Thank you for bringing us along on this adventure - it has been very fun, very interesting and quite generous on your part! Bravo!!

thanks Superman, A930Rocket and David, thanks for following, I'll keep posting if you're still enjoying our progress

Steve, I blew up my parents wooden driveway gate and nearly peppered myself and the dog with shrapnel playing about with gun power when I was a teenager :eek: Once nearly blown up, twice shy, so now keep away from explosives

Billy, the stone isn't great quality, a bit crumbly so we'll cover it up, you'll like the below update as it's all about exposed, natural stone on display


Believe it or not this is the pile of left over stone from only turning a window into a door way and making a new door way, just when I'd thought we'd finished with moving mountains :(

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1645369859.jpg

Mrs Ahab wanted the feel of a castle, while creating a seamless transition where the old part of the house met the new build along the 1st floor hall way where is passes through the original 2ft thick external wall. We decided to use the best and largest stone we had and to give a sense of scale the smallest course of stone is 9" high

As she has the skills, I just encouraged her with a 'go on then do it!' :D. My part was limited to being just the stone cutter, while Mrs Ahab was professor, boss lady, madam on this job :D

The stone mortar joints on the house are typically around 3/8" to 1/2" wide but we wanted a higher quality, looking job, something a bit closer to an Inca/Mayan paper thickness joints.

In the end we only achieved 1/8"ish thick mortar joints which was massively time consuming (we started this back on page 31) and difficult enough to do but we're very happy with the end result.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1645370717.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1645371432.jpg

To finish it off, we still need to cement in the oak lintels, mortar the joints flush and add a couple of discrete, hidden spot downlights to illuminate the stone sides of the opening before knocking through

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1645370842.jpg

As there is a step up from the old to new I've kept aside a single, very large and very heavy 3" thick flagstone. No idea how the hell we'll get it up from the ground floor or lay it place but that's just part of the fun of this project so I'm sure we'll find a way

Steve, can you mount a chain fall in the garage ceiling to raise the flagstone to the upper level, then move it on rollers to the doorway?

Best
Les

Great thinking Les,

I'd already had the roof steel ridge beam pre-drilled for an electric hoist but forgot about it and now it's covered up with insulation and plasterboard :rolleyes:

Thinking of reinforcing my temporary garage stairs and with a combination of pulling the stone with ropes while it's on rollers, slowly slide it up to the 1st level ;)

4 maybe 5 people should do it, sounds like a family activity to me :D

All of this mucking about with heavy stones has to be the furthest thing from your day job that there could be.

Dare I ask how the other 40-odd stones made their way up there?

As big a contrast as one can imagine, my day job spent saving grams on race cars but my fun job spent adding tons of weight to a house :D

We carried all the stones up, a few of the larger ones needed both of us, was much easier than carrying the big pile of left over stone and buckets and buckets of rubble down :(

When I'm busy working on the house part I try not to loose focus on the all important man-cave element by constantly thinking of ways to make it the best it can be

Knew I want a TV in there but never considered a hidden TV that drops down out of the ceiling by remote control :cool:

Well that was yesterday and now today I have a 2nd hand electric lifting mechanism, for a bargain $50 (new price is $425) :eek:

It's the same as this one, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YasrXCcgq-k&feature=emb_logo

Will take a 44" TV but I'll fit it upside down, should be perfect for watching 'How to fix my car' :confused: video clips on YouTube

This illustrates the importance of a clear and well thought-out mission statement, since this has implications for much of the decision-making throughout the project. This is either a house project which incidentally also might result in man-cave improvements -or- it is a man-cave project with whole house implications. Focus, Ahab. Focus.

S'man, all along I've sold it as a house improvement 1st and man-cave addition 2nd but I'm sure Mrs Ahab has worked out exactly what my plan is ;)

Smart!

BTW - does Mrs Ahab read this...?

Yes, she does and appreciates all the comments as much as I do :)

Mrs Ahab is very supportive of my man cave quest, I've been agonising over which car lift to buy, 1st world problem, I know :rolleyes:

Do I compromise my F1 inspired man cave vision by buying the more affordable 'conventional' single level 4-post car lift or go for the expensive 'extreme' 2 level high 4-post car lift at 3x the cost which is the car lift I really, really want?

Mrs Ahab persuaded me to buy the one I really want, so today I contacted the company and the wheels are in motion :cool:

^Thats awesome! Mrs Ahab is truly your soulmate.

Def a keeper!

This morning I started insulating the small roof above garage opening, after only cutting/fitting 3 panels I couldn't feel my fingers anymore, boy did they hurt like hell warming up :mad:

Not my idea of fun :( so went indoors to try and book flights to somewhere warm :)

4 seasons in a day weather here :confused: it's sunny again so will try to do a few more panels until I can't feel my fingers again

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1648732280.jpg

Maybe put the door in first so it's cozy?
JK. I'm sure you have a plan.

are you screwing the large foam sheet insulation up into the 2nd story floor joists? 3"-4" long screws or something.?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1648771982.jpg

Rod, :D door is a big project, I'll use rustic oak planks to make 8 panels ie 4 panels will slide to each side

Rusty, if only it was that easy :( I'm using the low angle roof void for more storage and space is quite limited

3 far panels are finished, with 2 layers of 2" thick insulation boards and any gaps have been foil tapes too. The other panels aren't finished and only have 1 layer of insulation board

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649022880.jpg

Bob, that photo warmed me up, thanks, looks like Bali or maybe Sri Lanka :confused:

I found somewhere warmer going in the opposite direction, got a great deal on flights to Lima, Peru, now excitedly planning a 14 day self driving route and an 3-day excursion into the Amazon

Back to man cave but keeping to the great deal theme, I bought something from FB Marketplace that is almost worthy of a place on the 'Craigslist and Garage sale scores' thread :cool:

For $50 I picked up a used but perfect working order remote control motorised TV lifting mechanism which will take up to a 44" TV

Same model as this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YasrXCcgq-k but I'll use it upside down to the lower a TV down from the ceiling so I can watch YouTube 'how to fix my car' videos ;)

Before you finish, you should mount a couple/few pairs of these in one of the stone walls as a funny conversation piece.

https://images.fineartamerica.com/im...t-eclectic.jpg

Steve, that should scare off any porch pirates :D

As it's been a while since my last update, here is a two part double update!

Somehow, between the new build extension and shed we've built in holes for 15 windows :cool: Quote for locally made, custom, hardwood, painted windows that exactly matched our original windows came in at $25k :eek: This build is a 'no budget build' ie it will cost what it will cost but I'm not made of $'s ;)

For me windows on a house are like wheels on a car, they make or break the overall look. Any new build windows had to exactly match the original house windows
so I found another company that mass produces made to measure softwood windows.

Original windows are softwood and as solid as the day I fitted them over 20yrs ago so softwood would be plenty good enough

One window style were dimensionally an exact match but the horizontal/vertical glazing bars were crap, self-adhesive, plastic trash that just looked wrong so I ordered the windows without glazing bars

I bought some off the shelf timber window beading profiles and set to work 'hot rodding' all 15 windows or 33 panes of glass

Tools look brutal but they worked perfectly as no damage was done while I carefully :rolleyes: removed the wooden window beading

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1650838035.jpg

After some measuring, chopping on the bandsaw, hey presto one window done, just needs painting and fitting

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1650838151.jpg

Here is an original house window for comparison
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1650838354.jpg

Best part of my my 'hot rodded' windows is they will only cost me $12k

Part 2 update to follow shortly and the theme will be 'now my man cave has a ceiling'!