Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Building a garage-apartment with a pond view

B'ski said "After nearly 2 years of living in 120 square feet, this is a significant upgrade that we are both anxious to achieve." I hear you bro.

What about moving the insulation up stairs (or is the upstairs insulation there already) so you will have more room and can quit hiding it (covered window)? I know gotta hide the other stuff. On the other hand it will be spring soon and you won't need any insulation.

You are the only one I know who can say they have done the whole enchilada (land , water , shed , house) from the ground up. Plus it’s all here to help others on their trip.

Hmmmm....snow jacks, or no snow jacks. That sure would'a left a mark.

Wow, when that 3 or 4" thick sheet of snow/ice came off the roof, I was inside and thought the roof was comin' off too. I'm happy to report that nearly all the slop that has been shed by the roof is landing well away from the structure (and the gutters).

I made a 3 day visit to the project last weekend. The 8" snow base + 1/2" of ice + 3" snow topping was no fun. I had to do some equipment swapping (garden tractors + snowblower) between our principal home and the LNP project, so day 1 of the visit was spent primarily on digging, slipping, and sliding. Day 2 and 3 were spent moving into the next phase; roughing in the electric. No pics; boring stuff. Maybe when I finish (hopefully this weekend) I'll share little blue plastic boxes and TPW (trailer park wire).

Thanks for the pic. Glad you were not outside standing there looking up at the roof when it let go.

LOL...would'a been a "Hey Moe" moment

3 more days of pullin' rope
The upstairs rough electric is pretty much done. There might be 2 more hours of work, but it's more detail than anything else. If I had to do this thing in conduit, I would still be bending my first piece of pipe. Yep, gimme a drill and a roll of Romex wire and get outta my way. My buddy calls it TPW (trailer park wire). I call it done. This includes the wired smoke detectors.

KITCHEN


LIVING/FAMILY


HALLWAY


MASTER BATH


GUEST BATH


(from Master BR, looking across hallway to) GUEST BR AND BATH


I went a little "can crazy", but Dski wants to minimize the need for lamps and accessory lighting (we both hate cleaning and dusting). I hope to start working my way down the stairs and into the garage and shop area in the next couple of weeks.

Hey B'ski,

That looks great!

My house wont be nearly as complicated as yours to build. Pretty much an open floor plan with the required bathroom and one habitable room (bedroom) to satisfy the codes. Other than that it will be all open!

Have you looked into LED lighting. I see you have a lot of can's in there. It could be a subtle, but intense way to light. Not to mention the energy savings.

Progress but I'm still waiting on the insulation.

We purchase items as we find the best deals. We might not need them or install them for months-years, but if the price is right, they get purchased. The insulation is just one of dozens of purchases like this. The good news is that we are inching closer to the point of actually installing it. Until then, we have to work around it.

Looking good! I second the LED's. Expensive at the start, but cheap in the long run. Minimal heat output as well.

A couple more days blue-boxin' and wire pullin'. I keep goin' back to Menards during the week to grab a couple more dozen boxes, thinkin' that this is gonna do it. The following week I'm back there again. No biggie, since the boxes are cheap. The wire?...well, that's another story. Like most phases of this project, I always say that I'm gonna go back and tally the amount of one thing or another that I used. The wire is starting to seem like miles, and the cost of copper goes up another 5 - 7% each week that I go back to buy more.
I'm pleased to report that I am on the downstroke of this electical rough-in. In fact, if things go as planned, I am going to ask Dski to join me this weekend for a 3-dayer to wrap it up and call in the county inspector on the last day.




I counted 19 separate 120 volt circuits and another 10 240 volt circuits. The following pic details part of this weekend's goal...sort out and hook up the spaghetti. In fact, only half the 240 volt circuits are represented...5 more will be added.



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Oh yeah, and another yearly event...
FULL POOL AGAIN! HURRY UP, SPRING!

Pics of blue boxes and wire are a dime a dozen - but that last view pic is worth a lifetime !

That view is priceless.

