Documenting our move “out to the country”

Spent a half hour this morning at G&K Floor Covering, looking at all of their Marmoleum samples and chatting with Scott. I got their name from Forbo when I requested samples. It was instructive — I really think we can use the lino effectively in the “converted barn” part of the house, as well as in other places. For budgetary purposes, we’re talking about $10/ft installed, possibly less if there aren’t too many price increases between now and when we’re ready to build.

In fact, we’re considering putting lino instead of hardwood in the kitchen/dining/family area. Lino is more appropriate for a chem lab, anyway.

Last week Bill and I visited the current project for Living Space Builders. It’s part spec house, part project house that they’re using to try out various technologies. When we saw it, it was complete through framing and rough pluming & electric (the insulation was due to be installed within a few days).

This house has an ICF basement, 2×6 walls and geothermal heating and cooling. The property sits in a township island; they’ll have experience with installing well and septic (a question I forgot to ask in the earlier meeting). The geothermal uses a well system. The house is of similar size to our house with a few familiar amenities (they’re planning a cable railing system in their catwalk).

While we were there we met with Dian Lu, who runs the projects, and a man by the name of Brian who installed their HVAC. I spent a few minutes discussing the merits and installation features of a geothermal system; neither man seemed experience (or even interested) in solar water preheating.

It’s going to be an interesting house. Not entirely to my taste, but I’m looking forward to seeing it more complete.

I know it doesn’t seem like it here on the blog, but I’ve been feverishly trying to get stuff finalized for the various components of the house. The construction drawings are still in progress, but I think Bob has enough to go on with regards to stuff I’ve already picked out.

For the past couple of weeks we’ve been struggling with the plumbing details, some of which I talked about in the last post. There are a multitude of faucets and trim kits and shower heads and other crap, and I am totally overwhelmed. Part of my problem, I think, is that any number of them (or even all of them) will work just fine, but I need to balance cost vs. the aesthetics which are at the moment only hazily defined.

And then there’s the kitchen. It is impossible to talk to anyone about designing a kitchen without hearing “have you picked your granite?” Nothing about the cabinets, nothing about the style, it’s all about the stone — and if it’s not granite, it must be soapstone. Granite isn’t really appropriate in a chem lab setting. Soapstone might be but it is way too expensive. So we’ve been going around and around with alternative designs. Frequently these design excursions occur because we see a cute sink and think “I like that!” but then realize that it really doesn’t have any “labbishness” to it. Then there are the incredible variety of stainless steel sinks. I am really enamoured of the zero-radius sinks, but they are pricey (they’re typically handmade rather than stamped) and are apparently available only as undermounts. An undermount sink isn’t a problem unless we end up with a laminate countertop, in which case…

One day last week I went to a couple of kitchen shops. They weren’t really useful visits, except for getting a couple of brochures. I’ve been looking for an independent kitchen designer to give me a couple of hours of advice, but it seems that all of the designers are associated with builders or kitchen stores.

Anyway, today I went to Dexter Cabinet and Countertop almost on a whim. When I mentioned to the fellow in the showroom that I was planning a kitchen that looks like a chemistry lab, he perked up and said “We just did a lab. Want a sample of that countertop?” “You bet!” said I. And so now I have a 4×5 inch piece of black phenolic resin countertop (backsplash, actually) of my very own. I then spoke to Josh about the options for a matte black surface. He thought the phenolic might scratch a little too easily, but said he’d be willing to try to price it for us (we’ve been having problems getting lab supply houses talk to us). He also showed me a sample of Richlite in Slate Black that is also a possibility. Richlite is made from paper and phenolic resin. Josh will also try to give me an idea of pricing for that, too. I figure that these will all be in the “Corian” range, which is still pricier than laminate, but typically less than stone. He will also find out if I can have an undermount sink.

