Mill Creek Haunted Hollow: The Remodel

Our quiet home. Unassuming and tucked away.

A good view of the whole house from the front.

The front porch and roof only went as far as the entry door.

The two dormers were the only hint that we even had a second floor.

The original sketch I did on vacation that started the whole notion.

I redrew the sketch on my computer and went from there.

Winter gave me time to plan and dream. I built a scale model of what I wanted to construct.

Winter gave me time to plan and dream. I built a scale model of what I wanted to construct.

Winter gave me time to plan and dream. I built a scale model of what I wanted to construct.

Winter gave me time to plan and dream. I built a scale model of what I wanted to construct.

June 2012 and the roof of the garage starts to come off.

More roof off and new floor joists going in.

More garage roof gone.

And still more garage roof gone.

As the roof comes off, the pile in the driveway grows.

From above, placing some subfloor.

The big green tent held most of the contents of the garage.

All that's left is the truss and halloween props.

The roof that's left will be integrated into the new wall.

You can see the truss and the two layers of shingles I had to strip.

No more garage roof.

Oh, wait, there's the garage roof. Guess it didn't go far.

Damn work crew just stands around all the time.

Big pile of spider legs, skeletons, and tombstones...and a truss.

Initial framing of garage tower.

Can't do anything without rain.

Believe it or not, this is after I cleaned up!

Rain will prove to be my greatest nemesis.

Lots of rigging and extra 2x4s to try and keep the rain out.

I'm gonna get tired complaining about the rain.

No rain, back to framing.

Securing the subfloor.

Framing the main wall and the outer knee wall.

Knee wall will support the short rafters for the mansard roof.

The blue tarp means rain.

Stairs down to the garage, neatly trimmed.

More of the framing. Helps hold up the tarp.

Got bored and stood up some skellies. One daughter helping.

My daughter wanted to see how everything was coming along.

True walls are always nice to see.

The back wall is up and lots of 2x6s to support the tarp.

Half of the build was just to improve the efficiency of the tarp.

Water still collects everywhere it can.

Putting up the roof sheathing.

Rafters and sheathing.

Remember that nice front porch?

Took the whole thing out and started digging new footings.

Each footing is 4 ft deep and 1 ft in diameter.

Rented a 2-man auger to drill the holes, it was quite unweildy.

A sunny day after days of rain.

And then the rain came back with a vengence.

The beginnings of the new footings and supports.

It's like the rain was just waiting for me to take the roof off.

A sudden downpour that caused a lot of frustration.

Starting to put out the porch joists.

Rain got in the house, down the wall, in the ceiling. Not good.

Trying to protect what I can from the elements.

Sorting out what I've taken off the house to see what I can reuse.

Too much rain.

Doing what I can to keep the rain out.

Lining up the porch joists before securing with braces.

Framing the new entry. Going from a single to a double door.

Building more of the balcony and porch.

Post supports balcony header.

More of the balcony and porch construction.

This was one of the wettest Junes in Seattle history.

Every time I adjusted the tarps, water would leak in somewhere else.

Putting on more of the porch joists and balcony subfloor.

Just trying to get things covered and dry.

More rain and wind as I look over the debris pile.

Subfloor on the balcony/second floor and the start of framing.

Framing and truing up the walls of the new second floor.

Looking at the space that will soon become my home office.

Removed the roof and exposed the stairwell.

Front yard is covered with debris.

Took the roof off the dormers.

Found a big bee hive under some of the sheathing.

Framing out the master bedroom.

Joining the new wall to the old wall of the dormer.

Second floor framing almost done.

Framing out the third tower on the left side of the house.

Completing the top plate on the office.

Looking out from the new office area.

A massive pile of debris to sort through.

Sorting piles to collect all the material I can reuse.

A pile of extra sheathing.

Some good beams to use for later and some extra porch.

Looking out from the bedroom to the addition.

Looking out from the bedroom to the addition.

Looking out from the bedroom to the addition.

The floor shows the old footprint to the new footprint.

From the new office space looking back into the bedroom.

Looking at the old dormer exterior wall and window from the new office.

