Sarah's House discouragement

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sarahperdue

sarahperdue

Well-known member
Platinum Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2009
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1,091
Location
Alabama
Howdy everyone,

 

It's been a while since I posted an update. I know it's going to get better, but right now the house seems to be at it's worst in all the years I've been working on it. I think the contractors are, perhaps, moving a bit slowing with the lack of daily supervision. Some of the wiring needed to be redone, and the guys have gotten a little too into the Zen of sanding. The outside is going to look brand new by the time they finish, but I needed them to feather the rough spots, not sand the whole thing.

 

On top of that, while I really like the way the house looks without the sloppy addition, I'm pretty sure tearing it off was a mistake. I have terrible space perception, and it's just now dawning on me how small the remaining downstairs bedrooms and bath are. I'd like to gut those and create one slightly larger bedroom, larger bath, closets, laundry and powder room. I'm not sure there's room or funds for all of that... Time to measure and get design help. 

 

I'm now realizing how much I needed design help when I got started twelve years ago. Some of the things I did have had to be undone, and...and...

 

One of my current challenges is figuring out how to transition from the cool white, turquoise and red in the kitchen to the warmer tones I would like in the rest of the house. The main colors in our current house are deep red, pumpkin, dark forest green and yellow straw. I think I should have done the cabinets in a warmer tone, but that ain't happening now. I just realized a light yellow might have been a good choice. Whine, whine, whine.

 

Here are some pictures of what it looks like on the outside right now. The inside is an utter disaster. Argh. Also pictures of my living and dining room here in Tuscaloosa in the colors I love. I've also chosen warm tones for the exterior of the house. 

sarahperdue-2023020210440105884_1.jpg

sarahperdue-2023020210440105884_2.jpg

sarahperdue-2023020210440105884_3.jpg

sarahperdue-2023020210440105884_4.jpg

sarahperdue-2023020210440105884_5.jpg

sarahperdue-2023020210440105884_6.jpg
 
Color choices

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sarah, I make a lot of color choices using a color wheel (and then I call my best friend who has a degree from the Kansas City Art Institute HAHAHA) and I bet you can still bring in the colors you love along side your kitchen.  If you want that Blue Green color in your dining room you could maybe tone down the red a bit and go towards a Pink color in some kitchen accents.   Or, if you want to stick with the reds, tone down the green a little in your Blue Green.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">So many options. </span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">After 12 years, GURL you just need to 'git er done!!'</span>

chachp-2023020211475307426_1.jpg
 
Sarah,

I know it's easier said than done, but please try not to get discouraged. It's a very pretty house. And, your current home looks absolutely beautiful. Once you're able to work your magic on the new place, I'm sure it will be beautiful too! 🙂

Barry
 
Sarah,

I think it's looking fine!  However, I've never been there and we only have the exterior shots right now.  You've been working on it for a long time (you say 12 years?).  I say just hang in there and trust your instincts to guide you.  If it's going to be your residence, then the only colors that matter are the ones that communicate to you.

 

lawrence
 
Well I have a good deal of experience doing projects such as yours. 1st. if you feels rooms are too small now, they will feel smaller when all the walls are closed up, now is the time to make any changes you feel you need.  Post a print of the layout indicating room sizes and uses.

 

2nd. While I'm good with colors for a project of this scope I get pro help. I had a wonderful designer that knew me well and helped with much of my home's interior.  I also used her help on new projects and house flips.  Unfortunately she retired and moved out of state.  On my last project I found a recent graduate from the local design school and she did  a color pallet for the entire house that really did wonders for the 50's ranch I was working on.  This one just had to look more up to date so I was not too fussy, but it was fantastic when done.

 

Since you plan on living there you need to have a decent relationship with a designer so they understand your like and dislikes. Sometimes that can take time, others you just click.

 

Perhaps the slowness of the work is a plus -allowing you to modify before you are too far along.
 
Beautiful Home

I love the style of your home. I also love the saturated colors you've picked out so far, Trust your gut, as what you have accomplished so far, is beautiful. If you find yourself doubting your choices, then consult a professional. You are definitely on the right path, in my opinion.
Hugs,
David
 
Isn't it just normal?