That view is priceless Bski congrats you have got it going on....

I'm consider Installing sliders in our personal home across the bottom row to help with the view and ventilation.

I'm relieved to share another milestone. We just passed our rough-in electrical inspection. Although I had some anxiety, it turned out to be fairly anti-climatic.
Some of the memorable comments the inspector used were: (as he stood in front of the panels, carefully looking them up and down) "you do nice work". Near the end of his tour through the structure, I think my favorite was "I can't find anything wrong". Actually, after he was satisfied with my work and we spent some time talking, we did uncover some minor stuff that I should consider fixing, but the deal is done. I am approved to proceed with construction. Oddly, about 1/2 his visit was spent standing in front of the bank of picture windows looking over the pond as I went thru a pond Q & A session with him.





To all you electricians out there, I tip my hat. It ain't a walk in the park; you have my respect.
To one specific electrician out there, many thanks for the technical assistance.

Nice neat job Brettski, when my friend and I built the cabin he told me neatness always seems to impress the inspectors the most,
doing it correctly doesn't hurt either.

It only seems odd to you because you get to stare at the view whenever you want, he probably doesn't get a view of a private pond that often.

The electrical stuff looks great.

In Chicago, the inspections are much e$a$s$i$e$r.

Congrats Brettski! One step closer.

Nice Job !!! You are just starting to realize all the benefits of those big windows that we suggested. Just keep the mice out of the boxes as they don't mix with volts or wires.

Great job BSKI. I had to pay someone and it still doesn't look that nice.

Purple fingers and PVC
All the plumbing drains are done. Yeah, I made a few boo-boo's along the way, but PVC is forgiving. The 9-1/2 foot ceiling height in the garage/shop area meant all whole buncha ladder work. The laser level got put to work and I was able to get the correct slope from one end to the other, all within the confines of the 16" tall second floor I-joist framing...with just a bit to spare.

Master bathroom toilet and tub/shower (trap for tub/shower not yet installed)


Guest bath toilet joining with main


All the other stuff (kitchen, master & guest lav's) look pretty much the same
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The structural design of the second floor framing required a double wide lam beam at the stairway opening. The Georgia Pacific engineers allowed me to cut three 2" holes thru it for the electrical, but told me to forget about a hole for the 3" PVC second floor main. We had to drop the second floor main just before the double lam beam. This is not such a big deal since it had to come down eventually to run over to the 4" soil main that exits the structure.


All the necessary drains and vents are laid out to facilitate installation of a laundry tub and a washing machine. The main soil cleanout extended and elevated for ease of access.

(the laundry tub/slop sink will definitely happen...the washing machine is a big "maybe")

Up the stairs to the living zone.

The kitchen area


The master bath (tub/shower and toilet and vent)


the lav at the master; guest lav is ditto


Tying all the vents together at the main vent stack posed a special set of challenges, but the PVC octupus came together. Doing this part of the job in the cooler springtime has turned out to be lucky timing. I don't even wanna think what it would'a been like in the heat of summer.

Purple fingers is right! Lots of cutting and fitting I see. I still have glue in a pair of jeans a few years later, although it comes off your hands in a few days.

One more step closer.

Big job done. What is the next step? When is the move in date?

We are approaching 2 years since we broke ground on this project. From the beginning, and in the back of my mind, my medium-range forecast had this project done sometime earlier this year. So much for wishful prognostication...
Our next goal is moving outta the 120 sq ft love nest and into the 420 sq ft shop area of this project. So, all the "next steps" are calculated against whatever stuff and utilities are located within the walls and ceiling of this shop area. Completion of these areas will allow insulating, drywalling, and finishing off the shop. So...next step is HVAC ductwork in the shop ceiling (that serves both up and downstairs).

Bski you are a fine craftsman. Great work. I cannot express how disappointed I was last week when I came home to the new house to see 4 vent stacks penetrating our new metal roof. I expressed my dislike but it was too late. When the plumber did our own house way back when he did as you have only one main vent going out the roof. A much better solution.