April 11th, 2013
we are cozy and warm and living in high cotton in our little home.. and with the ever recurring snow, thank goodness! this fireplace was a definite splurge, we looked at lots but mendota was the top recommended (at least for high elevations) and was one of the few fireplace companies that offered interior straight walls (like you would see on a traditional box fireplace). almost all of the other models we looked at had angled interior walls with a very small back space that was awkward to us. although no one is going to mistake ours for a real deal wood fireplace we wanted to mimic one as much as we could, and we for sure picked a big unit for the size of our house, but we though go big or not at all!
we initially wanted a gas fireplace with an open front but because of high elevations and co2, without a regular chimney and flue we would have been both illegal and at risk. we were disappointed but in the end we are loving our new fireplace and this baby puts off major heat. the first night we had the neighbors over to help us christen it and we hadn’t quite figured the settings out, well we lasted all of ten minutes before having to shut her down. which of course made him and i a little panicky that we had just spent some major dollars and ten minutes at a time was going to be it? oof. he figured it all out the next day though and serious relief, we didn’t even voice how concerned we were to each other until after the dilemma was solved
so that’s our last big purchase for awhile (we hope) but by no means even close to the end of diy’s around here. the fireplace is obviously many steps away from being finished.. he’s going to build us a big fabulous (i’m showing him pinterest photos left and right) mantle and enclosure, so stay tuned!
Filed Under: D-I-Y
Tagged: fireplace diy, home diy, mendota fireplace
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August 31st, 2012
are you list makers? we aren’t so much, which may be why ours is so long, even if it is only in our heads.
to give you a rundown of where we are on the camp1899 to do d-i-y list we thought it would be fun to show you just how much we have left (in case you were worried by our lack of updates that we were near the end) ha! ready?
living room & kitchen:
paint the front & side door & install final hardware
finish trim (baseboards)
caulk & paint trim
build a fireplace
finish installing beadboard on island
paint beadboard
build drawers into island
paint island drawers & install hardware
purchase & install cooktop
build, install, and paint cabinet doors & drawers
have trim wood milled for center of ceiling
seal beams & ceiling
purchase & install 2 hanging lights
pour final layer of floor and then epoxy
install kitchen sink, including pouring a concrete counter surrounding
install beadboard as backsplash of sink area
half bath:
open wall up to inspect for suspected leak (fun)
repair wall after opening
caulk & paint trim
install surround sound speakers
seal ceiling
install door jam
paint door
hang wallpaper
tile floor
bedroom:
paint double doors & install door hardware, including door jam
finish floor same as living room/kitchen
install surround sound speakers
build a hidden door for crawl space
buy & install closet door
paint closet door, install hardware
paint trim
finish painting closet walls
build, install & paint shelves within closet
master bathroom:
paint door & install hardware & build door jam
paint trim
finish trim wood work for ceiling
paint/seal ceiling
install shutters on two windows
futilely attempt vacumming of teeny tiny hairs from frequent bang trims
(just making sure you made it this far)
p.s. half way through this he asked what is the fun of making this list? exactly why we don’t make lists! and is the reason it’s not double the length because the outdoor list is just about as long or longer than the above list, none of which is even on the immediate or near future of being done, so another day (and he would have had a hissy fit if i had insisted we go one more to-do further).
Filed Under: D-I-Y
Tagged: camp1899, home diy, home diy blog, list making
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August 29th, 2012
→ look what we’ve been up to! while it’s true progress has slooowwwed down a bit around here (the husband has been doing awesome projects for others so we’re a little behind on our to-do list), we did sneak in this big diy for tinkernation!! have you been following all of the diy’s over there? if not they have some great contributors, contests, tips, and tons more so make sure to say hello and pop over to see all of the details of this project, we tell all about it!!
Filed Under: D-I-Y
Tagged: concrete counter diy, concrete counters, diy, home diy, small house blog, tinkernation
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May 3rd, 2012
we had a lot of fun this past weekend, but husband got a lot of projects done too. all day saturday and sunday morning we were running around cleaning and working like madmen. i mowed any and all grass i could find in our yard and am here to say that the eco friendly, human powered mower is the way to go. have you tried one?
the bedroom doors are on (finally, darkness for sleeping!), and the trim around both the bedroom and bathroom door, and.. the enormousjob of sanding and priming the front room is done. we are glad it’s behind us.enough dust to last us a lifetime on that one.
my mom gave us this antique porcelain american gas sign, complete with tons of bullet holes, how southern is that? we love it. it’s the first piece of art hung in our tiny home. thanks mom! that kind of sums it up around here (for some reason he didn’t think me cleaning the yard or mowing made for exciting photos) and he’s working on a side project this week away from home, but no worries.. more house fun soon.
