27 Feb: Well, after a storm of work, tiredness, holidays, relaxing, regaining momentum, shopping all over the place and then
buying some appliances and finally finishing nearly all of those nagging details, we've moved in! We apologize for falling flat on our faces with
the website updates, but it was either the house or the website. I must admit, we were all very tired, irritable, and rather frustrated that
moving in seemed to elude us for so long. We struggled through a few technical problems including a first coat of varnish on all the parqet which
went terribly and had to be removed, and the stair issue which is "said" to be being solved, but which hasn't seen any action so far.
While I've fallen into the "I don't want to see another nail!" chasm, Kristin has been sucked into the "how about this curtain?!" vortex.
So Kristin will play a larger role - and eagerly so - in the final details. And we both agree that it realy is great to be in a house that is
new, beautiful and OURS!
17 Dec: Stairs are 95% complete and though they're too close to the ceiling in one spot, they're beautiful. Trim is nearing completion. The
fireplace is done (photo above)! ...and we're beginning to lay parquet in the living room [
photo].
Looks like we'll wait for the big sales in Jan so we can buy a bunch of appliances and then move in after that. Other photos are here:
Hallway;
Kitchen Vent-hood;
Fireplace
03 Dec: wow - long since forgotten what happened on what date... but since last update: 95% done the kitchen firebox with its built in spice
rack and book shelf etc (photo above); 95% done the fireplace [
photo]; 90% done the hall (photo above)- just waiting for the staircase to arrive and be installed; done painting the living-room and trim
around all windows; finished with the office & guest-room (aka Espen's and our room while we're downstairs).
28 Oct: The vent hood firebox is coming along though I'm finding out how difficult it is to do fine joinery with old tools! - I'm trying to build
a narrow book-shelf and spice-rack now.
photo And Arvid is now moving on with the MUCH discussed fireplace.
photo I think we've got a design that will please pretty much everyone if not Kristin... Also, our temporary
mountain range (heap of stones in driveway) has been cleared and the stones placed down the slope by the house, to make more room for driveway/lawn. The excavator job
was the best thing Espen has witnessed in months.
20 Oct: Arvid continues to install trim around windows here and there - looking great!
photo
I've finally finished with tiling over the kitchen counters and I'm thrilled to be done with tiles!
photo Now on to finishing the vent hood firebox (not sure what it's actually called -ideas anyone?) Arvid has also begun setting up
the glass building blocks alongside our living room entry-door - beautiful!
photo
7 Oct: I've finished with tiling & grouting the entry-way [
photo] and picked up our kitchen counters which were milled exactly
according to my drawing - no mistakes! [
photo] The kitchen sink is installed, in fact all our plumbing (minus shower) is now installed and working! No more peeing in
the woods! I picked up about 400m of trim for a great price - but now we have to paint it all! (photo above). Interior doors have been put in place; locks & handles
will go on once Hellvikhus gives us the right ones... Much sanding, painting, and some wallpapering to do now!!!
20 Sept: After getting a custom colour mixed according to our meticulous instructions, we have a colour we're very happy with for the
main common areas! Since it's our own colour, is highly unique and was such a PAIN to arrive at, we've named it "camel scrotum" - really is lovely. The green in
the office is now blue and Arvid finished installing the beautiful cherry flooring [
photo]. And I've started on the tiles in the entryway.
Kristin still wants less stonework in the fireplace.... Arvid finished mounting all the roof ridge-tiles.
08 Sept: I forgot to mention 2 weeks ago that our bathroom tile-job is completely finished including grouting and mounting of a mirror
into the tile design on the wall; we've even mounted the bathroom cupboard/sink to the wall [
photo]. Yesterday, I finished tiling/grouting the technical room and
it's painted too. The house's main common areas (living room, dining room, kitchen) are all painted with the first coat of what we thought would be the perfect
colour (after passing on 6 other colours). Now we find that in certain light, lovely light brown colour #7 looks pink. ... on to colour #8. And we have a very
happy green on the lower part of the office walls - maybe just a bit too happy. My 3rd fireplace design has received tentative, though barely luke-warm
approval from THE AUTHORITY. I'll try to upload some new photos soon.
