Huge house update and inside tour
It has been a little while since I last updated about the house. It is going excruciatingly slowly (imo ;D), but things are happening.
The front looks like this now:
The concrete for the bottom porch has been poured, the brick skirt is complete and most windows and doors have been framed. (The reason the window frames protrude so much is the 4" foam wrap we are putting on the outside of the house. This means we have extra wide window sills inside, which I love.)
I don't know how much I've talked about the things we are doing toward energy efficiency, but the 4" outside foam wrap is one of them. The other is spray foam insulation for the entire house - walls, plus roof, crawlspace, everything. Also, we did decide to go with geothermal heating and cooling and we are adding the hot water option to the geothermal unit. Additionally, our water heater will be tankless. I had a hard time understanding how the hot water thing worked. We will get a traditional (albeit, very large - 80 gal is a minimum, but it may be more like 120 gal or so) propane hot water heater. The hot water produced as a by-product of the geothermal heating/cooling will be returned to that traditional tank, which will act as nothing more than a holding tank most of the time - the pilot light will not even be on. The water that is in that traditional tank will flow to the tankless heater (also propane fired) and will then be heated to the temp we want. Sometimes, it may not need to be heated at all. The only time the traditional tank will actually heat water would be during a power outage, at which point Scott would have to go light the pilot light. The reason for that is I am a bit of a diva in this aspect. I want hot water when I want it, whether there is electricity or not. Electricity is needed to ignite the the tankless water heater, so it would be a bit of a pain to go down and light it every time we wanted to turn on hot water if there were a power outage. I'm not talking about a few hours' outage, I mean times when it is out for days, like when we've had ice storms and such.
Anyway, more pics:
You may notice there are no vents for the crawlspace. That's because they'd all be spray foamed shut, anyway. I am slightly worried about this (no air movement under the house at all? what if we have a leak?!), but Scott assures me this is the way it is done. He wanted to brick up that access door because it will be sprayed shut, too, but it *could* be cut open if the need arose, so I wanted it. There is another access door that will not be sprayed shut between the crawlspace and the basement.
Look - no more back corner dungeon! All windows cut out and framed.
Also, let me take you on a tour inside.
We will usually be coming in the back door, from the carport, so step through that door with me into the mudroom.
In front of you is the mudroom closet. To the left is the pocket door that leads into the office. On the right is the pantry. Between the pantry and the closet is the open doorway (there won't be a door) into the hall.
The office to your left:
This is the view from the hallway, facing the door to the carport that we just came through. This puts the pantry on your left and the mudroom closet on your right.
Just another view of the same thing.
If you turned right out of the mudroom and go down the hall, you'll pass the pantry, a bathroom, and end up in the kitchen. If you turn around in the kitchen and look down the hall from the opposite direction, you'll see the bathroom door on the right of the hall and Fletcher's bedroom door at the end. (The hallway looks narrow, but it's a little more than 4' wide.)
This is the pantry, as seen from the kitchen.
There is a door into the pantry from the mudroom (where you'll be coming in with groceries) and the door into the pantry from the kitchen is a pocket door. I envision it actually staying open most of the time unless we are having company/entertaining. Just being realistic. ;)
This is the small bathroom off the hallway.
It will be the new Mickey Mouse bathroom. Most regular bathtubs are 5' wide. We got a 6' tub so this room would be a bit wider (and we like big tubs, too). The sink will be immediately on the right, then the toilet on the right, also, then the tub across the back of the room. One the left, the linen closet is actually a small cut-out from Fletcher's bedroom closet.
Go back down the end of the hallway there and look at Fletcher's room from the doorway.
This is taken standing in front of his windows. The doorway on the left wall is a pocket door that goes to my closet. The doorway on the left of the opposing wall is the doorway into his closet. On the right is the doorway back out into the hall.
This is taken from the living room, looking toward the back of the house. There's the dining room, the first doorway you see on the right is to the utility room and then the back corner is the kitchen (prior to the windows being cut out). From this perspective, the pantry is to the right of the kitchen and that hallway is on the right immediately preceding the pantry.
The utility room shares a wall with that small bath. The wall that will be behind the bathtub is the left wall of the utility room.
