3R Home and Barn Project

[billbill1]

Rob, it's all coming together very nicely, I know everyone is getting excited and anxious to move up there. You won't be able to call it the camp much longer. Do you have room to build a 18 hole golf course or will you have to settle for a 9 holer? Are the contractors using the solar system for the power requirements? How is that working? Please keep us posted. Is the freezer full of bear meat?

 

[thunderworks]

Rob,

Your house will be gorgeous. I know you'll love it. Whenever I look at the pictures you post, as much as I like your house, I absolutely love the views. I live in Kansas, on eighty beautiful acres of rolling hills and oak/hickory forest. I wouldn't live in California on a bet . . . but I admit your land and views of the hils and mountains around you are stunning. Good luck.

Rick

 

[3RRL]

Hi Rick and Bill,
Thanks for the comments. I thought about moving out of California at one time, but all my kids and grandkids are here, I attend a lot of there school functions. They just had the Halloween parade at school and it was a riot to see the kids and their friends. Our plan is to drive into town to visit the bunch once a month.

Yeah, the contractor has been using the solar power constantly with no problems. I may have mention it before, but the back up generator has not needed to come on to provide extra juice for those guys. So far it's performing admirably. And no golf course for me up there. There is a 9 hole course about 15 minutes from the property in town. If I need a golf fix, I'll go there to embarrass myself.

 

[stumpfield]

Rob, That's a very nice looking staircase. Your builder did an excellent job on the joineries. May be he knows that you are a machinist.... Is the rain affecting your progress there? We have a some heavy rain up here and my road is looking terrible now.

Tom

 

[machmeter62]

Hi Spiv,
I tend to agree with you (as does my wife) about the lighter stain. Just wanted some opinions to assure us.

The stairs will get a banister railing on them. I think it has to meet some sort of building code. I know for sure the decks have a similar code to make sure no kids are gonna crawl between them and fall off.

ROB: I totally agree going with the lighter stains initally; you can always go darker at a later date, if you find it too light, but trying to lighten it may be tough? Can you sample the choice of your stains, maybe on a given area inside your barn with enough exposure that gives you self satisfaction? It has been my experience from a chart, or small areas of color, can be deceiving? I have also learned different lighting, affects colors too! You have probably tried all of the above anyway?

 

[3RRL]

Rob, That's a very nice looking staircase. Your builder did an excellent job on the joineries. May be he knows that you are a machinist.... Is the rain affecting your progress there? We have a some heavy rain up here and my road is looking terrible now.

Tom,
LOL ... yeah, he is aware I am a mold maker. During the many meetings before contracting him, he said the worst customer he ever had was a tool and die maker with a big grin on his face, so I just rolled my eyes. I assured him I would TRY to keep my mouth shut. But I think you're right, in that he has made an extra effort to do a really good job. He knows I take photos and analyze them...them post them for you guys to rip it apart.
We have had very little rain at our place. I know last year you got a lot more than we did too. Can you maintain your roads with your bulldozer? Do you have good gutters cut on the sides to divert as much run-off as possible? When you get through with that bulldozer, I'd be interested in buying it from you.

ROB: I totally agree going with the lighter stains initally; you can always go darker at a later date, if you find it too light, but trying to lighten it may be tough? Can you sample the choice of your stains, maybe on a given area inside your barn with enough exposure that gives you self satisfaction? It has been my experience from a chart, or small areas of color, can be deceiving? I have also learned different lighting, affects colors too! You have probably tried all of the above anyway?

machmeter,
Thanks for assuring us of that. We are going to go with an Autumn Aspen stain which is light but has a tiny hint of red in it. The contractor stained a section on a spare log for us with several stains. We got to see what it really looked like vs the colors in the brochure. That helped us to make our minds up, along with the input from you and the others.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Rob
Your house is looking FANSTASTIC. Everytime I look at your pics it makes me question our decision to go with stick built instead of log.

I would go crazy not being able to see the construction site everyday. And here you are going a week or two. I can only imagine the anticipation jitters you get on the way up there after a week or two away.

I have been covered up at work and every evening and weekend at our home. Hope to post some pics this weekend. I am taking my tractor out this weekend to do some finish grading around the house. And the sheetrock is arriving today.

Keep the pics coming.

Also I do enjoy reading all your different threads.

David

 

[3RRL]

Hi David,
Thanks for taking the time to comment on this thread. I know how it is to be "covered up" at work. I've got a few things going on myself, and that's one of the reasons for not being up at the property more often. The good thing is every time we go up there's been some noticeable improvement, so it is exciting.

Also looking forward to seeing the photos of your progress. I'll be gone this weekend but back on Sunday to check out your thread for updates.

