Timber Frame Hybrid Home - Owner Builder

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Jeremy, hope that Pittsburgh ultra lasts a long time. That doesn't look like the funnest of jobs.

For me, I would like to have a projector in my barn when I have a party. they are often auctioned off nearby at the college but I think they are standard definition with the ability to hook up a computer.

 

[jk96]

Kyle I sure hope it does as well. There has been some sense of pride and satisfaction in most of the work I've done on the house. Not so much with this portion. Just relief that its done. I could have made a great commercial for Bosch with as many hours as I've got under my belt with my sander. Standing on the very top of 3 sections of scaffolding was not my idea of fun either. The older I get the higher things seem to be.

BitChin not sure off hand the exact dimensions but the main couch will be about 14 feet away from the wall. For the timbers I used 60 grit paper. 40 on the tough stuff but then went back over with 60. Funny that you mentioned your hail marks. Here is what we got a couple days ago. I couldn't believe this much hail was coming down just a few days after finishing the stain. Luckily it looks like our timbers were unscathed. We've got pretty good size overhangs that probably helped.

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks, I was thinking it would take a lot of sanding to get the results you did with the stain. Just hated hearing it since I have something similar going on at my place. I bought the stain, but I don't want to be out there sanding in the summer heat and humidity.

 

[jk96]

Thanks, I was thinking it would take a lot of sanding to get the results you did with the stain. Just hated hearing it since I have something similar going on at my place. I bought the stain, but I don't want to be out there sanding in the summer heat and humidity.

If you do go the sanding route one thing I found out was that is was well worth the money to pay for a better quality sand paper. I started out using masterforce pads at about .58 each. I ended up giving a "Norton" brand pads a try. They ran about a $1 per pad but were about 4 times as effective and lasted twice as long. I couldn't believe the difference between the two and quickly found the better quality pads were well worth the money.

 

[milligjg]

Looks awesome:thumbsup:

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

If you do go the sanding route one thing I found out was that is was well worth the money to pay for a better quality sand paper. I started out using masterforce pads at about .58 each. I ended up giving a "Norton" brand pads a try. They ran about a $1 per pad but were about 4 times as effective and lasted twice as long. I couldn't believe the difference between the two and quickly found the better quality pads were well worth the money.

I believe that. Chinese sandpaper is not that good compared to 3M or Norton.

 

[EddieWalker]

If you do go the sanding route one thing I found out was that is was well worth the money to pay for a better quality sand paper. I started out using masterforce pads at about .58 each. I ended up giving a "Norton" brand pads a try. They ran about a $1 per pad but were about 4 times as effective and lasted twice as long. I couldn't believe the difference between the two and quickly found the better quality pads were well worth the money.

I agree. I learned the same thing sanding cedar logs for my gazebo's and porches with my 4 1/2 inch grinder. Norton used to be my favorite, but then Lowes started carrying a brand called Shopsmith, or something like that. It's noticeably better then Norton. I never understand why companies switch brands, but Home Depot used to carry Norton, but now I have to go to Northern Tool to get it. I still use Norton for sheets that I cut into quarters for my small vibratory sander, and I like their belts for my belt sanders. For the random orbital, it doesn't hardly matter what brand I get.

 

[jk96]

Looking great, but good luck on "someday it will be done)!

I have a dedicated media room in my house with an Epson 5300 projector - depending on your desired size it is much less expensive than a flat screen. My room can be totally darkend, but we often watch sporting events with lights on and I find the projector to be plenty bright in this case. Movies are just like going to the theater, with a big perk of being able to use the pause button. There are some good forums (I mainly use AVSForum) with others experience. Start with screen size and sitting distance (blue tape on wall helps to visualize). I picked up a DIY screen for low cost from Carl's Place - Projector Screen Material, Kits & More!, but there are other options (just more expensive or more work - lowest cost seems to be using spandex on a wooden frame, I have not tried this but several threads over at AVSForum). Lumens; there is a tool on Projectorcentral, that will give you lumen output vs distance/screen size for most projectors available. For gaming you need to be concerned about lag time - I don't game on our projector so I did not look into this much.
One word of warning though - once you get the home theater bug it is very difficult to cure!

