Brambles House Build Slideshow

[Brambles]

Here's a little quick and dirty slideshow I made showing the transformation of my house. Still lots to do but a friend wanted some pics and I already had started making this video so I just threw in a couple more pics and capped it off. Hope you enjoy, it was a Major undertaking doing what I did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahtBX1TggZ8&feature=plcp

House went from 840 sq ft on main to 1480 sq ft on main
Basement went from 500 sq ft of 6.5 foot ceiling to over 1400 of 8'7" ceilings
New Water
New Gas
New Furnace
New Waterheater
Well lets not beat around the bush......appraiser said its 95% new construction and the building inspector kinda asked where the house went.....lol.

Had to leave some framing to still qualify as a Reno because I am a corner lot I have existing encroachments on RDCK setbacks.

[J_T]

I'm impressed. (with the quality of the work, more than the video) A master of many trades. Nice organization in your work. Didn't cut any corners. Did it right. Obviously a home to last. Well done.

[BearStump]

holy crap! im sure you did your homework ahead of time. but wouldnt it just have been easier to knock the whole house down and start fresh from scratch?
Ill be sure NOT to show that vid to my wife or I may find myself really busy for the next couple years.

[jrjonesy]

Great Job!

[ThinAir]

Wow. That is alot of work. Good job, looks great.

[Brambles]

holy crap! im sure you did your homework ahead of time. but wouldnt it just have been easier to knock the whole house down and start fresh from scratch?
Ill be sure NOT to show that vid to my wife or I may find myself really busy for the next couple years.

In the end it probably would have been, Its started as a smaller project but like a lot of renovations on older homes once you start digging you find all the secrets. Being the kind of guy that can't bury garbage and cover shit up I kept ripping until I got to a point I was satisfied I was gonna have a quality product and ended up with what I wanted and not what I HAD to live with...


Still lots of little projects to do but we are in and living comfortably

[Mr. Dean]

Kewl Soundtrack. :cool:

[WKCotts]

looks good! you mount any of those mulies from ur hunting video??

[Rackmastr]

Wow thats a big project!! Turned out great!!

[Marlin375]

Awsome outcome, nice work.

Where the heck did you live while you were doing the living portions of the reno?

[Brambles]

looks good! you mount any of those mulies from ur hunting video??

No, nothing wall worthy in the mulie department for me yet, Rattler is gonna try mounting one buck I killled but mostly because he's cool looking!

[Stone Sheep Steve]

I must say Brambley Boy, when you do something, you do it right! (not that I would recognize "right" on a construction site:confused:)..whether it's buiding a rifle, shop or house...or whacking a truckload of elk before 9 am.:cool:


Will be neat for you two to have that video for when you get old like me....


SSS

[Brambles]

Awsome outcome, nice work.

Where the heck did you live while you were doing the living portions of the reno?

We moved out and lived with my mother, I tried living at the house for a while but it was tough not seeing the kids!

[Grumpa Joe]

Gee, that's a tough call. Miss the kids or live with Mom? I hope the kids appreciate the sacrifice (living with Mom) in addition to the sacrifice (re-building the house). Good on ya on both counts. Good job on the house.

Much easier to build from scratch than it is to reno. When I was building I hated taking on renovations and would only do it for repeat clients or if the new house market was slow. Been there and done that and the nightmares that lay waiting under an old house's sheathing can be terrifying (even for someone who has tangled with a grizzly). Would only do it on a cost plus %, never on a fixed contract otherwise you would lose your shirt.

You have earned a well deserved hunting excursion and to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labour. Just as soon as you finish all those little outstandng jobs.

Seriously though, very well planned and executed.

Joe

[srupp]

absolutley AWESOME.....impressed with every single detail...well done....

cheers
Steven

[ianwuzhere]

looks very well. dont wanna know how much $$ it cost..
im just sitting here wiping away my tears after listening to all the songs during the vid. reminds me when i broke up with my "soulmate" back in grade 5 ;) haha.
-for all u married men- dont show your wives this video cuz you will never go on weekend adventures or hunt again!

[buckguy]

Wow. Nicely done,some great workmanship there. House looks great.

[bruin]

Wow, very impressive! Obviously, lots of thought went into the final product. I'm not a construction guy but it sure looked well organized. Where's the pics of the shop, are all the heads etc. in the main house now?

[Brambles]

Wow, very impressive! Obviously, lots of thought went into the final product. I'm not a construction guy but it sure looked well organized. Where's the pics of the shop, are all the heads etc. in the main house now?

There are 4 mounts in the house, goat, two whities and dads mulie. All the antlers are in the shop.
Can't remember what stage I was at when you stopped in??

Shop is mostly finished on the inside, still needs siding and concrete driveways. But im using it and its jammed full of stuff and am restoring my truck in one bay

[Jonas111]

I build custom homes and I have to say that was pretty impressive. Great job Brambles.

[tuffteddyb]

Very impressive work,
always seems to make it better when you do it yourself.
so much more satisfying.

