Search Results for: deck
summer project: the backyard
We’ve been chipping away at our backyard since we bought the house nearly (gulp) 7 years ago! Although the space hasn’t seen a lot of love yet, it has been a very useful staging area for all of the other projects we’ve taken on. This year, we decided to bite the bullet and make the backyard our summer project. And yes, we’re going to hire the same company that did our front yard install last year. (Woohoo!)
But first, let’s rewind to 2006 and review what’s been tackled so far.
Mmmhmm, the infamous before photos. Although it needed a lot of help, we were actually thrilled to have such a big backyard in Seattle. The detached garage/carport was an added luxury.
In 2007, Kyle replaced the two gates that separate the front yard from the back. This was a project of necessity as the yard was not very dog-proof. Bailey’s not usually one to flee, but after a neighbor found him running (well, it’s more like a waddle run) down a somewhat busy street we knew we had to do something.
In 2008 we finished the job we started the previous year and replaced the fence on the east and south sides. (No more white pickets!) This involved completely ripping out the old fence and posts and starting from scratch, but oh what a difference it made!
In 2009 we focused on the exterior of the house, so once again the backyard was a staging area and spent most of the summer covered in painting tarps.
2010 was the biggest year for our house (it’s when we remodeled most of the main floor) so the backyard was woefully neglected.
In 2011 we started to get excited about the potential of the backyard. We jackhammered out most of the concrete, built a deck and Kyle welded up a steel planter box.
2012 brought our focus back to the front yard, but we did manage to build the side yard roof (which mostly keeps rain from coming under the basement door).
And this is what we’re looking at for May of 2013. Weed fest.
Kyle rolled out his welder a couple of weekends ago and got to work on the second steel planter box on the south side of the deck. The steel panels had been spread out on the driveway, developing a 2-year patina. Like a nice wine y’know.
We ended up using a lot of the “temporary” pea gravel that we put down around the driveway for the foundation drain project. So, that area is looking extra fantastic now. (And yeah, weed barrier is a joke.)
Ugh, that carport. That whole structure befuddles us. We can’t come up with a good temporary fix (that doesn’t involve a gigantic tarp) and are unsure what the long-term plan will be (we have about 4 different scenarios that we rotate between).
All that to say…well, we’ve made some good progress but the backyard still needs a lot of work. Here’s a glimpse at the current plan (we made some revisions and substitutions since our first go around last year).
The goal is to have everything complete before Avery’s first birthday. Can you say backyard party? BACKYARD PARTY!
studio zerbey / hilltop residence
It’s not that often that I write a blog post (yep, Kyle here), but this house is one I’ve been wanting to share for a while. But first, a quick note – things have changed a lot for us in the past year with the birth of our daughter and both of us leaving our jobs to start Studio Zerbey. We admit that the blog has been neglected and I’m guessing Bailey feels the same, even though he now gets to spend ALL DAY, EVERY DAY with us. Just wanted to say thanks to those who have stayed with us in the thin times!
Although this blog will always include posts about our house (and Bailey and Avery), we hope to write more about our professional work as architects. We still have plenty of chezerbey projects to complete, but most of our “design time” these days is spent working for our clients.
Like this one, a new house in the mid-century Hilltop neighborhood east of Seattle. I started the project three years ago with my former employer, Balance Associates, but then the project went on hiatus for a bit. When I joined Lauren last year, the project was transferred to Studio Zerbey and construction is scheduled to begin in a few months.
Every project starts with the client and the building site. These clients are highly organized and began their project by presenting me with a 40+ page booklet about architecture that they admired with detailed descriptions of what they did and didn’t like. Not only were they organized, but they have also been easy to work with. Win, Win.