02 Sep: We now have 5 different colours on various bits of wall here and there throughout the living room, dining room & kitchen.
Very Picasso. And I'm not sure we're decided on a colour. If only the world had but 4 colours! It would make interior design decision-making so much
easier! Paneling in the technical room is 90% finished and a first and second draft of a fireplace design have been vetoed by the wife. I'm getting
good at designing fireplaces. Arvid has worked his butt off boring holes down the side of our mountain-top lot and has sledge-hammered big rebar rods down
into them. Now we can get a guy to stack a couple truck-loads of huge stones (now laying about in our drive-way and neighbour's lot) against the steel rods
so we can fill in our lot a bit better and gain some potential lawn area.
31 Aug: We've spackled and sanded even more and are pleased that the nice beiege colour in the office is smooth and bright. Now we
need to decide on other colours, finish the technical room and lay tiles in the entry-way.
18 Aug: Frustøl finally got the neighbouring lot filled in so we can see what the new flat terrain looks like. [
photo] The orange
line denotes our boundary.
10 Aug: I've begun tiling the bathroom after Arvid kindly waterproofed it [
photo]. Arvid has also
completed the first bit of chimney [
photo].
02 Aug: After a whirlwind tour of Denmark we've come back eager to continue work on the house. We are spackling, sanding
and painting walls all over the place [
photo] thanks to Mom, Brynn & Kristin's enthusiastic help! Mom even bought us a wonderful
3-seat swing to enjoy between tasks :) Mom even managed to paint half a bit of exterior wall giving our neighbours a taste of what the final colour will be! [
photo]
18 July: Arvid and I picked up and installed most of our kitchen cabinets last week so we'll have something nice to impress Mom
& Brynn with [
photo]. They arrived a few days ago and eagerly jumped into painting window muntin bars for us! Now the kitchen is taking shape and all the windows
have their muntin bars!
2 July: Sheeting on the walls is pretty much done! [
photo] We still have gyprock to complete
in the bathroom and some sheeting in the technical/storage room and then we can begin spackling and sanding.
15 June: We've corrected some minor ventilation issues, stuffed all kinds of insulation inbetween all the pipes & trunking, put
plastic up over the ceilings, and we're finally done virtually all the ceiling panels! [
photo1] Next - plastic and sheeting on some of the walls!
10 June: We're finally 95+% finished with the ventilation system in the first floor. Now we can get on with the ceiling!
We're abandoning work in the loft to concentrate with the first floor. We've got too much material piling up downstairs and it's the first
floor that's the priority.
01 June: Plastic for the walls, fibre-board sheeting, giprock, and other materials arrived in a huge mound labled
"Kristin Garriott". That wasn't enough to convince her to carry it all into the house though. She painted window muntins while we men
carried all the loot inside. Charles Vezina even came over and lent a hand - thanks man!
30 May: All the balanced ventillation system components and piping as well as the central vacuum system piping arrived today.
BIG boxes and LOTS of pipe!
27 May: The plumber is now threading his pipes through the walls & ceiling - we're making a few minor changes upstairs
to improve the upstairs bathroom arrangement.
24 May: We're done insulating the ceiling in the first floor. We're carrying on with insulating the roof in the loft,
cutting bits of wood to deepen the roof joists to accomodate thicker insulation, and painting window sashes and muntins in between.
And the electrician has arrived and is running all his cabling through the house!
17 May: Happy 100th birthday Norway!!! Did Norwegians do anything particularly celebratory today? No. Not a single thing.
14 May: All the insulation arrived Friday. Arvid and I and a few friends heaved it all into the house - some upstairs,
some down. Then Arvid and I worked like mad finishing all external wall insulating downstairs and one gable wall upstairs.