And from the doorway of the utility room, looking in. The doorway to the master closet had yet to be cut.
Now with a doorway to the master closet.
Living room, again
This is the living room, taken from the front door. Scott is holding onto what will be the doorframe for the door for the stairs to the basement.
This is the living room, again, looking toward the stairs. Past the stairs, on the left, is the half bath and then the doorway to the master bedroom. The front door of the house is on the right, across from the stairs.
Just past stairs, the half bath. The stairs are to the left of the half bath door when you are facing the half bath.
Pedestal sink will go immediately to the right of the door, then the toilet past it, also on the right side.
Across from the toilet on the left side of the room, there is a small door to access the space under the stairs.
Just past the half bath is the master bedroom. This is from the master bedroom looking the other way. From this perspective, if you went through the door, on the right is the half bath and then the stairs. On the left is the front door of the house. If you keep going, you'll be in the living room.
I didn't take a good pic of the master bedroom. The wall on the right wasn't put up, yet, the one between the bedroom and half bath.
That board also blocks one of the windows. I need to get a better pic.
This is taken from Fletcher's room. It looks into the master bath and then the master bedroom. The door you see on the right of the pic there goes to the master closet.
One the left will be the (3.5' x 6') whirlpool tub, the toilet will be on the right. Past the toilet on the right is a linen closet and then a doorway to the master closet. (Yes, there are four doors to/from the master closet. Yes, people have tried to talk me out of at least one of them - mainly, the one that goes into Fletcher's room. No, I am not willing to get rid of any of them.) Pass that doorway and there will be the 5' shower. On the left, across from the shower, will be the double vanity.
Master bathroom, as seen from the other end, or from the master bedroom.
Shower on the left, vanity on the right. Whirlpool tub in far right corner. The doorway you're seeing to the left that is mostly cut off in the pic is into the master closet.
Window over the whirlpool tub.
View out that window.
Deer like to stand by the trees at the end of the field, by the creek. Of course, this will all be cleaned up.
Master closet, as seen from the other end/from Fletcher's room.
The doorway on the left goes to the master bath, the doorway on the right goes into the utility room. Doorway at the end, of course, goes into the master bedroom.
Okay, technically, this doorway has been moved 13" to the left, but the pic was taken before that happened. Anyway, come on in the front door.
Let's go upstairs.
Turn left on the landing.
Sitting area on the left, "catwalk" on the right, and the door to the guest bedroom is straight ahead.
This is where you would stay if you came to visit. The doorway goes to the upstairs porch. The closet is on the right.
View of the guest bedroom taken from the closet doorway.
Guest bedroom closet
Come back out the door of the guest bedroom
Turn right out that door and you're in the sitting area.
Go through the sitting room and turn left.
On your right is another door to the upstairs porch. On the left is Ethan's bathroom and straight ahead is the door to his bedroom.
The bathroom has a slightly odd configuration, a long L shape. You probably can't see it since it hasn't all been framed.
You'll go in the door and a few feet past will be the vanity/sink on the left. The tub/shower combo will be at the end. To the right of the tub will be the toilet. The toilet sits in the little part of the L and the door from Ethan's room into the bathroom is in front of the toilet.
From the doorway, looking left:
Most of the room to the left of that window will be boxed off to make the closet and the area for the toilet. It has not yet been framed because a little bit of the closet (2' x 2', approx) will be used for HVAC stuff, but the HVAC plan isn't finalized, yet.
In Ethan's room, looking toward the front of the house.
That's the same window on the left I was referencing before. I guess this pic is probably taken from what will be the closet doorway.
Okay, back through the sitting room.
Scott thinks this area is a huge waste of space and energy (the heat is sucked right up that open stairwell), but I love it. It was wonderful to sit up here in the winter and watch it snow. It's just lovely and quiet and the views are great from up here.
Back downstairs.
Turn right on the landing. You should be able to find your way out.
Now that the door has moved, from this perspective, the right side lines up with the right edge of the steps. The door upstairs moved 6.5", too, to stay centered with the front door. Moving the doors had a lot to do with getting natural light on the stairs for photos. :D There used to be awesome light there and it would be a huge disappointment/send me into a spiral of despair if the new house has crappy light.
