Drywall

When you reach the drywall stage in your project there is a small sigh.  You can instantly feel that your project has reached a critical turning point.  Sealing up 2x4 framed walls strung with electrical wires, shiny copper pipes and foamy insulation, is a giant leap closer to imagining the end result.   The white gypsum boards divide the building's mechanical infrastructure from the finished elements, the critical layer between how a building works and functions and how a building looks and feels. Up until this moment, our guest house looked much more like its original garage space than a conditioned building.  At my last meeting with Joel, I told him that after drywalling was complete I could no longer call it the garage and it needed a proper name.  Many people in this old part of Boulder have original 19th century carriage houses.  Our building was never a coach or carriage house; it was merely a large garage with some good looking carriage doors built sometime in the 1920s.  I am sure it housed some nifty old cars, but it would be a pretentious leap in reclassification to call it a carriage or coach house after we are done.  There are some good names out there.  My friend Amy in Pasadena turned her garage into a light filled art studio.  Now it's called the Studio.  Ours will function as a guest house, occasional short term rental, second office for Grant, studio for art projects, kids hang out, etc...there must be a good name for all that.

Framing before drywall

Start of drywalling

Foam insulation

Foam insulation

Foam close up

foam

Last Friday, the guest house was insulated with spray foam insulation.  Chris from the colorado-based insulation company Seal It Up pulled up to our driveway in one of his mighty trailers. Foam insulation is an impressive product, a mix of two chemical components (isocyanate and polyol resin) that are forced through a high pressure gun.  In the last inch of the gun, the two components mix.  Within 8 seconds of leaving the gun the mixture hardens.  It fills the smallest cracks, crevices and voids, making it a very effective insulating material.  While the military has been using a form of it since the 40s on aircraft, the product is gaining in popularity in residential and commercial applications as an alternative to traditional fiberglass.  In addition to being a highly effective insulator, it also works to strengthen a structure, improve soundproofing and reduce moisture and mold penetration.   As the close-up pictures demonstrate, it has a tactile quality that makes you want to touch it, but unlike the fiberglass insulation that you may have poked your fingers into as a kid (cotton candy impostor!), it won't bite.

Framing & Electrical

The guest house work has been moving rapidly into framing, electrical and plumbing phases.  The bathroom framing now defines the spaces, separating the small future kitchen (right) and the built-in bed area (left).  Brian finished the rough plumbing for the bathroom.  We will have a wall mount faucet from Chicago Faucets and a semi-recessed Lacava sink with a small open vanity. The countertop will be walnut like the kitchen. The bathroom is only 5x8, so the details matter. I've selected a 4x8 white subway tile, and I am leaning towards a black grout.  The lighting plan is fairly simple. We will have small cans throughout and two Barn Light Electric warehouse sconces on the large south wall.  In addition, I bought 4 vintage Crouse Hinds explosion proof sconce lights for the loft from a seller on Ebay. They came from a utility tunnel from a Kentucky dam circa 1944.  I think it's important to introduce old elements into a new space so there are connection points between new and old.

Framing begins

Bathroom framing

Rough plumbing for bathroom 

Electrical

Electrical

Framing

Quinn checking out the loft

Bathroom--built in bed will be on left; kitchen on right

Crouse Hinds explosion proof sconce for loft 

Loft dormer

A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface, creating usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and often allowing for the addition of a windows.  We added a dormer to achieve both of these goals: more headroom and more light in the loft.  In a small spaces like ours, a dormer can make a world of difference. Spaces that might feel claustrophobic and tight can suddenly feel open and spacious with the addition of the dormer.

dormer construction

new dormer window and framing

Guest house progress

Well, we received our construction permits from the city of Boulder the first week of March and the pace of construction has really picked up.  On the main floor, they trenched and installed the rough plumbing for the bathroom and kitchen.  The uneven ground was then graded and crush fill was added. Once the ground was leveled, the radiant floor coils were added over insulation, forming a heating grid.  Finally, a fresh concrete slab was pored. After much deliberation, we opted for a plain mix of concrete for the floor.  I didn't love any of the integrated colors enough to want to try to enhance the floor with a color mix. At one point, I was very undecided.  I know that colored concrete can be very beautiful.  Then I went to the Boulder Home Depot, where Joel told me there was a polished concrete floor, and I actually liked the plain color. Concrete, to my eyes, is a perfect putty grey--plain, humble and classic.  Is it the most exciting floor choice?  Definitely not. But what it lacks in impact it makes up for in simplicity and opens the door to highlight elements and textures and colors that would otherwise compete with a statement floor.  Towards the end of the project, the joint lines will be grouted and the whole floor will be polished.  Progress!

Radiant floor coils under poured concrete

floor ready for concrete

concrete floor