Hey Bitchen1,
re-reading your post and checked out carlofet.com. I'm assuming you picked up the material from this website and then made the frame/screen yourself? Are you happy with the screen quality? I picked up the projector and have it mounted and just projecting on our painted wall right now. Medium grey color and actually looks great just on the wall. I originally planned on a regular tv so I have outlets in the center of the wall that need covered. I need to either make a screen or purchase one and the DIY price looks much better as long as I can make something that looks decent even when not in use.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

What type of projector did you end up with? I was reading up on them today and some people actually still buy a 4:3 so they can watch old movies on them. Not me. I want HD picture.

 

[jk96]

What type of projector did you end up with? I was reading up on them today and some people actually still buy a 4:3 so they can watch old movies on them. Not me. I want HD picture.

I ended up with the Epson 5030UB. They were on sale earlier this week for $300 off. Best Buy had them backordered but I was able to pick one up at NFM with a price match. We watched Avatar tonight and the image quality was absolutely stunning, even on the painted wall. I had it set to 120" diagonal size. You do need the lights out or very dim for the picture to really pop but when the lights go out the picture quality is very close to my plasma which I never thought I would say. The amount of detail is simply amazing and just a whole different viewing experience. I will say that a regular DVD looks kind of crappy on a screen that large though. Blue-ray is a must.

 

[BitChin1]

Hey Bitchen1,
re-reading your post and checked out carlofet.com. I'm assuming you picked up the material from this website and then made the frame/screen yourself? Are you happy with the screen quality? I picked up the projector and have it mounted and just projecting on our painted wall right now. Medium grey color and actually looks great just on the wall. I originally planned on a regular tv so I have outlets in the center of the wall that need covered. I need to either make a screen or purchase one and the DIY price looks much better as long as I can make something that looks decent even when not in use.

Sorry for being a bit late in responding but yes I picked up a kit from them and purchased the 1" EMT from Lowes. The kit included the fabric pre-cut with grommets and edging. It included plenty of bungee straps and the corner brackets to connect the EMT frame. I am very happy with my screen (especially when considering the cost) - the only issue I have is my screen is 12' wide and has a center piece (3 vertical emt pieces) and the screen does not lay completely flat across this - I only notice this with lights on in the room, but with a movie projecting it does not appear (at least no to me). I have black velvet that I am hanging around my screen as curtains which will cover the exposed frame - project for this fall.

I have the same projector as you picked up - I like it - great for total blackout, but also great for Football with lights turned up!

On another subject I just received the Timber Home Living mag for this month and your kitchen received runner-up for best kitchen (I could not out vote the auto-bot that was voting for the Canadian TimberFrames room - no picture just the mention (John will probably like the mention it receives for his company though).

 

[BitChin1]

Hey Bitchen1,
re-reading your post and checked out carlofet.com. I'm assuming you picked up the material from this website and then made the frame/screen yourself? Are you happy with the screen quality? I picked up the projector and have it mounted and just projecting on our painted wall right now. Medium grey color and actually looks great just on the wall. I originally planned on a regular tv so I have outlets in the center of the wall that need covered. I need to either make a screen or purchase one and the DIY price looks much better as long as I can make something that looks decent even when not in use.

Sorry for being a bit late in responding but yes I picked up a kit from them and purchased the 1" EMT from Lowes. The kit included the fabric pre-cut with grommets and edging. It included plenty of bungee straps and the corner brackets to connect the EMT frame. I am very happy with my screen (especially when considering the cost) - the only issue I have is my screen is 12' wide and has a center piece (3 vertical emt pieces) and the screen does not lay completely flat across this - I only notice this with lights on in the room, but with a movie projecting it does not appear (at least no to me). I have black velvet that I am hanging around my screen as curtains which will cover the exposed frame - project for this fall.

I have the same projector as you picked up - I like it - great for total blackout, but also great for Football with lights turned up!

On another subject I just received the Timber Home Living mag for this month and your kitchen received runner-up for best kitchen (I could not out vote the auto-bot that was voting for the Canadian TimberFrames room - no picture just the mention (John will probably like the mention it receives for his company though).

 

[jk96]

Sorry for being a bit late in responding but yes I picked up a kit from them and purchased the 1" EMT from Lowes. The kit included the fabric pre-cut with grommets and edging. It included plenty of bungee straps and the corner brackets to connect the EMT frame. I am very happy with my screen (especially when considering the cost) - the only issue I have is my screen is 12' wide and has a center piece (3 vertical emt pieces) and the screen does not lay completely flat across this - I only notice this with lights on in the room, but with a movie projecting it does not appear (at least no to me). I have black velvet that I am hanging around my screen as curtains which will cover the exposed frame - project for this fall.

