2016 is almost two years away!

I've taken some time off from Blogging.  But as I find myself in a niche of tiny houses and micro buildings trying to create habitable spaces for small budgets I am missing sharing the solutions of our designs and the ingenuity of our construction techniques.

Whidbey Institute Micro Buildings under construction.

However, as I haven't blogged for almost two years, I feel the need to recap the last two years.  So, following below will be a bunch of images from dbBrad sustainable design build projects from 2016.

Hanson with his earth movers.

While this house wasn't our design, we did consult on design and framed the envelop as well as installed then windows and doors, the cedar rain screen siding and the metal roof.

It doesn't look that high from the ground, but 24' is pretty high when your
the one on the ladder!

Vertical cedar siding on Hardi strips create a rain
screen and allow for a modern open joint siding.

Front porch, our design, going together.

A small project, but necessary for a client aging in place, we reworked the front entry with a ramp and repaired some rot at the entry.

Josh Jones building attractive access for a client with MS.

We purchased a WoodMizer saw mill.  The model, LT15, is totally manual which I love.  You can feel the correct feed rate as you run the mill across the wood.  Too slow, crank harder, too fast, back off.  It really is a well designed and built mill.  We purchased it because we were removing some large trees and wanted to turn them into lumber rather than smoke.

One of the first pieces of Alder off our new Saw Mill

Steve and I set a 32" log on our mill which has a maximum of 30".  

On one project, extensive rot was found while replacing windows in a 20" deep glulam beam caused from poor waterproofing practices 25 years.  Not wanting to tear the entire end of the house apart, we repaired the rot and then sistered on two microlams, one each side, with minimal damage to the interior.

Rot caused from an flat roof over a living space.

Cutting out the rot and splicing in new beams.

Bolting on the Microlams on each side of our repair.

Yessi and I are building two Microbuildings which will supplement our living space.  They are designed to be moved and can either be slid onto a truck or picked with a boom if and when they need to move.

Our two personal MicroBuildings starting to take shape.

dbBrad MicroBuildings

MicroBuildings extend our living space.

Hearts and Hammers is always fun.  This year we had a great crew and met all our objectives and were still able to get to dinner on time!

dbBrad Hearts and Hammers 2016.

Spotty Dog project on Crawford road would have been a beautiful residence.  Unfortunately, due to health concerns as well as poor performance in the name of a botched construction loan from Whidbey Island Bank (Herritage Bank), the project didn't happen.

Spotty Dog Residence schematic design by dbBrad.

Utilities going in at Spotty Dog.

This is what a 1000' ditch looks like.

A simple covered patio with new French doors greatly expands an existing living area and adds connectivity with the outdoors and their yard.

New French doors and a clear roof over a stone patio
creates a new room and enhances functionality of house.