by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 17, 2010 | for Fun, for Home
There's no accounting for taste. A few months ago we saw one of those longish commercials, kind of like a mini-infomercial. It was advertising a silicone baking set that made a cake that looked like an enormous cupcake. Dumbest thing I ever saw. Who would ever buy...
by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 11, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
The floor trusses are up and the plywood for the base of the main floor started going down yesterday. It's supposed to be finished today. Since the new house plans have the garage in the basement with living space above (instead of the reverse in the old house plans),...
by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 10, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
The fibrous concrete panels we are using to build the house—stacked up and secured with polyurethane before being filled with concrete—were something of an aesthetic mess. Bumpy, lumpy, and uneven, the walls didn't much lend themselves to being easily stuccoed. Eames...
by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 9, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
When we finally closed the construction loan last November, I was sure we had missed the good-weather window and would be sitting around in our rental house watching the snow fall for a number of months. To my surprise, even the famous Utah snow doesn't completely...
by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 8, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
There's nothing better than driving up to the building site to see a raft of cars and a buzz of activity. Today the crew started installing the main floor trusses. We're going to be pouring cement for the main floor surface, so these trusses are substantial. Belinda...
by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 3, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Yesterday the crew was out in force (love to see that!) framing up the interior walls in the basement. Seeing each room take shape makes it easier to visualize how everything fits in—and the kids can walk around in their own rooms for the first time. The walkout...
