Bigschwa Recycled House

Porch Screened

2008-10-05T18:34:00.000-07:00

Our sleeping porch has more or less been finished, and is screened. The side wall paneling and floors are made from very rustic heartpine flooring that was salvaged from the old Gainesville Sun building.

Used Doors and Antique Knobs

2008-10-05T18:11:00.000-07:00

No hollow doors here. For our interior doors, we bought 8 doors in DeLand, another Craigslist find, heavy, beautiful grain. They look like they came out of an office. My carpenter, Tom, shown here ripping casing for the doors, trimmed the doors and made them fit the rough openings, with some work. The door knob holes were not where they needed to be, once the doors were trimmed, and so, at his suggestion, I had a local cabinet shop make wooden escutcheon plates (shown here prior to being stained) to hide the imperfections. Here are an assortment of antique door knobs we bought off eBay, white, black, and swirly faux wood grain porcelain, and different shaped real wood knobs. Why match?

Steel Cable Railing

2008-10-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

Here's our steel cable railing around the big opening in the 1st floor ceiling. The newell posts are 4 tree trunks, all from trees that were already down, and we had no hand in their demise. One cherry and 2 trunks from the same live oak I got by a "wanted" request on Craigslist, and one pine from my neighbors. The wood frame for the railing is from old, rough-sawn heartpine wall studs from a house demolished in northeast Gainesville. I had the tree trunks kiln dried, and the pine studs tented, so we don't bring in any unwelcome guests. After learning how darn expensive decent turnbuckles are, I got the idea of a turnbuckle-less cable rail system from a local, Dick, who I frequently see at a breakfast joint in town. The system consists of 1/8" 9x17 stainless steel cable, 3/8" rough (16) threaded rod that goes through the tree posts, a coupler that joins to a lifting eye bolt, a thimble inside the eye bolt to hold the cable loop, 5/8" ferrule (oval sleeve) that can be crimped in two places, and then the tightening system is simply leaving enough extra rod on the inside of the tree so it can be moved outward by turning a hex finishing nut against a flat washer that's inset into the outside of the tree, capped off with an acorn nut. Upon tightening the cable, the excess rod sticking out the outside of the tree can be trimmed with a sawzall, and capped back with the acorn nut. Crude, simple, and about $2,000 less expensive than with turnbuckles. I installed the cable railing with my friend Eugene, and finished it by myself without a come-along or even pulling the cable very tight - the key was leaving extra room on the threaded rod, and everything then tightened up with a ratchet, with still more room to spare for future tightening as the cable stretches over time. The railing came out better than I even thought it might.

Schwartz Quartz

2008-10-05T15:27:00.000-07:00

October, and the cobalt blue with metallic sparkles quartz Silestone countertops I got on Craigslist (for $175) have been installed. The countertop slabs were pulled out of a new construction job, so the story goes, when the cabinets were flooded, and the owners changed their minds. The slabs had a sink cutout, a notch that was probably for an outlet or small chase, and a minor chip or two. Hard-Core Granite Countertops, of Ocala, worked with me and my salvage, and managed to piece the puzzle back together to fit the supporting frame structure that was built specifically for these slabs. A few cuts, seams, and patches, and the countertops are gorgeous. I'm a Hard-Core fan now. http://www.hard-coregrantite.com/

My pal Eugene brought me this Kohler double bowl cast iron, porcelain sink he found on the side of the road in Orlando, from another remodel, and the sink fit perfectly in the existing cut-out in the countertops. Reuse Rocks!

Here Comes the Sun

2008-10-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

September, and our solar water heating system is installed. No home, especially in Florida, should be without one. And here's a peek at our 120 gallon solar water heating tank. We just need to build a shower, and we'll have hot water waiting for us!

Going Underground

2008-09-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

Gainesville Regional Utilities trenched and buried power lines to our new house, and also laid our water pipe and electric cable in the trench from the house back to the water well at no extra charge. Less view obstruction and risk of power outage from tree fall during storms.

Spray Paint

2008-09-09T12:46:00.000-07:00

Enrique was nice enough to let us borrow his Graco paint spraying equipment. After 3 days of covering up windows, doors, openings, and wood beams, David went to town spraying 2 coats of white latex everywhere, including on himself.

Big Foam

2008-09-09T11:51:00.000-07:00

July. Big Foam Insulators installed a water-based, open cell spray foam insulation under our roof sheathing, 5 1/2" thick for an R-24 insulation value. Would have loved to foam the walls, but due to price went with the R-19 pink fiberglass batts in the 2x6 walls. The energy savings are greater in the roof than the walls, so that's where we put our money.

http://www.bigfoaminsulators.com/

For sound insulation in internal walls and under the floors of the upstairs bedrooms, we bought and installed used fiberglass batt insulation that Bearded Brothers salvaged from a commercial building remodel.

www.buildingreuse.org/directory/florida

That's Hardy?

2008-07-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, the lap siding is Hardiboard that we stained with a cedar colored fiber cement stain before Enrique's crew hung them. It's Mason's Select Woodperfect Fiber Cement Coating, ordered online from ePaintstore.com. The shiny silver stuff is corrugated galvanized metal siding, for a little contrast. The only spots left undone are at the very top where the soffit is going. Just for fun, I also posted a picture of the house before the siding went up. Progress.

Hangin' Rock

2008-07-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

Enrique Hagen (Need-a-Hand, 352-514-8870) brought in a drywall crew that worked like artisans on stilts and strong coffee, knocking out the drywall and applying a knockdown finish in no time flat. After spending month after month working in the house that was a skeleton of framing and open walls, it's strange that the house has forever changed. But it's all good, and everyone is excited to see the house look more and more house-like everyday. We are heading down the home stretch, and our big dog, Satchel, is digging his new mondo doghouse.

Off to the Mill

2008-07-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

It's July, and finally, our reclaimed heartpine is being put to use, as we take a noticeable notch out of the lumber yard inventory. A portable woodmizer is back on the property, this time it's Lumber by Lance in Ft. White (386-497-4817). That's me and Jim Lance in the photo, milling the big beams from Jack's 1910 house on Newnan's Lake. We killed many a sawblade hitting nails I had tried to remove. Part of the joy of working with old wood. Jim milled my reclaimed heartpine into boards a little more than 1" thick, and hauled them to his kiln where they're drying now (and killing the termites). Then they go to Herschel's Woodworks (386-497-1895) to be turned into 3/4" tongue and groove flooring. I can't wait to post you some pictures of the flooring!

Propane

2008-06-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

"If you wanna get down, down on the ground, Propane"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ_WyGP1B8w

June 12th, we had a 200 gallon LP tank buried and lines stubbed to our future gas range and dryer. Our mini-dachshund, Wiglaf (the Dragonslayer), is standing in front of the tank, and can't wait until we fire up the Barbie...with propane.

Adoption Shower

2008-05-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-22T08:11:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-13T09:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-13T08:58:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

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

Finally, Groundbreaking

2008-05-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-05-13T08:18:00.001-07:00

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

2008-05-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

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).