Momplex

So let's just say you got a team of two building a kitchen, and one hates painting and the other can't paint.

Well, it's not that I couldn't paint.  They say occassional painting in a well ventilated area is fine for pregnant women.  

But up here in Alaska, in the cold winter months, working inside a poured in place concrete building, with no ventilation, where your full time job is to build and paint or stain furniture, it's not occassional and it's not well vent

So where were we ....

We got kitchen cabinets built, 

then we DIYed a laminate countertop, 

Now it's time to install them!!!

Most countertops are just glued down, but remember us? And our overbuilding, do-it-right-the-first-time issues?  

Yeah, glue just not going to be enough for us.  I know it would work just fine .... but why not add some screws too?  Help us.

I thought we were moving along on DIYing the most massive of projects - the Momplex, a duplex for our to very deserving mothers - just fine last week when we built the window bucks Followed by the door bucksAnd then we did the same . . . times 10  . . . for the garage doors.The garage doors are supported in the centers, in preparation for the concrete pour,  You'll see the same get done for windows and doors before the mud arrives.We thought we were moving right along.But then this

If you don't mind a leaky basement, if you don't mind soggy carpet, a "smell" that you just can't get rid ... don't bother reading this post. Today I am going to show you one of those not so glamorous or fun tasks that you must do to build a house right. But it can effect the comfort and usability - not to mention value - of your home incredibly. Today, we are going to waterproof the below grade foundation of the Momplex!

Thank you for sticking with us as we stuck out this winter. 

And boy, what a winter it was for us up in Alaska.  This winter, more than once, I asked myself why we live here.  It was a tough one.

And I was most thankful to not be battling snow, wind, and deathly cold temperatures trying to work on the Momplex.  Or say we had got the roof on - thank for cheering us on! - it would have been dreadful to pay for temporary heat just to get the Moms moved in a few months ea

We are rockin' today at the Momplex.

Well, it's that time again. Time to start cutting holes in the Momplex, and blocking off wasted square footage behind walls. At least this time, we've got a pretty good reason. We are creating a secret escape passage. That once a year can be used by a strange man in the middle of the night to climb down into your house while you are sleeping. Yep, it's chimney time! That smoke's gotta escape somehow!

Inside the Momplex, it's pretty exciting.  The walls are finished and painted (thanks to you!) and we just can't wait to start finishing rooms out.  We'll definitely be taking your advice and focus on a bathroom first.

But before we get to any of that, we decided to tackle the decks first.  The big reason for this is with the walls completely finished out, moving things from unit to unit has become quite a task, involving going down stairs, out the garage, in the other ga

Our job has turned into a desk job.

Well, at least a job that you sit down at. 

I guess that's the good thing about working on stairs. You get to sit on them while you work on them.

Yep, sitting down on the job, figuring the stair skirts and installing them.

And we barely got to sit down to cut and install this baseboard down the stairs, it was so quick.  

The skirts and baseboard finish out the wa

What a frightening sight. Winter on It's WayI was already shivering, but the migrating geese flying over the Momplex was extra chilling.  Even the birds know.  That's why they are packing up and leaving.  Winter is right around the corner.Approaching SnowlineAnd our Momplex project is in danger of getting snowed on . . . without a roof overhead.  And a snow line creeping closer by the day.One Week AgoDon't get me wrong, we've been working very hard and making lots of progr

We are getting to the good part. With snow threatening to stick, and noticeably less light each day, winter is fast approaching up at the Momplex. We have been blessed with a beautiful fall (THANK YOU for your thoughts and prayers for good weather!), and are still optimistic about getting a roof on the Momplex and being able to work inside over the winter. I am so desperate to work inside the Momplex because these are the projects that I love. I already have the kitchen cabinets made i

Last fall, it was tough to walk away from this pile of trusses.