So, I’m hearing through the grape vine, that we don’t have enough house pictures for you picture mongers! Well then, here you go!
We’ve been doing lots of little things, trying to get the house closed up. All but two of the windows are hung. The doors are in and the door knobs are set. We’ve been doing cordwood on sunny days….
Here’s the front door. I know, it looks a little run down, but it’s just dirty. Once I clean it up, clean the window, and paint if red it will be fabulous!!
Here are the french doors that lead into the dining room. Aren’t they nice. They were another Habitat for Humanity find. We spent a pretty penny on the specially made locks, hinges and handle, but it still cost less then new doors would have.
These Pella windows are the only ones we bought new. They cost more than all the other windows combined! But, we decided it was important to have an operable window in the living room, ’cause all the others are fixed. So, now we will have some good airflow through the room. Can you see the triangle windows are in too? (We’ve got windows with green frames… brown, white, neutral…. I think we will leave them varied colors. It’s kinda cool.)
Today, we worked on bringing up the cordwood wall in the kitchen. It’s one of the lowest. But, once we get the wood to the window, the rest will go pretty quickly. We did about 3 layers today… these wide walls take a while!!
Here I am making a little somethin’ special for this wall.
Kaia joined me and made a flower of her own. Mine is blue/yellow, hers is red/yellow. Cool, eh?
Oh, for those of you who might be interested, we are hoping to have another (maybe our last, wohoooo!) cordwood party this Sat. Dec. 8th. If you want to join us, we would love to have you!!
This is a test.
I admit it, I’m a picture freak. And I just love your new house!
Hi,
I really like your blog!!
It’s so awesome and helpful as far as pictures and details of what needs to be done and it’s great seeing things how it all began from the start. I am considering building my own cordwood house and as I am city-folk I’m reading and finding as much info as I can before I start. I have a couple of questions, if you don’t mind answering them, I know they are quite personal.
1. I saw someone else’s blog and it took them 2 years to plan and then gather materials. How long did it take you to plan before you started digging?
2. I was wondering if you are going to put a cost per sq. ft at the end?
3. Also, how big will it be inside - ie. how many sq. ft?
4. Does your husband work in construction or are you both just “handy” people?
5. How do you find time to work AND build your house? Do you work part time? Do you have an office job?
I’ll limit my questions to that as this is probably too personal, but as my sister always says “inquiring minds want to know”.
Keep on doing a great job and I hope everything turns out under budget and on time!! You guys are doing great!!
Deb
Hey Deb!
No, your questions are not too personal! I think it’s important to ask stuff like this if you are thinking of doing it yourself.
1. I saw someone else’s blog and it took them 2 years to plan and then gather materials. How long did it take you to plan before you started digging?
We purchased our land in April of 2006, and immediately built a little cabin to live in. It’s 390 square feet… tight quarters, but it got us out onto the land and away from paying rent. We were doing a bunch of reading on different types of alternative structures, and Toby really likes the cordwood look. So in July of 2006 he went up to NY to do a workshop with Rob Roy. We started designing the house after that and went through many versions. It was sometime in the early winter that we began finalizing the plans. We began the foundation in Jan 07. We had to smash that one up and move the foundation because of the soil. We poured the current foundation in late Feb.
We’ve been gathering materials as we go, pretty much. If we see something that we know we will need, and it is a good deal, we grab it. Like our granite counter tops. I think it was at least a year ago that we found it free from a granite cutting school. So we got it, even though we didn’t need it yet… it was free
2. I was wondering if you are going to put a cost per sq. ft at the end?
Once we are totally done, we plan to add up all the receipts and figure out our cost… We were hoping to get it all done for under $60K, but I think it will be closer to $80
3. Also, how big will it be inside - ie. how many sq. ft?
The exterior square footage is ~1500, but since the walls are 16″ think downstairs, the actual interior square footage is ~1350 or so.
4. Does your husband work in construction or are you both just “handy” people?
Nope, I’m a nurse-herbalist, and Toby is a computer software engineer. He definitely has a knack for building things and the ‘handy’ gene runs in his family.
5. How do you find time to work AND build your house? Do you work part time? Do you have an office job?
Right now, we are both working part time, him writing software and me seeing clients. Finding time to do both has been very challenging… well actually, what’s been challenging is not letting work and house consume our lives. We are really looking forward to spending more time with friends and family, relaxing, catching up on reading, sleeping, etc!!!
If you have more questions, feel free to ask away!
Maria