Momplex

Framing Gable Roofs

I have to say, we are so glad we built the Momplex with ICFs. It's very comforting to know that we could put the doors in and insulate the upstairs ceiling and be able to turn heat on.  Not to mention the walls are 2 to 3 times more insulated than most stick frame walls.

But as happy as we are with our decision to use ARXX blocks for the exterior of the Momplex, I do miss stick framing.  I do miss building with wood.

So this project, framing these little roofs abo

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Basement Floor Epoxy Coating

Hi Everyone, and Happy Friday!

Today, I'm so excited to share one of the biggest bang-for-your-buck weekend projects you can undertake (in my humble DIY opinion).

Someday, this blank space is going to be Grandma's dream sewing room.  It may take months, maybe even be a year before we get to it, but we've got big plans to convert this large basement bonus room to the perfect spot for Grandma to make her beautiful quilts in.  And Gracie has requested a kids craft area in t

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How to Install a Subfloor on Joists

It has been torture waiting for plywood day! We put the upstairs floor joists up, and I thought the very next day I'd be getting a sun tan on a roof top deck. Not so much the case ... we built stairs, backfilled, insulated ... just to name a few projects that had to get done as I tried not to glance up at those open floor joists ... and finally it's plywood day. (I'll be blogging about all the other projects we've been up to as well in the next coming bit). Hooray for plywood day!

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Dryer Vent

Do you ever wonder what happens between your dryer and the vent outside? We are in the utility installing phase of the Momplex. We are starting with who has the biggest pipes and working our way down to the smallest. First up, we installed 6" diameter piping for the ventilation system. To get the ceiling insulated to hold heat, we've already installed bathroom and kitchen vents as well. Next up is the dryer vent. And of course, since this is the Momplex, we gotta do everything twic

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Stainless Steel Cable and Wood Railing

Hi everyone!  Happy Friday!

Do you remember back when we built this railing for Momplex Unit B?

We absolutely LOVE how it turned out.  And we love that not only does it protect the stair opening, but it's so substantial, it's almost like a long console table that you can lean on.

So when it came time for me to design a railing for Momplex Unit B, I wanted to keep the same substantialness, but add a modern twist to match the rest of Mompl

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Stair Railing

Our job has turned into a desk job.

Well, at least a job that you sit down at. 

I guess that's the good thing about working on stairs. You get to sit on them while you work on them.

Yep, sitting down on the job, figuring the stair skirts and installing them.

And we barely got to sit down to cut and install this baseboard down the stairs, it was so quick.  

The skirts and baseboard finish out the wa

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Everything but the Treads

Can you believe that there was a time when the Momplex stairs looked like this?

And today, they look like this:

And hopefully soon ... they'll look something like this:

image from Centsational Girl

Man, there sure are a ton of steps (pun not intended here) to finishing out stairs, isn't there!

First, we built the upstairs railing -

And we painted the

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Installing Kitchen Cabinets - Momplex Vanilla Kitchen

After a couple of weeks of building kitchen cabinets and finishing them, I can't tell you how excited and eager I was for this day to come ...  Kitchen cabinet installation day!!!

Yep, this blank space is going to be a kitchen after today!

We are going to do the wall cabinets first.

First, we mark the height of the bottom of the wall cabinets.  Standard height is 54".

But we can't just mark 54" and pull a string line,

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