Momplex

Last week, we got all the doors stained and top coated for the Momplex unit we are currently working on.

And then we hung all the interior doors.

Doesn't look like we got a lot done this week, but we did!  Did you notice the new trim?

On this side of the Momplex, we are going for a modern rustic look.  Wood doors with wood trim on a wood floor would have been way too much wood, wouldn't it have?  

So we opted for

Where would you start the ultimate DIY Project . . . times two? Do you buy land, pick a plan, or just grab your shovel and go? Before I start any project, I always sit down and make a list of the objectives for the project. For example, if I was to make an entertainment center, I would list out the items I need to store in it, the width of my television, the "look" that I need for the space, who is going to use it, and of course, the available budget and so on. So as I start to plan

The next step for the Momplex is the basement slab.We could have poured the slab inside the footers, right after we put the footers in, but we ultimately decided to wait.  We wanted to elevate the slab above the footer so it is insulated on all sides, saving our Moms on future heating costs and removing the likelihood of cold floors closer to exterior walls.  Also, by waiting to pour the slab, we take away the risk of the slab being damaged by the bracing system, or worse yet

Have you been wondering what we are going to do about the exposed plywood on the gable ends of the Momplex?

Apparantly, you CAN teach an old DIYer new tricks.

We have property!I am so excited to share with you that after much searching, miles of hiking numerous undeveloped parcels, lots of pros and cons lists, a few arguments, even a maybe-we-should-have-bought-the-other-lot moment, that we have found a home for the Momplex.  Finding just the right piece of property for the Momplex was supposed to be an easy task. We were after all hoping to buy the lot next door to our house. The adjoining lot checked off quite nicely: Flat - Easier

Most days we are pretty thankful to be working up on top of the Momplex hill.And we are usually pretty happy to just keep right on working into the evening.And sometimes we even run back up to enjoy a beautiful sunset.But beauty has it's price.And after three days of wind, especially terrible hilltop and with no barrier, gusting upwards of 60MPH on the top of the Momplex hill, we were downright frightened as we drove to assess the damage.Imagine holding a sheet of blueboard out the window as you

Mom, we love you, but not this much.  There are trusses delivered and sitting up at the Momplex right now.  And nobody wants to see that roof go up more than me, but with temperatures in the heat of the day rising to "extreme cold" with a feels like temperature of -26 degrees below zero, even if we did love our Mom's enough to work regardless of the weather, our tools don't love Mom that much.  At these temperatures, air compressors act funny, nailers don't nail, drill batterie

The Momplex, she just got her hair done. And now she's already going gray.

There's a heated battle going on up at the Momplex.

Or maybe I should say a battle over what type of heat system we should put upstairs in the Momplex.

 

 

Downstairs, in the bonus areas and the garages, we've got water tubing poured inside the concrete slab.  All we have to do to heat the downstairs is run hot water from a boiler through those pipes, and it will warm the floor, radiating heat throughout the lower floor.

With the interior doors hung,

this trim show can go on ..... it's time to case this joint!

Yeah, we really need to build some stairs, don't we?

Every time I've ever tackled stairs in the past, it's been quite a bit of figuring.  

Well, go figure (pun not intended), someone comes up with a stair building app.  I've lost my purpose in life.  

Just fill in the blanks, like how tall the overall rise is, what your tread thickness is, how deep your treads will be ..

And out comes your stringer pa

It really is more of a snort than a thingamajigger . . .  Book "Are You My Mother" by PD Eastman But whatever you want to call it, the Ram insisting it's a Excavator with a Thumb, we think it's well worth the $400 a day rental fee. You are going to think so to. While hauling the last of the trees off was certainly a luxury, it's not why we rented the snort.And it's not why we rented a loader for another $500 a day.Sounds like a lot of money for the boys to play on the sand hill fo