Other trips: I went to the Rock Shoppe to chat about stone veneer. Basically, real stone veneer will run about $15 a square foot (not including labor). Concrete stone veneer could be as low as $8/sq ft, depending on style, color, etc. I’m looking for Michigan Basement/Foundation, which are typically granite cobbles. I think I’d like a split-faced granite cobble, but that’s a bit more expensive. The Rock Shoppe has a list of masons they recommend, if we decide to act as our own GCs.

Bill and I also visited the current project for Living Space. It was an interesting trip, and deserves its own post.

Updated to add: I nearly forgot that I went to a local glass shop to see their (rather teensy) showroom of shower enclosures. A budgetary price for any sized 3/8″ thick glass (not “neutral” but greenish, and not etched or patterned) enclosure is $55/square foot including the hardware and the installation. The lady behind the counter said that 3-sided showers weren’t a problem.

Updated 7/29: I spoke briefly with Josh about the countertop pricing. Richlite (and it’s competitor PaperStone) are way out of the budget (well over $100/square foot). He’s still waiting to hear about the lab tops.

Yesterday Bill and I went on an unplanned excursion to Walled Lake. We started out by visiting Ferguson‘s bath & kitchen showroom on Jackson Road. Ferguson is primarily a plumbing supply firm, but they offer some retail. We went specifically looking for the right size and style of tub to get for the master bath. Since Bill is the primary user of the tub, I want to be sure we get one that’s comfortable for him. So he sat in a few out on Jackson Road (where we also looked briefly at kitchen sinks — more on that later), and after eliminating the cleaning nightmares, we pretty much picked this one.

It seemed a little long, however, so we wanted to try a 5 and a half foot version. The showroom didn’t have any, so Jacqui (the very helpful showroom person) suggested that we go to their big “destination” showroom. Seeing as how we didn’t want to go home and mow the lawn, we decided we might as well drive out to Walled Lake.

Once there we were impressed with the size of the place, but disappointed with the selection. They had full kitchens displayed (some working), a section of building materials, a huge array of faucets and sinks and only a few tubs. None exactly like we were looking for, but Bill got into a 5.5 foot tub and we agreed that it would be too short. So, the 6 foot Archer it is. Yay! A Decision!

I like this tub for a few reasons: the styling is simple and a little squared off, the overflow is cool-looking and allows an extra inch of water in the tub, it is slightly deeper than a standard tub without making you feel like you’re in a coffin, and it has armrests. The six foot length gives me the chance to have my knees underwater And, since it holds about 72 gallons, it has relatively low water use for a soaker.

Along with the tub, we’ve decided that we’ll get the sink from the same line, but I’m not sure yet if it will be undermount or abovemount.

Then we have to decide on the faucets. This is hard, because I’m not quite sure where the valves will be located. I don’t think they should be in the external (south) wall, but that’s the end where the drain is so far planned to go. We may have to put the valve in the west wall (near the foot) which is ok, but I’m not well-versed enough in plumbing to know whether this causes some sort of issue with the drain. We’re ok with using one of those lift up drain stoppers rather than the remote kind.

Other issues in the master bath: faucets. Having just cleaned gunk out from behind our current faucets, I think a wall-mount lav faucet might be really nice. However, they tend to be more expensive and probably are more difficult to replace. So, back to the counter (or sink) mounted faucet. I prefer 8″ centers, two lever handles, tall spout, chrome. Again, styling should be simple and a little squared off. I’ll keep looking for this, but all of the master bath faucets should all be from the same series.

I’m having difficulties in figuring out the shower. Most showers I’ve seen have two (or three) solid walls and two (or one) glass. We’d talked earlier about having a glass-block shower, but the kits call for two frame walls and two glass walls. If we want to get daylight from the window to the sink, we need three glass walls. Again, we could have a “sideways” mounted valve set (perhaps with an overhead showerhead?).

As for other design, this is probably the only room where we might consider having tile. It really depends on the shower enclosure, I think. Overall I’m not seeing “spa” so much as “sanitary, with touches of decoration.”