 

[RobJ]

Rob,

Everything looking great man. Wow the way that house is put together is really sweet. Cool pic with the hill (mountain to me in Houston) in the background. It that a hiker hill, ATV hill, or almost to steep for a mountain goat?

Enjoying all the pics to.

 

[3RRL]

Rob,

Everything looking great man. Wow the way that house is put together is really sweet. Cool pic with the hill (mountain to me in Houston) in the background. It that a hiker hill, ATV hill, or almost to steep for a mountain goat?

Enjoying all the pics to.

Hi Rob,
Thanks man. I presume you mean this mountain?



They call it "Blossom Peak". It's only about 4,000 feet tall but very steep. There are hiking trails up but pretty rugged. LOL ... needless to say, I've never been up there. There are seasonal waterfalls on the other side of it, usually late Spring. I think there are some goats up there, or so I've been told.
Thanks for asking.

 

[RobJ]

I was talking about the one in your post #284...the first pic. Looks like it's right behind the house. Those always look like fun to hike, until you get real close.

Wow that's cool!

 

[3RRL]

Oh that one.
Yeah, we've hiked up that one several times, and you are right, it IS steeper than you think. We use the game trails which have switchbacks so it's easier to hike. There's a pond up over that saddle for cattle. There's usually a lot of wildlife around it too. I don't take the ATV there since it's not my property, but I do hunt up there with the rancher who owns it (2,000 acres). Past his land is all BLM and open for hunting or camping. He doesn't mind us hiking through it and encourages us to shoot coyotes up there. There's no house on it and he just grazes cattle on it.

On the South/West side is another 10,000 ranch, but I don't know them. Man, they are always shooting over there too. The River goes through part of their spread and they have a bunch of wild hogs down there.

 

[3RRL]

I went up last weekend to get more pictures of the progress so I will share that with you. But I was pretty disappointed at the damage I found at my camp.

BROKEN CAMP

I spent most of the weekend working on it and not on anything else. Anyway, where did I leave off? Last time the roof was no on yet right? Well here are some pictures showing the progress from far off. First one is from the street and the next couple are from the meadow where South Camp. (Grass is starting to grow again in the meadow) This is the first time we've been able to see the home from down here. It's big.

 

[3RRL]

When we arrived late in the evening, it was too dark to see anything. We walked up to the homesite in the morning to see what it looked like. It was overcast and ended up raining pretty hard after getting these pictures.

Here are the same views from similar angles to show some of the progress they made. The log home next to the garage, then walking around to the left to get the other views. It's starting to look like something now that the roof line has been added.



Here, Loretta and Wes are upstairs exploring. Wes is especially interested in choosing which of the bedrooms he wants. He says he wants the one on the North because he likes the view better. hahaha, what a kid. Anyway, some pictures of the interior now.

 

[3RRL]

These pictures show some of the fitting they did and the insulation used where the logs stopped. It is interesting to see how good the fits are. The others are more interior pictures and my dog Coco checking it out.



Below is Wes checking out the upstairs trying to make his mind up. Then me down in the crawl space where a door was installed. We had them put this door in to take advantage of all that space down there. What do you think about making some shelves down there to store firewood ... or at least what I'll be using to heat?

 

[3RRL]

Moving around the other side of the house, this is what it looks like from behind and below the garage. The peaks and valleys formed by the roof line gives it a lot of character now. The other views show what it looks like from the decks that run around the home.
Also one shot of the many Longhorns that are our neighbors.
One time they broke the fence and I had to herd them with the tractor.

 

[bones1]

Your home is coming along nicely.I too am impressed with the precision of the log joints, looks like you have a real builder there.
You should be very proud of what you and your family have accomplished.

 

[GuglioLS]

Rob,

Very impressive progress report with excellent photos. It's really taking shape with the roof lines. I guess it wont be long now till they install the metal roof?

What will be the final material / finish for the outside perimeter deck floor? I see they are laying OSB over the deck floor joists, is that temporary for construction or an underlayment to something else?

Very impressive indeed!

Larry

 

[TBDonnelly]

Then me down in the crawl space where a door was installed. We had them put this door in to take advantage of all that space down there.

In Michigan, we call that part of the house a basement. The ceiling appears to be 8 to 9 foot high?

Don

 

[3RRL]

Steve,
Yeah the builder is a good one.
Every visit I am amazed at the progress. It's not like I have to stand over him to get things done either. I'm only there every other weekend!

Larry,
Roof is next.
I'm hoping to see it on when we return for our Thanksgiving and anniversary vacation. The OSB is temporary on the decks for them to walk around. There will be 2x6's down there.

Don,
Thanks for posting.
That is very tall down there. This part is unfinished but there is a small area 396 sq/ft that is finished. I'm thinking of finishing this part ourselves at a later date.