Virtual Tour

Take a virtual tour through the completed house:

http://photos.imageevent.com/tosoworks/videos/643%20Petersen_.wmv

enjoy!

This may be my last post for Ryan's house. I am now building another two houses in Kyuquot. I've got my good friends Nolan and Don helping me out and so far we have one nearly locked up.

Ok so I have been neglecting my blogging duties... I have been pretty busy and mostly away from a computer. We have finished Ryan's house completely and it has passed the final inspection. Now I have started another big project building two more homes way out in Kyuquot. Kyuquot is a small native village on the west coast of Vancouver Island. We are building two houses for the school board for teachers to live in. I also just finished carving another log for the annual chainsaw carving contest. I'll have pictures on my website next time I have a few hours to edit and upload them. Unfortunately we won't have access to the internet while in camp so it might take me a few weeks or maybe even months...

Day 64 - Finishing Touches

There are still many little things to be done to this home before it's ready to be moved into, but we are getting very close. Today we had the last of the trades in to finish up the plumbing and electrical (they both still need to come back for a few minor details). The place is looking better and better everyday. I think I might want to move in!

Glass Block Shower

I finally have the time lapse animation of the glass block shower assembly! Check it out: http://photos.imageevent.com/tosoworks/videos/Glass%20Block%20Shower.wmv

Day 63 - More Tiling

Here is the almost finished bathroom; it just lacks the toilet, the sink, and the showerheads which the plumber will install on Friday. I will have the time lapse of the installation of the glass block wall just as soon as I get a few hours free time. And at this stage I have very little free time left (we are leaving for Kyuquot on Sunday to build two more houses). Dad has been working on the countertop and it looks great! We'll hang the upper cabinets tomorrow and install the doors and drawer fronts. Then we can move in the fridge, stove and dishwasher as they were delivered yesterday and are sitting in the garage.
I tiled the floor in the laundry room. More grouting for tomorrow...

Days 57 to 62 - The Home Stretch

I've been working long hours and thus have neglected my blog duties.

I finished the glass blocks for the shower and it looks awesome. I put together a time-lapse movie of the process but have yet to finish it up for this blog. It's coming...

In the mean time we've got lots done in the past few days.

Don helped us out for a few days installing the bamboo floor and assembling all the cabinets. The reason he looks disembodied in the photo is because it is I stitched two photos together to get it all in but Don was only in one of them.
We've been working on getting the cabinets ready for the countertop so the plumber can install the sink.
And here is the main bathroom floor with its tiles, ready for cabinets, sink, and a toilet. I've been working on the master bathroom for the past few days and will photograph it when it's all done. It's going to look pretty cool.

Days 54 to 56 - Tiles and Glass Blocks

So I worked on tiling the shower basin and curb over the weekend and I think it's going to look really good. I had to mask it all of so the white mortar form the glass block doesn't drip into the cracks between the tiles. I'll be grouting all the tiles with grey -sorry- silver coloured grout after the glass blocks are finished.
I got the all-important first row mortared level and spaced properly. The second row is to insure everything stays together. I'll let it sit overnight and I'll finish it up tomorrow!
This is one of the more enjoyable parts of this project and so to balance things out I've also been raking out rocks from the yard a bit each day.

Day 52 & 53 - More Loose Ends

Mom and Dad painted the whole place over the weekend and it looks great. I probably should have cleaned up a bit for the photo, but you can still get the idea (none of it is my mess anyway).

The past few days have been getting many of the little things done: I finished off the new access hole to the basement, put down subfloor and layed out the heating pad in the main bathroom, poured the concrete base for the walk-in shower, installed all the screens on the windows, finished drywalling behind the shower, and I finished off the fence in the front yard, just to name a few.

The next few days I will be concentrating on putting in the tiles. I'm eager to get going on the glass blocks (watch for the time-lapse on that one) but have a few stages of preparation left before they can start.

There is a lot going on with the electricians all over the house and insulators in the crawlspace. This is the base for the shower. as you can see the evening sun beams through the windows and through what will be the glass blocks. I think it'll look cool. I might have to try it out when it's done.