Some recent interior shots

Life has assumed some normalcy here at BHB. Which is another way of saying, I just don't work on the house that much anymore! Recently I have made a pact with myself to do a couple of hours of work on the house each weekend. It's a modest goal, but over time I WILL make some progress on the long list of tasks that remain.

It's hard to imagine a time when we weren't living here. Sometimes I look around and try to imagine the time when this was all a dream in my head and some sketches in my notebook. I am amazed and humbled and grateful all at once. This house is so special and so...US. The adventure continues.

Chain link fence railings

With some large chunks of time on my hands this past weekend I decided that I would go ahead with major project # 43,652: ripping out the temporary loft railings and constructing the new "finish" railings. What you see above is the result of close to 10 hours of work. I think it came out really nice.

As you can see from this shot, I only got half-way done. At the lower right of the image the 2x4 temporary railing is visible. I have long ago learned to cut in half any estimates of what I think I can accomplish on the house at any given time. The design I came up with was driven by my desire to spend as little as possible (pretty typical). I knew I wanted tubular metal railings and wire stays. Back when I was sourcing products for the play loft railings I priced out some professionally fabricated and installed railing systems: BIG bucks. My solution? Go to Home Depot and see what I can come up with for cheap.


What I came up with was basically chain link fence parts. The vertical posts are the chain link fence posts; the horizontal (or diagonal as it were) bars are the fence top rails, and the hardware is all the cheapo hardware for chain link fence. I bored out a hole to seat the base of the posts into, drilled some holes through the posts and then bolted them through the stair risers into the stringers beneath.

The cable cost something like 6 bucks. I anchored it in the downstairs post and then passed it through holes I drilled in the center post and finally fastened them to the wooden end post (which I built to match the other loft railing posts) via simple turnbuckles.

Score one victory for the cheap-skate! Seriously though, I love coming up with smartly designed modernist solutions to design problems that would cost thousands to do "right". All in all, I would say this cost me about $65. Not bad at all.

See BHB on iTunes

Now you can download the episode of Renovation Nation featuring Bare Hill Barn (for only $1.99!) In iTunes, search for Renovation Nation. Click on "Vol.2". We are episode 13 of Vol. 2 titled, "Today, Steve checks out a 200 year old barn renovated into a modern, eco-smart house." Oooooo! Enjoy.

Inside BHB on a fall afternoon

A Beautiful Day

Fall Arrives

There is the most beautiful view from our house. Especially during the fall. I am so grateful for this aspect of our new home.

The long view: Future of BHB Blog

Faithful readers: as you have noticed, there hasn't been a lot of activity here these past months. I guess that's because there just isn't THAT MUCH going on. BHB Blog will remain here though, as a resource and as an easy place to direct people interested in learning more about this crazy project. I will be updating it periodically with new pics, vids, and posts. Feel free to direct friends, family and otherwise interested parties here. For new visitors, please feel free to roam, taking in the photos, videos, and posts written by me over the past two plus years. I do still read all comments, so do post them if the spirit moves you. Thanks for visiting!

Renovation Nation UPDATE

If you tuned in Tuesday at 6:00 (like we did) you noticed that our segment did not air. The producers called us that evening and gave us a new air time: this Friday Sept. 26 at 9:00. The show will be rebroadcast a total of 7 times I think over the next day or two. I know that it is also airing Sat. at 4:00. Hope some of you can catch it!

Renovation Nation Segment to Air Tues.

The segment taped this past June at BHB will air this week on the Planet Green Network. I got a call Friday afternoon from the production company responsible for the segment and was told that it would air Tuesday Sept. 23 at 6:00 pm. Check you local listings to confirm that time. We don't have cable so we are hoping to crash at a neighbor's house. Grab your popcorn!

Get the full story here and here.

Mr. Mom does house-work

So, those of you who know me you know that, as a teacher, during the summer months I "don't work". Those of you who REALLY know me and have a handful of your own kids know how silly this idea of "not working" is. (Try telling my wife that she "doesn't work" during the school year. Stand back a bit before you do...) Anyway, since my wife is working pretty much full time during this summer in an on going effort to release ourselves from debt I have been working pretty much full time as Mr. Mom.



Anyway, suffice it to say that I have not had a lot of time to work on the house these past months. Back in June, when I was trying to make the transition from the school year routine to the summer one, this realization hit me hard. Let's just say every summer I gain a new appreciation for the work my wife - and all stay at home moms (God bless ya!) - do all year long. Transition usually takes a couple of weeks and then I'm fine (mostly). Despite the more full time nature of our jobs this summer, I did manage to get some work done on the house last week. My newly-revised goal for "finishing" BHB included really finishing the upstairs by the end of the summer...or, failing in that, by the end of the year ;-)



This is a little hard to photograph, apologies. If you have been reading this blog for a while you know that I have been working hard at cutting the old barn board and fitting it in over the exposed SIPs panels (see previous posts). I recently finished (mostly) with the upstairs except for around the long windows on the south side.

The job I finished this past week was putting barn board trim around these windows and then building a long sill along the bottom. I built the sill out of left over 1 x 4 mahogany decking.

After building the sills and finishing the trim, I put the first couple of coats of sealer on them. Looks great.

It's funny how relatively small jobs, upon completion, produce a disproportionately great sense of gratification. I guess the exposed OSB, un-trimmed windows, and protruding tufts of insulation were really bugging me...Anyway, I am happy with how this has turned out and it definitely adds to the feel of completion upstairs.