It's a good thing my wife was gone this weekend.

Covered my computer desk with a sheet to protect from dust and drywall.

If I didn't want an office, the space would make a nice landing for the stairs.

Bracing and truing up the walls.

Reinforcing the corner to support structure above.

Once again, I do what I can when a rain cloud passes overhead.

More of the house may be in the front yard than on the house.

Looking up the stairwell.

From top of old stairs, looking through new stairs.

Office framing and attic subfloor.

New ceiling joists over old dormer ceiling (loose drywall).

The younglings explore the remodel for the first time.

New office is sheathed and plastic in the windows.

Putting the new child panel together.

Wiring the addition.

Adding the breakers (I'll have a 30amp for the exterior outlets on the balcony).

Adding the angle for the balcony roof sheathing.

Later on, I'll have to come back and increase this angle.

Adding the mansard rafters to the knee wall.

It's getting taller! Framing the attic tower.

At this point, people are really starting to take notice.

Just to compare my projects to my wife's projects.

Fitting the porch subfloor to the existing bay window.

Adding the round window dormer to the attic/mansard roof.

I can't believe I'm doing all of this by myself.

Rain returns and I have to put out way too many collection bins.

Had to stop building just to work on fixing leaks to stop this from repeating.

Water got into the ceiling and blistered the paint, and spilled onto the bed.

Still not enough to protect us from all the rain. Do they make house condoms?

Bipolar Seattle weather gives us a sunny day.

Sheathing the attic/mansard roof.

Starting on the left side of the house.

Joining new rafters to existing ridge beam.

Old rafters stay to give support like a truss.

The attic dormer in progress.

Far tower (closet) in progress. Angled rafter shows old roof line.

Fourth bedroom windows framed. Stairs to attic behind angled drywall.

Framing in progress, but nice header!

Double joist will later be replaced with a 10 1/2 in. x 3 1/8 in. GLB.

Picked up my windows.

Removing the plastic to install the windows.

The big window leaning up is the old window from the left dormer.

Very proud to haul away the debris and have the lawn back.

Windows going in on the second floor.

Starting to install attic/mansard rafters on left side.

I'd say the house is starting to look intimidating.

Windows are in (hadn't ordered the round ones yet).

Bought these doors from an architectural salvage business in Seattle for pennies.

My wife, with her short hair, scraping decades of paint off the doors.

Took several passes with the paint rewmover.

Scraping, then putting on more stripper, then more scraping.

This took several days, but it was worth it.

Sheathing left attic/mansard roof.

Attic stairs looking down to office.

Attic tower room. I still hope to finish this room.

Building the right side of the attic.

Need to figure out just how I'm going to marry the mansard roof to the corner tower.

Insulated and put in the door to my office.

Moved my desk from the old dormer area to the new office.

Showing the new space in the master bedroom.

Finally moved my desk into the new home office. Found out quickly I don't want to block the windows with the desk.

Wrapping the house (and free advertising for Lowes).

After several trips and tests, we figured out the new colors for the house.

Started painting the front siding the new dark grey (hemotite).

Dry fitting my single window casement design.

Blocking out the first window casement. Did all the molding myself.

Offce window casement in place.

I'm pretty happy with myself and my router.

Insulating the stairs to the attic.

Insulating around the triple windows of the master bedroom.

Put the windows in the tower over the garage.

Shingling the mansard roof.

Masked off and painting the casement for the office windows on the tower.

Painting the casement for the office windows.

Installing the casement around the triple windows.

Enjoyed adding the little gothic peak to the middle.

Trying to show the mansard roof line and where the corbels will go.

Stood a witch up in the garage tower.

Subfloor is down on the porch and the skirting is on.

Other side of the nice, long front porch. Notice the two house colors.

Before the bullnose trim goes on the front porch over the skirting.

Standing at the far end of the new, 30 ft long front porch.

Porch came out very sturdy and level.

Measure twice, cut once. Results in a nice fitting subfloor.

Now I'm just showing off.

Built a curve into the front step. This is it, upside down.

Wanted to make sure the step was strongly reinforced. Kerfing on front curve.