Unfortunately, their building site was a problem from the beginning and the most difficult site I’ve ever designed for (and there have been some doozies). It was the last empty lot in the architecturally significant Hilltop community in Bellevue, Washington and it was undeveloped for a reason. Actually, at least two previous owners (with their architects) had failed to build on this lot after either being turned down for permits or rejected by the community review board! This site had almost every problem you could think of including a steep slope, wetland and a stream. To make matters worse we also had to fit a septic system on the site and keep it away from the wetland and stream. Really, we spent the first two years working with the planning department to get several variances and permits. The process required detailed surveys and hiring a wetland consultant, geotechnical engineer, structural engineer and septic designer. After a drawn-out and mostly frustrating process we finally came up with a design that made everyone happy and were issued our permits! (As a part of the project we’ll be improving the site by removing invasive species and doing some new native plantings, while maintaining the wetland and stream.)
The Hilltop community is like something I’ve never seen before which deserves a brief introduction of its own. This early 1950’s photo below is of some of the founders who planned the community (notice Mt Rainier in the background).
Black and white images from UW Libraries Digital Collection, as linked in this Seattle Times article.
The photo below is from around 1955 and shows homes under construction and the simple circular drive through the neighborhood.
Hilltop (as it’s commonly called) is comprised of 40 very carefully planned building sites (of larger than average size for the area) and they all have very well-preserved views. This old hand-drafted site plan of a “Tree-View Map” below is still used today by the community review board to approve remodels or in our singular case, new construction. The basic layout of the community is a circular drive with the highest elevations inside the circle. Most of the homes I’ve visited in the development also have nature trails that lead from one house to the next.
Most of the original homes were designed by architects who would later be known as pioneers of the Pacific Northwest modern style including, but not limited to, Perry Johanson, Fred Bassetti, Paul Hayden Kirk, Roland Terry, John Morse, and Wendell Lovett. I’m sure I’m forgetting someone on this list, but you get the idea. The opportunity to design a house in a neighborhood already brimming with unique homes is something we did not take lightly.
On two separate occasions, I was required to present my designs to the community review board. There were around 20 or so neighbors at each of the meetings and it was obvious that they cared deeply about our design and how it could impact their lives. On top of the permitting requirements, the community has its own very stringent design guidelines, which limit building height and placement on the site, not to mention an unofficial aesthetic judgment. I was relieved when they approved our design after the second meeting!
So, onto the design already…if it’s not completely obvious, these are renderings that I created with my fancy new computer and not the actual building. We’re in the process of interviewing general contractors and will start construction this Spring! The background photos are actual views from and around the site. Did I mention that the site has panoramic views of Lake Washington, Mercer Island, and parts of downtown Seattle?
The tall Douglas Fir tree in many of these exterior views has been affectionately named Earl by the clients. Thanks to the Hilltop community for preserving this particular tree. Earl is awesome.
The north side of the house shown below was required to be held up off the ground to meet setback requirements from the septic field. It’s an unconventional building solution but it works. Materials here include dark grey stained cedar siding, Parklex panels, and architectural concrete.
In keeping with the community design, we opted for wood windows. I know, I know…maintenance you say. Well, we’re only using them were we have very large overhangs and they’ll be treated with a durable finish. The rest of the house that does not have generous roof overhangs will have metal clad wood windows, so metal on the outside and wood on the inside.
Entry courtyard below, it’s really the only yard space we can claim because of the wetland, stream, steep slope, and septic.
Here are three renderings of the same view. I originally just did the day and night shot for the client and then they sent me the background photo in the third image, on a day when the clouds were especially low.
Below are the floor plans, which show that the house is relatively modest in size and will be one of the smallest in the neighborhood.
View from the main deck into the great room:
View from the great room looking at the kitchen:
Another view of the kitchen:
Custom fireplace and living space (Yeah, that’s me and Bailey hanging out on the deck. Maybe.):
Master bathroom with lots of overhead natural light:
Master bedroom looking out towards Mercer Island and Lake Washington:
If you’re interested in reading more about the Hilltop community you should check out these articles by Dean Stahl of the Seattle Times and Kurt Clark of the Bellevue PI. A big thanks to them for keeping up with the history and to my clients for being so patient and great to work with. We’re excited for construction to begin!
basement progress: done(ish)
Hello!
