Momplex

It seems like forever since I've written about the Momplex. For those of you new here, we've been DIYing a duplex for our Mother's to live in up here in Alaska. On Mother's Day this year, we'll be at it two whole years. Things take time when you do every single thing yourself. But they also cost less, and you know things are done right. That Mother's Day goal .... it's looking pretty intimidating right now. Especially since we will be DIYing every single kitchen cabinet, closet organiz

Happy Monday!!!

A few weeks back, we built Mom a master closet system, and she's been loving it so far!

But we wanted to add a little more storage and functionality to the tower itself.  I'm not a huge fan of low shelves (maybe it's because I'm ready-to-pop-preggers and reaching into a low bottom shelf is a monumental task right now?).

Mom was going to add some baskets on the lower shelf, but those baskets cosst $20 - and we'd need two per sh

So what walls did we end up choosing? Was it Walls #1, the oversided legos that you fill with concrete?Or was it Walls #2, stick framing the old fashioned wayOr did we go with Walls #3, the pricer SIPS that go up in no time at all?Well, I'm going to tell you.  In this post.  I promise.Our New General ContractorBut I want to share with you something else first.  You need to meet the REAL business mind behind the Momplex, the General Contractor will all the smarts.This is the Mom

Except for a very brief stint on the scaffolding system, we've been working in a giant hole in the ground all summer. This giant hole in the ground to be exact.Depressing, I know.Especially since outside that hole, it looks like this. Well, it looks like this in the summer anyway.So you can imagine how antsy I've been to get out of that giant hole in the ground and start working upstairs in the Momplex.  I've waited all summer for this stage of the building process.  Hooray, to

Thank you for your comments and advice, real ideas that have helped shape the form of our first Momplex kitchen layout.

Ah the doors ... almost the last part of the Momplex not sealed in. 

The doors should have been put in a long time ago.

But you see, we built out of ARXX blocks - Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs) which are basically giant hollow foam legos that you fill with concrete. And the ICFs are much wider (11 1/2") than a standard 2x6 wood framed wall.  So we will need a special door jamb to fit the wider walls.

The doors are late to go in because we wanted to D

Do you work with your spouse on projects? Now be honest with me. Do you always get along? What happens when you both have different ideas for doing the same thing? Imagine working on a Momplex together!

I am so proud to tell you that we have indeeded finished putting up all the drywall in the Momplex! You know the upstairs has been done for quite a while. But then we stopped and put in an above the floor heat system in the upstairs. We kept the downstairs free of drywall to hook up all the water lines to the upstairs heat system. But that wasn't the only thing keeping us from finishing up the Momplex. Biggest hurdle? The weather. Normally, spring comes in April in Alaska for

Well, we got the memo.

Mother Nature has made it pretty clear - winter is coming.  

And soon.

The leaves have changed to brilliant reds and yellows, and what's left of our wild Alaska blueberries are barely hanging on.

The mountains are not just snow capped any longer.  They are snow covered.

Winter is on it's way, and it will be here until May.  

And of course w

My friend Kate made me a believer.

When it came time to install a countertop for the Momplex Vanilla kitchen, we did go have a solid surface countertop priced out.  

The cost of the solid surface countertop was MORE than the entire kitchen!!!  And it would take 8 weeks and we'd have to pay for a full travel day each time someone drove to the site to measure, fit and install the countertop (yes, we are to blame there for living in the sticks in Alaska).

<

What about windows and doors?Early DayWe had to call it a day the other day after getting just the first two rows of ARXX blocks up.  As eager as we all were to see more rows go up, up here on this windy hill, none of us wanted to see the blocks flying through the air, probably landing in our yard a mile away.Pattern SetGetting the first two rows up is actually a major accomplishment because you create the pattern for the entire home.  You want the seams all staggered in the same spots