Blog

Progress: There is a Huge Hole in the Basement to get at the Under-Slab Plumbing

2 min readTwo weeks ago I took the most dramatic step yet in bringing the basement plans to fruition.  A crew of plumbers showed up at 8 in the morning with jack hammers and tore up a big patch of concrete slab in the basement.  

This is step one of removing the ridiculous open-to-the-laundry toilet and shower arrangement.  They carted off the broken basement floor chunks, removed the old plumbing and then did  the underground rough in for the new 3/4 bathroom. Continue reading “Progress: There is a Huge Hole in the Basement to get at the Under-Slab Plumbing”

Progress: Basement Measuring, Mockups and Making Final Checks

2 min readWith the plumbers incoming the next day to tear out the concrete slab and old pipes, and lay new ones, time for a good old fashioned mock-up with blue tape lines and visualize it one more time.

Having finally (mostly) cleared the deck in the basement I took a moment to revel in the bare walls, exposed floor joists overhead and swept-clean floor.  Then I got out my laser measure, a pair of tape measures, a sharpie and a roll of blue painters tape and marked the location of the new bathroom walls (and fixtures) on the basement floor. Continue reading “Progress: Basement Measuring, Mockups and Making Final Checks”

The Five Tools under Twenty Dollars You’ll Need to do Your Own Demolition

4 min readHere’s what you’ll want to have on hand in order to take own your own basement demolition. You can get most of these for under twenty bucks, and with them, you’ll be set to tear about nearly any basement.

Even if you plan to hire contractors to do your remodeling work, you can save money and feel a sense of ownership for the project by chipping in labor during demolition.  With a few of the right tools (and some common sense) removing an out of date “finished” basement before replacing it with a new one is a task most homeowners can tackle with success. Continue reading “The Five Tools under Twenty Dollars You’ll Need to do Your Own Demolition”

Minimizing Waste in Demoltion

3 min readAny remodeling project is inherently more or less wasteful. “Out with the old and in with the new” means that something is being tossed and new resources are being consumed. Here are the steps I took to keep limit the landfill content produced by my basement demolition.

From an ethical standpoint, I think remodeling is better than building new and even remodeling should always be justified by improving utility and energy efficiency to offset that waste.  From a design point of view, the new work should be not only more aesthetically pleasing but more multi-functional – future proofed as much as possible.

I apply these ideas to all the design work I do, and I’ve been trying to use the same principles during my physical remodeling here. Continue reading “Minimizing Waste in Demoltion”

Basement: the Midwestern Ranch House’s Secret Weapon

6 min readA basement is the secret weapon of the midwestern ranch house
(This is one clear advantage we have over all those cool, glassy California Pinterest ranches.

Upper midwestern basements secretly expand square footage, storage and differentiation of spaces all without bulking up the house to the street or eating up the building site.

Sure, basements CAN be your extraneous junk space.  They CAN be your quick and dirty work out or project space.  But they they COULD be the inner sanctum – the most private and cosy spot in the house, insulated from temperature, sound and other people’s view.   The secret of an effective basement is not to treat it like part of your home, not a second class space.

Continue reading “Basement: the Midwestern Ranch House’s Secret Weapon”

Demo with a Dog

3 min readJust to throw a wrench in the works once again, I gave myself an additional major delay in construction (or de-construction) at the beginning of the year: bringing home a new dog, Roxie. Here’s a little intro to my pup and the techniques I’ve used to acclimate her to her new life as a construction dog.

I decided to make the most of my non-office-worker stint by bringing a pup into my life.  After some research,  I found Roxie at the Humane Society, sugar sweet but bouncing off the walls of the meeting room.  She’s around a year and a half old and was picked up as a stray in Mississippi in December.  I  brought her home the last day of January.   Continue reading “Demo with a Dog”

Progress: Basement Demolition and Discoveries

4 min readAfter a long winter of being distracted by design work and other projects, I got back to the fun of tearing apart the house again a few weeks ago.

[Actually I began some exploratory demolition by pulling down a few ceiling tiles at the end of January, only to be delayed by a the sudden memory that the building inspector hadn’t NOT said that the ugly acoustic tile ceiling could contain asbestos.  I decided to play it safe and took a sample over to the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene for testing to confirm that it was safe.  Thirty eight bucks and three weeks later I got the all clear and was ready to head back down the basement stairs.] Continue reading “Progress: Basement Demolition and Discoveries”

Micro Update: DIY Frosted Glass House Numbers

2 min readSometimes when you can’t decide on either the high, or the low, version of available products, the only option is to DIY.

When I painted last fall, I stripped off the mailbox, lights and house numbers.  I’ve got the new box and lights in place but was having a hard time deciding on the right kind of numbers.  The commercial options were either blah, or a little pricy for my budget.

Here’s how I split the difference and created my own solution.  It highlights the original mid-century front door, enhances privacy, simplifies the entry and glow cheerily at night. Continue reading “Micro Update: DIY Frosted Glass House Numbers”

Micro Update: High/Low Mailbox and Entry Lights

2 min readFans of modernism all know that sometimes you have to pay through the nose for minimalism and great design … and sometimes you get away with the cheapest option in the shop. In this case, it was both.

I removed the original lights, house numbers and mailbox when during the painting process and could never bring myself to put them back on the house.  I went through several weeks where the poor postman had to deliver to a the old box propped on the stoop. Continue reading “Micro Update: High/Low Mailbox and Entry Lights”

Favorite front doors to emulate

2 min readThe front entry is like your home’s face.  It can have a friendly aspect or be forbidding.  You want to make a good impression with it and yet its easy to miss the mark.  Don’t loose a chance to make your entry shine.

Here are a few of my favorite front door samples from the area going from simple to strong.  A few are even architect designed, but some just have the same paint on their door, mailbox and house numbers.  You don’t need a big budget for a fun front door. Continue reading “Favorite front doors to emulate”