[
photo1] [
photo2]
Now we've run out of insulation of that thickness and wonder whether we also received 95% of the other thicknessess as well - not to mention
other materials. We're still waiting for the last 110 roof tiles to arrive.
12 May: The old beam was pulled out through a hole cut high in the gable wall and the new larger, longer
beam inserted by crane. A few small wall & door changes upstairs allow for posts, and these along with another beam hidden in the
loft floor distribute the weight for a future dormer in our loft. Problem solved.
10 May: The beam issue will be solved by removing the existing beam, cutting a hole high in the west gable-wall,
and inserting a bigger beam through it. Another bearing beam on the first floor should finish it off. We almost completed the roof
tiles today, but ran out of tiles. Insulation will be arriving Friday.
7 May: Arvid and I layed out roof-tiles on one side of the house as well as setting up rain-gutters
[
photo].
6 May: Roof-tiles arrived and were craned up onto the roof - we changed our minds at the last second and
got beautiful black tiles. I also had a discussion with the building contractor about the big beam up above the loft. It seems
it isn't properly dimensioned for supporting a future dormer - the very thing we specifically said we wanted! There has clearly
been a miscommunication between he and the guy we made our initial house-plans with. Another beam which supports the loft floor-
joists makes a door out to a balcony for the future dormer extremely difficult. This whole beam / dormer issue has to be sorted
out extremely soon as major construction changes are already going to be difficult; they become nearly impossible once the walls
get closed up - only a few weeks away.
4 May: New eave done, lathing on roof complete, wood siding complete and sky-lights in roof in preperation
for the arrival of roof-tiles Friday. I've also been putting a base-coat on various board edges, details and window trim around the house.
30 Apr: Arvid and I decided to quickly add an additional eaves-overhang over the livingroom's south wall.
This wall was pushed out 45cm but the roof above wasn't altered. With the recent change I think the house will look much better
and the windows and wall will be a little bit more protected from rain.
29 Apr: KRANSELAG! We put on a little coffee, snacks & cake "fest" for all involved in the project so far as
a thank-you for getting the roof up so quickly. It's a Norwegian tradition; the carpenters place a wreath (krans) up on the
gable to signify that they got the job done and that the owner gave them cake [
photo]. Sometimes when an owner doesn't provide something
for the carpenters, the effigy of a man is hung from the gable by the neck! We had a very enjoyable time and were glad the roof
was up because it rained!
28 Apr: I went up to the lot to paint a base coat on siding board-ends and window frames and discovered that
the carpenters had put the first layer of lathing on the roof. They also removed all the scaffolding on both gable-walls!
This makes our wall-building and painting jobs much harder...
27 Apr: The carpenters Finished the siding on the west gable wall [
photo]. Our cinder-block wall is going ever
higher as we prepare to inclose the windows with rain/wind-proof framing. We also reduced our huge pile of garbage by cutting
up a bunch of offcut lumber for fire-wood (and giving some away to local boys dreaming of fort-construction)
25 Apr: The carpenters have put all the siding up the east gable wall and even finished the decorative
trim around the windows on that wall. Can you see Kristin & Espen in the window? [
photo]
21 Apr: The carpenters moved the one window that was slightly out of place and mounted all the windows -
the difference is amazing! I feel like we finally have a house. LONG work day for Arvid and I - we put lathing on
the walls where there will be cinder-block/stucco. Arvid finished the first 2 rows already this evening [
photo].
20 Apr: sheathing on roof is complete - now it can rain without there being a problem with water absorption!
Our sunny, windy weather continues to dry out the framing from the last rain almost 2 weeks ago.
18 Apr: more scaffolding has been set up and sheathing has been added in the eaves; roof is next!
14 Apr: Sheathing is almost complete [
photo]. I discovered that one of the windows in the gable wall
is slightly out of position - unfortunately because of the type of siding, it will be visible, so I've asked the builders to move it
over. They're annoyed, but I'm paying for the house so.... Hopefully we can begin masonry on the 2 walls next week.