Had to paint the other side of the porch siding.

Priming the triple window.

Watching the paint dry, love the grey.

Used the stool to paint above the box window.

A bit more painting around the bay window.

Fitting the front step in place.

Quite proud of the curved step.

Priming more pieces of window casement.

Bought this product to cover the front porch subfloor. It's fantastic!

Clean subfloor before applying Restore.

Clean subfloor before applying Restore.

Single coat of Restore on the front step.

Close-up of the Restore coating. This stuff is wonderful.

First coat of Restore on the front porch.

Protecting the porch while the first coat of Restore dries.

Close-up of the Restore on the front porch after it dried.

Front porch with drying coat of Restore.

Sheathing the new entry and putting up the coach lights.

First evening with the coach lights on.

I found these coach lights online for a very nice price.

Framing out the dormer doors over the garage.

Framing out the dormer doors over the garage.

Window casement on the office windows.

Adding the hip roof to the front porch.

Extending the hip roof across the garage.

Front balcony extension hip roof.

Hip roof coming together with tar paper tacked down.

Had a thought and went with it. Added a gable above the office windows.

I think it adds some nice detail and will cast some good shadows.

Decided to put the spiders together.

Oh, look. More rain (and some hail).

Official plans. Went round and round with the county on these.

Area above the garage is now storage. Corbels are hanging to dry.

Some skeleton storage.

More skeletons. props, and our "good witch" Tabitha.

The balcony was leaking. This turned into a major problem.

Christmas season, so I tacked up some lights.

Christmas in a house under construction.

Doing whatever I can to protect against the rain.

Bought this to secure the rolled asphalt to the balcony.

Laying down layers of rolled asphalt to help protect what I can.

The roofing paper comes up the wall to help stop leaks.

The bit of shingle is all that's left of the original roof.

Had some leaking here, so I have to fix this area with flashing./div>

Removed the molding and asphalt and put in some flashing.

Secured the edges and slipped it under the layered edge flashing.

Moved the wrap back down to protect from the weather.

More roofing, more shingles, more paint.

Angle bracing for the metal roof over the garage.

Angle bracing for the metal roof over the garage.

laying out the metal roofing on top of the garage.

Shingles come up over the top of the mansard roof, then the metal roof comes down to lay over that.

Shingling the left tower roof and left mansard roof.

Added the round windows to the attic dormers.

From a distance, the left tower.

Pulled up the balcony subfloor, repaired water damage, and rebuilt balcony rake for higher pitch.

Crisp day to attack the balcony.

Trying out some roofing trim. I'll get back to that later.

Starting to wrap the hip roof around the garage tower.

Another shot of the roof trim. Want to do something a bit more ornate.

Brand new plywood subfloor for the raised pitch balcony.

The cross pattern bracing will provide better airflow to prevent mold./div>

The white is Drylock I painted on thick as an added precaution.

More Drylock and cross bracing to raise the pitch.

The new balcony subfloor is in place. Now it needs to be sealed.

Fun with modling. Starting to accent the porch columns.

Treated myself to a new toy so I could do all my own fretwork on the house.

Starting to cut out the porch brackets.

Porch bracket and paper template.

First porch bracket cut out and ready for sanding and paint.

Winter rain caused a bad leak in the bay window. This was the damage.

More treatment on the porch columns.

First porch brackets in place. And I hung some skellies on the coach lights.

Another shot of the new brackets. Pleased with my scroll saw results.

Sun is setting on porch. Bullnose porch lip in place.

More work on the porch columns.

This column is tricky because it's close to the garage wall.

Started building the roof over the garage tower. Lots of math.

Access from tower to tower roof area above garage.

Same access hole as seen from above. Octagon roof fitting together.

The lip will be where the corbels go.

Octagon center peg for roof rafters.

Four of eight rafters in place.

All eight rafters in place and hooked into center peg.

Good amount of progress for one day.

It's going to look very nice when it's done.

I'm going to remove the sheathing above the windows and replace with plywood sheathing.

Cut and secured the sheathing to the eight sides of the garage tower roof.