Has it really been over two weeks since I last posted? All is well in the Zerbey household but we have been busy enjoying Miss Avery (which I like to say with a southern drawl) and showing her off to various friends and family members. We also celebrated Kyle’s 34th birthday! The day was way more low-key than last year, but we did go out to breakfast and I managed to sneak off and pick up a small ice cream cake to celebrate that evening.
My mom was also in town to help out last week and in our ridiculous DIY fashion, we finished the basement just hours before her flight arrived. Finished being a relative term of course. Fortunately, our newborn was very amenable to the last-minute construction (I think we have our in utero remodeling to thank for that) and slept peacefully through the chaos.
But enough chit-chat, come on downstairs!
[Need a reminder of how scary the basement was when we moved in? Oh the shame.]
Our first week at home found us balancing the basement project with caring for a newborn, so there are virtually no progress photos. But to be honest, the tasks weren’t that glamorous – painting, trim, electrical, carpet tiles…been there, done that. Yawn.
So let’s just jump straight to the pretty pictures, ok? The week before our family expanded, Kyle and I went to IKEA to scope out sleeper sofas. After trying out every one they had (which was probably pretty comical at 9 months pregnant), we decided on the Manstad. (Or as my sister calls it, the Transformer Couch.)
It comes in a beige or blue-gray color, but we went with the latter because you can never have enough blue-gray in your life. Also, we thought it would show less wear than boring beige. [As we shared in this post from way back in January, the plan is to eventually add a storage/media unit along the blank wall in the photo above.]
The design for this sofa is quite different from the other IKEA options. Unlike most sofas that fold out along the long side to create the bed, the Manstad has a hidden piece under the main portion of the sofa that pulls out to effectively “fill in” the shape formed by the chaise. Like this:
For us, we liked that the sofa configuration had a chaise (which can go on either side) and that the bed was elevated and not close to the floor like many of the other models. The only downside (and this applies to most IKEA sofa sleepers) is that it wasn’t terribly comfortable. After going back and forth (literally) between the sofa and bed departments, we decided that the best solution would be to buy the sleeper sofa and a memory foam topper to provide a little extra cushion. (Annoyingly, IKEA sofa beds are somewhere between a full and queen in width, so the queen size topper hangs over one side by a couple of inches.)
The topper is light enough to move easily and when not in use we’ll just roll it up and store it in the adjacent closet. The memory foam (which is only a few inches thick) does make a big difference and got the seal of approval from my mom.
Another nice feature is that the chaise cushion pops up to provide extra storage space for linens or the sofa cushions depending on what configuration it’s in.
Sofa. Bed. We love how easy it is to go from one to the other, without one of those weird metal frames to wrestle with or awkwardly folded futon mattress.
With a low ceiling height, we were limited to wall-mounted sconces or recessed cans for the room’s lighting. We placed three cans along one end for general/task lighting, with the idea that this is where people will be sitting our laying down. The two sconces are on the opposite end and will flank what will eventually be a built-in media/storage unit. Finding well-designed yet affordable lighting fixtures has always been a challenge for us and Kyle must have gone through dozens of options for this space. Finally, he found these sconces, which cost about $120 each (with our trade discount) from our local retailer, Lighting Supply. They have a nice diffuse light and are appropriately sized for the space. We also ordered dimmable CFLs because you know how Kyle likes his dimmers.
The two windows still need a proper shade (we got classy with some cardboard for my mom) and we’re currently pricing out different options. We plan on installing some type of blackout shade for optimal movie watching and daytime napping. [Side note: this space is significantly cooler than the main floor, which has been a well-timed blessing during our “heat wave” this week.]
