Just snoopin....

Care for a sneak peak into the finished kitchen?

One of the important aspects of building this addition was for us to re-use, recycle or use up what we had. This window is large. Something like 7'x5'. It was bought at an auction for $1. It is double pane and I had to replace both of the cranks on the side. Total cost about $12. This is a look at the existing living room. It is about 15x15. Low celings. The picture is taken standing in the middle of the room looking towards the grainbin.

The wood stove we removed this year. It's going out in the greenhouse/sunroom.
Installing flat windows in a round building was fun. This too is a recycled window.

In the corner of the foyer we built a closet for the coats and the dreaded (much hated) Kirby vacuum.

The island counter top was made the winter before we actually installed it. The counter sat outside all winter long before we tested it's "spot". Yep, it fits! Yea! Now all we need are cupboards for it to sit on.

Were you wondering what was under the steps? Ah, another recycled door and some fancy trim we dug out of the garage.

Under the staircase is our walk in pantry. Each shelf was made out of oak from a restarant which closed. The oak was free.

Yep, we painted the oak. Sorry :-(

The pantry looks empty here because this was just the extra food. We were not using the new kitchen at this point. Today all the shelves are full and the floor is covered with food too. I'll take another picture which will show you a 15 foot pantry is not long enough.

Stairway to Heaven

This drawing was "done" by my friend Brenda. This is our first step to creating a curved stairway.
From Brenda's drawing I made this drawing. Figuring out how many steps I needed and how to make that curve was a task. The second floor as you will see is open around the staircase as well as there is a pie shaped piece missing. You will see those pictures later.Now, this may not be exactly how some master stair builders would have done things, but this is the way we did it. You can see the walls in the bin were studded out and then we built the outside portion of the steps.The outside row of steps came next. I can tell you there was much discussion here. Nothing was straight with the center of the bin, nothing was straight towards the outside row. But we still put it up. Hoping for the best in the end.Here we are, both sides of the steps built and in place. Never mind that nothing is exactly 16 inch centers. Grr....The first three steps are up. These three steps only took us one FULL night of pulling our hair out.
The next night brought some more steps. It seems every time I take a picture of the steps they look leaning or crooked or something, but I can assure you, they are straight.


Under the steps there is a pantry. Here you can see where the pantry door will be. You can also see how part of the second floor is held up in the air. Notice the corner of the triangle. You'll see that later again!

Concrete in the Bin

When the concrete truck guy pulled up, he looked at all of us (crazy people) and announced, "Gee, this looks like HGTV!"



Of course we all agreed!



Everyone calls this the boots or boobs picture. Yep that's me looking stupid!



My beautiful oldest daughter, all the way from Texas. She just found out that she was expecting her third baby this day. She ran the bull float. So of course we call her the "Bull Floater"



Tom, Ryan and I waiting for the first plop, plop.


The concrete came in from the west window.

Tom looking at the damage :-)



My sister Connie and I actually completed the finish work on the floor while the rest of them watched. It was very hard work for two women. But we did it! David, the son-in-law looking, my grandson, Tabatha, I, Duane squatting, Connie in the yellow standing in the back, Ryan and Tom. EVERYONE had a job, no matter the age!

I believe these are Duane's hands, doing the hard work of pulling the concrete.After... he was still smiling!

Foyer and bin beginning....

Placement of cupboards on the wall with blue tape. All but one cupboard got put exactly where I thought they would be.



Sand in the base, pvc pipes for plumbing, pink insulation on walls, blue tape showing "about" where the cupboards will be placed.
The door opening into the bin is 7'6" wide, framed with angle iron.
Standing inside the bin looking towards the existing house. Through the foyer.
Radiant heat pex tubes in the floor. Great stuff around the bottom of the bin to seal the cracks. Rebar in the bottom for the concrete.


This is the wall of the existing house. The bin was attached to the house via a foyer. Which is to big for a foyer and turned into a dining room. The walls of the house were built with planks. All of the boards are 1 inch thick by anywhere from 8 to 12 inches wide. I liked them so much, I just cleaned them, varnished them and left them. This is Tom looking at the wall where we will be cutting a doorway. The construction was very interesting. Looking at the skeleton of a 150 year old house was cool!
This is the north corner, where the foyer meets the grain bin. It's of course shaped like a triangle. A closet will go here. The windows are all reclaimed.
South side of bin and foyer. A coat rack will go here.
The door is also reclaimed. The wood on the floor was taken from the corn crib, cleaned, sanded and varnished. All of my reclaimed items are "smiling" because they have a new life!

Bin set on foundation

First moments before landing!
Kicking it back into round.
Looking to see where it's going to be placed.
Finally on the ground.
I started painting.