11 Apr: Framing of the loft's gable-walls is complete [
photo] and the windows have arrived on site.
07 Apr: A temporary bearing wall through the middle of the house has been set up and the roof trusses
are all in place [
photo]. It's finally shaped like a house!
05 Apr: All exterior walls are framed; exterior sheathing and roof-trusses have arrived on site.
04 Apr: Happy Birthday mom! The carpenters have raised the first of the exterior walls
[
photo] - we now have
something to look at!
31 Mar: Lumber and tools are on site. The carpenters have layed all the exterior wall bottom-sills
[
photo]. The electrical hook-up was finally completed after they had put in a day's work with hand saws:( Wall
studs have been cut and the first walls should go up tomorrow!
29 Mar: The building site has been accepted by the builders. Lumber and tools will be arriving tomorrow!
...but the electrical hook-up has STILL NOT been completed. Everyone is waiting!
09 Mar: The electrician finished all the sub-floor heating cables on Tuesday... so we poured, drew, and trowelled
all the floors on Thursday [
photos]. We also set up fence-posts around the house's steep boundary sides so the builders won't be afraid ...
(ok it's more of a legal thing).
05 Mar: Following delays from snow, wind, and cold, we finally managed to get back to work today. Arvid
and I had to shovel a good foot of wet snow from the local road, then the spur-road, then the drive-way then the entire house.
We finished all the insluating [
photo], covered all the insulation with plastic, sealed it, and layed out chicken-wire for the
electrician. (he'll mount heating cables to the mesh throughout the areas to be heated - hopefully Monday!)
20 Feb: We poured the foundation on Friday! We've now had it filled with gravel and have buried an air-pipe
for the fireplace/stove as well as a pipe-coil for radon venting. We're now laying 20cm of sub-floor insulation.
14 Feb: Arvid and I have been working hard and using the last remaining hours of daylight for the
past 3 evenings to build forms for the house foundation. They're almost done. Depending on our progress tomorrow, we could
either pour the foundation on Friday or Monday! [
Photo 1] [
Photo 2]
12 Feb: After a bit of pestering the land developer has really gone all out; he's worked overtime to
build up the lot to the proper level and compact it. A very steep stone slope had to be constructed along 2 edges of the house
and the excavator operator impressed us with his deft handling of enormous rocks [
photos]. Pipes under the house are layed and gravel has
been levelled for the foundation - NOW we can build foundation forms!
8 Feb: All the required cables and pipes have been layed in the ditches for all the neighbourhood roads
so now they just need to fill them in and the land developer will be able to use the roads to continue work on the lot.
20 Jan: The land developer, Svein Frustøl has blasted the road into the lot and built up the lot under our
house's footprint [
Photo] (yellow box in photo) so we can get an idea of its placement and elevation. It's still very rough but gives us a better idea
. More filling, grading and compacting will be necessary and of course, piping and other connections laid for the
house itself. THEN Scott & Arvid can pour the foundation!
19 Jan: Kristin joined Scott on a trip to Oslo (Scott was on a course) and spent 4 hours at the big IKEA store there
[
photo]. Kitchens
and kitchen ideas were the priority - we're pretty excited, but find it ironic that this too is an area where our tastes differ a fair bit. Nevertheless,
the kitchens available are of good quality and are surprisingly attractive... but are we willing to to go pick it up and then put every little bit together ourselves?
14 Jan, 2005: Meeting with Hellvik Hus and the building contractor who will take responsiblity for most of its construction. We made some
minor changes and finalized a long list of details (window & door types, material choices and styles etc) - very exciting. Of note: we need to decide on
whether we'll put out another large chunk of money in order to insulate the roof even though we don't intend on finishing the upstairs this year. We
could leave it until next year but this has consequences in our ceiling insulation downstairs and floor upstairs.