To make the space feel as bright and airy as possible, we stuck with our go-to paint color (“super white” by Benjamin Moore), but decided to mix it up for the doors. We had some leftover paint from our sliding barn doors upstairs, so we painted the future bathroom door the same “Thunderbird” as the other bathroom and the bedroom door the same “Lakeside Cabin” as the nursery. Or so we thought. About halfway through painting the sliding door (which was a real chore since it had to be done in place) Kyle realized that it was actually a completely different color (“Spellbound”, to be exact). Neither of us could really remember, but I guess we bought it as a contender for the upstairs doors. After about 2 minutes of discussion, we decided that we liked it and that it didn’t matter if it matched the other doors.
This project has really honed our ability to make quick design decisions.
The carpet tiles are Flor and from the “Flats and Cords” line (though it looks like they no longer have the same neutral brown color, which was on sale when we bought it). This was another decision that was made quickly and without a lot of discussion – basically we picked the least expensive tile that was rated for at least medium traffic (but was still comfortable for bare feet) and in a neutral color that could work for the room as it evolves over time. So far, so good.
For the swinging door hardware, we stuck with our favorite Stuttgart levers from Emtek. We’ve been very happy with our exterior door levers and Emtek is really reasonably priced (we bought ours locally through Frank Lumber, but they are also available from The Hardware Hut).
For the threshold between the bedroom and hallway, Kyle cut a piece of 5/4 vertical grain fir to fit. (It’s bare wood in these photos but is now in the process of being finished.) At the doorway to the laundry room, we hung a temporary curtain for the time being. We’re still deciding whether we’ll eventually want a swinging door between the two spaces or just a simple framed opening.
Even though the bathroom door is done, the space beyond is definitely not. Phase two.
The small closet between is currently holding insulation for the other half of the basement and the shop vac. It’s so exciting having a closet. I spent at least 38 seconds opening and closing the door just for the hell of it.
The other half of the basement got a little love too. After misplacing a bag of electrical supplies and spending a good hour searching for them, we decided it was time to organize and clean up the disaster zone on the other side of the curtain.
It felt so good to be able to see the floor and the top of the counter again. Although we’ll eventually paint the concrete floor in the laundry area, for now we just put down an IKEA sisal rug that we already owned…which means no more putting on shoes to do laundry. Yay!
Sadly, we never did find the missing electrical supplies.
Of course, there are still lots of little details to be completed, but at least the bedroom/den space is functional. In addition to window shades, we need to figure out and install a custom storage/media cabinet. We might also add a lounge chair opposite of the sofa and maybe move the coffee table down there. The end goal is to create a space that can work both as a place to hang out and watch movies as well as a guest or kid’s bedroom.
With the framework complete, it’s now time for the fun part. After we finish the bathroom and laundry room that is. Is it time to make a 2013 to-do list yet?
file cabinet
With about two months left to bake, I really wasn’t expecting any celebration or big to-do for Mother’s Day this year. I mean, I’m all for thoughtful actions and nice gestures, but I hate the idea of forced consumerism, especially when you’re sorta pushing the bounds of eligibility as it is. So I didn’t bring it up with Kyle but his co-workers and friends certainly did, reminding him that he absolutely had to get something for his baby-mama-to-be.
So, he got me a file cabinet.
Just kidding. He actually got me a gorgeous new orchid for the Boskke planter in the living room (the first one is still alive but just dormant) and a super cute card from Bailey and Felix.
Ok, I was actually only half kidding about the file cabinet. Moping about a dismal experience with Craigslist, I scored this $10 file cabinet a while back after receiving a tip from a reader (thank you!) about the University of Washington’s surplus store. Since then, it’s been hanging out in the carport in various levels of completion, until yesterday when Kyle finished her up and let me loose into organization bliss.
[Apologies for the crappy before photos, apparently I don’t know how to deal with the sun when it makes a surprise visit.] A giant warehouse with all sorts of office supplies, furniture and other random stuff, the surplus store is open every Tuesday afternoon to the public. It’s also not far from my office so for a few weeks in a row I went during lunch to scope things out, crossing my fingers for a sweet deal. While they consistently had 30-40 four-drawer cabinets, the two-drawers were virtually nonexistent. On my third or fourth attempt I finally saw this guy. It was dirty and ugly, but I could tell it was well-made and just needed a little TLC. And for $10 I figured I could always resale it if things didn’t work out between us.
