A few weeks ago I started a spec vacation home/cabin up in Alpine, AZ. The home is going to be about 1350 s/f, 2 bedrooms + loft, 2 bath. 26′ x 34′ in size with a master suite + loft upstairs. Downstairs there will be a bedroom, bath, laundry room, kitchen, dining/great room. There will be a 8′ x 34′ deck on the front of the house. The house will be 2 x 6 construction with log cabin style siding & a metal roof. Pretty common for the area. I am having a general contractor do the foundation/shell/framing/siding/roofing. I’ll end up doing the electrical. Probably contract out the plumbing & drywall. I’ll do the hardwood floors, trim, doors, cabinets, plumbing fixtures, etc. The green cabin in the pics is one that I built about 10 years ago. It’s located a couple of lots away from the new place. The other home pic is across the street from the new place. I’ll try and post more pics in a few weeks.
Adam
Adam Zaharchuk
Gilbert, Arizona
Replies
Are they using blocks in that area because of access issues? Where is it exactly? I am looking for a nice lot, maybe in AZ, to build my retirement home.
Most of the houses built in the area are built on poured footings w/block foundations. Usually have an access door to get to the plumbing/heating. When I built the green house about ten years ago, I had some of the crawl space dug up and currently use it for storage. Alpine, AZ is located in the White Mountains of Eastern Arizona. About 10 miles from the New Mexico/AZ border. It's in the middle of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.
Adam Zaharchuk
Gilbert, Arizona
Edited 1/4/2009 7:05 pm ET by Zaharchuk
I was just wondering if it is expensive or impractical to get concrete into that area.
Not at all....there is a concrete outlet about 26 miles up hwy 191 in Springerville.Adam Zaharchuk
Gilbert, Arizona
Thanks. I checked out some web sites. It looks like a nice area. We will be visiting some relatives in AZ in the spring. I may try to get out there to Alpine.
Here are the floorplan pics.....Adam Zaharchuk
Gilbert, Arizona
And the elevations....Adam Zaharchuk
Gilbert, Arizona
Looks cool. Keep us up to date. Never thougt Id like AZ (Have fam in Cosa Mesa, but never visited) but you have real trees and real weather! Thats amazing!
Congratulations, looks like a great project. I grew up skiing over at Sunrise so I know how lucky you are to be where you are. Good luck with the project.
I was up in Alpine this weekend to check out the progress. Just about all of the framing, decking & roof is done. This all occurred since Jan 2.Adam Zaharchuk
Gilbert, Arizona
Here's a few more...including some interior framing shots.
AdamAdam Zaharchuk
Gilbert, Arizona
Looks like a beautiful place to be. No flashing for the windows though? Is it my eyes or is the porch framing not a treated lumber?
There was flashing installed around all windows...it was the self adhesive stuff...comes in a roll...about 8" wide. The deck surface's & pickets are all redwood...the posts are doug-fir....Adam Zaharchuk
Gilbert, Arizona
Here are a few more pics with most of the siding up.Adam Zaharchuk
Gilbert, Arizona
There was flashing installed around all windows...it was the self adhesive stuff
I'm not real familiar with the self-adhesive stuff. Used it only once before, but I'm still doing it the old-fashioned way, putting the flashing up first, before the window goes in. Is it done differently now? Just curious - I'm always learning here.
This pic shows the old type paper flashing, but this is the way I've always done it. Then caulk the window flanges before installing. I've only used tyvek infrequently, black felt building paper is still very common here in Bakersfield.
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"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
From what I understand this is how it was done: The aluminum framed window is nailed into the OSB/framing. The house is wrapped in housewrap. The housewrap is then cut around the windows and sealed with the 8" wide self adhesive stuff. The log siding/2x4 trim is then nailed onto the OSB/around the doors/windows, etc. The weather in this part of the country is not as "wet" as you might think. We have a rainy season which usually runs from early July to mid September. During this time of year we get the summer monsoon rains where it may rain for 1 - 4 hours a day on average. From mid Sept to November it's usually dry. Late Spring to Jun it's usually dry also. The winters get snow, but not like a snow in Maine or Pennsylvania. It will Snow for a day or two, then you'll get 4 - 10 days of sunny weather. We might get 4 - 8 big snow storms a year that may bring 10" to 18" each time. My dad has a cabin in the same area that was built in the 60's. I know there was no housewrap or flashing used in his home. It's been fine and has no leaking/water leakage.
Anyway...here are a few more pics from this past weekend. All of the siding is up. Rough plumbing is done (I was suprised to find out that the builder used pex), electrical rough-in is done, as well as insulation. The roofers were just starting to install the metal roofing on Monday.Adam Zaharchuk
Gilbert, Arizona
Wow, it sure is looking pretty!"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
Here's a few pics with the metal roof installed. A little dissapointed with the color selection I made with the roof. I wanted a gray that was a little darker than what I actually chose. I wanted more of a slate gray and I actually chose more of a concrete gray....Adam Zaharchuk
Gilbert, Arizona
Here's a couple of shots after the drywall....the loft and the great room.Adam Zaharchuk
Gilbert, Arizona
Here's a few of the loft with the wood railing and knotty pine ceiling installed....Adam Zaharchuk
Gilbert, Arizona
Nice digs! What are the winters like there?This could be an east-west thing, but what gives with the blotchy drywall?Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein (or maybe Mark Twain)
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
"Everything not forbidden is compulsory." T.H. White, The Once and Future King
It's a south west texture called skip trowel. Hides a multitude of sin. :)
Winter storms can sometimes drop 12" - 18" of snow on the ground.....although over the last 10 years or so we've had more dry winters than we'ed like. There is a ski resort about 35 minutes away. Not sure what the elevation is....in Alpine it's about 8,400.
The drywall method is sometimes called a knock-down texture. They spray it on in "glops" and then "knock down" the glops. Smooth paper-like dryall is somewhat of a rarity out here in the southwest....
Adam Zaharchuk
Gilbert, Arizona
Re the roofing color, check to see if you can get Nu-Ray Metals and look at a color called "Pre-weathered Zinc".
At the risk of seeming to be critical...........looking at the pictures it appears as though the outside of the stinger and treads have drywall applied to them. Is that what I am seeing?
Also it appears as though the posts for the stair rails are installed over the drywall. I'd be concerned that the drywall would compress over time and the post would begin to jiggle.
Right-O. I was wondering and would love to know the method for attaching the posts also. I like the look though.
I didn't see evidence of it in the pics thats why I asked. I usually do a sill pan out of the same type of flashing first then set window in and tape around. Just insurance if water does find its way in the window to redirect it off the sill.
Doug Fir? That must be an out west thing I don't think that would last to long in my environment, also why I asked because I'm not familiar. I still like what you got going on there though keep us updated.
Oh...about the doug-fir decking. It's pretty common for the area. As long as you treat it every 2 - 4 years it will last a long time. I have it on my existing home and it was built in '99. It still looks good....I treat it with a coat of CWF every 3 years or so. Next year I'll probably sand down the main deck to bare wood and re-coat. Overall, though, it's held up well.Adam Zaharchuk
Gilbert, Arizona