Building Our Retirement Home

Building Our Retirement Home

As Spring arrived in 2016, we made the decision to build a small Cedar Home on our property on Cowiche Creek. Contains 100 images.

As Spring arrived in 2016, we made the decision to build a retirement home on our property on Cowiche Creek. Nothing was more attractive to us then to enjoy spending our retirement years together at Cowiche Creek. We begin our “Little House On The Creek” with the help of Mike & Judy Flanagan of Cedars Homes of Washington. The gallery shows the steps we went through to get our new cedar home closed up by early December, just in time for the first snows and the steps we went through the following year to complete it. Much of the finish work we would do ourselves. We finally moved in on February 12th, 2018, after the final county building inspection, just in time for Valentine's Day.

April 16th, 2016 - In early Spring we did a layout of stakes for our new home. The stakes got moved many times during the next few months, but the spot for the house stayed in the same area.

July 19th, 2016 - After the well was drilled, I moved my observatory to a new floor that I built for it to the North of the house.

July 13th, 2018 - The Observatory sitting on its new floor at Cowiche Creek. It proved to be a bad location as all the bright lights in the neighborhood shine on it at night. It's like viewing with a full Moon out.

September 2nd, 2016 - Looking from the rocks toward the South, you can see the final spot we decided on. Notice how the stakes have moved a little South of the rocks. We wanted to avoid hitting the basalt outcrop. The white marks on the road show where the final edge of the road would be to meet code.

September 3rd, 2016 - We finally broke ground on September 3rd and luckily hit only hardpan during excavation and lots of smaller rocks.

September 3rd, 2016 - Because of the slope down to the creek, we had to do a two step foundation. We hit lot of hardpan, but no big rocks.

September 3rd, 2016 - A second picture of the foundation hole and the large pile of dirt it created.

September 3rd, 2016 - After the digging was done, we staked out the house again. We had decided on a small Cedar Pan Abode home.

September 3rd, 2016 - We call it "The Little House On The Creek". It's just the right size for the two of us. You can see my Observatory just North of the house layout.

September 19th, 2016 - Jeff Bond Construction did our foundation and here you can see the footing laid out.

September 19th, 2016 - This image shows the forms for the six pads used by the deck posts.

October 4th, 2016 - We finally poured the footing cement. A month had went by from the ground breaking.

October 5th, 2016 - The inspection was done and the forms for the foundation installed.

October 5th, 2016 - Pauletta had found a good place to watch the action.

October 5th, 2016 - The foundation was poured a day later.

October 7th, 2016 - The forms were removed and we had a very nice looking foundation ready to build on.

October 7th, 2016 - We had a hard time getting perk holes to meet the Health Department standards on top, so had to move to the soft dirt below. This held up our building permit a couple of weeks. In the bowl below, we went down seven feet and were a 100' from the creek.

October 7th, 2016 - The next thing we had to do was move the road as it was to close to the house to meet code. We had a truckload of chipped rock hauled in. I did it by rake and wheelbarrel.

October 28th, 2016 - I got that all done, along with some back filling and installed a French Drain around the house foundation. I also put a pickup load of sand on the inside. We waited a month for everything to come together for the house to arrive and work started. It rained a lot during that month.

November 8th, 2016 - The big day finally arrived and a semi-truck showed up with our new home.

November 8th, 2016 - With the help of a large forklift we rented for the construction, everything went smoothly and was done in a couple hours.

November 8th, 2016 - Pauletta and I found a nice place on our grassy mima mound and supervised (watched) the unloading.

November 8th, 2016 - As you can see the piles of lumber begin accumulating on our once empty space.

November 8th, 2016 - Inventory was taken on everything. In time we discovered that we had the wrong door crate, ours ended up in Colorado. It was all corrected and didn't really slow up construction.

November 14th, 2016 - After the unloading and inventory, Kaiser Construction took over and assembled the pieces.The floor went up quickly and we passed our first inspection just fine.

November 15th, 2016 - Shortly, the walls started to spring up and the house began to take shape.

November 16th, 2016 - This image was taken from down below in what we call the bowl (bottom land).

November 16th, 2016 - Another image taken from the bowl near the creek below.

November 19th, 2016 - It finally was starting to look like our little house.