The first thing we did was haul it onto the back deck where we pulled out the drawers and hangers and hosed everything down and removed any stickers or grubby remains.
Next, Kyle transferred it to the carport where he gave it several coats of our favorite automotive primer (the same thing we used for the sliding door track, loft ladder, side table and loft desk brackets). I really did consider doing some type of bright color instead, but we couldn’t agree on anything so safe-gray it was. Whatever, gray is the new black.
The primer (in “hot rod gray”) has a matte surface that is easily scratchable so he used several coats of a clear finish as a final step.
My original intention was for the file cabinet to fit underneath the desktop, but turns out most standard file cabinets are too tall for a 30″ desk height. Doh.
So for now she sits in the corner, all by her lonesome. She looks sexy though, huh?
At first I wanted to paint all the hardware the same gray color, but I now think the original silver color is a nice touch. [The locking mechanism at the top was all mangled so Kyle just took it out.]
I started organizing files back in January when we first had the idea to turn the loft into an office/studio space, so everything was more or less ready for its new home. We’re using the top drawer for personal files and the bottom drawer for house-related paperwork. This is the result of some serious purging and it feels good to finally have everything in one place. [We sold our old (and much larger) IKEA file cabinet on Craigslist in under 30 minutes.] As you can see, the cabinet is incredibly sturdy and doesn’t topple over when the top drawer is fully extended. Always a good thing.
I couldn’t justify buying pretty new files, so I reused ones that we’ve had for years. But don’t kid yourself, I totally made new file tabs. And I didn’t just hand write them. No, no, no – I made a template in InDesign, filled in all the text, printed them on a sheet of 8.5×11 paper and then carefully cut each one using a straight edge and an Exacto knife. Ack! I am such an architect and such a NERD!
The bottom drawer is not as pretty, but holds all of our remodel-related files. [I organized everything into categories like “electrical”, “furnishings”, “plumbing”, “sketches”, etc.] I originally considered putting together a giant homeowner’s manual of sorts, but soon realized that even after purging we had way too much to fit into a 3-ring binder.
So if you’re taking on a full-fledged remodel, I highly recommend some kind of system for organizing all the pamphlets, manuals and info sheets that you’ll inevitably collect along the way. After all, the key to a successful DIY is often directly linked to maintaining sanity (which is directly linked to being able to find stuff when you need it). Words to live by folks, trust me.
And that’s the story of our new file cabinet. The studio loft is now fully functional but will continue to evolve over time and maybe someday it will be accessorized enough for a proper reveal. In fact, as I sit here and type I’m staring at a rectangle on the wall made from blue painter’s tape. Several weeks ago Kyle had the notion to add a window out the gable end (if we did, we’d likely have a peek-a-boo view of the Olympics). It’s low on the priority list, but you know he’s not going to just let the idea go. =)
an open letter from bailey
Hey guys, Bailey here.
I’ve been meaning to do a blog post for a while now, but these giant paws of mine make it really tough to type. Fortunately, I somehow managed to convince my small-pawed brother Felix to help me out (even though I did I push open the bathroom door and eat all of his breakfast this morning).
So here’s the deal, I’ve never really told my side of this remodel story. Sure, I may look like a young pup, but I’ve been around during this whole crazy ride…
In fact, I remember the first time they brought me over to the new house (I wasn’t even a year-old yet!). They didn’t trust me to stay in the partially fenced backyard, so they tied me up to that nasty teal gate. Let’s be honest, I probably could have dragged the whole thing down the block if I’d have thought about it. Even though the yard needed a lot of help, I was pumped about all that space for me to run around in.
