Who needs a guest house? I say we squat in the shop and swim in the pool, cook at the outdoor grill area.
Bye bye big city!
- Thread starter Texas82GP
- Start date
Wow! It's come a long way, Jared.
It was almost hard to imagine what the final results would look like. Absolutely gorgeous. 👍😎
The shop area alone is a dream come true. All the best to you, Sean, and Sean's Mrs..
It was almost hard to imagine what the final results would look like. Absolutely gorgeous. 👍😎
The shop area alone is a dream come true. All the best to you, Sean, and Sean's Mrs..
Agreed. When my mom and step-dad lived in Baton Rouge, it was interesting to see the differences in the houses there, which is basically the same climate. They're still slab on grade houses but they had interesting floor plan differences, like a "keeping room" off of the kitchen and tall, even more complex rooflines. Also, nobody has a privacy fence around the back yard out there. No basements down here either. I would imagine pools would be a rarity up there. My guess is the water would be too cool to enjoy it, most of the year. That's going to be a problem with our pool. My sister-in-law was hoping to be able to heat it but it's just too much energy.
The house is way fancier than any of us need. Resale value has been a consideration on all of the choices on finishes. We've been cautioned against putting "tract house" finishes in a custom home. This is coming from a designer that is helping my sister-in-law with selecting the finishes and is also coming from the builder. We're blessed to have him. He's my sister-in-law's cousin. He's been building custom houses for 24 years. He's demanding and exacting and his contractors seem to be the best. I've been thoroughly impressed with the quality of all of the work. Even the framing was pretty. None of us have the intention of selling or moving in our lifetime. This is the forever home, hopefully. But when the time comes, we want my niece and nephew to benefit as much as possible when we're gone. Now we just have to figure out some way to pay for it. It's not quite that bad, but you know how it is. We're overbudget on nearly everything.
Thank you! The whole place is a dream come true for all of us. I've wanted a shop since the early 90's. It's taken a lot of saving, financial discipline, planning and hard work.
No additions. Just a guest bedroom. Friends are welcome. No peeing in the pool!
Chateau? Let's not get carried away. 🤣 It's actually pretty shady out there because we are surrounded by tall trees. I don't know how much we'd get out of solar panels. I'm also not a big fan of the extra roof penetrations.
Many thanks, Jack. The whole thing is a dream come true. I've put a huge portion of my savings into the shop at this point, but it's something I've wanted since I was still a teenager. Who needs to retire?
We went out for another look yesterday morning. Interior framing in the shop is done. To say that I'm delighted would be an understatement. When the slab was poured, our builder had the concrete crew put anchor bolts in around the perimeter. The areas between the pole barn posts were framed with 2x6 on 16" centers and were bolted down to the slab. The "shed" was framed out with 2x4, with 2x8 ceiling joists and then 3/4" tongue and groove plywood on top of that. We'll put the HVAC equipment up there as well as the hot water heater. The walk door opening was re-framed, much better than the original construction. The outside perimeter of the barn was skinned in anticipation of installing the required 4' brick wainscot. The bottom 2' was wrapped with treated plywood. The top 2' with OSB. Then the bottom 4' was wrapped with Tyvek. The framing brought the building to another level.....
We ended up going with 36"x80" fiberglass walk doors for entry into the shop and for the door between the shed and the shop. The metal, outward opening, commercial door was just too expensive and too complicated from an installation perspective. Those doors should be installed next week. I have a meeting Tuesday morning with our builder and the electrician to do the electrical walkthrough. I've prepared an electrical plan in anticipation. It's only the second I've ever done. I did one in high school, in drafting class (by hand, with pencil). I put a lot of thought into it and then ran it by my brother for feedback. I think we've thought of pretty much everything but tried not to go overboard either. I'm expecting the quote towards the end of next week. Once the plumbing, electrical and HVAC rough in are done, we'll do the spray foam. We'll go with 5-1/2" of open cell spray foam on the ceiling and then 3-1/2" on the walls. After spray foam, the walls in the shop and on both sides of the shed walls will be sheathed with 7/16" OSB, with the smooth side out. We'll caulk the seams and then paint the OSB. It will look pretty good. Between the framing and the sheathing, there won't be any trouble with hanging cabinets, shelves, etc. Once the mechanical rough-in is done, the brick wainscot can be installed. I'm getting pretty far ahead so I'll stop there. It's coming along though!
The cabinet maker is still working in the house. He's got all of the trim done. All of the doors are hung, and all of the casing is installed. They're getting pretty close to finished on the cabinets but have all of the drawer fronts and cabinet doors to go. I think they'll wrap that up this coming week and then interior paint, countertops and sinks are behind that. The workmanship from the cabinet maker is outstanding.....
