Holy shit I just got this book from a friend, who saw a pile of random design books on her local buy nothing and thought of me 
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Yesssssss. Please enjoy. This book I found to be about 50% genius, 30% OMG the 80s were a bad time for design but this is entertaining and 20% interesting but not groundbreaking.
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The architect is trying to convince me that we should paint our brick wall, at least the front of the house. They’d really prefer it if I agreed to rendering. To me this just looks like more maintenance, and also I prefer brick as it is? No clear benefits?
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I think that you if prefer the brick as it is, that is a fine choice! The only thing I might ask is if painting is on the ‘critical path’. I am assuming, perhaps wrongly, that you could always choose to have it painted later if for some reason you don’t like the brick after the project is done.
One reason you might not like how it looks later even if you like it today: Depending on what you are changing on the house, more brick will have to be added, like if you are moving or resizing windows or doors. Sometimes it can be hard to get a good match to the existing brick. I don’t know if it would bother you if new brick only sort of matches the existing brick (so kind of obvious that you covered over where a window once was, that kind of thing). If it were me and I knew I wanted to keep the brick unpainted, I would save that call until the end if possible.
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Yeah, once it’s painted you can’t go back, and it’ll need a refresh once in a while. If you like the look of unpainted I would just leave it!
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Anyone have an opinion on wooden cabinet doors & drawer fronts ($$$ but can be repainted) VS laminate ($, will wear out and can’t be repainted)?
Solid timber cabinets are super super expensive. Most “timber” kitchen cabinets in Australia are timber veneer on MDF. Painted doors are usually 2 pack painted MDF. Depending on who is making them and the finish/profile painted 2 pack doors can be not too much more expensive than melamine, or tens of thousands (the company I used to work for made them and ours were expensive and then the builder would mark them up further).
Melamine (laminate) is pretty durable though can scratch. You can get kits to paint melamine doors, Bunnings sells them. I don’t have experience with them so I don’t know how well they work.
As an aside Laminex, Formica and Polytec all manufacturer the decorated MDF used to make cabinetry for the Australian market in Australia.
Avoid vinyl wrap.
Have they provided quotes for wooden doors?
FYI, if you don’t know earth911, it has many useful pages. Like this:
Re cabinets? If I was starting from scratch, I’d put in open shelving as a make do, and shop til I found or could save for what I wanted. You can buy drawer boxes and fronts and the hardware and DIY. We have solid drawer boxes and fronts which came with the house. The cabinets themselves are particle board. We’re slowly upgrading them.
There’s luck and recycling… Bookcases, if they’re solid wood, are frequently worn in that the shelves are warped, or the side rails aren’t tight. However, they can be dismantled into a lot of “new” wood, especially the back, which is frequently just scarred up, but not bent. The backs can sometimes be used to make other things.
One of the most ecofriendly/$friendly things we ever did was buy a uncared for, solid maple table at auction for $5. Pieces of that table can be found in our laundry room, kitchen, and bedroom. DH complained when I bid on it, but has decided since it was one of the smartest things we’ve bought.
I also bought, at another auction, for $1, a pair of divided sidelights or transom panels. They’re in our kitchen.
Bargains like that only happen when you look and keep looking, so it takes time, discovering where you’re likely to get such a thing, money, and luck.
But it’s how we’ve balanced our need for being ecofriendly and finances. We’ve spent $$$ to upgrade what’s here or replace it and use as many recycled materials as possible.
A localish kitchen/bath cabinet store had a “warehouse blowout” about 19 months ago. We didn’t buy kitchen cabinets, but did buy a medicine cabinet ($5) and a hunk of marble to replace the tile I hate on our island ($20). The deals were cash and carry only and we had to go to the bank, but happily did. We still haven’t installed the marble top we bought, but when the time comes, it will be used.
Also re stone countertops. A store near here has a “scrap” section filled with smaller offcuts. We have one in our bathroom niche.
Louvers from louvered glass windows can be made into shallow glass shelves too.
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Unfortunately, it seems to onlly be available in NZ. We put in the plastic grid type pavers for the path around the house and filled with gravel. Also under where the cars park. The gravel and pavers have been a huge plus here.
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That’s really good to hear! I’m hoping we don’t run into any issues, our services (electrical, water) will be under the driveway so I’ll need to check requirements.
