2nd Woodshed

With a small lot and limited space it was a challenge to find a location to build an additional woodshed. As you will see from the photos the new woodshed was built on rough cut yellow cedar 4X4 posts.


I ran out of deck sealer, so I still need to get a bit more sealer on the yellow cedar post and stairs, etc. These stair treads like all the stair treads on our decks are mortised into the stair jacks.


This is the view looking down on the old and the new woodshed as seen from the entry deck that runs from out garage to our house. The door in the photo is the door to our guest apartment that is located under out garage


Since the new wood shed could not be built parallel to the garage because of the terrain I decided to build the roof of the shed parallel to the garage roof. Rough cut red cedar 2X6’s make up the roof decking in both sheds. This keeps roofing nails from sticking through as they do on a plywood roof.


As they say firewood heats a person more than once. Since both of our wood sheds are down a set of stairs from our living area that means that the wood needs to be carried first down then back up the stairs. Of course there is also the chore of splitting wood. As you can see in the photo I keep my exercise equipment near were it will be used. Who needs to go to the gym when you have a wood stove?

Since it can take a good year to truly “season” firewood so that it is dry enough to get the maximum btu’s out of each piece of wood I wanted 2 woodsheds. This will give me enough room to keep ahead of the curve of supply and demand.

Yellow Cedar Dock

Before we started construction on our home we had already looked into building a dock. Since Swan Lake is a shallow lake that is mostly surrounded by what I’d call a marsh, it is very hard to launch a boat from the shore. Hence, the dock that extends over the marshy area into water that is deep enough to launch and tie up a small boat.



I had always heard that getting an Army Corps of Engineers Permit was nearly impossible. But my experience has not shown this to be true. We of course consulted with the Corps when we built our house and found at that time the guidelines to build were simple to follow. When I applied for a permit to build the dock I again found it very easy and the Corps responded quickly and issued a permit for the dock.

The dock was build under Army Corps permit POA-2006-33

We hand dug holes through the grass and other organic material until we hit a layer of fractured rock at about 3 feet of depth. We then hand drove 1 inch galvanized pipe another 4 to 8 feet through the fractured rock until it refused to drive any further. Then Commercial Sonotubes were used as forms to pour 1 foot diameter concrete piers to support the deck girders. All in all we pour 2.5 yards of concrete for the project. The first yard of concrete was transported by wheelbarrow and the remainder of the concrete was carried in 5 gallon buckets.


Jud drills a pilot hole for one of the last spikes that holds the dock bull rail.

I though it would be fun to cast the shape of a duck and a swan into the concrete bulkhead that holds the dock to the shore.

We had never planned on using any pressure treated lumber because I did not want any toxic chemicals leaching into the lake. I was pleased when I read the Corps Permit requirements that banned the use of most treated lumber for any dock on this lake.

I of course am a very big fan of Alaskan Yellow Cedar. In my experience yellow cedar will out last most pressure treated lumber, it’s less expensive than pressure treated lumber, it grows locally and it is much less toxic to work with, so why in the heck would I use pressure treated lumber anyway!

When we applied for the permit we were told we were the first people to ever apply for a permit to build a dock on Sitka’s Swan Lake. This means this is the first legal dock to be built on the lake. Of course there is only a hand full of dock on the 22 acre lake anyway, but it’s nice to know ours is a legally built one.

The Boys

It has been ages since I uploaded anything to this blog. So, here are 2 recent photos of grandsons Blake and Nate


At 7 years old Blak shows us the latest tooth that he lost a couple of weeks ago.

Just before the boys along with their parents flew to California Blake gave Nate this extra cute hair cut.

One of these days I will get around to taking photos of recent projects on the house and post them too.

Guest Apartment

The area under our garage has gone through several incarnations during the finishing of the area. What started out as storage area evolved into an office/ family room and then into a guest apartment. In time the area still might be an office and I’m sure we will still use it as a family room too. But for now it is functioning as a guest apartment.

Below are a few photos taken a week or so ago right after I got the final inspection from the city building inspector.


