PROJECT 38549

The hearth before...

The kitchen

Do note the IKEA motif.  The cabinets and sink came with the place.  We have decided to keep these cabinets in hoping IKEA still continues to sell these style.














Water heater


R2D2 II

Ugh.

Work of art under the kitchen sink.  The person who installed the pipes was very "creative."

Note the duct tape.  I plan to disassemble the entire "drainage system" and take it to the hardware store and rebuild another work of art only without the duct tape.  Our idea is to have the sullage from the kitchen sink to be used for our plants and the by-product from the disposer to be used as compost.  Our water is supplied by the local water company with one major drawback:  uranium.  The uranium levels are low enough for human safety (washing clothes, showering) but not recommended for consumption.  We have to purchase our water at the grocery store.  You can be surprised how fast you go through the bottled water.  The water company assures the residents that this nuclear matter will be resolved, but we know that it takes money for a reverse osmosis treatment.  More out of ours into theirs.  We are looking into digging a well, but we could end up with the possibility of uranium contamination.




















Goodbye popcorn


We took our high-pressure washer fine mist nozzle and soaked the ceiling.  We duct taped a drywall taping knife to the end of a long handle and the stuff came off easily

Old roof being taken out

Looking back from our backyard.

What a mess.

The two-story is affectionately referred to by me as the "greenhouse."  This section has its unique qualities.  The upper part can be very hot, while the lower is cool during the summer.  During the winter, it is opposite.  If only the roof slanted the other way, then can solar panels be applied. 

It is all off. 

After shot.  We have installed a metal roof with a weathered copper color. There are four solar tubes we installed for the kitchen (right), laundry/mudroom (center), and bathroom (left). We were going to place a tube in the hallway, but due to the amount of light from all of the rooms, we placed the last tube in the garage. My wife was adamant about the solar tubes, but I persuaded her since we were opting for "natural." She loves it.

Now that is a skylight!

Looking out from the garage.  No, this not the last tube.

Our front porch looking south

The view from our south porch.  The cul-de-sac used to be a pond.  It was filled in due to vector control. 

Our west porch.

Our rocking chairs pointin' towards the west on the south porch.

Our dining room table for now

It is only temporary, but this long patio table will have to do.  I will be working on a douglas fir table that will be able to seat 8-10 people.  I have to get that done before Thanksgiving. 

Our bed

We have since reassembled the bed. The tent was to keep the bugs off us since we slept with all windows and patio doors open to circulate the air.   We place our camping mattress inside.

Working on the kiln-dried douglas fir for the mantle

If I only had a compound miter.  It wasn't easy mitering.

Yosemite slate

Mantle up!  All that is left is the sanding and staining.  We are trying to decide if we want a light or dark stain.  We are leaning towards the dark stain, but will not commit until we decide what color we want the wall to be.

Ready for the Yosemite slate

Getting the big pieces into place

Jigsaw puzzle

My wife would do this project herself

This was not easy as it looks.

Almost done

Nope, ain't me.  Legs too skinny.

Almost done



Lopi Liberty woodstove we purchased for $100.00!  A steal!
















Fired up and ready to go!



My wife did a fantastic job on the hearth.  It took her four days to complete this project.  She made at least four trips to the quarry to get the slate in various sizes.  In all, there is at least 1,000 pounds of rock comprising this hearth.  We considered cultured stone, but opted for the natural look.  We considered granite, but the Yosemite slate won over due to our proximity to the national park.  This airtight stove pumps out great heat enough to fry eggs on, but my wife won't let me.  I know one thing, you place a cast iron dutch oven on top in the morning, you will have a meal hot and ready when you get home.

Our gas range is now up and running.  Our first cooking was cabbage and polish sausage.

 A yeti in our front yard.  Our 100-gallon propane tank.  We will adorn it as a snowman this holiday season.

Our two cords of wood stacked and ready for burning to heat our project.

 Staircase to "the gallows."

We had to bring in the Rubbermaid shelves for the microwave.  It is only temporary.

The kitchen and living room.  We plan to relocate the washer and dryer into the garage to open up more space.

Our living room.  We don't have cable, nor do we plan to get it.

Our dining room.  Yes, we are roughing it, but loving it.

No, that structure is not our outhouse, but it could be.

The red you see on the tree is poison oak.  I sprayed at the base to kill it.  I have to be sure to wear a mask if I plan to use a weedwhacker in this section. Since poison oak is deciduous, it may be difficult to locate all the poison oak until spring.  We plan to have our herb garden down there surrounded by a fence to keep the critters out.

Our smokestack.  It used to come out on the side.  The old vent is still visible towards the left of the building.  Why the previous owners put that there is unknown.  We do know this...by having it there caused the smoke to blow back into the house on the wall and ceiling leaving residue.