Cut and secured the sheathing to the eight sides of the garage tower roof.

It's taller than the facade apothecary tower ever was.

Made more paper patterns for fretwork on the tower roof mini-dormers.

Mini-dormer gable trim.

Gable trim with fretwork I cut out with my scroll saw.

Plywood backing for mini-dormer.

Gable trim with fretwork dry fitting.

Primed gable trim and fretwork pieces.

One mini-dormer gable fitted together.

Making a special version with a spider.

Five mini-dormer gables painted and put together.

I didn't like the first gables I made, so I took some time to work out some options.

At first, I thought I might make one that slenders down because it would be easier to make and use less material.

I like the new profile over the original. I think the original was moving a bit into art deco.

Some other diead to keep the thickness of the corbels.

Playing around, seeing what fits and looks good.

The far right is nice and solid, but also takes the most work to produce.

Showing the profiles of some different versions./div>

Putting the mini-dormers on the tower roof.

More painting and some cleaning.

Taking off the old corbels and doing some touch up paint.

All five mini-dormers installed on the garage tower roof.

Fixing, cleaning, touching up, etc.

Decided on a new corbel style and started building.

Clamping corbels together to dry before final sanding and painting.

Cleaned up the driveway again so I can get the ladder in place and put up some window casements on the garage tower.

Removed all the old corbels and touched up the red paint.

Some nice, painted corbels in the new design - ready to go.

Back to the front doors. It's spring and I'm stripping more paint off.

Little by little, the old paint comes off.

The tiny bit of paint that's left is sanded and really smooth.

Taping the windows and getting ready to paint.

First coat of Chianti red paint on the front doors.

With all the work on the house, the yard has been neglected. Some friends surprised us with this weekend landscaping.

With all the work on the house, the yard has been neglected. Some friends surprised us with this weekend landscaping.

With all the work on the house, the yard has been neglected. Some friends surprised us with this weekend landscaping.

Second coat of paint on the front doors. Put this coat on with the sprayer.

New corbels going in.

First coat of Chianti red paint on the front doors.

With all the work on the house, the yard has been neglected. Some friends surprised us with this weekend landscaping.

With all the work on the house, the yard has been neglected. Some friends surprised us with this weekend landscaping.

With all the work on the house, the yard has been neglected. Some friends surprised us with this weekend landscaping.

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The cross pattern bracing will provide better airflow to prevent mold./div>

The white is Drylock I painted on thick as an added precaution.

More Drylock and cross bracing to raise the pitch.

The new balcony subfloor is in place. Now it needs to be sealed.

Fun with modling. Starting to accent the porch columns.

Treated myself to a new toy so I could do all my own fretwork on the house.

Starting to cut out the porch brackets.

Porch bracket and paper template.

First porch bracket cut out and ready for sanding and paint.

Winter rain caused a bad leak in the bay window. This was the damage.

More treatment on the porch columns.

First porch brackets in place. And I hung some skellies on the coach lights.

Another shot of the new brackets. Pleased with my scroll saw results.

Sun is setting on porch. Bullnose porch lip in place.

More work on the porch columns.

This column is tricky because it's close to the garage wall.

Started building the roof over the garage tower. Lots of math.

Access from tower to tower roof area above garage.

Same access hole as seen from above. Octagon roof fitting together.

The lip will be where the corbels go.

Octagon center peg for roof rafters.

Four of eight rafters in place.

All eight rafters in place and hooked into center peg.

Good amount of progress for one day.

It's going to look very nice when it's done.

I'm going to remove the sheathing above the windows and replace with plywood sheathing.

Cut and secured the sheathing to the eight sides of the garage tower roof.

Cut and secured the sheathing to the eight sides of the garage tower roof.

It's taller than the facade apothecary tower ever was.

Made more paper patterns for fretwork on the tower roof mini-dormers.

Mini-dormer gable trim.

Gable trim with fretwork I cut out with my scroll saw.

Plywood backing for mini-dormer.

Gable trim with fretwork dry fitting.

Primed gable trim and fretwork pieces.

One mini-dormer gable fitted together.