For the first month or so and before we actually moved in, Mom and Dad used to bring me over to the house in the evenings. They still didn’t trust me to stay away from the walls they were painting and so out came the leash. It’s kinda embarrassing being tied up in your own home, y’know?
After we got all settled in, it was time for me to get to work. Here’s dad and me fixing the old work truck we bought from a farm dog up north.
But let’s be honest, after a while I grew tired of all the work. (What? I’m a golden!) Some nights I’d hide in the shop and hope no one missed me.
On more than one occasion, I’ve also questioned the sanity of my parents (I’m giving Dad “the look”). I suppose at some point though I realized that I would just have to trust that I wouldn’t be stuck in the house forever. And I wasn’t…Dad built a sweet stoop where we sit on nice days and drink beer.
But along with the low points, there have been some great milestones too. That basement project was no barrel of monkeys. I felt bad that Dad spent all that time digging away at the dirt in the crawl space. If I wasn’t so lazy, I could have lent my diggers.
I admit, I haven’t always had the vision that my architect parents have. Mom tried to show me what the view from the future kitchen would be like but for some reason it just wasn’t clicking.
My favorite part of this whole remodel thing is probably all of the car rides to home improvement stores. I especially love Home Depot. Not only is there usually stale popcorn on the floor, but I get all kinds of hugs and belly rubs. Lowes is ok, but I had an accident there one time and have been too ashamed to go back. You never want to be the dog that brings out the “caution wet floor” sign if you know what I mean.
I like to think that I’ve really matured as a DIY dog over the years and by the time we tackled the big interior gut job in ’10, I was ready. Mom and Dad still don’t give me a lot of responsibilities, so I’ve generally taken it upon myself to supervise.
I also supply moral support and encouragement. DIY dogs, this is very important.
And when I’ve got some downtime, I lay in piles of sawdust. What, you haven’t tried this? It’s bliss!
I’m also a fantastic source for comic relief. Hey guys…it’s just a house y’know. Lighten up! Let’s have an insulation par-tay!
And when we’ve all worked a little too hard, I let them know when it’s time to power down for the day.
I know this photo doesn’t bode well for my intelligence, but I’m actually just really respectful of boundaries.
A word of caution to you long-haired canines, remodeling can lead to extreme haircuts if you’re not careful. It felt so strange at first, but it was really quite liberating.
Last summer they took away my backyard access and I thought I was tripping in some kind of M.C. Escher drawing…
…but I soon realized that you were just building me a sweet deck to lounge on.
“Looking good guys! Oh…little to the left…there you go!”
So why this blog post and why now? As you can see, I’ve been through a lot these last 5 1/2 years and it’s time for a little Bailey pampering. But I don’t have a job or any money, so I’m relying on you guys to help me out. Here’s the deal – if my parents win this contest thing they’ve entered, I get a new yard. With real plants…that I can pee on! You’ve seen what I’ve had to work with and it isn’t pretty. Seriously, every morning I go out and smell the winter daphne because it’s the only plant in the yard. To make matters worse, this morning Mom and Dad made fun of me when I came in because I had tiny pink flowers on my back (so humiliating!).
Also, I don’t want to ruin the surprise but I think they’re turning the TV room into a bedroom for me. Last weekend they installed this weird elevated dog bed. I’m not sure how to get in and out of it just yet, but seeing as how I’ve never had my own bed I guess I don’t know what to expect. But still, I know we’re going to need some more cash to pimp out my room. And I don’t know why, but there seems to be some kind of deadline attached to getting all this stuff done.
Felix and I have been keeping tabs on the vote count and the gap between 1st and 2nd place in our category is shrinking quickly. I’m not that good at math, but Felix says he’s worried. So that’s why I’m asking you, Bailey lovers of the world, to click over to that Cool Small contest thing and show me your support. In return, I will send you a virtual nuzzle. And when you see pictures of me rolling around in a giant pile of fresh compost, you’ll know that you had a small part in making that dream a reality.
Love, Bailey (and Felix, cat typist extraordinaire)
