We have made our fist visual progress on the house since installing the windows in December. It is incredibly difficult to find the time amidst projects for other people to work on our own house. Until this point we have put chunks of time into the house, rather than trying to work on evenings and weekends. The prospect of moving all the required tools to the house for a few hours of work is very unappealing. Perhaps when we are roughing in the wiring or doing the siding this will make more sense.
The chimney was completed about a month ago by our mason. I love the look of the recycled brick that came out of the mason's yard- also our neighbor. I think the irregularity of the brick and the roughness of the timbers is a great fit. This chimney adds so much texture to the open floor plan living area.
So far we have done a horrible job making any cheap decisions. Our tastes our just much more expensive than we can afford. That's where Craigslist comes in! I perused the internet for months looking for stainless appliances and one Friday I found a fridge, dishwasher and gas range for sale together in Portland. We jumped in the truck and drove down to pick them up. After stopping for the obligatory Sushi dinner while in the "big city", we headed home with our new kitchen.
Timber frames present a number of unique challenges. One such challenge is hiding the electrical wiring under the second floor decking. Since all the floor joists are visible from the first floor, channels have to be routed under the tongue and groove decking to put the wiring in for the first floor ceiling lights. The wires then run to stud walls on the second floor.
Another unique aspect of timber frames is that the rafters are visible from the upstairs rooms. As a result the stud walls on the second floor run all the way to the ceiling. Unlike in a typical house with 8' or so ceilings, each stud is cut on an angle and walls slope with the roof line. This will make for bedrooms that feel much larger than the same size room with a flat ceiling would, but the walls are much more time consuming to build.
The below picture is taken from what will be the middle bedroom/office. The chimney turns to block where it will be hidden in closets and then back to brick where it will be visible above. I am looking forward to setting up my desk and drafting table in this bright and inviting space.
This picture is taken from the master bedroom entrance looking out along the hall that accesses all the upstairs rooms and overlooks the entry.
Determined to take the passive solar orientation as far as we could, this is the sole window on the North side of the house- in an upstairs bathroom.
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