I guess that's it for now friends. Wish me luck with the quote for the electrical rough-in for the shop! I'm worried about what it's going to cost. I'll check back in with updates in a week or two. Thanks for the interest and comments.
We ended up going with 36"x80" fiberglass walk doors for entry into the shop and for the door between the shed and the shop. The metal, outward opening, commercial door was just too expensive and too complicated from an installation perspective. Those doors should be installed next week. I have a meeting Tuesday morning with our builder and the electrician to do the electrical walkthrough. I've prepared an electrical plan in anticipation. It's only the second I've ever done. I did one in high school, in drafting class (by hand, with pencil). I put a lot of thought into it and then ran it by my brother for feedback. I think we've thought of pretty much everything but tried not to go overboard either. I'm expecting the quote towards the end of next week. Once the plumbing, electrical and HVAC rough in are done, we'll do the spray foam. We'll go with 5-1/2" of open cell spray foam on the ceiling and then 3-1/2" on the walls. After spray foam, the walls in the shop and on both sides of the shed walls will be sheathed with 7/16" OSB, with the smooth side out. We'll caulk the seams and then paint the OSB. It will look pretty good. Between the framing and the sheathing, there won't be any trouble with hanging cabinets, shelves, etc. Once the mechanical rough-in is done, the brick wainscot can be installed. I'm getting pretty far ahead so I'll stop there. It's coming along though!
The cabinet maker is still working in the house. He's got all of the trim done. All of the doors are hung, and all of the casing is installed. They're getting pretty close to finished on the cabinets but have all of the drawer fronts and cabinet doors to go. I think they'll wrap that up this coming week and then interior paint, countertops and sinks are behind that. The workmanship from the cabinet maker is outstanding.....
I guess that's it for now friends. Wish me luck with the quote for the electrical rough-in for the shop! I'm worried about what it's going to cost. I'll check back in with updates in a week or two. Thanks for the interest and comments.
I may be too late with a suggestion, but I'll throw it out there...
I worked in 3 different custom door shops. I actually set up and managed the 2nd and 3rd. If you're installing molded style interior doors, spend the extra money for the solid core version. It's actually just wood partical substrate, but they call it solid for marketing purposes. On a higher end home like yours, it really adds a quality feel, along with a bit of noise control. The overall price difference isn't that much. You can save a few bucks by using hollow core for closets and such, but go solid on the bedrooms and bathrooms.
If you're using solid wood doors, disregard the above.
Your choice from fiberglass entry doors on the shop was prudent.
Carry on, and thanks for the update.
I worked in 3 different custom door shops. I actually set up and managed the 2nd and 3rd. If you're installing molded style interior doors, spend the extra money for the solid core version. It's actually just wood partical substrate, but they call it solid for marketing purposes. On a higher end home like yours, it really adds a quality feel, along with a bit of noise control. The overall price difference isn't that much. You can save a few bucks by using hollow core for closets and such, but go solid on the bedrooms and bathrooms.
If you're using solid wood doors, disregard the above.
Your choice from fiberglass entry doors on the shop was prudent.
Carry on, and thanks for the update.
Thanks for the suggestion. Most of the doors in the house are solid. Bathrooms and bedrooms for sound and privacy. Building a house is a million decisions. It's hard to get them all right. More like impossible, but we've put a lot of thought into this build. Keep the suggestions coming! They are appreciated.
mud room with laundry equipment with door to outside? seating bench by a door so you can sit and swap from shoes to Crocs inside the house without tracking dirt all over (also has coat hooks and storage bins for gloves/hats/raincoats) ?stained concrete slab instead of carpet/flooring?
It's been about three weeks. I can share a quick update:
In the house, the cabinet/doors/trim woodwork is complete. All of the woodwork has been sanded. All caulking/wood putty has been completed, and the paint crew is wrapping up the priming of the walls/ceilings/doors/woodwork....
The doggy door for the mutts has been installed. I would have rathered it had been installed in the door into the kitchen/breakfast area instead of the door into the powder room but that ship has set sail. The cabinet on the upper left is for the patio AV equipment. We spend a lot of time on the patio here. My brother and I have a ton of CD's so we want a stereo receiver and CD changer to enjoy out there. We own a lot of DVD's as well and are frustrated with the fact that we pay for several streaming services and yet every time we want to watch something, someone wants to charge additional for us to see it, so we'll probably have a DVD player out there as well....
As you can see above, some of the finish electrical on the exterior has been done. The breaker panels for the house (in the garage) have been finished out as well but the vast majority of finish electrical is yet to come.
I believe paint work will be ongoing all next week. After paint, the inside of the house gets handed off to the crew who will do countertops/sinks (have already been measured for) and tile. I believe interior finish electrical will take place at the same time.
