Tuesday, February 5, 2008

One step ahead, two steps back...

Only talking and some CAD...
I talked to my uncle who pretty much built his own house and he said I should most definitely get a plot plan and clearance information for the lot before I plan anything. A bit late since the footprint of my building is pretty much done ;-)
I most definitely need to get specific information before I get any permits. I guess that's where my architect uncle comes into the picture... I sure hope they will allow me to expand the building towards the second outbuilding and add a full second floor and gable roof.

My DIY uncle also recommended wood framing everything... but my dad refuses, and I don't really like the idea either. After reading Chez Neumansky I even start to question our choice about the first floor walls...

We don't have rats there, but most definitely lots of mice and even found some in the main house, so I really really don't like the idea of hollow walls... mice just don't bite through solid brick.

That would mean I have to add a steel I beam under every first floor wall and most liekely above too... and since the steel beams would bisect the floor beams they'd need to support those too. Not nice...
Besides, one of the two beams would need to run under the stairs or end facing the stairs... but the wall there isn't load bearing... I even planned on having a doorway underneath.

On a side track I just got the first batch of my ebay purchases of vintage electrical equipment yesterday. n the bright side I got some basically brand new 1905 switches. On the down side two of them are not 4 way switches as promised by the seller (4 way switches have 4 screws and can be used to control a light from 3 or more points) but simple two-pole on/off switches (just switch both wires of the circuit). That means I still need two 3 way switches for the stairway (3 way switches are used to switch a light from 2 points)... options right now: use newer ones I have around: I have some early 1950s rotary switches that look fairly good, but they were used for conduit wiring, so the covers miss quite large chunks where the pipe entered. Or I could take flip switches about the same age that were used with cloth wiring when I found them but don't really look appropriate. Last I could get retro switches from Casa della luce. They're designed for their wiring, but also expensive and don't quite look right.
Yuck... I hate choices like that!

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