Making a special version with a spider.

Five mini-dormer gables painted and put together.

I didn't like the first gables I made, so I took some time to work out some options.

At first, I thought I might make one that slenders down because it would be easier to make and use less material.

I like the new profile over the original. I think the original was moving a bit into art deco.

Some other diead to keep the thickness of the corbels.

Playing around, seeing what fits and looks good.

The far right is nice and solid, but also takes the most work to produce.

Showing the profiles of some different versions./div>

Putting the mini-dormers on the tower roof.

More painting and some cleaning.

Taking off the old corbels and doing some touch up paint.

All five mini-dormers installed on the garage tower roof.

Fixing, cleaning, touching up, etc.

Decided on a new corbel style and started building.

Clamping corbels together to dry before final sanding and painting.

Cleaned up the driveway again so I can get the ladder in place and put up some window casements on the garage tower.

Removed all the old corbels and touched up the red paint.

Some nice, painted corbels in the new design - ready to go.

Back to the front doors. It's spring and I'm stripping more paint off.

Little by little, the old paint comes off.

The tiny bit of paint that's left is sanded and really smooth.

Taping the windows and getting ready to paint.

First coat of Chianti red paint on the front doors.

With all the work on the house, the yard has been neglected. Some friends surprised us with this weekend landscaping.

With all the work on the house, the yard has been neglected. Some friends surprised us with this weekend landscaping.

With all the work on the house, the yard has been neglected. Some friends surprised us with this weekend landscaping.

Second coat of paint on the front doors. Put this coat on with the sprayer.

New corbels going in.

First coat of Chianti red paint on the front doors.

With all the work on the house, the yard has been neglected. Some friends surprised us with this weekend landscaping.

With all the work on the house, the yard has been neglected. Some friends surprised us with this weekend landscaping.

With all the work on the house, the yard has been neglected. Some friends surprised us with this weekend landscaping.

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Giant push to get the downstairs drywalled.

Tearing down the old ceiling with the help of some friends.

Plastic over everything and paper on the floor. Drywall and demo can ve very messy.

My oldest. Not really helping, just walking through.

The old ceiling is gone.

The entire livingroom ceiling is clean.

The front bedroom ceiling is removed so another glu-lam beam can go in.

Had to double up on another joist so I could run the vent over to it's new location.

New glu-lam beam in place, resting on double top plate.

New glu-lam beam in place, resting on double top plate.

Even though I don't need it to meet code, I'm putting in R-30 insulation in the livingroom ceiling. This will help with sound and cool comfort in the summer.

More insulation going in. The vertical studs are part of a temp wall.

This is the drop ceiling in the kitchen. Time to say goodbye.

Back to the front bedroom. Now with new drywall.

It's wonderful to see such a smooth surface.

The new glu-lam for the kitchen rests on the breakfast bar while I make sure it can be raised and fit properly into place.

Lots of things need to be moved around for the glu-lam to fit.

Taking the dropdown ceiling apart.

Cut out another section of the ceiling where I accidently fell through. Cut the damaged drywall out and will fit in a new sheet.

Still removing pieces of the dropdown. Good opportunity to fix and plumbing.

New drywall is starting to go up in the living room.

The fireplace looks lonely.

A sunny day lets in a lot of light. Still need to install the threshhold.

All the R-30 insulation has been placed between the joists.

Tweaking the support wall so the glu-lam will fit into place.

Stack of drywall.

Took the cabinets off the wall and saw several layers of previous paint decisions.

Same with the other side.

The dropdown in the kitchen is almost completely gone.

It will be nice to have a cooking exhaust fan again.

The kitchen glu-lam is finally in place.

It's a strong beam, and absolutely necessary.

While the rest of the house is empty for the drywall install, the dining room is crammed with stuff.

Started cutting the existing joists in the entry to make room for another glu-lam.

Lots if fine cuts to make sure the new beam fits.

The new entry glu-lam beam.

Fireplace with new walls and primer.

Stair wall with skimcoat to smooth out wall and primer.

Making room for the foyer glu-lam.

Had to measure and life several times, then trim a bit more off here and there to make sure the new beam fits.