On the shop, the mechanical rough-in is under way. The electrical rough-in, inside the building, is complete. There is a little work left to do outside to bring the service into the building. That will take place after the brick wainscot has been installed. The HVAC rough-in is mostly complete. The evaporator/furnace unit has been installed above the shed. The condensate drain, and emergency drain for the air conditioner have been installed. Installation of the central duct is under way. The cool air and return ducts to the shed have been run.....
A look at the HVAC and electrical rough-in work from the outside....
We had them put in two duplex outlets under the lean-to...
There will flood lights at all four corners, on both gable ends of the building....
This flood light will face the house and shine on the area between the pool and the shop.....
The plumber hasn't done any of his rough in work yet. He'll be installing a 40-gallon hot water heater (electric) above the shed. It will be in a pan with an emergency drain out the side of the building, no more than 6" above the slab. He'll also be installing a utility sink in the rear of the shop with hot and cold water. Finally, there will be two hot/cold hose bibs on the outside of the shop. One out front, to the right of the big door and the other under the lean-to, in the center of the north wall of the building. I'm guessing he'll be out there next week, but I haven't heard yet.
The entry door into the shop has been installed, as has the door between the shed and the shop....
As you can see above, the metal above the entry door is a bit short. The barn builder's skinning crew mistakenly hung the first door too high. I have the barn builder lined up to come out and fix that mistake and install the trim around the upper "half" of the door in the next week or so. Once that is done and mechanical rough-in is complete, we'll have the spray foam insulation installed. We're planning on 5-1/2" of open cell foam on the ceiling and 3-1/2" on the walls. Also, after the barn builder is done and the mechanical rough-in is done, the brick can start going on. It's coming together. It's going to be a hell of a building and a dream come true.
I guess that's it for now friends. I'll update again when there is news to report. Thanks for the interest.
In the house, the cabinet/doors/trim woodwork is complete. All of the woodwork has been sanded. All caulking/wood putty has been completed, and the paint crew is wrapping up the priming of the walls/ceilings/doors/woodwork....
The doggy door for the mutts has been installed. I would have rathered it had been installed in the door into the kitchen/breakfast area instead of the door into the powder room but that ship has set sail. The cabinet on the upper left is for the patio AV equipment. We spend a lot of time on the patio here. My brother and I have a ton of CD's so we want a stereo receiver and CD changer to enjoy out there. We own a lot of DVD's as well and are frustrated with the fact that we pay for several streaming services and yet every time we want to watch something, someone wants to charge additional for us to see it, so we'll probably have a DVD player out there as well....
As you can see above, some of the finish electrical on the exterior has been done. The breaker panels for the house (in the garage) have been finished out as well but the vast majority of finish electrical is yet to come.
I believe paint work will be ongoing all next week. After paint, the inside of the house gets handed off to the crew who will do countertops/sinks (have already been measured for) and tile. I believe interior finish electrical will take place at the same time.
On the shop, the mechanical rough-in is under way. The electrical rough-in, inside the building, is complete. There is a little work left to do outside to bring the service into the building. That will take place after the brick wainscot has been installed. The HVAC rough-in is mostly complete. The evaporator/furnace unit has been installed above the shed. The condensate drain, and emergency drain for the air conditioner have been installed. Installation of the central duct is under way. The cool air and return ducts to the shed have been run.....
A look at the HVAC and electrical rough-in work from the outside....
We had them put in two duplex outlets under the lean-to...
There will flood lights at all four corners, on both gable ends of the building....
This flood light will face the house and shine on the area between the pool and the shop.....
The plumber hasn't done any of his rough in work yet. He'll be installing a 40-gallon hot water heater (electric) above the shed. It will be in a pan with an emergency drain out the side of the building, no more than 6" above the slab. He'll also be installing a utility sink in the rear of the shop with hot and cold water. Finally, there will be two hot/cold hose bibs on the outside of the shop. One out front, to the right of the big door and the other under the lean-to, in the center of the north wall of the building. I'm guessing he'll be out there next week, but I haven't heard yet.
The entry door into the shop has been installed, as has the door between the shed and the shop....
As you can see above, the metal above the entry door is a bit short. The barn builder's skinning crew mistakenly hung the first door too high. I have the barn builder lined up to come out and fix that mistake and install the trim around the upper "half" of the door in the next week or so. Once that is done and mechanical rough-in is complete, we'll have the spray foam insulation installed. We're planning on 5-1/2" of open cell foam on the ceiling and 3-1/2" on the walls. Also, after the barn builder is done and the mechanical rough-in is done, the brick can start going on. It's coming together. It's going to be a hell of a building and a dream come true.
I guess that's it for now friends. I'll update again when there is news to report. Thanks for the interest.
