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We swallowed a house

10K views 48 replies 23 participants last post by  91782 
#1 ·
This is a job we did a while back; somewhat ill-advised because the budget was practically zero for any goofs, changes or whatever. But the HO had cash in hand and it's hard to resist a challenge. He also provided doors & windows bought at a surplus place. <sigh>

Tiny little place. We added a full-width extension 15' deep across the entire rear, with a cathedral ceiling and loft. Removed the original roof after dry-in and left that area as an unfinished cathedral-ceilinged "storage space" :whistling walled off from from the addition area. The HO is a DIY'er. :rolleyes:

There was no money to do anything with the chintzy aluminum porch roof, so we had that to dance around during the whole process. We're supposedly going back to build a real porch if/when he gets another chunk of money together.

No, OSHA wasn't involved. :laughing:

The whole job was basically me and one other guy, with a couple of young grunts to help out with those stinkin' rafters.
 

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#5 ·
Let me guess, the HO was living in it the whole time.
Complete with a one year old crumbsnatcher. Why would you think anything else? :laughing:

That's the biggest roof I've ever built, and I seriously doubt I'll do another. It's steep enough that not many people can walk it, and just plain big enough that when you stand in the middle of it, your horizon-sense tends to get confused. :blink:

Besides, I'm getting too old for that stuff. I see birdhouses in my future.

Sorry Matt; somehow I never got around to any inside pics.
 
#9 ·
I especially like the "go ahead and climb while I hold it" staging.
Well, the ladder was sitting on a 2x10 to distribute the weight over that porch roof. Sometimes ya just gotta do what it takes. :thumbsup:

Tore a couple apart from the inside after I did the roof, no matter what, that just sucks.
Sucks even more when your partner promised the HO that we'd save the old rafters for him. :censored:

I can't believe no one took that crappy looking entrance thingy down!:laughing:
Trust me, if/when we go back for the porch, I'm going after that first thing. With a sledgehammer. :w00t:
 
#10 ·
Talk about value-added, holy crap! Really nice job, I too, like the challenge of that stuff.

The one I'm doing right now has none of 'those' challenges, just lots of the "Christ this is heavy, and I have to take it where?" kind.
 
#12 ·
Talk about value-added, holy crap!
Well yeah, there's no doubt about the value added, but personally I think it looks like a barn. It took quite a bit of back and forth with the HO to make it look even that good, compared to his original concept.

And when it comes time for the porch, a third gable makes sense. But to do it with a matching pitch means those upper windows would have to be moved.

Oh, to just once have an unlimited budget!

The one I'm doing right now has none of 'those' challenges, just lots of the "Christ this is heavy, and I have to take it where?" kind.
Yeah, but it's crispy-clean new. There's a certain joyous freedom about that, when you can just build without having to tie in to old stuff and fret about whether it's all going to mesh in the end. :thumbsup:
 
#20 ·
Many years ago I was working as an engineer for a guy that did the same thing. We used his house for an office and were still using drafting boards, the foxtail brooms saw a lot of use.
 
#39 ·
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