhesion and fills some of the gap between to stones w/ mortar. For corners there are "L" shaped stones that wrap around the corner to give the illusion of full depth stones.

Next you grout between the stones, using a grout bag. Once this set a little, rake the joint to make everything look nice. When the mortar is quite stiff, hit everything w/ a small, relatively still bristle brush to remove all the crumblies.

Stand back and admire your work!

I cut off the bottom. We used 8 floor jacks and just rolled it over, then cut off the bottom of the walls.

What was the purpose of lowering? Just looks or what? Looks awesome btw, I am sooo jealous.

:headscratch:

?????

That Awesome Todd... I'll have to show those pictures to the wife. :grin:

Just for the sake that they're cool..... anything is possible.

Like doing cocking.... where you smooth the material to give a uniform finisn. Except when you're doing mortar they call it raking the joint, because you carefully cut out the overage and then dress the rest, to give stone a nice thick lip. You wouldn't want it to look smooth like tile work or brick.... that would be bad.

Update on the house.

Not a lot has been done that's easy to see. Finished up the interior framing. The HVAC is almost buttoned up. The electrical rough-in is about half done.

The stairs were pretty steep and somewhat uneven so we ripped them out and reframed them with 2 more treads and risers.





They've been working on the siding on the back and sides of the house and it's coming along.








The new front door is in too. The stone guy is supposed to come on Saturday to install the manufactured stone around it.



It going much slower than I'd like but I'm at other peoples mercy.

Must be frustrating to not be able to go at it yourself... But the house is looking great bro.

I get a hard on every time I think about your LONG driveway!

nice...how much longer do you think it will take?

The house is looking great Todd. I would have to leave the country while it was being done. Once again you truly are an inspiration to us all.
I see the elevator in the pic. Is that something that will be permanent?
The property is awesome too. I'm on 5 acres and about 300' off the road with woods all around people go by and don't even know we're here 8)
Oh yeah and no curtains :boobies:

Too long. :? I'm at the mercy of others, most of whom are volunteering their time. I appreciate all that they are doing but I wish it would just be done.



Yes. I want to build an actual elevator car on the lift so the mechanicals won't be seen. Ordered the steel Friday.

Damn Todd. The place is really coming along nicely. I know what you mean though. It sucks having so much stuff "in progress". It will get done eventually though and then you will have a a fecking awesome place. Thanks for the update. Definitely post up some pics of the front door when you get em. I bet that is going to be sweet.

The stone was done early last week and turned out great. To start, cover the wall w/ tar paper and wire lath.



Put on a scratch coat of mortar, back butter the stone, and stick it on the wall.



TA DA! (sp?)

Dude! That looks fantastic. Now go make that guy in the next to last pic a bacon double cheeseburger and some gravy fries. :D

Wow Todd! That really looks great! Adds alot of character.

I think it's Travis' long lost brother.



Thanks, I think so too.

Dead sexy!

Finally! Some visible progress. We took a lot of time off this summer then got back at it this fall. Mostly HVAC, plumbing and electrical rough ins. Lots to do but not much to see. Kinda depressing to do that stuff and have it look basically the same.

I'm having the walls and ceiling sprayed w/ Icynene expanding foam insulation.

http://www.icynene.com/

Really cool stuff, but kinda pricey. They sprayed the walls today. Ordering drywall tomorrow. We'll put up the ceiling drywall then they'll come back and spray the ceiling.







Here's a short video of them spraying.

http://www.cbr1100xxforums.org/photos/albu.../10039/Foam.wmv

Kewl Todd 8) 8)

The foam looks like neat stuff. I am going to look into that :wink:

Way to go on the progress :D

Sweet!

Can I move in when you're done?

It costs about 150% of other insulation but my HVAC guy says that he reduces the furnace size by 30 to 40% when a house has foam insulation.



I was hoping you cum for a 'visit' before that.............

Wow... that foam stuff is cool.

Thanks for the update... it's nice to see the progression.

Todd, that stuff is so cool! I bet you it helps with sound as well?

Yes it's supposed to make it a lot quieter too. I'm not sure that's possible though. I already live in the sticks.



Maybe, but I didn't get much of a rush from the insulation......................

looking good, todd!
can't wait to get back down there to see all you new/updated things.

Latest update. The drywall is up. You can get a much better feel for what the house finished will be like. Really defines the space. The tapers started last week and hope to finish up late this week. Everything I own is covered w/ DW dust. but it's part of the process. Got an estimate of kitchen cabinets........... I thought they were wooden boxes but appearently they must have some sort of diamond coating...........

Actually it's a little less than I expected but still too much for what you get.

Thought I'd post a floor plan so you can get a better idea where stuff is.



Master bedroom



Master bath. Whirlpool tub goes under the window.



Dining room





Front door



Bedroom #3 looking down the hall

Wow, that is an amazing house bro!

Keep it up

Very cool. Thanks for the update.