November 19th, 2016 - This image was taken from below in the bowl, by Cowiche Creek, looking toward the Northwest.

November 22nd, 2016 - The roof was starting to take shape.

November 22nd, 2016 - This image from the East side taken from down in the bowl shows off the great room and deck. A Coyote didn't like me invading his territory and yelped up a storm the whole time I was down there. He quit as soon as I went up to the top again.

November 22nd, 2016 - This was taken from the rocks on the North side looking South and was part of our Christmas pictures.

November 26th, 2016 - Before the Thanksgiving break, the doors and windows were installed and it really looked like a house. This image is of the West side near the circle driveway.

November 26th, 2016 - This one was taken inside near the great room door and windows. You can see our view across the creek property we also own.

November 26th, 2016 - We included this picture with the ones for Christmas as it showed what had been accomplished when we took our Christmas pictures.

December 4th, 2016 - The framing was completed and we installed the roof sheathing ahead of the metal roofing arrival. Many thanks to Mike & Judy Flanagan, Cedar Homes of Washington and Kaiser Construction for getting our home up before the snows hit.

December 7th, 2016 - The Cedar siding had been moved inside for the Winter and as part of the preparation for Insulation and Sheet Rock installation, had to be moved out of the house in the Spring.

December 16th, 2016 - On December 7th, our first snow arrived, dropping seven inches. On December 14th, the metal roofing arrived and we will need to wait until the snow melts to install it. As you can see in the previous picture, we had prepared for the possibility of this delay. The first snow is always a pretty sight, putting a white blanket on everything.

January 12th, 2017 - We made the trip into the new home. We had to put on chains to get in and out. There is about 14" of snow now and the next morning it was -6 degrees here. In this image, you can see the metal roofing still on the ground waiting until the snow melts.

January 12th, 2017 - This wide angle picture of our new home and property was taken on January 12th. It shows my observatory on the left and our rocky property across Cowiche creek. The image was taken from the West end of the circle driveway with about 14" of snow on the ground.

January 26th, 2017 - As January nears an end, Winter persist. The snow is not melting very fast and more is predicted in early February. I have made good progress on the electrical rough-in during the snowy weather.

February 16th, 2017 - The snow has finally stopped falling and we are getting days in the 40's now. We had over 24" of snow on the ground and our neighbor Rene plowed the road for us with his large tractor, so we could drive in again. Many thanks to him. The electrical rough-in is done and I am ready to start the plumbing rough-in.

March 4th, 2017 - By the first part of March, the snow started to melt enough that we could drive in. I was able to access part of the roof and staple down some of the roofing felt that had worked loose during the Winter.

March 11th, 2017 - By March 11th, I had the roofing unbundled and was ready to start on that project.

March 15th, 2017 - Warm weather came and the snow melted all at once causing high water in the creek and much flooding statewide. Luckily our bridge held, thanks to the posts and chains I had installed.

March 15th, 2017 - Another picture of Cowiche Creek during high water. After a couple days the creek level started to recede.

March 25th, 2017 - I was able to put the final touches on the metal roof, after several delays due to rain. Looks pretty nice if I do say so myself. It was a fun project and easy to do given the gentle slope.

March 25th, 2017 - As I finished the roof, Pauletta tried out her new drag harrow on a nice Spring day. She enjoys driving her little putt, putt around smoothing everything up.

May 2nd, 2017 - Near the end of April we had our trenching done for the well and underground power. You can see our new little barn in this picture.

June 12th, 2017 - A view of the trenches before they were covered up on June 12th. After a month and a half, it was nice to get the trenching covered up and our driveway back together again.

June 12th, 2017 - With the well now connected to the house, we had the trenches covered up on June 12th.

June 12th, 2017 - The power conduit has been inspected and approved and this trench was covered up the same time as the well, along with a little landscaping in the area. Notice the large rock on the mound garden that we had moved in.

June 22nd, 2017 - I finally got the meter base installed again. This was the second one. The first one would not meet Pacific Powers code, so I had to install a second one that would.

July 25th, 2017 - This is the bedroom area after the insulation and sound deadening have been installed. The sound deadening is lighter colored and has no vapor barrier.

July 25th, 2017 - This is the kitchen area after the insulation installation.

