Often new homes are built with one architectural design on the exterior but a different, sometimes more contemporary one on the interior. For instance, we have built some very nice Craftsman Homes with clean, simple and rustic exteriors but the clients have selected more elaborate painted colonial interiors. Deby and I chose to be consistent.

We both work hard long hours, me as a builder and her as a realtor for Berkshire Hathaway. So whether it is a cold Friday evening sitting at our open kitchen bar with the fireplace on or a Sunday afternoon on our shady rear porch, we want to enjoy a relaxing time with each other in a Tuscan manner. Our ideal - relaxing with a bottle of wine, some cheese and olives, and if I am lucky, some anchovies on Bruschetta. (No, Deby will not eat them, but since bruschetta is something I can make well, I will put anchovies on my half).

We want the Tuscany theme to pervade the entire home, inside and out. 

One aspect of Tuscan homes that worked well for us are the exposed wood beams that many of these homes traditionally have. As discussed in a previous blog, the only way this 1950’s home would work for us was if we removed the middle bearing wall to make the home open.

The necessary post and beam would work well, but when we looked at buying a simulated beam, the cost was very high. So chose to do what we have done for some clients in the past, we took regular framing lumber and ripped the edges on a 45 degree angle to make it look like an old solid wood beam

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The fun part is that this wood needs antiqued, and we were able to get some rough wood to start (our lumber supplier, H.P. Starr, is not used to hearing me ask for rough lumber). We then hammered it and I got a broken concrete block and dragged it across the wood. Deby wanted in on the fun and she grabbed another block.

Now I am a normal guy and do not like my lady’s hands all roughed up, but she was having too much fun so I let her continue her antiquing process. This was our Friday evening “date," and the fun we had will be fondly remembered.

  I can’t wait until we get the beams stained and “finished."

We knew the home was not going to be big, and with only two bedrooms on the main floor, we expect lots of little visitors sleeping downstairs. Since those visitors will be our grandchildren, we wanted to ensure an anti-scary basement vibe! 

Our original idea was to have a Bilco door installed as the "legal egress" - a  way out of the basement in case of a fire. But we were concerned that younger children may not be able to easily get out in case of a fire so we built in a full door with concrete steps. 

Since that is on the far end of the basement, and the kids will sleep in the other end of the basement, we also added a legal egress sliding window that will have a ladder. 

While it does not seem so evident yet, when we are done, this window and door will add a lot of light as well - our anti-scary basement antidote.

Speaking of doors, the front porch is framed and I am excited to see it after the stone is applied and the front door installed. We debated the front door as to whether to spend the money to upgrade it to have glass. We decided that this was a good place to spend some money to set the Tuscan feel. I can't wait to see the front door!!!! 

When we first designed the additions to the house, we wanted to have a two car garage off of the right side of the existing home.

When we did the official survey though, we found that the right side property line had unexpected several bends in it, and the building side set back line prevented us from building the garage where we wanted it. So we moved it to the back of the house and angled it to keep it off the side set back line.

We liked the revision, but when our framer, Scott Ware of Ware Construction, was actually laying out the footer, he realized we did not need such a hard angle.

As I was in a client meeting all afternoon, he just redesigned the garage, mud room and rear porch on the fly. This is one advantage of working with the same people for close to 20 years; he looks out for my interests, knows what makes sense and just got the footer ready for the 3:00 pour.

Although the re-design is better in every way, it does make for some very difficult cuts of the roof and beams.

Notice the NICE MITERS on the beam cuts. I cannot wait to see what it looks like done! Better yet, I cannot wait to see it while sipping a glass of wine with my beautiful wife Deby on a Friday afternoon.

Bachman Builders, educating & building with integrity

mi·ter

ˈmīdər/

noun

a tall headdress worn by bishops and senior abbots as a symbol of office, tapering to a point at front and back with a deep cleft between.

a joint made between two pieces of wood or other material at an angle of 90°, such that the line of junction bisects this angle. (WE MEAN IT THIS WAY, but I wouldn't mind seeing Jon Houston in the other kinda miter) 

verb

join by means of a miter.

Stay tuned,

I have often heard people say, "They don't build them like they used to." Sometimes I agree, and say, "Thankfully they don't!"

When we removed the plaster from the interior walls, we discovered there was absolutely no insulation. As an Energy Star partner, we know that insulation is one of the most important aspects of building new homes. It's remarkable to think that this transformation happened within my lifetime - no insulation vs. energy efficient building.

When we are finished with the interior plumbing and wiring, we will insulate with modern applications including Tyvek paper on the exterior.

For our windows, we chose an exciting new product from Andersen. The 100 series allows us to choose a dark colored exterior casement window to compliment our Tuscany style. Until Anderson came out with this product, it was very difficult to find such a product in a economical vinyl window. 

We are confident that with insulation, house wrap and modern Andersen windows, we can keep the same 92% efficient Lennox furnace, even with the additional square footage. 

With all of these products, we will be ready to cozy up to the fire and keep the breeze away this winter.   

Stay tuned & live green!