-Nearly done, big update post

Exterior updates:

Ipe deck off the living room

Pics from the back of the house

Front yard and drive way with slate rock chips. Plants still need to be added.









Kitchen and other interior details:

New windows going out to the deck
Kitchen update




Finish samples for the hardwood floors
Master bedroom and its balcony
Stairs and a wall sconce


Bathroom update:

Master Bathroom


1/2 Bathroom

Guest Bathroom upstairs

Guest Bathroom downstairs

- New Windows have arrived

As some of you know the Store Front windows have been nothing but a headache... After months and months of trying to get them to work properly, not leak and all the windows to be delivered, I called it quits in January and ordered all new windows... The only glass I am keeping is the Window Wall in the front of the house. Jump for joy...

THE NEW WINDOWS ARE HERE!

My advice for anyone building a home... DO NOT USE COMMERCIAL WINDOWS.

- Retaining Walls

The front retaining walls have gone up and the garden starts to take shape.

- Stucco, final coat started

The final coat of stucco has started to go up. The different colorings really show off the house's shapes and masses.

The final coat of stucco has started to go up. The different colorings really make the house take shape.

- Cabinets are brought to the hosue

All of the cabinets have been brought to the house in order to be positioned and installed.

- Trim

For the trim we are using a product from a company called Fry Reglet. The product gives us a revers of the normal trim/molding, giving us a reveal rather than an add on. The trim will be mudded and painted to blend in with the wall color.

- Final Stairs

We use 2x6 ipe lumber to make the treads for the floating stair case.

- Hardwoop Flooring

We chose to go with Ipe (Brazilian Wallnut) which is a very hard wood and will be able to stand up to two Great Danes.

- Tiling gets started

Tiling began last week. We opted for 3"x6" white subway tile in the guest bathrooms. The master bath will have a mixture of 16"x8" dark gray slate tile, 3"x6" white subway tile and a solid surface for the tub-surround.

- Drywall has been hung

It took less than two days to hang all the drywall; finally the house is looking more like a home.

- Icynene's insulation

Insulation has been finished. We used Icynene's insulation, which is a spray foam that creates an air tight envelop around the house.

-Cabinets are built

At a time when the windows have nearly put me in the mad house our cabinets maker has given really come through with some stunning cabinetry... Notice how the grain of the wood all lines up from panel to panel. If anyone needs a cabinet maker call Ryan, he is super nice and his work is phenomenal. www.ryanmathern.com

Kitchen Cabinets
This is the back wall of cabinets which house the fridge at the other far end and a wall oven and microwave behind pocket flipper doors so they are hidden when not in use.

Bathroom Cabinets
In the bathrooms we changed the ordination of the grain to horizontal, but look how all the grain lines up. Below we have the master bathroom cabinet with a guest bathroom cabinet on top.

-Operable windows are going in.

Office operable
Upstairs middle bedroom window


Downstairs middle bedroom window

-Front curtain walls are very nearly done.

-HVAC rough is done

-Plumbing rough is done

-Electrical rough is done.

-Windows are starting to go in.

The windows will look great when finished but if there is one thing about the project that I regret, its the windows. They have just been a complete PITA to order, get installed, the list goes on and on.

-Stucco first coat is done.

The first layer of stucco is now up and its starting to look at little closer to finished.. The second layer will have the coloring and will go on towards the end of the project.

- Metal siding finished, Stucco beginning.

The metal siding has been finished and looks great. The scaffolding has gone up around the house for the Stucco application. The resin paper and metal lath has nearly been finished, getting ready for the first coat of stucco.

-Metal Siding

The metal siding has started to go up. Incredible stuff, it comes from the factory cut to size in 35' strips.

-The View

The rooftop deck is framed and has the asphalt down. The house is slowly getting water tight... But never mind the asphalt, look at the view, it takes my breath away every time I walk up there.

Downtown

Buckhead in the distance (click image to enlarge)

-Framing is done

It took a while but the framing of the house is finished and looks great.

-How tall is tall?

We are reaching for the sky. Only the roof and the roof-top-deck staircase to go in the framing. I for one think it looks great so far.

-Going up

The first level is done and work has begun on the living level.


This is the view from the living level. There are two more levels before you get to the rook top deck.

-Framing

We finally started framing and the house is taking shape.

-Wood

Finally after a very long delay we have some wood and framing is about to commence.

-Steel

Today we got the steel to support the cantilever installed.

-Basement and garage slabs

Today after some weather delays we poured the slabs for the basment and garage.

-Neighbours "art work"

The condemned house next door got a bit of a face lift. I for one think it looks much better this way.

-First furniture purchases

Well, today we bought the first piece of furniture for the house since we started the project. We got The Surface Chair designed by Tobie Snowdowne for MDF Italia.

-Basement walls

The basement wall have been poured and a waterproofing membrane and insulation has been added to the exterior.

-Footings

We finally get something solid in the ground and we start to take shape. It feels really good to start building.

-Demo time

We knocked the old house down to get ready for our house.

-Final renderings

After much tweaking and refining we came up with this final design for the house. It is missing coloring and material as we are still working on those details.

-Decisions

We discuss everything from window layout to finalizing the floor plan and other house details. Here are a few of the window configurations. We did options like this for nearly every detail in the house.

-We chose a scheme.

From the initial renderings we chose this direction to move froward with and fine tune.

-Concept Renderings

After looking at some different schemes we settled on one. Here are some of the first renderings of the house. They show different directions we could go in with the scheme that we chose. This is where we examined overhangs, canterlevers, windows and balconies.

-Found land

With the help of the best Realtor in the world (Jamie jamiesells@kw.com) I lucked out and found this great derelict house with a wonderful view of the city and right on a park. Its in an up and coming neighborhood but its improving quickly. Although the lot is small (49' x 153') its just big enough for us.

Our house is the brick house in the middle. The skyline shot is taken from the white contemporary's rooftop deck and should be close to our view when our rooftop deck is finished.