July 25th, 2017 - In preparation for the Siding installation, we installed the Base Trim and six house Vents. The Framing and Tyvek inspection was also done at this time in preparation for the insulation.

July 25th, 2017 - The Cedar siding waiting outside to be stained and installed on the house.

July 25th, 2017 - We also set the Mini-split Heat Pump on its pad and cleaned out the house, ready for the insulation to be installed.

August 1st, 2017 - Immediately after the insulation and inspection, the sheetrock was installed by professionals.

August 1st, 2017 - This was a messy job and required a lot of cleanup by the contractor.

August 2nd, 2017 - This picture is of the bedroom after being taped. The inside of the house is taking shape.

August 16th, 2017 - With the sheet-rocking done, we added a painters touch to the major rooms. Notice the taped area's on the floor for the kitchen cabinets.

August 17th, 2017 - The kitchen cabinets arrived, filling the little house with boxes.

August 17th, 2017 - We unboxed them and made a full pickup load of cardboard to the dump. We put most of the cabinets that went on the kitchen floor on their taped areas Pauletta had marked out months before.

September 4th, 2017 - The first of September we started installing Cedar siding, which went up nicely. We are also finishing up the window trim and started on the Soffits.

September 23rd, 2017 - The month of September was devoted to putting up Ceder siding and the Pine soffit's. This image is looking at the West side of the house.

September 23rd, 2017 - This image is of the front porch and entrance area. We will be installing decking on the floor area below.

October 20th, 2017 - The view looking at the South side of the house. Notice the newly completed deck also.

October 25th, 2017 - The final big project outside we needed to have done was install the septic tank and drain field. This was contracted out and created quite a mess on the landscape.

October 26th, 2017 - The drain field was installed below and must be inspected before the cover-up work is done.

November 24th, 2017 - It took almost a month for the inspection to take place (hurry up and wait). Everything was smoothed over and covered up the day after Thanksgiving.

November 18th, 2017 - One of the things we need to finish before our final inspection is deck railing.

November 18th, 2017 - About mid-November, our insulation contractor came to finish up the insulation under the house. We then moved the unused siding under for the Winter. We still need to finish the siding on the North and East sides of the house.

December 8th, 2017 - About the middle of November, we special ordered a granite counter top. That is here and should be installed in early December. We have the lower cabinets secured and leveled, ready for it.

December 16th, 2017 - Our granite countertop was installed and we installed the bulk of the upper cabinets shortly afterwards.

December 16th, 2017 - This is an overview look at the kitchen before the appliances are moved in. The two cabinets on the floor will go above the fridge and range and I need to build a cabinet for the overhead stove vent system.

December 24th, 2017 - Taken on the morning of Christmas Eve as more snow approaches. You can see the frost on our deck glass panels, caused by the 8 degree temperature the night before. By 3:00 pm it was snowing again.

February 13th, 2018 - Our new home as it appeared when we moved in, taken from the North side, looking South. It is only 696 square feet, but has everything we need to live comfortably.

February 13th, 2018 - Taken near Cowiche Creek, looking West. You can see the top of our little 12' x 16' barn. We have some trim painting to finish on our little retirement home.

February 13th, 2018 - On February 12th, the county approved our final inspection before we could move in. We brought our bed over and spent are first night in our new home in time for Valentines day. We still have some little things to do, such as carpeting, flooring and trim, but we are living here now and plan to spend our retirement in "Our Little House on the Creek".

February 14th, 2018 - Our kids bought us a nice barbecue for our new home. It's perfect for our new deck.

February 22nd, 2018 - This is a snowy morning (18 degree's) in late February looking from our deck at Sunrise. You can see "Pretty Mountain", Cowiche Creek and the Conifer trees I have planted over the years. What a nice scene to wake up to.

January 23rd, 2019 - We took a trip to the mountains while they installed our carpeting. The floor tile was installed a few days before that. It took almost a year to make our final decision on that and we were very happy the way it turned out.

February 28th, 2019 - An image of the observatory looking from our home at the end of February. It was 3 degrees out and lots of snow.

July 17th, 2018 - A view of our new home through a telephoto lens (300mm) from the Pine trees on the East side above the creek. We still have some finish work to complete here and there, but that's for another day. In the end, Pauletta and Bruce built their "Little House on the Creek" and lived happily ever after.

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