RAIN CHAIN AND EYEBROW WINDOW

There was no information at all that I could find about how the original MFC placed the gutters and downspouts. When it was suggested that I would have to have a clunky downspout attached to my lovely arch and post, I was very unhappy. I had no idea why I never saw such an ugly thing on the original. So I spent some time on HOUZZ to see what ideas I could come up with. It seemed so simple, a rain chain – beautiful and a perfect solution! The only thing wrong is that there are so many choices, we spent hours arguing over which one to buy, but in the end it was just the simple copper cup that one out. I was surprised that Jane came to the same decision about her house in North Carolina for the same reason.

Also the Eyebrow window finally arrived and was installed this week. We had a little trouble when the window I ordered did not match the framing design. But Jemimah

was able to modify the framing and get it to fit. I really love it.

INSTALATION OF THE ARCHES, BRACES, CORBELS AND KEYSTONES DAY 1

Jeremiah brought his crew back this week for a list of items that have built up for them to work on. Yesterday they started putting up the Arches, and Braces.

arch instal day 1

arch instal day 1

arch instal day 1

brace installation day 1

brace installation day 1

brace installation day 1

brace installation day 1

GUTTERS

We finally got our gutters installed yesterday; after a failed attempt a couple of months ago, leafguard came yesterday to put up gutters around the house. In other news, the roof is COMPLETELY finished, and we have passed our rough in electrical inspection.

new gutters, i like the color with the roof

hard to get good color in the winter light, but this one is good.

upper and lower gutter

corner piece, cool!

COPPER EYEBROW AND MASTER BATH DORMER

We had some activity over the New Years weekend. The Copper roofing for the eyebrow and master area arrived and was installed.

3 dozen can lights, 2 plumbed sinks, and a Woodpecker in a big tree….

exterior can light run

exterior can light run

If anyone ever advises you not to do an electrical plan and ” just do a walk through with the electrician and point out where you want stuff” you should assume that person is NOT your friend!
I wish I would have had at least a preliminary plan, I realize that things happen and that plans need to be adjusted, but it would have been wonderful to have something to work from.
“Where to you want this light switch?’ “Do you want to be able to turn on from multiple locations?” “How many out lets to you want here and here and here…?”, “How high should I set the box’s?”. “How many can lights?'” Do you really need those sconces?”, “Where do you want the Microwave, dishwasher, refrig, stove plugs located?”…
It was a nightmare, we did three walk throughs and I probably changed my mind 10 times. I will never do that again. Electrical plans are essential to sanity. I hired a great designer-Mitchell, at the last minute and he saved my bacon with a nicely laid out set of electrical and plumbing drawings.
Pictures don’t look like much, but it represents weeks of work from the plumbers, electrician and the water treatment company.

powder room

plumbing for power room

laundry room shower

powder room

kicthen

kitchen

kitchen

kitchen

kitchen cab wall with dumbwaiter frame.

dumb water frame for kitchen level stop.

Kitchen cabinet wall with stove, hood and refrigerator outlets

water and electrical for built-in coffee maker and cup warming drawer.

water and electrical for built-in coffee maker and cup warming drawer.

water tower number 1 located in the future office area.

microwave plug location in pantry.

additional convenience outlets for pantry

pre-positined plumb lines for future upstairs baths.

water lines to future upstairs bath

wow

woodpecker

woodpecker

woodpecker

woodpecker

woodpecker

woodpecker

MAIN PEAK ARCHED WINDOWS FINNALY HERE

After waiting and waiting, our french windows finally arrived, and were promptly installed. I really love the way it came out, it still resembles the original arched window, and still has the same wing shaped trim on the sides. We are planning a Juliet balcony here.

The wait for the eyebrow window continues….

We also had Lyndale glass come out and reverse the window pains on the bath windows. I ordered a cross-hatch etching on these windows just to add alittle more interest to these sets. They came in with the etching facing the inside of the house. This has to be facing the exterior or you can not see it from the outside.
There was much discussion about this between me and Lyndale and Lyndale with Marvin. It seems Marvin refused to make the correction I wanted because they were worried that the window would not have a complete seal from the rain, snow and ice if the etching were on the exterior. I totally get their concerns but I will take the responsibility. So Lyndale was able to figure a way to have a window tech make the fix on site without having to remove the set of windows that had already been installed, and made the cor

cross hatch etch on the exterior.

rection to the other set in their shop. So I’m happy now, and we can move on….

Where did we get our porch jewlery?

I got a question from another MFC builder last night about where we got our arches.  The answer was fairly long, so I decided to put the answer in a regular post.
Our corbels, braces, arches and keystones were custom made for us by PRICE & VISSER MILLWORK Inc. in Bellingham WA. 
We were getting a little discouraged NO ONE wanted to take on the job.  My contractor tried many times to talk me into putting in straight braces that you can probably buy off the shelf at Home Depot.
And then we found Price & Visser. They really “got” our design and appreciated the detail that was going into it.

Rob was VERY happy to be a part of the craftsmanship of our house. He also

arches and braces

arches and braces

arches and braces

soffit filler block

filler block

set of corbels

corbel

worked with us on choosing wood type and grade and got them done and delivered to us in a timely manor.

Since this company has already figured out how to put these items together: it seems logical that they would be able to turn them out for you also. After your porch posts have been installed and you are sure they are in the correct positions (make sure that end post lines up exactly with the Breakfast nook corner of the house). You should be able to take the measurements they need to create your arches and braces. Each arch will be a different width, and that is good, it will be very clear that these items were designed especially for your MFC!

I feel I also should let you know that we had an error in the overhang of the front porch trusses. When we adapted the plan to our lot, the overhang was accidentally changed from 24 to 18″. Now ordinarily no one but I would care about this but it did cause the braces that face out on the posts to have to be shortened. Also we needed filler blocks, because the error caused a height difference in that area. I decided to embrace this as a delightful quirk. So if your designer did not make the same error, I would think that all your braces on both sides of the house should be the same size, and you may not need filler blocks.

Also it is a good idea to have the holes per-drilled on the braces and arch that have the lamps. Our electrician did not want to take the responsibility, and I really did not blame him.

Pantry window

The Pantry window has arrived, one of several we were missing. I really like the way it turned out. We decided to take a bit of the entry, kitchen and porch to create a pantry. I think it will be worth it, I am also starting to work with a local kitchen designer to help me work out all the details in the kitchen area. I had no idea how complex the plumbing and electric are, it’s really a lot of pressure!

Pantry window

pantry window

pantry windwo

pantry window installed

POSTS, BRACES, CORBELS AND KEYSTONES, OH YEAH!

There are soo many wildly exciting events building this house that are not covered at all on the video. One of them is the arrival of the arch and braces that decorate the wraparound porch. We took delivery of them last week and have been busy putting on the first coat of stain – Cabot: Barn Red semi transparent. We are lucky to have a local shop here who were able to take our measurements and Michaela’s drawings and turn them out in just a couple of weeks.

Alot of progress on the roof

This week was very busy for planning electical and plumming placements. The wait or the rest of the windows continues. But the roof is really comming along.