The front looks like this now:
The concrete for the bottom porch has been poured, the brick skirt is complete and most windows and doors have been framed. (The reason the window frames protrude so much is the 4" foam wrap we are putting on the outside of the house. This means we have extra wide window sills inside, which I love.)
I don't know how much I've talked about the things we are doing toward energy efficiency, but the 4" outside foam wrap is one of them. The other is spray foam insulation for the entire house - walls, plus roof, crawlspace, everything. Also, we did decide to go with geothermal heating and cooling and we are adding the hot water option to the geothermal unit. Additionally, our water heater will be tankless. I had a hard time understanding how the hot water thing worked. We will get a traditional (albeit, very large - 80 gal is a minimum, but it may be more like 120 gal or so) propane hot water heater. The hot water produced as a by-product of the geothermal heating/cooling will be returned to that traditional tank, which will act as nothing more than a holding tank most of the time - the pilot light will not even be on. The water that is in that traditional tank will flow to the tankless heater (also propane fired) and will then be heated to the temp we want. Sometimes, it may not need to be heated at all. The only time the traditional tank will actually heat water would be during a power outage, at which point Scott would have to go light the pilot light. The reason for that is I am a bit of a diva in this aspect. I want hot water when I want it, whether there is electricity or not. Electricity is needed to ignite the the tankless water heater, so it would be a bit of a pain to go down and light it every time we wanted to turn on hot water if there were a power outage. I'm not talking about a few hours' outage, I mean times when it is out for days, like when we've had ice storms and such.
Anyway, more pics:
You may notice there are no vents for the crawlspace. That's because they'd all be spray foamed shut, anyway. I am slightly worried about this (no air movement under the house at all? what if we have a leak?!), but Scott assures me this is the way it is done. He wanted to brick up that access door because it will be sprayed shut, too, but it *could* be cut open if the need arose, so I wanted it. There is another access door that will not be sprayed shut between the crawlspace and the basement.
Look - no more back corner dungeon! All windows cut out and framed.
Also, let me take you on a tour inside.
We will usually be coming in the back door, from the carport, so step through that door with me into the mudroom.
In front of you is the mudroom closet. To the left is the pocket door that leads into the office. On the right is the pantry. Between the pantry and the closet is the open doorway (there won't be a door) into the hall.
The office to your left:
This is the view from the hallway, facing the door to the carport that we just came through. This puts the pantry on your left and the mudroom closet on your right.
Just another view of the same thing.
If you turned right out of the mudroom and go down the hall, you'll pass the pantry, a bathroom, and end up in the kitchen. If you turn around in the kitchen and look down the hall from the opposite direction, you'll see the bathroom door on the right of the hall and Fletcher's bedroom door at the end. (The hallway looks narrow, but it's a little more than 4' wide.)
This is the pantry, as seen from the kitchen.
There is a door into the pantry from the mudroom (where you'll be coming in with groceries) and the door into the pantry from the kitchen is a pocket door. I envision it actually staying open most of the time unless we are having company/entertaining. Just being realistic. ;)
This is the small bathroom off the hallway.
It will be the new Mickey Mouse bathroom. Most regular bathtubs are 5' wide. We got a 6' tub so this room would be a bit wider (and we like big tubs, too). The sink will be immediately on the right, then the toilet on the right, also, then the tub across the back of the room. One the left, the linen closet is actually a small cut-out from Fletcher's bedroom closet.
Go back down the end of the hallway there and look at Fletcher's room from the doorway.
This is taken standing in front of his windows. The doorway on the left wall is a pocket door that goes to my closet. The doorway on the left of the opposing wall is the doorway into his closet. On the right is the doorway back out into the hall.
This is taken from the living room, looking toward the back of the house. There's the dining room, the first doorway you see on the right is to the utility room and then the back corner is the kitchen (prior to the windows being cut out). From this perspective, the pantry is to the right of the kitchen and that hallway is on the right immediately preceding the pantry.
The utility room shares a wall with that small bath. The wall that will be behind the bathtub is the left wall of the utility room.
And from the doorway of the utility room, looking in. The doorway to the master closet had yet to be cut.
