My mother, who was an excellent knitter, would have been so proud of Maya upon the completion of her first sweater. In the works for a couple of months, Maya shared this photo of the completed project with the family and immediately received an order for one from Kyle. She is quoting a lead time of one year 🙂 which dissuaded the rest of us from placing our orders.
The walk-in closet of our main bedroom is 11 feet deep. I completed the shelving/hanging unit that hangs on the right wall today. It features 3 feet of a high-hanging rod, 8 feet of low-hanging rod, and 16 shelves of various heights principally designed for shoes and boots. There is room on top for larger items such as luggage. The left side of the closet will have a built-in 16-drawer dresser with shelving above. I expect to begin that project next week. Tomorrow, I hope to complete a similar unit for the smaller guest room walk-in closet.
When I built the kitchen and bathroom cabinetry for the River House, it was still under construction and I had little trouble making large components in the shop and then moving them into place fully assembled. Now that the walls have been painted, the floors finished and the stair railing installed, it is much safer to construct new built-ins in situ rather than risk dents and bruises to the new house. Pictured above are some of the parts for our future walk-in closet. My plan is to do all machining in the shop and tranport the pieces to the bedroom where I will do final assembly. The holes will support the hanging rods and the long slots are for biscuit joints that will be used to support shelving. It is important they all be aligned perfectly so that adjacent shelves appear as one continuous line. This will make more sense when I share a photo of the finished unit (perhaps as early as tomorrow with any luck).
For the last few weeks, we have been using a 14″ cube made of styrofoam as a side table for the swivel chairs in our living room. It was part of the packaging material for our new couch and just the right size. This morning, I woke up with a design in mind for a permanent replacement made from leftover bamboo plywood. I thought that a cube was just a little too basic so I decided to add an 8-degree taper giving it a wider top than bottom. In aggregate, I spent under three hours capturing CAD for the design, building it, and finishing it with a hard wax oil. The main project for the day, however, was applying finish to all the plywood that will be used to construct shelving for the walk in closets of the main and guest bedroom; a total of 256 square feet. Jeanine and I worked together to complete the job which took a solid three hours.
At long last, we have received our Certificate of Use and Occupancy for the River House. Construction of our new home started on August 4, 2022, which makes the build duration 550 days or 18 months. The time for permitting, design, and demolition of the old house adds another 9 months or so. The journey has not been without obstacles and some measure of strife. On the other hand, it represents the fulfillment of a lifelong dream and we could not be happier with the result. While there is still more work to be done, we have now crossed a new threshold, that of the home where we plan to spend the rest of our lives.
Pictured above is the last document needed to secure a Certificate of Occupancy for the River House. It was produced by our surveyor who captured the final field data today. The drawing shows the setbacks of the house from the property lines. You may notice that we are under the 15 feet limit on our northern side yard. Fortunately, there is a provision in the town code that allows you to be up to 3 feet under the side yard setback if you add that amount to the opposite side yard setback. The original house was situated in this asymmetrical fashion to optimize the river views in both directions. The rear yard setback is interesting in so much as our lot includes the land out to the middle of the Sudbury River. Barring any glitches, we should have our CoO tomorrow.
As we were returning from rug shopping, Jeanine and I were treated to a spectacular sunset over the Sudbury River. Our timing could not have been more perfect and I am thankful for this gift of light.
Yesterday, we obtained a temporary certificate of occupancy for the River House!!! All that remains to be done before obtaining our final CoO is to submit an updated as-built plot plan that includes the roof overhangs. Our surveyor will be here on Sunday to take the necessary measurements and we should have the needed drawing by Monday.
In the meantime, we are free to start moving in which we have decided to do gradually, one carload at a time. My nephew, Rory, helped out with Jeanine’s stationary bike which will initially be located in her sanctuary. The gradual move allows us to organize the new house one room at a time. In about a week, we will be ready to rent a small van to move the larger items over.
The second episode of The Build Show covering our home just dropped. Host Matt Risinger and our architect Steve Baczek cover several aspects of the interior space including my shop, the mechanical rooms, the kitchen, the front door, the master bathroom, and the stairs.
Now that all the requirements for occupancy have been addressed, I am moving on to the design and construction of the built-ins for our walk-in closets. Jeanine completed an inventory of all her clothes, shoes, and accessories so that I can ensure they will each have a proper-sized space. I have not done the same exercise but should be fine if I allocate myself half of what she needs. Pictured above is an initial concept which is sure to undergo refinement. It features 16 drawers, spaces for 54 pairs of shoes, 11 feet of lineal hanging rod, 20 large shelves, and a countertop.
At long last, we had our final inspections for the River House today. We passed our energy storage system (battery backup) electrical, fire, and building inspections. Only the permitting for the Natural Resource Commission has been more arduous than the battery. Because the technology is so new, the fire inspectors have approached the whole situation with an overabundance of caution. The next Concord family that decides to install an ESS will have us to thank for blazing the trail.
We were not so fortunate with our occupancy inspection. We failed on two counts. (1) We have been using the area under the landing for our basement stairs as a storage area for leftover paint and tile. Access to the space was by way of a 45″x 30″ opening. By code, the interior of this space needs to be finished with 5/8″ gypsum wallboard to impede fire propagation. The amount of work to do this in such a confined and irregular space would not be worth the benefit. Our other option was to permanently seal off the access opening which is what I opted to do. Pictured above is the final result which I completed after a run to Home Depot for the materials. (2) The door to the garage needs to be self closing. The one we have is equipped with self closing hinges but they had not been engaged. I attempted to do so, but a manufacturing defect in one of the hinges prevented me from finishing. I have called our builder to address this problem as it should have been installed with the springs engaged in the first place.
It would have been nice to pass on our first attempt, but I am thrilled that our punch list is so short. As soon as the garage door is addressed we should be good to go.
My nephew Rory has been visiting for the past week and will be with us for the next. He is an talented personal trainer among other things. Nico invited him to Boston for an intense week of physical training and healthy eating. His amputee soccer teammate, Jovan is also staying at the Road House and participating in the training/eating regime. Regrettably, I have been so occupied with preparations for the final inspection at the River House that I have spent very little time with him thus far, a situation I plan to rectify in the coming week.
Maya is dog-sitting for Bella again and joined us at the River House this afternoon before embarking on the continuing repairs of her tiny house. Bella is the best-trained dog I have ever known. She can do a handstand or jump up onto Maya’s back on command. She is also adorable and very cuddly once she gets to know you.
For the last 8 months or so, I have been operating without a shop sink, something that is quite essential when working with glues and finishes. During the first 4 months, I had to go upstairs and outside to the detached garage where our temporary water service was located. Talk about inconvenience. Once the water service was connected to the house, I only needed to walk upstairs to the laundry room, a monumental improvement but still not ideal. Today, I decided it was time to install the sink I had planned for my shop. Because our septic tank is located above the level of the basement a lift pump is needed to pump the drain water up to the main drain line. I had the plumbers leave stubbed lines for the drain, vent, and water supply lines near the shop ceiling in anticipation of this day. The first order of business was to build a cabinet carcass and mount it to the wall. While I was at it, I decided to repurpose a set of floor standing shelves into a wall mounted version. Next, I connected the lift pump (lower left) to the drain, vent, and discharge pipes and plumbed in the hot and cold water supply lines and shutoff valves. Finally, I added the countertop, backsplash, sink and faucet before connecting up all the hoses and wiring . The faucet can be turned on and off with a gesture – very convenient when your hands are covered in varnish and hence the need for wiring. Eventually, I will add drawers and doors to the front of the cabinet but for now I am very content to have an operational sink no more than a few steps away.