It was a useful trip. In the next post I’ll talk a bit more about the kitchen.

I’ve been using SketchUp to wander around in the model of the house. It is really a fabulous tool, if a bit cantankerous on my laptop. (I can only use it for simple pictures on the laptop — for anything heavy duty I need to go to the work machine. I think this is because I’m importing a largish AutoCAD .dxf vector-based model, while SU prefers component-based objects.)

Our office neighbor Bob Kuehne showed me a few fun things I could do with SketchUp, so I’ve been wondering through making the house look more like a house and less like a cartoon. Not that there’s anything wrong with cartoons, but the magenta was becoming a hinderance to visualization.

Here’s what I’m thinking of (using stock textures, so the colors are not perfect). Red vertical siding (in the model I’m using “red metal roofing”) with a gray shingle roof (this is probably a bit on the dark side) and white trim (simulated with “chalk stucco” or some such). The solid fence has been replaced by some metal fencing (this is where I’m wondering if hog wire fencing might be appropriate).

As you might be able to tell, SketchUp “knows” where the sun is if you tell it where the house is located. This is really fun to play with, but I’ve had to go through and give all of the windows a glass texture so we can see in them! This picture is showing the sun’s reach into the house in mid-February at about noon. (You might be able to see the wood floor I put in.) Being able to see the sun’s reach is invaluable for determining what sorts of issues might come up in the summer given we have all of this glass facing south. Even more importantly, it shows me that we will have lots of nice sun in February — assuming the clouds don’t get in the way.

I’ve spent most of the time so far working on the exterior and getting the windows cleaned up, but I haven’t been neglecting the inside. The great thing about being able to do this is that we can see things we hadn’t expected. Not “hidden” views — things that are right there on the plan and yet don’t click until you’ve seen them in 3D. This view pointed out to Bill that the library doors open to the top of the stair way. I think it’s actually kind of nice being able to see through to the outside — if you walk up to the library door and look down, you can just about see the door to the screened porch.

Anyway, that’s what I’ve been doing to take a break from finding a bathtub. Time to collar Bill and get him to sit in a few, I think!

Yesterday we met with Kamil Krainski from Living Space Builders and Sandy Smith from Trillium at the Trillium offices.

Living Space Builders is a small company (2? people) which does primarily construction management (with particular designs, more on that below) — they don’t have employees, but use relationships and contracts to get work done. (For instance Trillium handles their marketing and office support.) They focus on sustainable (even self-sustainable) energy use, and have spent time researching various materials and methods for achieving this. For instance, Kamil brought in an LED lamp that they’re testing.

The company has been active for about 4 years, and have done 5-6 houses. They also own (run?) a commercial cleaning firm which is their bread and butter, and so “aren’t desperate.” They have stable of potential subs that they call on, and take about 8 months to finish. It was suggested that if we don’t start within a couple of months, we should wait until next year.

Their website has certain “stock” plans (fully customizable), but they will also build from our plans. However, they offer only certain options, for instance geothermal heating and cooling, tankless water heaters (probably would need 2) and spray foam insulation. Kamil indicated that they prefer to stick-build above ground because it’s easier to make the inevitable changes. They also have some “standard” amenities, for example prewiring for solar panels and a car charging station in garage.

Kamil seems to have a modern/contemporary/euro sensibility (he apparently does a lot of their design work), which could be a nice fit for what we’re trying to do, but it could also be too much. We don’t have an overall “vision” for the place so much as a conviction that we want certain spaces to feel certain ways and if we’re true to that then it will all work out. Eventually this style will be called Rustic Modern Eclectic.

We talked over the floor plans, and among other things discussed the pros and cons of granite. I love stone and minerals (I have taken mining vacations, after all), but I’m not particularly interested in having big slabs of rock on my counters (unless maybe it’s lab soapstone). Not even for resale purposes.

