I love the house framing construction stage because there's so much visible progress in a short time! It's really starting to look like a house, and we can get a sense of where all the rooms will be. We are building a raised bungalow in the country, and acting as our own general contractors. We bought 30 acres of land south of Ottawa because it had always been a dream of ours to build our own house. Last week we had the floor joists installed, so this week we were able to get to the ... continue reading...
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Week 5: Installing steel beams & floor joists in a new home construction
This is now week 5 of our new home construction! You can see the finished house and our weekly progress here Installing the steel beams Last week we finished off the knee wall, and then had two ~30 foot steel beams delivered and installed. I wasn't there, but I was told they were very heavy. We got the beams from Quintan Products in Winchester, Ontario. Installing the floor joists Dovetail Carpentry finished installing the floor joists by the end of the week. We decided to go with the ... continue reading...
Week 4: Framing a raised bungalow knee wall
If you're new here, we started building a new house about four weeks ago. We have been acting as our own general contractors to save some money and to give ourselves a challenge! You can see the final house and a weekly summary here. This week Steve and Matt started framing our raised bungalow knee wall above the concrete foundation. We are building a raised bungalow, so the concrete foundation is about five feet in the ground. The ceilings in the basement will be nine feet, so they built a ... continue reading...
Week 3: Pouring concrete for a new home foundation
It doesn't look like a lot of progress was made this week, but pouring the concrete for a new home foundation was a pretty big deal and we feel like we're getting closer to finishing the foundation. Before doing the concrete the Foxblock insulated concrete forms (ICF) had to be braced so the wall didn't fall over. (Last week we finished stacking all the ICF blocks). Wood pieces were also screwed to all the spots where the foam blocks were cut. Here is how the foundation looked when it was all ... continue reading...
Week 2: Insulated Concrete Form ICF Foundation
We started building our own home about 3 weeks ago, this week we worked on the ICF foundation. After the foundation footing concrete was poured last week, it was left to dry for a day or two before removing the forms. This past week the guys got everything ready to start the foundation walls - this included installing the weeping tile all around the footings, and then covering the weeping tile with more gravel. Why an ICF foundation? We decided to do Fox Blocks insulated concrete forms (ICF) ... continue reading...
Week 1: How to form and pour foundation footings
We broke ground for our new house, and now week 1 we form and pour the foundation footings. The first step is excavation, then building the footings forms, and pouring the concrete in the forms. Here is a weekly progress of our house building process. Excavation This past week was all about getting ready to pour the foundation footings. By last week Thursday the hole was dug. We hired a local company to dig the hole for the foundation, and we will also get them do to the septic and civil ... continue reading...
Chalk Painted DIY Toddler Daybed From An Antique 3/4 Bed
It was time for our year-and-a-half old daughter to get out of the crib and into a real bed. We have three children in one room, and even though it's a fairly big room it would not fit three twin beds plus three dressers. So I thought a toddler sized bed would be the best option. Of course I couldn't just take the easy route and buy one, I decided to make a DIY toddler daybed out of an antique 3/4 bed frame. A 3/4 bed is between a twin and a double in size, and fits a 48 inch mattress. I scoured ... continue reading...
Rustic Wood Mirror by L. DeVries Designs
I had a plain mirror left from when we redid our laundry that I thought was the perfect size to use above my dresser. All it needed was a frame, but I didn't have a whole lot of extra time to make one. My friend makes beautiful hand painted signs with rustic wood frames, and she told me she really likes to do custom pieces. So I asked her to make a rustic wood frame for my mirror, and this is what she came up with! You can check out her website, ldevriesdesigns.shutterfly.com, for other ... continue reading...
