MichaelC
[AP Moderator]
18907
PART III - some touches of history
One of the challenges of the room texture I am after was how the bottles would be mounted. The juxtaposition of the smooth glass bottles against the roughness of the limestone is perhaps the most significant aspect of the design intent. Many racks mount to the wall, but that would diminish the idea. I want the bottles well out in front of the stone. I flirted with a wire hanging system, but that moves too modern for the space. So I found some wonderful racks from a local company that span from floor to ceiling. These are perfect, as I can set the position off the wall. A small problem, attaching the top of the racks to a sharp curving ceiling.
Our home is not far from some heavily used railroad tracks. We frequently hear the horns at various times as the trains pass at a distance. I had heard about box car planks, and so that search began. A very high end wood shop in our design district sells them. For $450 each. Mind you, these are reclaimed chunks of wood, commonly very old and well weathered. Cool thing about the 'net, you keep looking, and you find a guy in the middle of nowhere that has a stack of them under a tarp and sells them on the side of whatever else he does. So a drive to a very industrial section of town by the airport yielded 2 beautiful 60 year old maple planks. $200 for both, and that included a tip! Scratched, dented, the kind of character you cannot replicate. Quite heavy, about 50 LBs each and 2.25" thick.
My drill press has got to be 30 years old. Original belts, and still runs great. The planks facilitated my lighting idea, but I needed precisely drilled holes to properly execute the idea. I tormented a brand new 2.625" diameter hole saw, but she made it through.
Mounted in place. I created a notch on the end of the panels and inserted them into the wall on the arch side. Simple angle iron on the other side that will get covered by stone. I had to set them from the bottom as the arch prohibits access from the top, so this was the solution.
Now we are getting some progress. I ordered my stone all at 6", but with a stated tolerance of +/- 1/8", a little fitment here and there helps maintain level lines. I went with a dry stack look, setting the stones as tightly as possible.
I needed to install the ceiling layer before the stone got that high. Another search lead me to a cool reclaimed wood center South of Boulder. The planks I purchased were from an old tobacco building in Kentucky. Super cool.
4 dimmable lights down each plank are positioned to fit between where the 3 racks will go. I want illumination on the stone, in addition to bottle lighting.
Very pleased with the ceiling result.
Very pleased with the ceiling result.
And all this got me to the part I was least sure about, trimming the arch...
What the Hell you Doin' Volume I
I thought it might be fun to grab a look into projects we all complete. We have artists here, mechanics, musicians, etc. I am an architect by trade, and have worked in various aspects of residential construction my whole life. I achieved a dream a few yea...
Very cool read and pics! I appreciate this project!
I love the sandblasted marble and gothic arch. What nice touches! Coincidentally, the architect who helped me with my renovations is a WIS (which is how we met -- through our shared watch interest about 20 years ago) and is also "Michael C." so your post ...
That is so cool. I met a fellow architect on this website
And provided architectural stone for a spectacular project of his. It was a great collaboration. I'll get to the sandblasted marble in the next reply, the black marble in the first few photos was installed during original construction and is called Nero. ...
Are they still “projects”
If I’m paying someone else to do them? My only natural talents are martial arts and making money to pay someone else to do “projects”...😂...very nice cellar by the way!
Sure, why not!
I am mostly curious to see what fellow members do in there free time, beyond taking a sports car out for a ride. Smart people probably pay for these types of project things, I happen to enjoy doing them myself, although they are time consuming. Martial ar...
2020 was such crazy year for reasons we all share. I sort of lost track of time.
My first big project last year was completing a built-in BBQ. I would have sworn I did that in 2019, but it was actually last Spring. After that, I installed stone at the Master fireplace, and built floating shelves in my wife's kitchen alcove. These were...
Michael, great to see another fellow architect...
taking on his own construction. I would love to see how you placed that stone arch (anchors etc.) I completed the renovation of our master bathroom a year ago and decided that I was too old to be doing construction myself. Satisfying and excellent work! (...
Indeed my Friend.
You're going to like the stone arch. Definitely the most time consuming portion of the room in terms of stone fitment. The sketch I added to the post is really bad, it was just for my own understanding. As I am sure you do, sketches for clients are comple...
Thanks amigo. I will add a few parts to take us to the finish line.
I still have some days ahead to get it wrapped up, this is all weekend work so the process is extended.
Thanks Patrick.
We moved in in April 2019 and the house was a disaster for a while. But it is real close to how I want it, and the layout is really fantastic for entertaining. As you know, I worked at home quite frequently before Covid ever hit, so there are some nice in...
And knowing you, the attention to detail must be spot on!
That stone work is just beautiful. I can imagine I'd want to work at home too with such a nice house!
Thanks Tony. Still some work to do, but the finish line is visible.
Hopefully I am around down here long enough to learn about and enjoy fine wines. I'll certainly have a nice room to keep them ;-)
I am far from having your skills, mon ami. In fact I hav two left hands as we say in French. ;) Well watch hunting apart, I am spending my time improving my cars.
And my last work in progress is the Alpine. First I want to know it very well, then I will go for the improvements: Rims, Brakes and suspensions, that's it. Maybe working on the geometry, too. But that will be all. Best Nicolas
Auto is an area I have delved into just a bit.
FAR from knowledgeable, but I did manage to install the suspension lift on my old 4Runner. I figured, it's mostly nuts and bolts, I can do that. Took me 8-10 hours as I recall, I hear auto guys do that in like 2. But it turned out great and was a real lea...
PART II - "don't forget about structure, jackass!"
Aaahh... one nasty bi-product of not knowing my room design before building the home. You would think an architect, on his own home!, would have remembered that one. When I ordered all the stone for the inside and outside of the room, and figured in my ce...
Close, M4 hooked me up with
The TRX straps and a set of kettlebells. He is a fitness expert, and a few weeks after moving into the new house, a heavy box showed up w all those goodies as a house warming present. All class, Mr. M4!
Very nice! I see the yellow TRX strap now!
I never thought I'd say this, but I miss the gym! And what a nice housewarming present!
I'd like to see the basement gym someday MichaelC!
I'm starting to realize during the pandemic, one must need a big house... One with multiple home offices for all those living within, and one with a home gym.
Designing my own home was really special.
As I have worked at home frequently over the years, I made a very nice home office. I am in this room most business hours, and never get tired of the space. I'm real lucky to have it, even more so these days. And better than that, the home has a "Tracie A...
I thank you. Now that projects are settling down...
I'll be in the exercise area much more. Felling better already
PART III - some touches of history
One of the challenges of the room texture I am after was how the bottles would be mounted. The juxtaposition of the smooth glass bottles against the roughness of the limestone is perhaps the most significant aspect of the design intent. Many racks mount t...
