At Home In The Woods

[dcyrilc]

I'm not sure if you're pulling my leg or if you misunderstood my post.

Concrete floors with a colored stain, or many colors of stain have become a very popular trend in everything from high end homes to Walmart. I call it a trend because I'm unsure of how long it will remain popular. My guess is that in ten years, it will not be done anymore, but that's just my opinion.

If I wasn't clear, I apologize.

Eddie

My appoligies, I misunderstood you. Ithought you were saying that concrete floors (excluding garage, of course) were a fad and would be gone in ten years.

 

[dave1949]

The nice thing about getting tips or ideas is that sometimes one or two just click and you use them. QUOTE]

That's what I think too. If we toss ideas out there, others can like them or not, but hopefully won't wish later on they had heard of this or that finish.
Dave.

 

[CurlyDave]

Latest thing in the SF Bay area is concrete countertops.

I have never seen one in person, but think of something like granite, but with more of a pattern to it.

 

[dave1949]

Dave, I read from this: Your wife wants stainless steel, you have white that works just fine. That is my exactly my case.

Nope. We have a stainless steel backsplash behind our range up to the exhaust hood. The rest is all black except for the ancient white microwave. I lilke the look of black, but must say it is hard to keep it from being streaky from cooking residue. Sort of like a black car, it all shows.

We have a small galley type kitchen that is one corner in a kit-dining-living area. I didn't want appliances that pop out visually. Our house is fairly small, so no one element should visually dominate the space I think.

It is hard to beat white appliances for looking clean after you clean them. Stainless has issues with fingerprints, grease splatters, etc. I know there are special cleaners for that. But that's just another way of saying more work.

I would hold out as long as is manly possible if I were you
Dave.

 

[dave1949]

Latest thing in the SF Bay area is concrete countertops.

I have never seen one in person, but think of something like granite, but with more of a pattern to it.

I have only seen them at home shows. They can do cool things shape-wise since they are cast in place. Pretty expensive I think. Maybe the most expensive if you get fancy with it.
Dave.

 

[Obed]

Looking at the second picture in post 287, I also noticed that there are no headers above the exterior window and door. Is that a load bearing wall? I keep thinking that it must be, since it's an exterior wall. Even if the floor joists line up on that wall, and spread the load out that way, it's curious that they didnt' put a header in there anyway.

Eddie, I figured someone would comment about the headers. The framer told me that that gable end wall is an external non-bearing wall. The load is on the walls that are perpendicular to the gable end wall. I looked up the code. IRC 2003 says that window and door openings less than 8 feet wide in external non-bearing walls do not need headers.

I guess the question is, is that wall a load bearing wall? The 24" floor truss will sit on top of that wall and will be supported on both ends by the load bearing walls that are perpendicular to the floor truss. Obviously, the perpendicular walls on each end of the trusses will support the truss. Due to the length of the trusses, we are required to have a load bearing wall that supports the middle of the trusses. So, which wall supports the truss in the middle? If the middle perpendicular wall supports the truss, then it sounds like the gable end wall would be non-bearing.

Yes, I would prefer headers over that window and door regardless. But now that it's done, will I actually see a problem in the future from having no headers? Or is this not a big issue and I would be better off fighting a future issue that really makes a difference? Sometimes if you give in on one point, the other person will be more willing to flex on another point. However, if you never give in on anything, the other person may fight you every step of the way.

You asked why he didn't just add the headers anyway? I think the answer to that question is obvious. If he thinks the headers aren't necessary, then why spend the extra time and material to add them?

Obed

 

[EddieWalker]

I sort of figured it was something like that. Code is different in different places, and what is allowed in one place isn't in others. I personally put a header above every opening, whether it's load bearing or not. I also use half in plywood between by boards, but know that not everybody does that either. When I do 2x6 framing, I triple the wood in the header with plywood beteen each board. It's overkill except for garage doors and large openings. In those cases, you can never be too strong.

You've said a few times that some battles are not worth fighting. It might just be me, but if my client wants something done, and it's not going to weaken the building, then that's what I want done too. Every building is a series of concesions and compromises. It might what you can afford, what you have time for or what you have space for. The list is almost endless on what you have to decide on when building a home.

Your builder should be building YOUR home the way YOU want it.

Eddie

 

[Obed]

O yes , I use 4'x8'x3/4" plywood coated whit used motor oil which I used later for sheeting the floor, my walls are 10" thick and 4 ' high.

razvy, that's a neat picture. It shows you put some work into making those forms.

Our foundation guy used metal forms that he could assemble in 1 foot high increments. They sprayed a soy based oil on the forms to keep the concrete from sticking to the forms.

Obed

 

[Obed]

I agree that some things are timeless. The trick is to choose things that fall in that category. One example I think would be granite/marble/slate countertops. I can't imagine anyone preferring formica over those - ever. Another timeless material IMO would be real hardwood flooring.

Agreed. We are trying to avoid decorating features that will go out of style in a few years. I hate wallpaper so there will be no wallpaper except for maybe a border in the baby's room. We chose an exterior house style that is fairly traditional and will not become quickly dated. Just think of all the "contemporary" style houses built in the 70's. They were cool then but they are hard to sell today in our area. Also, our area has thousands of split-foyer/split-level houses that were the fad in the 70's. Now everybody wants a 2 story or ranch around here. I doubt you will see stainless steel appliances in our kitchen. Why spend $2000 on a refrigerator that doesn't work any better than a $600 refrigerator? We love hardwood floors and want to floor the entire main floor with hardwoods and put tile in the baths if we can afford it. We'll see. The nice flooring might be an upgrade we have to wait on.

Obed

 

[Obed]

Today the framer got a call from the floor truss company. They got 10 - 18 inches of snow and have no power so our floor trusses won't be ready until after Christmas. The basement structural wall framing is finished. The sheathing was put on the walls today but it is dark these days when I get home so I couldn't take pictures. Now we wait for the floor trusses.