I have the same projector as you picked up - I like it - great for total blackout, but also great for Football with lights turned up!

On another subject I just received the Timber Home Living mag for this month and your kitchen received runner-up for best kitchen (I could not out vote the auto-bot that was voting for the Canadian TimberFrames room - no picture just the mention (John will probably like the mention it receives for his company though).

No problem. I've been plenty busy. Ended up taking on Mom's remodel project. Between that and work I haven't had much time to work on anything at home. I did end up ordering material from Carls and made my own frame. I purchased the non-stretch material and had a heck of a time getting it pulled tight enough not to see any color variations in the corners. After several attempts I've only got one very small corner that I notice in white scenes. It's in the upper right corner so only see in sky shots. I think if I flip the screen so its at the bottom it will never be noticed.

Cool to hear on the kitchen. I hadn't checked in some time. I quit watching when the leading kitchen was getting a hundred or more votes in blocks. Figured it was a lost cause at that point.

 

[BitChin1]

No problem. I've been plenty busy. Ended up taking on Mom's remodel project. Between that and work I haven't had much time to work on anything at home. I did end up ordering material from Carls and made my own frame. I purchased the non-stretch material and had a heck of a time getting it pulled tight enough not to see any color variations in the corners. After several attempts I've only got one very small corner that I notice in white scenes. It's in the upper right corner so only see in sky shots. I think if I flip the screen so its at the bottom it will never be noticed.

Cool to hear on the kitchen. I hadn't checked in some time. I quit watching when the leading kitchen was getting a hundred or more votes in blocks. Figured it was a lost cause at that point.

Did you get the kit to use with EMT? I used the white material - non stretch but eh bungee's seemed to provide a very even tension. Black velvet does good job to create the border for a crisp edge of the picture.



I think the winner had a program that was casting 2x the votes each morning at 5:30am. I tried several days straight to out vote it, but each morning they had exactly 2x the number of votes cast for your kitchen. Oh well it was fun and how many of us on this forum have pics of our house in a magazine contest

 

[jk96]

I ordered their pro-grey material only. Ended up making the frame and then lined the edges with the black felt they offered. I plan to finish the frame with some 1X material overlaid over the felt eventually.

Edit: On a side note, I picked up a cheap inflatable outdoor screen. Looking for a cheap projector to go with it now for outdoor family parties, birthdays, etc. Going to give it a try for my youngest birthday party for classmates here in a couple of weeks.

 

[jk96]

I finished up the basement over the weekend. Here's a pic of the basement and also of the screen I made for the projector. Just need to cut in a box for cable and speaker wire so its cleaner and recessed in the wall.

 

[jk96]

Here's the back area over the master that gets a small deck, approx 7-1/2' x 7-1/2'.

I poured the post footings Tuesday and picked up most of the lumber. I'm waiting on the concrete to cure a bit longer before I get started since I'm using compression bolts to anchor the post plates. The footings I poured are the two next to the house foundation. Plan to use a couple of cedar posts there for attaching the iron railings. My other two post plates will anchor into the footings for the stone columns. I did get the decorative tops cut for the cedar posts today using my router. Ran a roundover on all of the edges to soften the look a bit.

 

[tkappeler]

Here's the back area over the master that gets a small deck, approx 7-1/2' x 7-1/2'.

I poured the post footings Tuesday and picked up most of the lumber. I'm waiting on the concrete to cure a bit longer before I get started since I'm using compression bolts to anchor the post plates. The footings I poured are the two next to the house foundation. Plan to use a couple of cedar posts there for attaching the iron railings. My other two post plates will anchor into the footings for the stone columns. I did get the decorative tops cut for the cedar posts today using my router. Ran a roundover on all of the edges to soften the look a bit.

Beautiful as always Jeremy. Nice look for the post tops.

 

[jk96]

Beautiful as always Jeremy. Nice look for the post tops.

Thanks Tom. Deck framing is done. Everything is post supported so no ledger board on the house. Didn't really want to anchor into the house and then worry about weatherproofing. Hopefully stairs done today and decking/treads tomorrow.


I was ambushed with the new potato gun while working.

 

[EddieWalker]

Real curious how you are going to finish off your posts. Remember that air flow under a deck is the secret to how long it lasts. Water that gets through the deck boards will not evaporate from the sun because of how shaded it is under a deck, so air flow is the only way to keep the wood dry. Every deck that I have ever seen with walls around the base of it has had massive mold issues!!!!