Techbuilt Renovation: June 2016

For my office, I sourced some beautiful reclaimed maple flooring that had once been used in a factory. After researching antique factory floors from several different suppliers, I went with Jewett Farms as my supplier.

I’ve always loved the look of office and loft space in an old factory and I’ve recreated that feeling in my office with high ceilings, exposed ductwork and this fantastic flooring.

The floor has warm patina and historical story that makes for a unique and interesting addition to a brand new room in our house.

The boom in industry at the turn of the century resulted in thousands of factories and warehouses being built. The factories have fallen into abandonment but the character filled planks, mostly maple, are being saved.

Each board retains its original wear marks, nail holes and scuffs. There are some awesome burn marks and funky holes. The boards are different lengths and they have a natural variation of color and a vibrant grain pattern.

Fortunately, the company that installed the flooring, C&R Flooring, skillfully put the puzzle pieces together and finished the floor beautifully.

After seven months of work, the new addition is finally complete enough for us to move in. For the next 5 months or so while the team renovates the existing house, we’re “camping” in the addition.

We’re making use of what will be our daughter’s room as our temporary bedroom, the guest bedroom will be a makeshift eating area, the ‘fridge will be in the garage, and my eventual office is serving as our living room. There will be one bathroom, reminding us of our first apartment when we lived in Tokyo. Fortunately, the new exercise room is ready to go in the addition so we can maintain our fitness.

The transition process was planned long ago because we wanted to remain in the house for the entire addition and renovation project. Yes, it is more complicated and disruptive than moving to a rental for a year, but being onsite during construction has been a terrific experience. We love to see the daily progress.

Early in the project once framing of the addition was complete, the team broke through from the addition to the existing house. They then installed a small temporary wall just inside the existing house so they can work in the new addition including the transition space that will be the new entry hall.

For this weekend’s “moving party”, the temporary wall was taken down so that we had access to the entire house. For the past 4 days we’ve been moving constantly! Boxes here, clothing there, where the heck should I put my surfboard?

Everything was sorted into categories:

Junk to the dumpster
Usable items we no longer want to Goodwill with some larger items like my really comfortable and in great condition (but rather ugly) recliner made available to the teams of subcontractors.
Furniture, clothing, supplies, and whatnot that we will use in our temporarily living arrangements goes to the new side.
One bay of the new garage as storage of furniture and other things that will eventually move into the renovated side.
The entire old garage as storage for things like books that will eventually go to the new library plus sporting equipment and seldom used large items like suitcases that will remain in what will eventually be the storage room of the house.
For those who use a Fitbit, I recorded the following stats for the 5 days of our move: 100,205 steps, 48.07 miles traveled, and 279 staircases climbed.

Then with the help of five strong guys from Big Foot Moving and Storage, we shuttled the big stuff from the original house where we have lived for 21 years.

In the next week, a temporary wall will be installed just inside the new addition, which gives the team access to just inside the transition and all of the existing house.

We look forward to Moving Weekend Part Two around the turn of the year when the entire house project is done!