Tag Archives: minimalist

Installation of Stair Treads

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stair tread alignment jig

This is a jig that I made to align the stair treads during the assembly process. The steel frame intentionally has a lot of room for adjustment to allow for irregularities in the floor and the walls and any variation in all the parts involved. These treads are screwed into the steel plate from below. See the steel plates here and to see the steel frame going in go here.

 

Stairs fill the stairwell

the stairwell

The entrance looked large without the stairs. Now its filled up.  I didn’t skimp on the scale of the stairs. I didn’t want to compromise on the ease of getting up and down. These stairs will get a lot of use.

Something like a spiral staircase just wouldn’t be useful for frequent trips up and down. A “fireman’s pole” might be helpful for trips down though.

 

There is still plenty of work involved in attaching the hand rail posts and fabricating a new hand rail for the stairs but, for now, I rather like it just like this.

Sanding Stairs and Pondering More Lighting

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Stairs of Parallam

sanding the beams before cutting to size

“Parallam” is an engineered structural beam material. Its designed to be very strong and very straight and consistent. I’m using it for my stair treds. I like the look and the fact that its a sustainable material. I like the balance of the machismo of the steel stair structure in combination with the softness of the wood. This wood material reminds me of a bundle of sticks or grass. I think it relates well to my bamboo floor and my bamboo shade that is the “door” to my stacking washer/dryer room.

rough placement of the treds pre-install

Here you can see the rough placement of the treds before final trimming to size. I have to admit I was a bit concerned about the scale of these hunks of wood in the small space but, happily, my estimates seem to be okay. There will need to be a railing of course but I do like the way that it looks without any railing. I’m working on sanding and final finish before I get them in place.

 

What About Bedside Lighting?

tolomeo wall light

I need to get all of the outlets and light fixture electrical boxes in place. Since I want as clean an installation as possible it seems necessary to determine the type of fixture before I can decide on the exact location of the electrical box.

At this point I am imagining an adjustable light fixture on each side of my new bed. I would like the fixture to mount to the wall without any cord, therefore I need to know what kind of light fixture as well as how wide the bed is going to be and how the fixture attaches to the wall.

Options, Options

Of course there are many options here just like all the other types of fixtures. So more research to do here too. I do want something that has some softness to it and doesn’t seem overly technical. Some of these get very technical very fast. It would be nice if there was some warmth to the light too like this one with a fabric shade. As always cost is a major deciding factor and some of these are too expensive.

 

ledino wall light

philips swing arm

ledino wall light

 

 

 

Lighting, Both Natural and Artificial

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Still Looking

Available in many different sizes but the price goes up accordingly

In an earlier post I was deep in a search for the perfect pendant light fixture. I called this my “fanciful pursuit.” I seem to labor over these fanciful decisions even more than the labor that I put into the fundamental infrastructure of the new abode.

The search never stopped and I have looked at many different sizes and configurations, none of which seemed to be just right. After creating the big entry space in my mind and now a reality, I guess I put a lot of pressure on myself to make it something special.

 

Nature Has It’s Impact

Lately I’ve been watching the sunset like a movie projected onto my upper story.

the sunset projects onto the new wall

The new sliding glass door creates a nicely framed image of the sunset. I find myself watching this image as it moves and changes color. It draws me upstairs to see it in person. I realize now that a pendant light fixture would block this view and I’m not sure if I want to let that happen. I was already thinking that the new fixture should somehow represent the sun or natural light so that, even on foggy days, there is a reminder that the sun is up there somewhere.

Now I’m looking at ceiling mounted fixtures and I’ve found some interesting images that intrigue me. I’m even thinking of putting recessed lighting in the ceiling and then hanging my own custom shade that hangs slightly below the ceiling hiding the fixtures and providing a glow as though there is a skylight in the ceiling. In all my research there is an obvious correlation between size and price. I know that is a “no brainer” but prices jump dramatically as soon as the diffuser gets bigger than 20 inches. I can make my own diffuser as big as I want for much less.

Large Ceiling Mounted Fixtures

found on ylighting website

This fixture is the “Quadra Ice Flat Ceiling Light” by Proli Diffusion Studio. Made in Spain by Vibia.

Its just shy of 24″ Square and I like the quality of the light shown in this image.

I’m not sure how this would work on a slanted ceiling. I think I want the diffuser to be level and I might be able to do that by adjusting the attachment point.

 

 

The Feeling of a Skylight

also found on ylighting

This is the fixture that inspired me with the idea of a large skylight. I like the quality of light in this image but I think it will take some experimentation in the actual space see what is possible.

