We bought our property and moved into a dilapidated old farmhouse in June of 2003. While the house was very tired and needed replacing, Janis instead encouraged me to build my dream shop, which I had long wanted and dreamed of. She insisted we could wait for a new house. That wait was a long one, but a decade later we could finally begin working on the replacement, which would take two years to construct. We were determined to build a house we could live in well into our old age. The house features extra-wide hallways and a roll-in shower, and we went with premium components throughout to ensure the house and everything inside lasts for a long, long time. Inside, the trim is all about butterflies, Janis’ favourite. On the exterior, we went with hearts. Tens of thousands of hearts are routed into the window and door trim. There are many heart-shaped stones in the rock work around the lower perimeter of the house. And even the knots of the large tree supports around the porches are heart-shaped. The house is made of concrete poured into Styrofoam forms and is super well insulated. The roof is made of recycled tires and designed to last many decades. After living in the house for thirteen years, we still love it!
Mantle installed
This morning we lugged the fireplace mantle out to the back of the truck and drove the short distance to our client’s newly renovated house. We had to do a teeny bit of surgery (now invisible) to the brickwork and it took four of us to heft it into place. It looks great in it’s permanent home! The home owners were delighted this last piece was now in it’s place and with it the last of the construction and dust. We hope they enjoy it for many years to come!
Fireproof mantle
It isn’t often we do projects for private homes. We were recently contacted by a someone who was renovating their house. They wanted a heavy timber mantle over their fireplace but were thwarted by the building regulations which stipulated any combustable surface needed to be at least two feet from the fireplace opening. This meant the timber needed to be situated high on the brickwork which the customer did not want. We had the perfect remedy. We would sculpt them a mantle that looked like wood but was actually made from steel and concrete. It will hang neatly from the brickwork. The heavy duty steel brackets were built integral to the mantle and will actually be held up by it rather than support the timber. All fasteners will be hidden. Matt did the beautiful sculpting yesterday. It will be painted up next week, as soon as the concrete cures.