[Brambles]

I build custom homes and I have to say that was pretty impressive. Great job Brambles.

Thanks, that means a lot. It was an intimidating project if you tried to look too many steps ahead, but I enjoyed it alot. The only part I didn't enjoy was the budgeting.


Very impressive work,
always seems to make it better when you do it yourself.
so much more satisfying.

Just to make the record clear, I didn't do it all completely by myself. To keep something that resembled a timeframe I strategically hired people and called in favors on a couple occasions.

I drafted up the plans, calculated and ordered all the materials and was the General Contractor/ Site supervisor/ Labourer for the whole project. I was also the subtrades and or subtrade labourer for a number of jobs throughout the project but I did hire out some key parts to keep the project moving while I was doing other things on the house.

For example.

I hired a contractor friend and his son (he green and was basically a labourer) to work with me until the sheathing was on the roof. Because I was still working a full time job during the whole project I needed someone that could keep the ball rolling while I was at work. I have a 4 on 4 off shift work (2 days 2 nights) so I was there ALOT. Basically just absent my two dayshifts. I was there my 4 days off plus during the days on my nightshift days and all weekends( which they took off). We hired one more labourer when we started second stage demo on the house

I hired out, and didn't help out with but was on site working at other jobs during........
-The excavation
-Pouring of basement concrete slab
-Hardie plank Siding
-Blow in Celulose insulation
-Drywall
-Gutters


After the Sheathing was on and my contractor friend and his son left the job I hired a young friend of mine to be my gopher and my other set of hands. Because the trusses are all free span, and the only point loads are on the exterior walls no interior framing had happened yet

Together we:

Roofed the house
Reinforced all the old floor structure of the house
Sheeted, glued and screwed more plywood on the floors
Graded the basement floor for concrete, underslab insulation, Vapour barrier, Rebar
Did all mainfloor interior framing
Removed lots of the old sheathing on the old portion and re-sheathed it.
Install windows and doors
Did all the rough electrical, telecom and entertainment, including pulling the 200A subfeed underground to the house
Floor Tile (Kitchen, Walk in Pantry, Bathroom, Ensuite)
install Kitchen Cabinets
Built the countertops


-I had another friend that was a plumber by trade but only did it on his days off as he worked for the City. Together we plumbed the house during -13 temps in January.

-I have another friend that was an HVAC/ Tinbasher and I worked with him to install the new forced air ducting

-I have another commercial heating and refrigeration/ Gasfitter friend that I bought my furnace from and worked with him plumbing the house for Natural gas. Being from commercial background he insisted we do a quality job and do it all in black iron pipe, made provisions if I ever want a gas dryer, stove or hotwater tank. Also have natural gas to my BBQ which is AWESOME!!!!

Job's I did all by myself, usually on the weekends or during stages when I was working alone:

Aside from drawing up the plans, floor plan layout, setting grades and slopes
Stripped concrete forms
Damp proof foundation
Draintile, including handbombing truck loads of 3/4 crush
Layed most of the unfinished Jatoba Hardwood
Sanded and finished the hardwood
Primed and painted Ceilings and walls
Window and door mouldings, painted and installed
Tiled Shower/Tub
Underground conduits
Electrical Panel
Finish Electrical
Basement Framing


Probably forgetting a million little things, it was a fun project.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Geeze your bank must have a lot of money! I find that odd as I thought everyone over there only used cash....and kept it under their pillows.

SSS

[Brambles]

I have a big mortgage

[OutWest]

Awesome stuff, Brambles.

Is this on Observatory St.? I think I passed it this a.m. as I made my way home after some bevies.

[Brambles]

Nope, not on Observatory st.

[BlacktailStalker]

Hell of a great job Jeff, lots to be proud of and to enjoy there :cool:

[Elkhound]

wow.....count me impressed. I was thinking same thing as first posts....would have been easier to knock it down and start from scratch. But your explanation said it all.

Very well done....love the kitchen.....only advice from me......LED bulbs in those pot lights......lol.....I could heat my whole house with my kitchen lights before I changed them....Standing at the sink you could actually feel the heat on the back of the neck......must be what a burger feels like under a heat lamp

[1/2 slam]

Looks awesome. The only thing I would have done is put 3/4 inch plywood on the walls, for taxidermy, instead of the blocking. I did that in my last place. That way you put stuff exactly where you want it.

[Bighorn hunter]

Great job Brambles!

Like Jonas111, this is what I do as well. What a huge undertaking as one job let alone doing your regular job at the same time. Very impressed, if you are ever in Dawson looking for work give me a call:)!

Cheers
BH

[pnbrock]

great job looks like you have room for me to stay when i get my invite for a whitetail hunt .:)

[Johnnybear]

Very impressive addition to your home. Thank you for taking the time to document it. It looks like serious quality thought out. I still live in what you added to so it means a lot for me to see something like this that I eventually will have to do. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
John