This fixture is called “Big Ceiling Light” appropriately enough. The design is by Lievore, Altherr and Molina. Made in Spain by Vibia. It’s available in two sizes: 39.5″  and 47.25″ Diameter. I would guess this is the bigger one in the image.

There is a lot of finesse that goes into the design of these consumer items and I’m sure that is what makes them worth so much.

Here is a detail of the fixture above. You can see that its a high quality light that is probably worth it’s price of over $3,000.

I’m wondering, however, if I can create my own diffuser that I just hang from the ceiling underneath a few recessed fixtures. Well, that is the latest exploration that I intend to do. It may take some experimentation to achieve the quality of light that I am seeing in these photographs.

Life in the Crawl Space

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Its Been a Long Haul…

me after a day in the crawl space

but after many days in the crawl space, I have most of the heating ducts in place. I’m not sure what the inspector wants to see so I haven’t taped the ducts or wrapped them with insulation yet.

I’m happy with the heat distribution. I can feel a good force of air at all of the heat registers. Now if I just had some insulation on my second story I would probably have a nice warm house. Its been pretty cold for this area and I definitely don’t want to waste too much energy trying to keep the house warm. I do warm it up for short periods of time though.

You may remember the plan here.

The design changed a bit due to engineering, realities of the space and fittings available.

 

There is a reason they call it a “crawl space”

I bring the crawl space inside with me

I’m not a big fan of going into my crawl space for all the electrical and duct work that I’ve been doing. I usually end up bringing some of the crawl space back inside with me. I know people must do this kind of thing for a living but I can’t wait until its all over. I still have to run new plumbing for my second story bathroom which means I will be going back.

For now I’m resting on my laurels a bit and enjoying some forced air heat on these chilly mornings.

 

 

 

The Fun Part

You know that I am much more interested in the superficial pursuit of interesting design. I’ve spent many hours on the internet looking at all the options for heating registers. The final frosting on the top of a more practical infrastructure. It is kind of amazing how many websites there are out there that specialize in heating registers.

 

Just a Couple

Here are just two examples of what I have been looking at. These two are specifically for floor applications. Obviously if it sits on the floor it needs to be sturdy enough t0 step on. Its not very easy to judge the quality or durability through a website. Price is not always a good indicator. These are both metal.

I look at the shipping weight too and that can help to determine how sturdy it might be. One that I found online is actually at a local store so I’ll take a look at it in real life.

Drop me an email or comment here if you want any additional information such as  the links for any of the websites that I’ve been looking at recently.

Status Report, September 2012

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Where things are :

In the past people have asked me to clarify the locations of things so I hope that this illustration helps to show where things are on the second floor. This is also an opportunity to give a status update.

Layout of the new upstairs

  • The deck and the terrace are both going to have tile on them. The deck area tile is done but the railing around the deck needs to be finished. I posted a process picture of the tile deck on facebook  here.  The basic railing design I posted earlier on this blog here.  I am still tweaking the design a bit so it is slightly different than the illustration. There are different designs for varying transparency in different places. At the end of the deck  2 of the railing sections will be glass.
  • The arbor I made already and is ready for install when I am sure that it won’t get in the way of any other installation.
  • The stairs are in process. The metal frame is in place but I still need to level everything and make the final connections to the building. There will be plenty of work to do here. The engineer specified a beam under the floor where the stairs hit the lower level. The treds are wood and need to be cut and attached, then metal verticals are attached to each tred and those are topped with a solid wood handrail.
  • The bathroom and closet walls in the new bedroom have not been built yet. The entire bathroom has not been started yet. I want to wait until I get the new bathtub before I commit to exact placement of the bathroom wall.

I hope this helps to show where things are in relation to each other.

Details….details….

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I’m working on a lot of different things at the same time. I’m figuring out how to do many of the things that I was unsure of; but then, it seems I often have to move on to something else due to the order that things need to get done. For instance, I figured out the railings for my decks but now I have to wait until I finish the tile. The railing was going to be in the way. I couldn’t run the large duct under the floor until I had the structural beam in place for the new stairway. Still working on that but the stairs are roughly in position.

Let there be heat

verb2 ducting

This is commitment !

I actually committed to the placement of the ducts. I’ve put large holes in the wall and the floor. All of the final ducting is not in yet but I am testing the furnace for heating and it is amazing what a difference a bit of heat makes to the comfort inside the house.  I’d say that “heat” makes a home more than anything else that I have experienced so far. This hole takes the duct underneath my house to be directed to separate spaces.

 

 

Big holes for big ducts

 

This hole goes from my garage into the living space and I had to consult with the engineer to see how big of a hole would be allowed to pierce through the structural shear wall. I had to reframe some of the wall around the hole. The 4×4 stair support is also right next to the opening. I don’t know if all houses are like this but a lot of stuff has to be coordinated together in a tight space.

