Most Recent Photos

Welcome to our blog! Recent photos of our home
rebuilding project are displayed below. These photos and
others are displayed in separate sections by construction
phase (see the list below). Photos in each section are
arranged in reverse chronological order, so you might
want to view them from the bottom up.

Installing Hardwood Floors
After Installing Drywall
Installing Drywall
Installing Insulation
Before Insulation and Drywall
Landscaping and Flora
Garage and Driveway Improvements
Remodeling the Interior
HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical
Shingles and Siding
Backfilling and Window Wells
Stairs, Windows & Doors
Raising the Roof
Building the Main Floor
Building the Basement
Demolition and Excavation
Building Plans

Our home on March 4, 2010.

Our front door was installed this week.
Trim will be installed in the spring.

Our home on January 5, 2010.

A close-up.

A sample of the hardwood floor we are
considering for the main level. It is called strand
woven carbonized bamboo. It is harder than
Oak and has a more attractive grain (we think)
than other types of bamboo.

A view from the opposite direction.

Through the far door is the bedroom.

A view of the kitchen island wall, dining room,
and living room.

This is the east wall of the kitchen. The
refrigerator will be installed on the right side
of the center area, where the chair is.

Front door is on the left, stairway to the
basement is in the middle, and the entry
to the mud room is on the right. To see a
map of the main level, click here. The beam
in the skylight will be painted white.

The east wall of the living room. The nook in
the middle is for the entertainment center.

Same view from a different angle.

The next eight shots (above) show what the
interior on the main level looks like today
(12/7/09). This photo shows the dining room
from within the living room.

Alan's drywall crew: Chumly (Mike) on the
floor, and Paul and Scott on the platform.

This is the east wall of the living room.
The two empty wall cavities are return air
ducts. The horizontal steel bars behind the
ducts are RC1 sound channel. They reduce
sound transmission from the drywall in the
laundry room to the studs, and thereby help
keep the living room quiet.

A view of the north wall of the dining room.
Insulation in this wall is especially heavy in
order to minimize the transfer of noise
from the laundry room.

The skylight has a thick layer of foam insulation.
The wood frame at the far end was added to
bring the skylight opening into compliance with
building codes. The inspector noticed that the
original opening was about two and one half feet
too large, relative to the specifications provided
by the truss manufacturer.

The south wall of the dining room has fiberglass
(pink) and cellulose (gray) insulation.

Mike Bookbinder from MIFFCO was in charge of
this project. He and his crew did an outstanding job.
Here, he is blowing cellulose into the south wall of
the stairway.

Nylon mesh netting is stapled to the wall studs
in order to create a cavity for blowing in
cellulose and fiberglass insulation. Fiberglass
is used between conditioned and unconditioned
(outside) spaces. Cellulose is used for interior
soundproofing and for insulating the ceiling
above the main level.

Here is the back side of the garage wall
with about an inch of spray foam.
Additional fiberglass insulation will be
blown in to increase the R value.

Alan (of Alan's Drywall) is installing drywall
on the west wall of the garage. This wall needed
to be covered first so that the insulation company
could begin spraying foam insulation on the back
side of it.

Drywall delivery truck from Home Acres
in Muskegon.

Delivering the drywall.

The east wall of the kitchen with doorways
into the mud room (left) and pantry (right).

The stairway.

The east wall of the living room.

Same view from a different angle.

A view of the kitchen from the living room.

A view of the kitchen from the bedroom door.

The living room is in the background.

The next eight photos (above) show what the
interior looked like just before insulation and
drywall were installed. This is a view of the
dining room from the kitchen.

Eleanor and I installed insulation in the basement
ceiling. The rest of the insulation was installed by
MIFFCO.

Todd, from Shorline Plumbing, is reconfiguring
the water pipes to our main bath vanity so that
we will have two sinks. Todd became a master
plumber this fall.

Eleanor and I built this gate at the
Pentwater Artisan Learning Center. It is
made of Certainteed Restoration Millwork
panels (PVC).

Cutting a stress relief joint on the last day of
the driveway repair project

Adam Eerdmans and his wife Rebeca repaired
our driveway. Adam is the contractor who built
the foundation and constructed the ICF walls
for our home. I recommend him.

Our home as it looked in early May of 2009.

Additional new photos can be found in the following sections:
Installing Hardwood Floors
After Installing Drywall
Installing Drywall
Installing Insulation
Before Insulation and Drywall
Garage and Driveway Improvements
Landscaping and Flora
Remodeling the Interior
Shingles and Siding
HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical

Installing Hardwood Floors

A close-up.

This is a sample of the hardwood floor we are
considering for the main level. It is called strand
woven carbonized bamboo. It is harder than
Oak and has a more attractive grain (in
our view) than other types of bamboo. We
might not go with this one, however, because
it is a shade too dark for our tastes. Dark
floors show scratches in the finish more easily.

After Installing Drywall

The photos in this section show what the
interior on the main level looked like on
12/7/09.

A view of the kitchen from the bedroom door.

Through the far door is the front hallway
and bedroom.

A view of the kitchen island wall, dining room,
and living room beyond.

The east wall of the kitchen. The refrigerator
will be installed on the right side of the center
area, where the chair is.

Front door is on the left, stairway to the
basement is in the middle, and the entry
to the mud room is on the right. To see a
map of the main level, click here. The beam
in the skylight will be painted white.

The east wall of the living room. The nook in
the middle is for the entertainment center.

Looking through the dining room into the
kitchen, from the east wall of the living room.

This photo shows the dining room
from the center of the living room.

Installing Drywall

View this section from the bottom up to see
the drywall installation process in sequence.
Our contractor installed the ceiling first to
allow for the installation of cellulose insulation
in the attic, and heating of the interior.

The stairway area after mudding and priming
on the main level, but before priming around
the landing.

West wall of the master bedroom, a work in
progress.

Paul and Scott are standing on the "pic."

Chumly (Mike), in the foreground, was the
foreman during the initial installation phase.

Paul (left) and Scott (right) in the entry/
stairway area.

Paul and Jason hang the ceiling in the main
bedroom upstairs.

Alan (of Alan's Drywall) is installing drywall
on the west wall of the garage. This wall needed
to be covered first so that the insulation company
could begin spraying foam insulation on the back
side of it.

Drywall was staged in each room.

Drywall mud.

Drywall delivery truck from Home Acres
in Muskegon.

Another view.

Drywall for the main level came in through the
front door.

A load arrives. They carried each sheet down
individually.

The window is out!

The drywall sheets were too large to be carried
down our stairway, so the delivery crew had to
remove one of our basement egress windows.