Looking at the Interior -- Master Bedroom

Patrick designed the Master Bed and Closet. Then Smith and Vallee crafted the designs out of the fir tree from out lot. We are very happy with both pieces.

You can start to get a feel for the interesting light patterns of the inside space.

The furniture has arrived

Well, the arrival is a story in and of itself. I rented a u-haul truck from Eastsound at 1pm on Thursday and drove directly to the ferry landing to catch the 2:20pm. The ferry arrived in Anacortes at 3:18. So, I made it to Edison by 4:00. Smith and Vallee was putting the finishing touches on the furniture. They loaded it for me and explained the nuances of the pieces. Smith and Vallee did a wonderful job of collaborating on and implementing the design. They are truly pieces of art. At 5:00, I was back on the road and I made it to the ferry landing in Anacortes at 5:40 for the 7:20 ferry. I was a little worried about the July 4 week-end, but I made it OK. On Friday, we hired some muscle (four high-school football players in need of a work-out) to move the furniture into the house - all without incident. ... The truck was returned before noon on Friday.

Some of you may remember that we cut down a giant fir due to it's location and the fact that it leaned toward the house site. I helped an on island sawyer (Kai) cut four logs into slabs. Those slabs were kiln dried in Edison courtesy of Smith and Vallee. They did the cabinetry in the house and made the bar top from the fallen fir.

Anne and I also designed a dining table (the mediocre picture in this post - I'll post better pictures soon), a master bed frame, and a master closet kit. Smith and Vallee fashioned them out of that same fallen fir. We haven't named the table yet, but it will be something like "ice on fallen fir". ... Note the glue-laminated legs which bring in an element from the outside -- glue-lam beams. ... Smith and Vallee liked the table enough to display it in their art gallery for a few days. ...

Now we'll actually have some place to sit and eat when my family visits later this month.

The Paint is Complete

It's been awhile since I've posted.

Well, it's July on Orcas. That means our 2 weeks of summer are almost here. ... Only half kidding.

It was warm enough for the outside paint to stick over night. So Javan painted the house and covered up the one mistake we made for material choice on the inside. It's all beautifully done.

We're left with the typical punch-list for the builder at this point. We'll work our way through that. ...

And we have final occupancy

On 16-Mar-2011, we received certification for final occupancy. The main issue related to the grab rail has been solved. As you can see the permanent posts have also been installed and the temporary posts will be removed shortly. ...

Also, Kevin from Orcas Electric worked to resolve some electrical concerns.

Once the i's are dotted, the t's are crossed, and the forms are signed, final occupancy will be official.

By Popular Demand ...

... here are some pictures of the house with railings.

We still don't have final occupancy, because the railings on the stairs don't meet the IRC-2006 standard. Arghh. I won't go into detail or provide any conjecture as to why, but the drawings we received did indeed have the wrong height. Unfortunately, at that time I hadn't yet memorized the IRC-2006 spec which states that railings must be between 34 and 38 inches tall as measured from the front of the step and that the grab rail must not exceed 6 1/4" in circumference.

Sigh. I do like the look and feel of the railings though. The basic design ideals we provided were executed well.

So, we still don't have final occupancy. My prediction is sometime next week for final. We arranged for Kevin from Orcas Electrician to tidy up some items and the grab rail will need to be installed. The other items are trivial. I've asked Method to come back just once more to button it up.

Sigh.

After the weather turns in our favor, Method will come back to paint the outside of the house and stain the main doors. We also have a door that we haven't acquired yet that will need to be hung.

After that, Method will come back after a year and fix any cracks and items that need attending.

Almost there.

Rain Falling on Railings

Not sure the rain water is supposed to pool on the deck like this, but it looks kinda cool for now. Have to add the drainage on the deck to the punchlist. ...

The rain drops hanging off the railings is pretty cool.

Mainly, I was just playing around here.

Nice View from up Here

Patrick took advantage of the great weather and got up on the roof over the week-end to keep it in good working order for the catchment system. Water shoes worked really well for both grip and softness. There were a few surprises up there like a few items left over from the roofers and areas where the fir needles had collected. Two hours later the roof and gutters were clean.

There really is a nice view from up there. Perhaps a roof deck will be in order some day. First, there are a few other things to attend to.

Oh yeah, I didn't take these pictures, obviously. So, ignore the copyright. They are attributed to Anne Bertino.