We briefly discussed the budget, and unlike the other builders we’ve talked to Kamil didn’t say “ooh, that’s not likely” — he was more positive saying “I don’t know until I see the details” and “We work to meet your budget.” Given their cost structure, I don’t doubt that the bid will be more like what we’ve been shooting for, but I am a little concerned that because they limit their offerings we will find it difficult to make good comparisons.

It was an interesting meeting, and we’ll try to visit their current project in the next week or so.

Today Bill and I drove out to Jackson to visit The Grate Haus and educate ourselves on fireplaces. It was a very good experience, since we could see many of the fireplaces in operation (the gas ones, not the wood ones), and get a feel for each one’s style and capacity. Mike was very helpful as he explained the differences between the various fireplaces and where each might be appropriate to use.

On the trip over, Bill and I spent a good deal of time discussing all of our various design options. Decorating an existing house is pretty easy, because someone has already made the choice of flooring, mouldings, cabinet styles, etc. Of course, if you do a whole remodel, you get to choose everything, but most of the time we work with what’s already there. So, while I’m perfectly comfortable picking the floor, toilet and sink for our current bathroom, I’m finding it really difficult to expand my purview to the whole house. I can do one room at a time, but at the same moment I want to be sure everything hangs together and doesn’t just look like a Designers’ Show House (you know, where each room has a different designer and folks walk through looking for ideas…)

Anyway, we like modern and we like steel and we like industrial, but our furniture is traditional, wood, Victorian (and neo-Vic), and cushy. We also like Arts & Crafts and Art Deco and Art Comfy. So I suppose you could say we’re eclectic, but that term is overused. In any case, I can’t see us living in any particular style of decor as much as I can see us living in all of them.

So we’ve just about hit on a strategy for making all of these design decisions. We’ll attack each space individually, but make up a story as we go along about how that room got attached to the house. This narrative will help us to narrow down the choices (do you know there are a near-infinite variety of lavatory sinks?) to the ones that make sense for the space. It will also help us continue the fiction that the house was added on to over the years, and that it started life as a converted barn.

Here are some of the stories we have so far:

0) The original house was “modern converted barn” so it will have industrial underpinnings (such as the steel-supported staircase) with echoes of barniness. In general, rather than use barn hardware (wrought iron, etc.) use barn-inspired hardware. If I can figure out where to put a Dutch door…

1) The kitchen will evoke a feeling of being in a chemistry lab (as many “modern” homes do). Where better to experiment than in the kitchen? Natural maple cabinets with slab doors and flat black countertop. (Possibly stainless counter on the back wall.) Undermount (if we can, otherwise self-rimming) single-bowl stainless sink with a high-arched faucet. Range vent looks kinda like a fume hood. Upper cabinets might have some glass. If I can find a suitable transition point, the floor will be lino, otherwise it will be the same wood as elsewhere. I’m still working on the sitting area fireplace, but it won’t be very big.

2) M’s room was added on just for her, so it will have a more traditional feel to it — the bulk of the decor is her stuff. The bathroom is straight out of Better Homes and Gardens with a “beach cottage” look in white beadboard wainscot and sand-colored lino.

3) The library was added to the house during our most Euro period. The bookcases (as described by Bob) are light maple plywood — there’s lots of square going on. The fireplace reflects that, mounted as it is to echo the square windows. The door should have a window pattern to reflect this also, perhaps just a large square window and the rest wood? The benefit for using this style fireplace is that it is quite shallow and doesn’t take up much floor space. We could put another bookcase under it

4) The basement will have a larger wood fireplace (I don’t have this one detailed yet, either) with a raised hearth, possibly surrounded with the same stone as we use on the exterior (story: we got it from the original structure). This is probably going to feel like a traditional basement family room, with the exception of the stained concrete (and humongous windows) rather than carpeted floor.

Those are all the stories I have at the moment. Right now, it looks like we’ll use hardwood (in whatever reddish character grade we can get) everywhere except for the basement, bathrooms and entries, and probably painted trim. The story for that is we’re trying to get all these spaces to tie together somehow…

That’s how I feel today, tomorrow may be a bit different.

