Filed under: Uncategorized
Improvements in February:
- Removed outdated fluorescent lighting and replaced with 6x 5″ recessed can lights; bumped ceiling 12,” insulated ceilings and walls and finished with cork tiles – new lighting dramatically changes the look of the kitchen
- Removed about an acre (or so) of blackberries (not fun)
- Replaced all windows w/new triple-pane Penguin windows
- Tiled the pellet stove with slate and recycled glass tiles
- and as always, more painting!
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- front of house in mid-february
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- back of house in mid-february
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- upstairs – still deciding what to do with this room
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- new cork ceiling in kitchen w/recessed lighting
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- remains from the blackberry battle
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- foyer
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- kitchen
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- after
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- living room – new tile around the wood stove
Filed under: Uncategorized
We decided to use Penguin Windows, a Washington-state based window manufacturer for our replacement windows. All Penguin’s windows are custom made which takes 3-4 weeks. Beyond being the only local triple-pane manufacturer, they offer a lifetime warranty and a 40% energy savings guarantee on whole-home window replacements. Though the cost was about 30% above their competition, their energy savings potential far outweighed the initial investment.
Filed under: Uncategorized
We’ve been a little busy lately, and since we haven’t updated our blog since August… there’s just too much to post!
One of the plans for the house is reduce the electric load through more efficient heating/cooling systems. The slate throughout the bathroom, kitchen and entry was planned to sit over a between joist radiant heating system. The slate stone will act as a thermal mass to radiant heat during the winter and keep cool surfaces during the summertime. We’re planning to install the radiant system ourselves over the next few months.
To prepare for the radiant system, the following plumbing work was recently complete:
- Removed all plumbing lines and replaced with new pex (PVC) pipe
- Removed all external plumbing lines
- Removed the external pressure tank, moved to the basement
- Awaiting a new heat exchanger water heater that will allow for a solar heating system addition in the near future
We’ve also completed some other projects
- Completed the porch conversion to a usable laundry room
- Added a flagstone walkway to entry
- Built a new backyard fence, removed the existing cyclone fencing
- Planted over 40 native trees and several fruit and nut trees
- Built two GIANT shop doors with four double-pane vinyl windows we found at a local rebuilding store for $17 each
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- New Flagstone Walkway to Entry
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- New Backyard Fence
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- New Plantings
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- New Shop Doors
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- Interesting Mushroom Species
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- Our biggest fans
Filed under: house pictures
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before
after
- Salvaged 2″ hardwood butcher block counters
- Slate
- Recycled Glass Tile
- Stone Tiles
- Grout, Mortar, Silicone & Low VOC Adhesive
- Hardware, Hinges + Paint
- Faucet
- Sink
Filed under: house pictures
On Sunday, we officially moved in, though 70% of our stuff is still in our other house. Will be nice when we sell our other home and start adding renewables!
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- new counter + backsplash | stone, recycled glass and slate – pulls the natural elements of the home together nicely.
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- restored cabinets – new paint and hardware kept these out of a landfill
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- dishwasher w/free standing cabinet – works for now
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- looking into the kitchen from foyer
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- new ENERGY STAR LG refrigerator
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- kitchen
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- custom farmhouse-style sink w/wall mount faucet presents a nice blend of new + vintage
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- sink, different angle
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- custom sink
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- The faucet really helps pull the entire kitchen together nicely. Found online at Signature Hardware, www.signaturehardware.com, the faucet matches the era of the house while not intruding in the small counter space
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- double sink vanity
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- new bathroom vanity with new low-flow toilet
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- waterfall faucets with re-purposed bamboo backsplash (from base trim)
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- bedroom
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- New fan in the living room with LED lighting – still a relatively new technology and though it’s not really sufficient to light an entire room, for a living room, the LEDs emit a nice, soft light that works well as an accent. Can’t wait to see how little energy this unit actually uses
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- chloe, found on Mt. St. Helens, very happy to be living here!
Filed under: house pictures
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- new bamboo base trim
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- exterior paint – closer
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- north side w/updated paint and new planting
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- foyer to living room w/new trim and paint
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- updated kitchen w/fridge
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- front field, mowed
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- kitchen w/new fridge and stove
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- lilies
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- updated living room
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- living room w/new trim
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- new back deck support
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- pantry
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- thane
Filed under: getting the house
We wanted to thank two teams who made this home possible – Lisa & Chris Balmes of Chris Balmes Properties and Team Stashin from Pacific Residential Mortgage. Lisa and
Thank you Lisa & Chris!
We met Chris and Lisa over two years ago when we started our search for recreational properties; they’re an incredibly professional team with years of industry knowledge that we felt would help us in finding the perfect recreational property site. As there’s a plethora of leased land throughout SW WA and NW OR, they advised us as to some of the limitations of leased land and guided us through the geographic areas that suited our needs. Lisa was our primary contact; she was steadfast through the entire process and offered extremely valuable insight into the new real estate rules which seemed to continually change throughout our prospecting time due to the economy. The only reason we were able to get this home was due to our reaction time; Lisa was the catalyst for us developing the right formula which allowed us to get a conventional offer in at the same time as a cash offer, and still get the property! We can’t thank Lisa enough for all her time, and above all else, positive attitude which helped us get our dream home!
http://www.chrisbalmesproperties.com/
Thank you Melissa & Darla
Another fantastic bonus to working with Lisa Balmes was her Rolodex of contacts, from which we found Melissa Stashin of Pacific Residential Mortgage. Melissa arranged four appraisals on the property and kept everything moving, even in times when it appeared there was no possible way to move forward. We can’t thank Melissa and her team enough for all the time and expertise they’ve put into this project!
http://www.pacresmortgage.com/lo/melissastashin/
We hope that if you’re in the need for some real estate services, you’ll consider Chris Balmes Properties and Team Stashin!
Filed under: getting the house
The bank officially released funds as of 3pm yesterday – it’s finally ours!
