Adoption Shower

We're adopting glass blocks! We haven't met them in person yet, but here's a picture of them in their foster home. We will pick them up already disassembled, and will reuse them for a shower wall in the master bathroom. We love Craigslist.

Topped Out and Dried In

It's still May and we're done with plumbing top-out, and with our galvalume metal roof on (and doors and windows in), we're dried in! So glad we got it done before the rains and hurricane season.

How cool!

It's early May, and the air conditioning is almost all roughed in. We're putting a 3-ton 16.5 SEER variable speed air handler in air conditioned space in the attic. We'll have spray foam insulation in the ceiling of the roof, instead of insulation in the attic floor. Tied into the main ductwork is an AprilAire 1700 dehumidifier, that will run independently from the air conditioning, so we can get moisture out of the house after having windows open, which will also take a load off the air handler. Running the dehumidifier, and ceiling fans, will also allow us to feel more comfortable without needing the AC on.

Composting Toilet

I should have posted this earlier. This is our construction toilet, a lightly used SunMar composting toilet we found in the local classified ads, instead of renting a chemical portolet. No new materials were used in building this outhouse. My framer calls it the M*A*S*H tent.

Bowling Alley Staircase

We bought sections of maple bowling alley lanes someone had spared, and built our stair treads and landing with them. Please excuse the fuzzy pics.

The View

Here are some views, of the balcony sleeping porch, from the sleeping porch, and through Izzy's window. The sleeping porch overlooks a slope and forested floodplains and wetlands on our property and adjacent 60 acres of community property that will not be built upon.

That's a Wrap

Here's the house wrapped, late April. The trim is from the 2x6 cedar recovered from the big barn near Williston, cut, planed, and spar varnished.

Porch Decking

We had a porch decking work party with friends on April 12, 2008. Carol and Trey worked all day with us. The deck boards are 2" thick tongue and groove recovered from the big barn near Williston.

Framing

And the framing gets underway in late February. Things are cruising along. See Sophie walk the scaffolding - really freaked out her mom.

Finally, Groundbreaking

We closed on our construction loan in early February 2008, not without some apprehension, a 2nd lender and appraisal, all in the midst of the mortgage meltdown. But BigSchwa Builders (that's us, owner-builders) is up and running our house project. The Owner Builder Book and forum has been invaluable: http://www.ownerbuilderbook.com/

In the picture, following the footers, the stemwalls and piers for our wood foundation house over crawlspace are completed in February.

The Lumberyard takes over!

And so David amassed so much wood it overtook the property, overwhelmed him, we ran out of time to build the pole barn, and "w--d" became "the 4 letter word" to the rest of the family.

Deconstruction?

Yes, first we deconstructed. Left, an early 1900's house on a friend's property off Lake Pithlachocco (Newnan's). Recovered heartpine 2x4 rafters and 4x8 foundation beams. Right, a big barn built in the early 1970's toward Williston, got plenty of 2x6 pine and cedar studs, and a big stack of cypress!

Pulled many a nail.

Site Prep

My friend Jeff the Woodmizer sawed 11 pine trees from the house site into 2x6's and other lumber for use in the house construction. In the background, another friend Richard is hauling logs to the portable sawmill.

It all starts with a plan

Hi. Welcome to our recycled house blog. We're the (Bigger)Schwartz family, David, Candace, Izzy, and Sophie. We bought 5 acres of wooded heaven in east Gainesville in June 2006, and developed house plans in 2007. A modern Florida Cracker - influenced house, with generous porches for shading. Open floor plan, open 1st floor ceiling with "catwalks" around opening, a balcony sleeping porch, and lots of ceiling fans to reduce air conditioning use. Design by John Barrow (352-376-9179).