The glu-lam is resting against the far wall.

It is really nice to know someonw with a trailer for debris.

Cleaned up the dining room and moved a majority of the displaced kitchen stuff into the sunroom.

Set up a work light so I could get the solid blocking in place and secure the joists with hangers.

Getting wires tucked and joists hung. Used my piston jack to raise each joist to the proper height.

The foyer glu-lam is finally in place.

With the glu-lam in place, I can reattach the joists.

Making sure all the proper braces and anchors are in place.

All the joists are in.

Another shot of the installed glu-lam and joists.

Beam rests above the double top plate, with jack studs going straight to foundation.

Wiring the entry light. Someday, we'll find the perfect semi-flush fixture.

Wiring the box. I learned quickly to label!

Cutting back the old landing to create a regular step.

View from the front porch.

Cutting back the little landing really made a difference.

I can now open the door all the way!

After I lay in the new hardwood, I'll cut back the excess carpet.

Entry is done. Everything is insulated and ready for drywall.

I know exactly how he feels and wish I could share the sofa with him.

With some great help, the drywall went up quickly. This is the kitchen.

Living room with new ceiling (no mud yet).

Hallway with new ceiling (no mud yet).

The new drywall makes a huge difference in the space.

Entry with drywall.

Cut-out left in the kitchen for the hood vent.

Mud goes up, room is looking amazing.

The new doors let in a ton of light. It's really nice.

I've waited ten years for smooth walls and ceilings, this is wonderful.

I'm going to have to start sanding soon.

Looking into the hallway. That's my 10 year old daughter's door.

The kitchen feels so much larger without that drop down section.

Looking to the living room and kitchen from the entry. So bright, so fresh, so alive.

Cutting back the existing hardwood to marry in the new. Tape line helps me be even.

Old bits removed.

New hardwood cut and all pieces dry-fitted.

I have to rent a floor nailer to install this little bit.

All done. Looks fantastic and solid as a rock.

Jack is excited we're finally cleaning up.

Took a shot in the evening to show how much light actually comes through the new doors. It's beautiful.

It took us a couple of weeks, but we finally figured out a wall color.

First coat.

Our plan is to cut out a damask pattern stencil and add that to the walls.

This piece of drywall shows some testing.

Bringing in some of the panel wood (left side) to start building the wainscoting.

The wainscoting is built up of three 1/4 in. layers of hardwood underlayment plywood.

Wainscoting is starting to go in.

More of the panel trim is in place. Put this all together with wood glue and my brad nailer.

Panel molding and chair rail are in. Added some wood putty (haven't sanded yet).

Another shot of the first section of wainscoting installed (not yet painted, of course).

Left side with wainscoting, right side without.

Painted wainscoting.

More work on the garage tower. Adding paint and corbels.

More work on the garage tower. Adding paint and corbels.

More work on the garage tower. Adding paint and corbels.

More work on the exterior. Paint and details.

More work on the exterior. Paint and details.

More work on the exterior. Paint and details.

More work on the exterior. Paint and details.

Working on the front porch. Decided to add three can lights for atmosphere.

Trimming th beam, finishing the facia, and I added the joist blocks about the bay window.

All three can lights have been installed. I took three flood lights and spray painted them orange.

Not the cleanest mud job, but the switches work. Had to change the far right to a double to accomodate the coach lamps and the can lights.

All the paneling for the front porch ceiling.

A rare sight. The front porch clean!

All three can light installed, getting ready to put the paneling back up.

The paneling for the porch ceiling goes back up.

A very nice job, if I do say so. I'll finish the edges with trim and I still need to add the decorative braces.

Some of the paneling is a bit dirty from storage, but I'll clean it up and give everything new paint.

I'm very pround of myself that I measured and cut the three holes for the can lights and got them all right on the first try.

More painting and trim to the front doors.

Two of the unpainted decorative braces for the porch ceiling.

The final shingles are on the garage tower roof. Took a long time to finish that.

It's the first week of October, 2013. Got the rest of the corbels up and started adding the iron work to the mansard roof tops.