Filed Under: D-I-Y
Tagged: american gas, antique porcelain american sign, camp1899, home diy, home diy blog
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April 26th, 2012
→ guess what this means? it’s tiimmmmeeeee! we’re finally sanding the front-end of the house, which means next we paint, and then officially unpack the rest of our stuff. he also got more trim finished around the door frames and baseboards in the bedroom, but… i didn’t get pictures fast enough before everything got a sheet of a plastic over it, so later, trim pictures. you would.not.believe. the amount of dust sanding creates, it looks like white sands national monument when he’s done for the day. and best of all.. i’m heading to the airport this morning to pick up one of my best friends for a weekend of fun and thrifting!
Filed Under: D-I-Y
Tagged: denver colorado, denver colorado blog, home diy, home diy blog, home renovation blog
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April 4th, 2012
→ do you sleep with a noise machine or fan? we sleep with a very loud fan, without that noise we’re completely lost. monday night, 2:30 a.m. and we’re both wide awake because all of a sudden it’s completely silent and that sinking feeling sets in that the power’s out, and it was, until afternoon yesterday. back up for a minute… to get some light in the house i pull open the curtain and cannot believe it but this ↑ is what i was looking at. OYE. it was EIGHTY degrees less than 48 hours ago. it’s kind of an adjustment. we did get everything out of our cargo trailer, we’ve gotten further on the closet, but we feel like boxers dancing around a big to do list. snow, ice, rain, no power. we’re getting there though, we just don’t have much to show for it. have any of you built a house and lived in it at the same time? if you have we know that no explanation is necessary. we’re becoming very well versed in flexibility.
January 3rd, 2012
remember this post from what seems like forever and ever ago? back when we had grass…oh how we miss you grass, lush and green and NOT muddy. one day, sigh. anyway, one usually doesn’t brag about passing gas, but we can’t help it, this is the stuff dreams are made of for home builders or renovators. gas! what does this mean? heat! hot water! see what I mean, it’s a big deal. the gas guy came and gave us our brand new meter, we were as happy to see him as just about anyone we’ve seen in a long time. and heat we do have… i’m about 7 layers deep on to-do’s though so more later.
Filed Under: D-I-Y
Tagged: colorado blog, denver blog, gas meter installation, home diy, home diy blog, home renovation blog, small house blog
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October 24th, 2011
we looked into having a base of spray insulation in the house but it came with a $4000 price tag for the extra two inches and we said, uhh, no thank you. but, undeterred, the husband figured out that by using great stuff spray foam insulation we got almost 2 inches of extra protection and every single nook and cranny filled. (we have 10 inches of brick before you reach our interior framing and insulation so with this one extra step we feel like we’ve achieved michelin man status) all to be topped with regular insulation in the hopes we can feel *extra* warm and toasty on snowy colorado days and save some pennies on our electric bill. total cost, only $500 for both the spray and the regular insulation combined (we used eco-touch). a great thrifty alternative to give you extra protection when you can’t quite pull out the $$$ needed for spray insulating.
September 26th, 2011
we have a roof! we can’t believe how much we were quoted for this job; labor was 85% of the price we were given and it’s amazing how easy and quick it was to do ourselves. it is definitely a very do-able d-i-y, especially if you have a very simple roof line like we do. you need some good measuring skills, some muscle, and an extra pair of both from a helper and you’ll be all set. (if you ever want very specific d-i-y information about this or any of our projects, please email us and we’ll help any way we can!)
lining up the first piece was the most critical and most time consuming, once you have your base piece down the rest (almost) click into place like legos. measuring is your biggest challenge, it’s easy, you just have to take your time. you measure top to bottom and side to side and have play where the ridge line is, overall simple. the panels are easy for one person to lift, so one person on the ground and one on the roof is plenty. finding your roof person may be the hardest thing you encounter. (; even though the roof wasn’t slippery per se, there was give and having a firm grip on each subsequent piece is key so you don’t end up with a crooked roof line. (if you have any moisture or rain the safeguard does turn into a slip n’ slide so be careful!)
we’re not 100% done, but the biggest chunk is checked off of the list and most importantly, we love it!!
Filed Under: D-I-Y
Tagged: home diy, home diy blog, metal roof, metal roof diy, metal roof install
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September 21st, 2011
the back of the house needed the most framing because it went from flat roof to vaulted. in the first and third photos you see the super sturdy “boxes” built into the frame, these are where the brick roof line did not reach as high as the rest of the house and the new frame needed beefed up to equal the support sans brick. if there is one thing my husband knows how to do best, it’s build big, so we should be good no matter what comes our way. finishing the back was the final piece of the puzzle before weatherproofing and most exciting, installing our new metal roof!!
he started with building roof rafters/joists because we needed a frame to build off of. after that he built up the back.. you can see in the first photo (on the left hand side) the support frame from the brick wall to the center pitch and on the right hand side (where it says, say cheese!) the support isn’t built in yet. finally the plywood went on, measuring from the center out, making sure to measure twice & cut once. (;
Filed Under: D-I-Y
Tagged: build a roof, diy blog, home diy, home diy blog, roof diy
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