Slatted ceiling, steel / weld inspection, and a few steps closer

This weekend hit a few milestones. The city is requiring another engineer letter, this time for the steel. This means a third party inspection. The inspection was today, after the fabricators working late last night trying to finish the last of the stairwell work. They didn’t quite get there, but the inspector was impressed nonetheless. […]

Latest update

So the KHOU11 story was nearly viral. A version of the story aired on CBS affiliates across the country. Friends from Austin, to Dallas, to the east coast told me they saw it. This has fueled even more traffic to the blog and the house. I’m still not opening it up to the public, fyi. […]

HVAC goes in and KHOU11 makes a visit

Today was the installation of the HVAC system. I chose a Mitsubishi mini split system based on its reputation as the best, quietest, and most long lasting. Even though these are becoming more widespread in North America and Home Depot advertises them, finding someone to put them in new construction is a challenge. I found […]

Stairs and stairs, and another permit

Phew, started on some stairs to make it easier to get into and out if the back, which turned into a weekend of stair building. For the outdoor ones, I used premade deck stair stringers, so I guess I cheated. But it allowed me to get two sets built mostly by myself (I had a […]

Updates and the first permit

Although I have posted in a while and the outside mostly looks the same, there has been a ton going on. Most of the welding on the exterior is complete. The last of it should be completed this weekend. The first floor stair opening is done and looks great. The window and door openings have […]

Welding and framing continues

The first floor is dried in and framing is mostly complete. Everything turned out as planned. The welders have been working hard to get all of the seams welded up, often working into the night. I had a video of them welding at night, but I am unable to post it here. The roof seams […]

Looking for ideas and resources

Now that I am further along with the actual structure, I am able to focus on other aspects of the project. There are two non-traditional parts that I am considering. One would be to put a vintage or industrial looking sign / marquee on the front of the house. The house will already be very […]