Bob sent along a .dxf file of the house, and I’ve been “walking” (careening, actually) about the place using SketchUp and imagining sight lines, etc. As I go I snap a 2D picture every so often. Yesterday while the power was out (hooray for batteries in the laptop) I relearned just how woeful my Photoshop skills are and did this:

If I get better at wondering around, I might be able to find more gems like this (recolored using Preview):

Making these snapshots can only help with my “homework” to fill out the spreadsheet Bob also sent that details the floors, walls and ceilings of all of the spaces in the house. I’m hoping I’ll be able to get good enough at painting them in Photoshop to get a feeling for what the space will look like. It’s much easier for me to pick colors if there are some already there, and if I have an idea of what the shadows in the room are like. It’s much more difficult imagining it in thin air with a background of meadow. I’m willing to try, though. I see now why beige is such a popular color

Bill and I went through a few of the HBAWC Showcase homes this weekend. This year the show combined with the Livingston County builders’ show. We saw very few homes — timing is an issue, as well as goals. We wanted to see homes that touted their “green” or EnergyStar ratings. We wanted to look at finishes that might be possible for our house. And finally, we wanted to look at homes that are ridiculously weird.

And I must say, we met all three goals. I’m not going to go into all of the details, but let’s just say that there are people in Washtenaw County whose taste is absolutely not similar to mine. No way. A couple of the houses seemed nice enough, in a bland, decorating-trends magazine sort of way. Mostly I think that I’ve been focused on my own house for so long that I wasn’t seeing these places as coherent homes but as individual snippets of ideas to use (or not) in our place.

I don’t have many names, locations, or pictures — just some random thoughts about what I liked. Mostly everything is jumbled together anyway (with the exception of the house by Meadowlark, with whom we’ve spoken before, and the really not-us house I don’t care to name.)

At one house I saw a sliding door using barn-style hardware. I’d seen pictures, and it was just as interesting in person. I think this particular style certainly fits with the barn theme, but I’d be as happy with stainless.

Nearly all of the houses we visited had mud room cubbies. Typically (painted) white, with a row of cabinets above a series of open “lockers” with hanging hooks and a bench. Depending on the room size, there were either 3, 4 or 5 stations for family junk.

The other unifying item (with the exception of a surfeit of granite and televisions) was glass enclosed showers. I think I saw maybe two tub/shower combos and these were only ever in the obvious children’s baths. Even the guest rooms had fancy glass showers. One provider that I noted was Diamond Glass & Feiner’s (not a very good website). I’m sure there are others.

There were a couple of things about the Meadowlark house that we liked. First, the deeeeeep windowsills afforded by to-the-roof ICF construction. (In fact, Bill remarked every time he saw a deep windowsill how much he liked it.) Second, it was nice to see Marmoleum being used. Most everywhere else had tile entries (which I don’t really want), and I wanted to see what it looked like in situ. In general it was a nice house.

Other random thoughts: Builders seem more willing to learn about super-insulated house technologies than they were a few years ago. I don’t know whether it’s a marketing thing, an energy thing or an “I need a job” thing. Whatever, it’s nice to seem them getting on the bandwagon. I must admit I’m tired of hearing “I looked into that years ago and I doubt it’s gotten better, but I’m willing to learn” from people who are willing to learn on my dime.

Things we don’t want: a television in every room, a LCD panel A/V system in every room, ceilings raised for no apparent reason, balconies that can’t be accessed from any room.

All in all, it was a useful $20 spent (plus the gas). We’ve identified a couple more builders to call, and have identified many more not to call.

We have bunches of this plant, and are trying to figure out what it is. Is it an Asclepias? An Eupatorium? It’s got a purple/red stem, and creamy-green flowers. Any ideas?

Update A Flickr user (mossgeek) says it’s Dogbane (Apocynum). Given the various descriptions, I’d guess it’s Indian Hemp.