Building codes and zoning codes are sometimes weird things. You will note the top of the Kitchenette has had the burners removed. This is because with burners the area would be considered another inhabitable living area and by zoning we can not do that since we are zoned R-1. Now, if I wanted to connect the house and the garage together then it would be ok because then our home would be a duplex. Or, I can put a hot plate on the area that is now a breadboard and that would be legal. All I have to say is “Go Figure.”


Guest bed and closet. The carpet is an industrial grade carpet tile. This is the first time I had laid carpet tiles and I have to say it was not only easy but I like it too. If I’m ever looking for a project I’ll build a headboard for the bed.


Very empty bookshelves will be filled with books as we dig them out of storage and off our overflowing bookshelves in our house. In time I will build a table but for now a card table will do.


A very small shower.


The heat in this 420 sq. foot room is from the 4kw heater you see in the photo. The countertops are granite tiles and the backsplash is stainless steel tiles.

Because of the concrete pillars that hold up the 2nd floor garage the walls are a full foot thick. The walls are double insulated with 2 layers of R-11 insulation. The sub-sheeting is left over plywood from cement forms and the framing is left over 2X4’s from cement forms. The inside paneling is 1X4 vertical T&G Sitka spruce, and western hemlock. The horizontal paneling is 1X8 T&G western red cedar.

Building Green

Building Green

By: Marcel LaPerriere

Sorting fact from hype is not always easy. Building green is no exception. Over the last couple of years I have been doing a fair bit of research on building green both because I think it is the right thing to do and because I’m working with several clients who want to build green. Recently I was working with a woman who had a very nice modern home designed. The architect was encouraging her to build this home using steel. And, in fact he had even recommended a steel home manufacturing company that not only claimed to be Green, but even has the LEED* endorsement. Sorry, there is no way you will ever convince me that you can build a residential home using steel and consider it green. Here is why:

10% of all greenhouse gases admitted into the atmosphere come from the manufacturing of steel and concrete. Not to mention that 1/3 of the steel produced globally comes from China, where there are few environmental laws. This doesn’t even take into account the amount of fuel required to transport steel to this country from half way around the world. Even though most steel produced today comes from about 40% recycled steel, massive amounts of iron and other minerals have to be extracted from the earth to make steel. Steel of course also requires tons of coal to manufacture. Even well insulated steel walls will never be as energy efficient as wood walls. So, I have to wonder how any manufacture of steel homes can make the claim of being Green.

In my opinion one way to build green requires the builder to substitute wood whenever possible. This is just one of the reasons I’m fond of the Pan Abode Phoenix System. Solid wood walls greatly reduce another product that requires mining and vast amounts of energy to produce, and that is sheetrock. Did you know that 17% of all sheetrock manufactured gets thrown away without being used because of cutouts for windows, doors and hanging sheetrock to minimize seems? The Phoenix System also reduces the amount of fiberglass insulation that is required, thus saving the mining of silica and massive amounts of energy to produce the fiberglass insulation.

All too often I hear that solid wood walls are not energy efficient. I beg to differ. By making walls air tight and doing a good job of insulating in areas of high heat loss like the floor and ceiling, installing good thermal doors and windows and taking advantage of the thermal mass of wood, a truly Green home can be built.

With few exceptions wood is the only building material that will regenerate its self. And, while it is regenerating it is absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. Producing a steel stud requires 9 times more energy to produce than the equivalent wood stud. Not to mention that wood has over 400 times the resistance to heat transfer than steel. In my book there is no better way to build Green than using wood. In fact a study by the Edinburgh Center for Carbon Management (ECCM) found that by substituting wood whenever possible in the construction of homes that an 88% reduction in greenhouse gasses can be accomplished.

To truly build green you have to take into consideration: resource extraction, product manufacturing, transportation, installation, heating and cooling, longevity of the material in the building, and the eventual disposal of the material when the building is torn down. Through the whole life cycle of the building from resource extraction to disposal no building material has a lower overall carbon footprint than wood.

My motto is “Build Green, use wood!”

* Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design a standard set by the US Green building Council.

Jenn's Birthday

Yesterday was our daughter-in-laws birthday. This is a picture of
Blake writing Jenn and two hearts in the icing of the Birthday cake.



Nate is telling Grandpa how big a piece of cake he wants.



I think Jenn doesn't have a big enough spatula for Nate's piece
of cake, or a large enough cake.