In my experience, sarahperdue / Sarah, what you are feeling is the inevitable intermediate stage of any project, especially for big projects.

It's absolutely normal, it just means that you are about half-way to success.

Hold on, and believe me: everything will be OK, it just takes a bit of patience
 
big construction projects and mood

Hi Sarah

This is pretty "normal" so don't be hard on yourself.

 

We built our own house from scratch - starting with rough-sawn timber, we made everything ourselves - post and beam frames, windows, mud/straw mix walls, assembled the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, tiled floors, you name it.

 

It was both exciting and exhausting. At times it was absolutely overwhelming - so many decisions to make; unhelpful council bureaucrats to deal with; rain that never seemed to end; mud walls that dried so slowly that grass started to grow on them; back ache from heavy lifting; thousands of miscellaneous problems and niggles that needed thought and effort to resolve. At times I would come home from work, tired, look down on our house from the hill as I came home and not see what we have already achieved, but just see the place as a never ending collection of jobs to do. I did become depressed and needed some help with that. I only saw missing window trims, the front path that hasn't been laid, and blistering paintwork.

 

Part of the solution was accepting that not perfect can still be good enough, and to recognize and give myself credit for what has already been achieved. In some ways, things haven't changed dramatically here even now - we got our building permit back in 1997 and the house still isn't 100% finished - it is technically finished as we have had the "sign off" (certificate of occupancy) from council for years, but there are still many little things to finish. Half of our windows don't have interior sills or other finishing timber; one bedroom floor still isn't tiled; the "natural finish" products I used for window and door timbers have been a failure, weathering badly and now need to be sanded off and replaced with "proper paint." The earth walls need a new render coat in places, too. We have reached an odd phase where the building stage isn't fully complete, but maintenance works have to be done too. Yet one thing has changed - I am happy and content. When I come over that hill and look down at our house, I see it how our visitors see it - a gorgeous, interesting house...

gizmo-2023020516455903673_1.jpg
 
"a bipolar construction project"

Maybe I am even more bipolar than you, sarahperdue / Sarah, but all the projects I have seen in my life have been as bipolar as your new home, whether they were work projects or personal projects of the DIY type.

Believe me: how you feel it's nothing strange, it is just plainly normal.

Try not to be too hard to yourself and tell yourself that you have already achieved a lot and you will be successful, because you will be.

And in the meantime, see if you can do something nice to yourself; I don't know, something like a hot bath, or chocolate, or whatever you enjoy
 
reply to Sudsmaster

Hi Sudsmaster

Yes it is a comfortable home - cool in summer and warm in winter.

 

The hot water panels (in the centre of the house roof) attach to two horizontal galvanized rails, like two 4 inch angle irons. One above and one below the panels. The galvanized mounts are screwed through the roofing metal into the cypress timber battens behind. The hot water panels are two Rinnai / Beasley flat panels, they have a patented frost protection so they don't need freeze protection dump valves. (we don't get freezing temperatures here any way, though it gets close occasionally - down to 2 or 3 degrees C once or twice a year.)

 

The solar electric (PV) panels in the background, on the garage, have special "wavy feet" mounts for corrugated metal roof mounting. The feet screw through the corrugated metal into the steel framing below. There can be a big uplift in windy conditions so it all has to be strongly attached, frame to foot to batten to rafter to post to concrete floor.

 

The photo shows 2.4 kW of solar electric panels, but we have since upgraded, adding more of the same panels. We now have 4 kW, two rows of 10 x 200W Trina panels. The back row are far enough back that they aren't shaded by the front row.

 

The wavy feet are in the link below - just scroll down until you find the corrugated mounts.

 

The mud walls are rendered with...

 

wait for it...

 

mud and sh*t.

 

Just 50% local clay soil and 50% fresh cow manure. (we have dairy and beef farms nearby.)