28 Dec, 2004: We finally received permission from the municipality to proceed with the building project as planned! This means
the next step is to organize the ground-work. The road needs to be correctly blasted and pipes layed. Then areas of our lot need to be raised
by about 3 feet. A beautiful blanket of snow fell on the lot on Christmas eve and the place was a real winter wonderland! [
photo]... Alas, no longer ...
23 Nov, 2004: I spoke with the land developer about the road - he was surprised, saying his road was placed according to the
municipality's lot corner bolts, not the local polygon point. I went up to the lot with the municipality and land developer and they
agreed that the road (now 2/3rds blasted) was in the wrong place. Fortunately I had measured from the polygon point and discovered the error.
An hour later after some data crunching the municipality got together with me and explained that the lot corner bolts were not actually "out
of place" - they were temporary bolts placed 5 meters back from the actual corners so they wouldn't be blasted away .... but the land
developer was never told! Good thing we spotted the error before pipes and ashfalt were layed! Now I'll reposition my house on the map.
They continued blasting the remaining section as the bore-holes and dynamite were already placed. Now it looks like I've got a nice flat
spot for a garage and drive-way. [
photo]
21 Nov, 2004: The blasting bore-holes are drilled for the road and they appear to veer onto our lot by
about 2 meters. To verify this and follow up on another suspicion of mine, Arvid and I measured from a local poligon point
and found that at least 2 of our lot corner-bolts are out of place by more than 5 meters! So the entire road width is on our lot!
The error could cost us up to 80 square meters of land. We will take this up with the land developer and municipality immediately.
The
photo shows where the road should be (green) and where it is to be blasted (red).
13 Nov, 2004: Kristin, Espen and I checked out kitchens today. Arvid and I then burned all the remaining
limbs and branches from the trees we cut down [
photo] and noticed that the land developer has begun clearing ground for the spur-road into the lot.
10 Nov, 2004: Contract signed - after some discussion, we've come to an amicable agreement with Hellvik Hus and are eager
to get going on the house. The next front: ground-work. The spur-road into the lot needs to be blasted and we need to negotiate
the quantity and type of groundwork to be done on our lot - we really need to keep the costs down on this project!
5 Nov, 2004: Apparently not ALL the costs have been highlighted by Hellvik Hus. After doing a bit of
math we found that the total costs are projected to be 20 some thousand kroner OVER the price we based our budget on.
Hellvik Hus is pressing us to sign the contract, but with this price-increase, we're simply going to have to take some
time to re-think our strategy. Hopefully Hellvik Hus will take its expressed
desire to help us out seriously and we can get back on track with construction of the house.
28 Oct, 2004: We've made the final drawing changes, clarified some details and received the final price
breakdown for the house as well as their architect's drawings. The price seems to be right where we aimed and so we'll go ahead
with the contract for construction of the house next week.
15 Oct, 2004: The house is already picked out - we had to choose a house from the catalogue of the company who
provides the lots. Fortunately they've got some great designs and the one we liked best is medium sized and extremely flexible.
We have begun suggesting changes and sketching these on the house drawings. Projected costs appear to be only slightly higher
than our approximate price-ceiling and can be adjusted by changing details in the final design.
10 Oct, 2004: Purchase of lot 172. We signed our loan papers at the bank and signed the contract for purchase
of the land! These were the most expensive signatures we've ever given - we're thrilled. Before any significant
work can commence, a short spur-road needs to be blasted into the lot from the main road in the neighbourhood.
Sep, 2004: We've found a great little lot at Svartkjønnheia that seems to be very reasonably priced and in a good area.
The lot is "raw" - covered with trees, brush etc but has an obvious view of Nodelandsheia and the Songdal valley. Strangely this
lot, which falls away steeply along its southern boundary is relatively flat on top and would not need blasting (a real rarity in Norway).
This would probably keep costs much lower though we would likely have to build up areas with crushed stone.