Grandma is the Best!

Grandma taught Blake how to use the sewing machining and he caught on very quickly. They made the two hand puppets you see in the photo and Blake did all the sewing except the hemming. After the puppets were made the boys took the puppets down for a piano lesson with grandma. Blake named his puppet Smiley after Greatgrandma siad the puppet was smiling and Nate named his Mr. Green becasue of the green cloth.

Office/ Family Room/ Apartment

When we first conceived the idea to put our garage on the street level or 2nd level we had no idea what we would do with the area under the garage. At first we figured we would just leave it open and perhaps put a play area for the grandkids under the garage. Then we thought we should at the very least enclose the walls and make it into storage. But like most things that Connie and I get involved with we never stop with the easy option. Hence the tri-purpose room; office, family room, apartment.

My business partner Fred was by this afternoon for a quick meeting and to see how things were progressing under the garage. He asked if I had been taking photos and I had to admit it had been a while since I had. So, after tonight's dinner I ran down and shot the photos that are posted below.


The back wall with Pan Abode Homes red cedar Phoenix T&G paneling. The 4 foot wide closet can also be seen in the photo. I will sheetrock the inside of the closet. The black ABS pipe is the floor drains from the garage above.


A built in bookshelf is on one corner of the room. Since the garage is supported on 14 one foot square nine foot high concrete pillars the walls between the pillars are over 10 inches thick. I left the pillars showing as I kind of like the look of the concrete between the wood.


The vertical tongue and groove paneling is 1X3 spruce and hemlock that was milled on Prince of Wales Island here in Southeast Alaska. The cabinet fronts are apitong plywood that is a marine grade but is a fraction of the cost of fir marine grade plywood.

You can also see the door to the restroom which will have a small shower. The restroom will be a combination of sheetrock, tile and wood.


Another view of the kitchenette and cabinets. The drawer fronts are made out of left over Hawaiian koa from a cabinet job I did many years ago. The counter tops will be granite tiles.


The electric sub-panel for this room and the garage is feed from the house power. So, I wired in a sub-meter to the right of the panel so that I can track the power separate from the house. This is incase I ever use the room as my business office, or a rental apartment sometime down the line.


To frame the inner walls I used the leftover lumber from the cement forms that we built to pour the garage. The plywood under the wood paneling is all leftover cement forms. Now that I’m better than ½ done with this project I’m happy to say other than the plywood for the cabinets all the other plywood on this project has been left over forms.

I still have many more days of work to finish this project with the sheetrock coming next. Then the restroom to finish with lots of tile work. The floor will be a combination of tile and commercial grade glue down carpet.

Even though this has been a ton of work I’m glad that we decided to finish the area. In time I envision a ping pong table in the middle of the room and a great place for the grandsons to play when they are here.

Helpful Grandsons?

After practicing 1st aid on grandma’s fingers with blue masking tape the boys figured grandma needed lead boots. I get such a kick out of watching these two boys with their grandma because all three of them are extra silly.

Nate and Blake

The boys were at the house last weekend and I’m just now getting a chance to look at the photos I took.



Before eating their afternoon snack Blake and Nate decided to put peanut butter on molasses cookies that Blake and Connie had made the prior weekend.




Sometimes I wonder if Nate gets more on his face than he does in his mouth?



Nate stuffs his cheeks full of popcorn while eating his cookie at the same time.

There is not a day go by that I don’t get a smile on my face thinking of these two boys. They truly bring joy to my life and I know they bring joy to Connie’s life too.

Let the Internet Help You

Recently I have been asked why Pan Abode Homes over brand X? Without coming right out and bad mouthing brand X which by the way starts with an L I’d suggest that you read the advise I have given other folks in the past. Frankly after doing the searches as I have laid out this is just one of the reasons that Connie and I built a Pan Abode Home over brand X.

When deciding on a home manufacturer or products to use in your home it pays to do a little research. That is where the internet can be a big help to you.

For instance if you decided to build a home using a system built home it pays to Google the manufacture. Go to Google and type in Pan Abode Homes law suit. Check the results then type in other manufactures followed by the words law suits. You might want to also type in other criteria and see what you get. Check the results before you decide which way to build.

