It has been a while since updates but things are going kinda slow it seems. I have most of the kitchen done except appliance hookup, countertops and glass in the cabinets.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000757.jpg

It has alot of stuff just sitting around but its hard to find places to store things. I really need a garage soon.

Here is the dining/living room flooring. We have did the first cleaning but no sealer/grout.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...g/P1000752.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...g/P1000748.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...g/P1000750.jpg

Anyways things are still moving along and I am ordering trim/doors this week finally. That will keep me busy up till around the new year im sure.

Love the floor!!!

Thanks for the update
 

That slate with the in lays looks great.

Those floor are beautiful. I better no show DH or he'll start trying to figure out what it would take to put them on our 100+ yr old house!!

Time for another update after a few days off for deer hunting. I just needed a break and it helped alot. Well here is the finished floor in the living/dining room area.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...g/P1000762.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...g/P1000763.jpg

Basically had it looking nice for about a day till we covered it all up with tarps since we are painting trim in that area (only place long enough for 16' trimwork). Here is all the trimwork sitting in the master.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/P1000769.jpg

Here is some of it painted...

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/P1000771.jpg

Here are some of the crown.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/P1000773.jpg

And some casing on non painted doors.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/P1000777.jpg

Anyways thats all. I know its been a while but things always get busy with hunting and so forth around this time of year :D

-Mallow

Time for another requested update. I have been slacking on the updates but I have been busy it seems. Here is one of the window seats in the spare bedroom.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/P1000835.jpg

Hallway wainscoting and trim.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/P1000827.jpg

Living/Dining room area.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/P1000824.jpg

Things are coming along decently just taking a while. Hopefully I will finish up before to many more years it seems ;) Actually I am on the finishing steps which is nice.

-Mallow

You're doing a beautiful job! Keep the pics coming!

Annie

wow it looks fantastic! I'm totally jealous of your bathroom. I have to admit the bath is one place where i'm not completely the crunchy hippy- i need long hot showers and big deep bathtubs lol the tile looks wonderful.

Wow it has been like 2 months since i've last posted pictures....and things have been hectic for not looking like much is getting done. I hope to be in the house in a month or so at least so things must be progressing. Even if it seems to be going slower than dirt.

The granite was delivered today and wow what a difference it makes to the kitchen.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000868.jpg

Dont mind the clamps. They are holding on the dishwasher metal attachment thingy.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000864.jpg

I ended up having 1 seam. You can tell its there but overall it looks pretty good I think.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000858.jpg

Nice deep sink and fairly large. I can at least hide a few dishes in there before having to wash them.

I have the glass ordered for the cabinets but apparently it takes a while to get decorative glass cut and tempered.

Here is the double vanity for the master bath.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...h/P1000867.jpg

Continued in the next post.

I ended up ordering 3 closet organizers from easyclosets.com. I wanted to see the quality before deciding what to do with my master closet.


Small bedrooms look like these (The drawer faces need adjusting but didn't get to it yet):

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/P1000855.jpg


Hall closet:
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/P1000849.jpg

Needless to say I was impressed with the quality and ordered the ones for my master closet and they are waiting on me to install.

Overall I think things are going fairly well all in all. It has taken alot of time to finish up the trim work, touch up painting, filling seams with chaulking and so forth. I just wanted to post and update on how things are going and hopefully the finish line for the inside soon. I am worn out thats for sure after 2 yrs of this.

-Mallow

Mallow, you're killing me - if you don't finish this project (at least the posted portion) how will I know what my retirement home is going to look like.

Please update - I've been following you for 3 years now.

Fred

I'll post another update after this weekend. I am basically done inside and cleaning out everything to move in. Its been hectic but almost there.


-Mallow

Here is the house pre move in. Almost all inside work is done and we have started on the outside stone work finally.

Master Bath:

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000954.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000956.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000959.jpg

Master Bedroom:

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000950.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000951.jpg

Living Room:

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000948.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000949.jpg

Kitchen:

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000929.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000930.jpg

Pantry:

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000920.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000922.jpg

Main Bath:

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000942.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000941.jpg

Master Closet:

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/P1000952.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/P1000916.jpg

Very tasteful and classy, I have been wondering how it was going. The floors and tile work came out fantastic. Congrats!

Beautiful!!!

WOW! that is a beautiful house, a beautiful job! I hope you post some pix with the furniture in? and the finished outside?

The tile is beautiful!!!

(I just have to say too that carpeting in bathrooms is one of the most disgusting nasty things ever invented.)

It is so lovely, you have much to be proud of in your new home. :)

Two questions:how big is your pantry, and did you do the shelves yourself or did you purchase a kit (like you did for your closets)? It seems like you will have an easy time keeping things organized with all of your storage solutions.

All I can say is WOW!! Absolutely beautiful!

The stone veneer is sitting outside on pallets at the moment. We will be starting that process this weekend. I would be glad to post some furniture pics as soon as I get some. I will be buying furniture as I go so the only thing I have currently ordered is the bedroom set and my office setup so I can work fairly comfortably.

-Mallow

The pantry is 8x6 or so. We built the shelves using plywood and 4x4 posts for the most part in there. I wanted to be able to fit a chest freezer in that location to so didn't really want to go with the same closet setup as I did with the other closets. I tried to build as much storage into the house as possible due to not having a basement and no garage built yet. Hopefully it will have enough space for all my junk until I can afford a garage. Thanks again everyone for all the praise ;) It has been a very long road and its finally coming to a close at least for the house, of course there is always garage, garden, orchard, greenhouse, pond...such a long list and not enough time or money ;)

-Mallow

When do we get to see the bloopers reel? This house is too perfect - there has got to some Awwh C(&P moments?