Now with a doorway to the master closet.
Living room, again
This is the living room, taken from the front door. Scott is holding onto what will be the doorframe for the door for the stairs to the basement.
This is the living room, again, looking toward the stairs. Past the stairs, on the left, is the half bath and then the doorway to the master bedroom. The front door of the house is on the right, across from the stairs.
Just past stairs, the half bath. The stairs are to the left of the half bath door when you are facing the half bath.
Pedestal sink will go immediately to the right of the door, then the toilet past it, also on the right side.
Across from the toilet on the left side of the room, there is a small door to access the space under the stairs.
Just past the half bath is the master bedroom. This is from the master bedroom looking the other way. From this perspective, if you went through the door, on the right is the half bath and then the stairs. On the left is the front door of the house. If you keep going, you'll be in the living room.
I didn't take a good pic of the master bedroom. The wall on the right wasn't put up, yet, the one between the bedroom and half bath.
That board also blocks one of the windows. I need to get a better pic.
This is taken from Fletcher's room. It looks into the master bath and then the master bedroom. The door you see on the right of the pic there goes to the master closet.
One the left will be the (3.5' x 6') whirlpool tub, the toilet will be on the right. Past the toilet on the right is a linen closet and then a doorway to the master closet. (Yes, there are four doors to/from the master closet. Yes, people have tried to talk me out of at least one of them - mainly, the one that goes into Fletcher's room. No, I am not willing to get rid of any of them.) Pass that doorway and there will be the 5' shower. On the left, across from the shower, will be the double vanity.
Master bathroom, as seen from the other end, or from the master bedroom.
Shower on the left, vanity on the right. Whirlpool tub in far right corner. The doorway you're seeing to the left that is mostly cut off in the pic is into the master closet.
Window over the whirlpool tub.
View out that window.
Deer like to stand by the trees at the end of the field, by the creek. Of course, this will all be cleaned up.
Master closet, as seen from the other end/from Fletcher's room.
The doorway on the left goes to the master bath, the doorway on the right goes into the utility room. Doorway at the end, of course, goes into the master bedroom.
Okay, technically, this doorway has been moved 13" to the left, but the pic was taken before that happened. Anyway, come on in the front door.
Let's go upstairs.
Turn left on the landing.
Sitting area on the left, "catwalk" on the right, and the door to the guest bedroom is straight ahead.
This is where you would stay if you came to visit. The doorway goes to the upstairs porch. The closet is on the right.
View of the guest bedroom taken from the closet doorway.
Guest bedroom closet
Come back out the door of the guest bedroom
Turn right out that door and you're in the sitting area.
Go through the sitting room and turn left.
On your right is another door to the upstairs porch. On the left is Ethan's bathroom and straight ahead is the door to his bedroom.
The bathroom has a slightly odd configuration, a long L shape. You probably can't see it since it hasn't all been framed.
You'll go in the door and a few feet past will be the vanity/sink on the left. The tub/shower combo will be at the end. To the right of the tub will be the toilet. The toilet sits in the little part of the L and the door from Ethan's room into the bathroom is in front of the toilet.
From the doorway, looking left:
Most of the room to the left of that window will be boxed off to make the closet and the area for the toilet. It has not yet been framed because a little bit of the closet (2' x 2', approx) will be used for HVAC stuff, but the HVAC plan isn't finalized, yet.
In Ethan's room, looking toward the front of the house.
That's the same window on the left I was referencing before. I guess this pic is probably taken from what will be the closet doorway.
Okay, back through the sitting room.
Scott thinks this area is a huge waste of space and energy (the heat is sucked right up that open stairwell), but I love it. It was wonderful to sit up here in the winter and watch it snow. It's just lovely and quiet and the views are great from up here.
Back downstairs.
Turn right on the landing. You should be able to find your way out.
Now that the door has moved, from this perspective, the right side lines up with the right edge of the steps. The door upstairs moved 6.5", too, to stay centered with the front door. Moving the doors had a lot to do with getting natural light on the stairs for photos. :D There used to be awesome light there and it would be a huge disappointment/send me into a spiral of despair if the new house has crappy light.