I collect cow manure in a large bucket, add water to make a slurry, add clay soil to the same volume and whizz it up with a paint stirrer attachment in an electric drill. Needs to be reapplied every 4 or 5 years. Next time I will add a stabilizing and strengthening additive, but the cow manure mix has been fantastic, very forgiving to apply and it feels lovely, smooth and silky on the hands. Surprisingly the smell isn't strong, the clay seems to mostly stop it stinking. It goes on quite dark but lightens to a really nice colour as it dries.

 

Apologies to Sarah, I didn't intend to hijack this thread.

Best of luck with your beautiful historic home.

 
Something nice...

Does a Bruce Springsteen concert count? I gave my husband tickets for Christmas, and we went to the show Friday night. The concert was incredible. Bruce is seventy three and played a nonstop, scorching two hours and forty five minutes.

 

I recently had hip surgery and got accessible seats. Both the seats and the accessibility services at the arena were excellent. 

 

Sarah
 
Chris/Gizmo,

 

I have been thinking about installing solar panels here.

 

One problem is the main house probably will need a new roof  in four to five years. Not sure, have to have it inspected.

 

There is also a 2 car garage, and a 1000 sq ft workshop. I planted shade trees along the west facing wall of the workshop, which of course could always come down, or be trimmed back, if they block too much sun. The only rooftop that is south-facing is on the main house. But, like I say, it might not be a good spot for solar since while it gets great exposure, it's 30 year old wood shake construction. The rest of the roofing, on the garage and workshop, are metal similar to yours. I *think* building codes around here prohibit metal roofing on residential structures. Don't know why.

 

There's also a carport between the 2 car garage and the property line. When I bought this place the carport roof was on its last legs, so a few years later I replaced all the fiberglass panels there with polycarbonate panels. Those have lasted well. But I don't know if they would be suitable for solar panels. The carport could fit three+ cars.

 

As electric rates continue to rise, incorporating solar electric will be more and more attractive. But since I'm retired and living on more or less a fixed income, the costs are a bit of a concern.
 
reply to SudsMaster

(With another "off on a tangent" apology to Sarah...)

 

Well First, I'd suggest you chase up if there is a restriction on metal roofs for residential in your area... It is a great roof material, not sure why there would be a restriction. Roofing is quite different in Australia to what I've seen in the US. We don't have wood shakes/shingles, or they are very rare. May have been some built in the hippy 70's. We also don't have that asphalt tile over plywood roofing, which seemed to be almost universal around Chicago - probably popular as it made it easy to shovel snow off the roof - not exactly an issue here... Most home roofing is either clay tile, concrete tile or corrugated steel. We have other profiles of steel roofing, too. Corrugated steel roofing is a very "Australian" building material and is very popular for walls too. If it is plain galvanized steel, it is known as "galvo" and if it is other colours, mainly pre-painted steel (main brand is Colorbond) then it is often called "corry." We love abbreviations in Aus.

Tile roofing is probably the most popular, but it adds weight which then requires heavier framing, and is more expensive. Some subdivisions have "tile only" covenants that prohibit metal roofing, to my mind that is pure snobbery.

 

Wood roofing is almost unthinkable here, due to the wildfire (we say bushfire) risk. Your building inspector would say "you want to make a roof out of kindling?" Are you mad?" We are very fire aware here. Not just in rural areas, even city suburbs have had major bushfires in recent years. All new houses in rural areas need to have a BAL (Bushfire Attack Level) assessment of the site, and your building must incorporate fire protection in the design and materials appropriate to your BAL rating. We are in the second highest rating area, if we had any trees closer to the house, we would be in FZ, the Flame Zone. That gets expensive really fast. From what I've been reading about fires in California, you might want to think about metal roofing if you can, and try to start some discussion about the issue if there is a prohibition. (with an intention to get the ban overturned.)

 

As an aside, I love the sound of rain on the metal roof. As I have tinnitus, the gentle sound of rain on the roof is a soothing sound to me and a distraction from the noise of tinnitus. I get my best sleep in rainy nights.

 

Any way, what I'm getting at is, if you can use "corry" to re-roof your house, I highly recommend it.

 

If you would like to talk more about solar, or metal roofing, how about we start a new thread about that? (And keep this thread about Sarah's house.)

[this post was last edited: 2/7/2023-06:18]
 

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