As a dealer and home owner of a Pan Abode I know I can safely giving you this advice. Would other dealers of other brand cedar homes feel as secure as I do? Find out for yourself and I think you will see why I not only built a Pan Abode Cedar Home, but am now a dealer

Nate

This weekend Zach, Jenn and Blake went to a workshop so we were asked to watch 2 year old Nate for the 2 days. Of course we protested; as if the only thing we had to do was spend precious time with one of our beloved little grandsons. Just joking of course as there is nothing I’d rather do than spend time with the boys. Frankly, it just doesn’t get better than that!


Saturday was a glorious day so we headed to the playground with Nate.


He ejoyes crawling through the plastic tubes.


Why is it that every kid loves to get dizzy? Here grandma spins him round and round.


It is pure joy watching this happy little face!


Laughing and giggling all day long!




It totally melts my heart when he looks up and asks for my hand.


Sunday was a very rainy and windy day so it was inside playing. He loves to put on grownup cloths and be silly.



Tomorrow is Saint Patrick’s Day and the anniversary of my mother’s death. She passed shortly after my 7th birthday 48 years ago.

As I grow older I have a harder and harder time understanding how my father only saw his children as something to get work out of. He had no love for his own childern and he took zero interest in his grandchildren. I think my son only saw him a couple of times while he was growing up. To me I just can not imagine how any person could not understand the gift that our children are to us and how extremely fortunate we are to have grandchildren. I don’t think a person can truly understand deep family love until their grandchild looks up to them and ask for a hand, or runs over and gives them a hug. I know I’m truly blessed to have my two grandsons, and I cherish each minute I get to spend with them.

Happy Birthday to our Grandson Blake

Blake is 6 years old today, and that makes

me feel like jumping too!

Working on the Office

It’s been a while since I have posted any construction photos, so here goes. I have been working under the garage building the office / family recreation room. It seems like the project has been going on for months, and I guess it has. (When a guy is partially retried I guess he shouldn’t get it too much of a hurry!)

Thursday afternoon the freight company delivered windows I ordered from Pan Abode Cedar Homes, so I took advantage of good weather to install them. Since I have had so much trouble getting Milgard Windows to honor their warranty on a defective window I decided there was no way in you know where that I was going to purchase another window from them. So, on the advice of my contact at Pan Abode I ordered Weathervane Windows. And, so far I’m glad I did. In all the sliding windows I have installed or worked on over the years I have to say these are the smoothest.

Two of 4 windows cut out and nearly ready for the glass.


Windows installed


Another view of the same windows

More on the Milgard Window; as mentioned above I have installed a fair number of new windows over the years, both in new construction and remodel projects. I had always had good luck with Milgard, so when we decided to build we chose Milgard Windows. If you scroll back through the previous posts you will note between the house and the garage we needed 30 windows, and some of them are fairly big. The 30 windows were all their top of the line wood clad fiberglass windows. Anyway shortly after installing one of the bigger 4-0 X 6-0 Low E Argon filled windows we noted it was fogging, which of course meant a bad seal. Well that was a year ago and the window has still not been fixed. First we waited for months and months until they sent the 1st window, of course it was the wrong size. Then after a couple more months they sent the right one. That was last September. But as luck would have it the installer cracked the window as he was finishing the job. Now I don’t blame him, because working with glass there is always that risk. So a 3rd window was ordered and is supposed to be delivered Monday to be installed next month sometime. I guess we will have to see how it goes this time.

But, the long and the short if anyone finds this post via a search engine I could no longer suggest Milgard Windows. I heard they were bought out by a big company a couple of years ago and ever since their service has been poor. I have heard good things about Weathervane Windows, so I hope what I have heard holds true.

Serious Snow

The last 10 days or so it has been snow, snow, and more snow! If it isn’t a record it must be darn near one.

Most people are complaining like crazy, but I like it, even though I’ve been shoveling snow like crazy. The forecast is for more snow through the weekend then rain on Monday; now that I’m not going to like.

A lady asked me the other day who was plowing our parking area. I think she was surprised to find out we have shoveled it all by hand. This photo was taken yesterday morning, 2/8/08.


This photo was taken this afternoon out our bedroom window.


Another photo taken from the bedroom window.