See the heating layout concept here.

Railings for the decks

Railings are just getting started

I’m really excited for the new exterior spaces that I have created. I have designed the railing panels so that there are places where the sun can come through and there are also places that provide complete privacy. I hope to spend a lot of time on the deck shown in this picture. The other deck (or terrace) is on the left here. The terrace is mostly a place for plants and a bit of outdoor space right outside of my new bedroom.

Railing design

working out the details

I started watching the sun set over my new deck over the last several months. During certain months the sun will be coming right onto my deck and into my new living room. I wanted to take advantage of that. I didn’t, however, want to see or be seen by my neighbors. I developed an angle that I hope will allow for me to look out toward the ocean but will block my view to the neighbor’s house. Different sections of the railing will have different designs. Some designed for letting light through and others to block visibility as much as possible. I learned a lot from the first fence that I built for the ground level. I learned to base everything on stock lumber that I can easily get nearby. Look at fence design on verb2. The railing should relate to the fence below but the requirements are a little different.  Here is a rendering of the railing concept :

A rendering of my concept

A big step for mankind

Stair metal fabrication just arrived

I designed the new staircase to be similar to those old exterior stairs you see on ’70s and ’60s style apartment buildings. The exterior ones have concrete steps. I am going to use a wood construction material for the steps but I borrowed the idea of a single big steel center support.

I worked with a local steel fabricator that helped me to refine the details of construction. I like working with people that are able to have a conversation about process and design. He was very good at making suggestions and also still listening to my crazy ideas.

A little help…

It helps to have strong friends

The finished steel structure was pretty heavy. My friend told me that I had to post a picture of other people helping me because I give the impression that I do everything by myself. There was definitely no way that I could never get this structure in place by myself and it helps that my friends are tall and strong.

 

 

September 2011 Update

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The Contractor is Done

and now I have a lot of work to do :

I have new plumbing, new heating, new electrical and new stairs to design, build and install. You can see a window I am still working on in the photo above. I told my contractor that I wanted to do everything on the lower level. There was some crossover of work but I think the basic concept worked pretty well. Of course, since the contractor left the job, progress has been considerably slower. Some of my slow pace is due to my learning as I go but a lot of it is just the lack of time that I have to spend while working my regular day job.

My Contractor was great. He was really easy to work with and he allowed me to split the job up the way that I wanted. The work was very well done and managed very professionally. I am giving him an unsolicited recommendation here. Check out  www.eastwoodsf.com . His website helped me to decide on hiring him too. It seems that most contractors either don’t have a website or have something pretty primitive.

I’ve been hanging out a lot upstairs

Obviously I am very excited to be using the new upstairs. I am enjoying hanging out and sleeping upstairs and thinking about the future design for the space at the same time. I am thinking about the locations of heating ducts and plumbing and the bedroom closet.

upstairs shadows on the deck

I’m watching the shadows on the deck to design the deck surround panels. I want to block certain views for privacy while letting in the sun. I’m trying to figure out an angle for the panel boards to be at in order to allow in maximum sun. After hanging out at the deck for the sunset, I think I need to have some of the panels be glass in order to maintain an unobstructed view in certain places.

 

 

tiny bedroom in a tiny house

The new bedroom

Sleeping upstairs has been nice. Its great having a real bedroom. I’m still using the ladder to go up and down but it has been no problem. Just the concept of having an “up and down” is still novel to me. I am focusing on finishing structural reinforcement and getting the heating going. Basic necessities for the near future. Both earthquakes and the coming winter are sure bets.

A Calm in the Storm

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a potted garden refuge for a tiny space

a potted garden refuge for a tiny space

During the Chaos, a Refuge

While the inside of my house is getting increasingly crammed with building materials and general chaos, I find myself looking for a refuge. It may seem odd to spend time fussing with plants during a construction project but this little oasis provides me with a lot of peace.

It is very meditative for me to spend an hour or so in the garden. These living things respond so well to a bit of attention.

In the beginning

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This is the existing view from the street

This is the first post for this blog. I’ve recently received my building permit and this blog is here to document the process of adding a second story. This is a tiny house and I am not doubling the square footage with this addition but I think I might lose my reputation as a tiny house.

second story

On this blog I will show what I go through to achieve my goal. It is going to be a long process so subscribe to this blog and enjoy the ride. Please comment on things that you like or don’t like and help to refine this site. I want this to be interesting for everyone and for all of us to get something out of it.

THE EXISTING FIRST FLOOR PLAN

First Floor

THE PROPOSED SECOND FLOOR ADDITION

Proposed Second Floor Addition