Only kidding Mallow, it truly is a beautiful home and shows that you have the patience to do things correct the first time. Thank you for updating us. Looking forward to future pictures.

If it's not to personal any idea what the house cost to build in square footage terms?

Freddy

Bloopers reel would include having to hammer up about 8 slate tiles when we didnt get the pattern started right in the living room. I don't foresee any bonding problems because that took hours alone. The trimwork also had several issues but we managed to hide most of them fairly well. Most of those fixes wouldnt have worked if it was stained wood. Master closet we had one of the vertical panels fall off the track on the wall and bust up like 4 peices of the closet. The list goes on and on but you just deal with it and move on.

As for the cost based on the bank loan vs sqft its right around $65 but thats nowhere near correct. I would guesstimate between $90-100 psf with our time donated of course. I have all the reciepts in an overflowing box that one day ill actually sit down to add up. I tried to keep some of the costs down but I wanted a very specific look/feel for the house. I shopped around alot, used 10% off Lowes coupons on almost every trip, ordered alot of the stuff online to get better deals/no tax. I almost think I spent more time shopping/finding/sourcing what I wanted than actually working on the house or at least it seems that way now.

-Mallow

You do Beautiful work. Choice of colors,Awsome!

Mallow you are to be commended! You are for sure an artisan. Hgtv needs to get you to build their dream home for giveaway. Your work is as beautiful if not more so than that done by their experts! Congrats on your beautiful new home. Can't wait to see the finnish.

It all looks so wonderful! Simply gorgeous!!!

Annie

Checking in...
 

I know it's been a while since anything was posted about this but I was wondering how the project has come along. You have done beautiful work and I am interested how you are getting along in the new abode...

Absolutely beautiful and very tastefully chosen colors and finishes. I am jealous.... :)

Well as Woodly has pointed out it has been a while since I posted here. Since the start of the project I am now married and have a son which wasn't expected when starting the project so some things have changed. We have been living in the house for about 3 years now and everything is fantastic with the house. We do need to add an energy reclaim ventilator and maybe a house whole house dehumidifier but other projects keep coming up first. We have built a large detached garage that includes a canning kitchen, fruit cellar, work space and family space which is about 60% done if we could ever get them to deliver the garage doors the outside would be completed. A few other projects that have come up have been the orchard, raising 100 Rainbow Trout in a spring fed farm trough, orchard irrigation, large garden and various other things. We are installing inverters yet this year for our solar power but things should eventually slow down enough to actually enjoy some of these things more. If you guys have any questions please feel free to ask and ill check back before to long and answer what I can.

Thanks
-Mallow

Hey Mallow, thanks for the reply and congrats on the new addition to the family! Just wondering about the dehumidifier, in your opinion, is this a necessary item in an earth bermed home? I assume the ground water is weeping into the concrete walls or something?

I'm sure Mallow will come on and answer your question, but until he does, I'll fill in. We are in our second ES home (earth sheltered). The first we built in 1980, and moved in immediately. We ran a de-humidifier on and off for the first year, and only occasionally after that. We had a woodstove running most of the winter months (also heated our hot water till solar kicked back in), which helped.

The new house, which we moved into a month ago, does not require a de-humidifier. In fact, when we take showers, we often leave the bathroom door open, to let some of the humidity out into the main house. The humidity stays at 50-53%.

We did not move as fast on this house, as we had the farmhouse to live in, plus we built it in our 'spare' time. Took over two years, but worth it. It resembles the original ES home we built, but there have been some improvements in building materials since then. The foundation was open to weather to dry out the first summer, went under roof in November.

The key, IMHO, under the floor went 3" of blue styrofoam, a layer of plastic sheeting, then 8" of crushed stone on top of styrofoam, then poured the concrete. 3" of styrofoam went on outside of front frost footer as well. 3" on the OUTSIDE of the block walls, those outside walls were also painted with 2 coats of thoroseal. We used a 8" A block wall system, and while it was laid, we put short pieces of high tensile wire (left over from farm fencing) every couple of feet, so we we placed the styrofoam against the wall, it was 'impaled' on there and didn't move when we backfilled. A 2 x 12 pressure treated plate married the block and styrofoam at the top of the wall to finish.

On the inside walls we used two coats of masonry waterprooofer (Quikrete), then stud and drywall. On the metal roof we put 2' centers with heavy rafters with styrofoam batts, then 'bubble wrap' over that. Then drywall over that.

This home is 2500' sq feet (1900 sq foot living space 600' storage), that stays in the 50 degree area with no heat. We are currently just chugging along with a propane (30,000 BTU) heater on the back wall in the utility room. We do light fires in the woodstove just for the visual. We just checked the propane gauge, we have used 125 gallons in the last three months, but that includes the hot water heater. The wood stove would easily heat this as well, maybe too well. In fact, we currently have a window cracked in the back room because this house is pretty tight.

My DH wants me to mention that the heat is constant because of the tremendous thermal mass. Neither one of us would even consider building any other type of home in the future, but I personally will be happy spending the rest of my days right here!!

I'm sure I've forgotten something important, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. :grin:

Honestly the entire house is fine except the bathroom. I think its so air tight that the externally vented fan can't pull enough air into the house to vent it outside. I am looking at some other options in the future besides the dehumidifier but currently that is the only area it is run.

Also a small update on other things going on around the house....

1) My Outback Flexpower 2 Power panel has finally shipped from Outback. We will be installing this along with 16 panels in the coming months.

2) We just picked up our 100 rainbow trout for our trough. This is up from the 50 last year so hopefully everything goes well. We are adding some hydroponics to help filter the water in the early spring. We have a hard time growing leaf lettuce here so I can't wait for the growbeds to be up and running.

Beautiful job on your house!
Congratulations on building your family!