I’m looking at water at the moment. Reviewing solar hot water heaters VS heat pump ones. I’m also looking at whether we can get a grey water diversion tap to send water to the lawn, which seems much cheaper than a greywater reuse system.
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Well, here is a check-in and a bit of a reality check on our renovation.
Demo began in June. We took everything to the studs & shell. Structural repairs took most of Sept/Aug. Demo uncovered some “special” discoveries, like headers cut in half to accommodate plumbing and then not reinforced elsewhere.
The windows & doors took 59 emails to finalize (supply chain issues, lead times, tiny visual details), but the order is finally in! The exception is the front door, whose height can’t be finalized until we confirm subfloor and flooring choices and thus their heights.
We also spent a good deal of time (and thus architect fees) on very finicky layout details, especially around the stairs. I think our biggest sustainable choice is keeping the footprint small, so we’re investing in making every square cubic inch work. We decided to cut back a header so people over 5’2” don’t bonk their head on the stairs anymore, and also pivot the last 3 stairs to create more usable space at the front of the house.
The closet placement & size still feels a bit wonky, but that should be a straightforward fix.
Next up is finalizing our heating choice. We are likely using a radiant tubing system called Warmboard, which I’m very excited about! Radiant or steam heat just feels so much better to me, and it should cut the heating bill in half or more. We just need to talk to the rep about potential service concerns (it’s a proprietary system so 1-800-Fix-My-Heat wouldn’t be able to help if anything goes awry) and get the quote updated for an electric boiler. We’re trying to get rid of gas service entirely.
The site looks like a literal pit right now, but things are accelerating. Foundation inspection was Friday, concrete is getting poured this week, then framing begins. We need to pick a roof color soon and get the materials ordered, to limit exposure to rain once framing is done. Black will look best with the charred wood cladding, but it will also absorb more heat than a lighter color.
At some point I’ll report on expenses.
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Hey, that looks like my basement a few years ago! Also a literal pit. I was so shocked when they filled it in and put in floors and ceilings because suddenly the rooms shrank in height.
Good luck with everything! I’m getting some traumatic flashbacks from reading your account 
But we’re finally enjoying the basement and it’s amazing. We will never leave this house.
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What is a good color for a standing seam metal roof that will both look nice and limit solar gain?
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We are in a 4 season climate but too hot tends to be a bigger problem than too cold.
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The roof surface area is quite small on this 3-story house, around 460 sq ft or 51 sq meters. So maybe the color matters less?
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Front facade is a mixed, medium-toned brick that we’re not changing. Rear facade will be black charred wood. I’m drawn to the dark-on-dark aesthetic but wondering if that is irresponsible or regrettable from a solar gain perspective.
Any pointers to where I can research this will be helpful, too.
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I dont have a source to hand, but my friend who is very into energy efficiency stuff has suggested that current research says the color is less important than the install. Specifically, stuff like having battens that let you leave an air gap between the metal and the rest of the roof do a lot to mitigate the amount of solar gain. I can’t remember where the role of insulation went on that topic, but I think is similarly important relative to overall roof color. I’ll see if I can get a source on that!
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Thank you @letired! That’s convenient to support my aesthetic preference 
I’ll double check with the architect and builder that proper battens are in the plan; the insulation is already planned to be as thorough as can be without causing moisture problems.
Also, I realized that half the roof is flat roof (not visible from the ground, and we’ll be choosing a lighter color for it) so color choice is even less important. Maybe around 200sq ft total.
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Does anyone have experience or recommendations on living with a skylight? We are adding a skylight to the 3rd/attic floor over the stairwell to bring some daylight down into the 2nd floor. Need to decide if it will be fixed or operable. Operable seems attractive for airflow, but will it be leaky/a pain in the butt?
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I had a fixed one once in a place we rented. We ended up blocking it with cardboard in summer because it was so hot. It was over the dining table and one time I left a bottle of olive oil on the table and came back to a broken bottle and oil everywhere.
Maybe an Australian sun specific problem? Maybe a very cheap skylight?
If I considered a skylight in the future I would pay attention to heat transfer through the glass.
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I’m looking at solatubes which are less direct light and instead reflected around the tube and insulated better, i think?
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Yowza! I’ve never heard of this in our temperate climate but that does sound pretty dicey. The company we’re getting these from (Velux) has an option for automated shades that close themselves when it’s sunny. Very intrigued now after hearing your exploding bottle story.
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We had one put in our kitchen late last year and it is most excellent.
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