catching up with what is done so far.

Downstairs main shower with the open wall for ventilation.

Guest soaking tub/shower in 18x36 vertical tiles.

We dug for the city water tie in, backfilled and paved in 1 day.

My brother and I got the craftsman syled balustrade constructed in front of the elevator shaft.

I stripped off the temporary rails from the platform lift and installed the steel today. I will add balusters tomorrow.

@Kelly M your showers look great. Is there a walking space between the stairs and elevator. Or is it an open shaft so when it's on the other floor it will be open space?

Kat, the tile contractor situation sounds exhausting. A few hours here and there across 2.5 weeks is somehow worse than a delay you can plan around. Hope they find their consistency this week.

Kelly M -- the shower tile and the elevator platform work in the same update is a range I wasn't expecting. That craftsman balustrade detail sounds like it's going to be one of those things visitors notice without knowing why.

Still in the planning phase over here, but this weekend was useful. My builder had laid out where the house, driveway, and second garage would sit, and I went out with a measuring wheel to verify and stake it all out. Used t-posts so they'd hold, and ran plastic fencing around the footprints to make everything abundantly clear on the ground.

Then I went back out in the morning, afternoon, and evening to watch where the sun was actually hitting. That walk-through paid off -- I'm realizing I probably want to shift the house a few feet to get more room for screening near the garage where there's a tree line. And my spouse could finally see where things were going to land in a way that no floor plan drawing had quite accomplished.

Took most of a morning but I'd call it time well spent.

@Kat I designed the shaft and stairs so they wrap around the two shaft walls from the basement to floor 2. It is otherwise open.

I placed a 4x6 picture window at the top to admit SW light down.

I designed the cupola to admit southern light to that northern main bathroom, via an interior window. This is standing with the shower wall on the right and the vanity area on the left.

I see some art glass there, some plants. I see plants on shower wall opening.

My brothers assembled the landing gates while I welded the rails on the lift yesterday.

This is the view down from floor 2 and where that gate goes.

Those walls are getting a vinyl flooring on it, so I can add plants to the wall and I dream of a 20' water feature down the left. My wife is a textile artist so we will be battling over those walls.

Always impressed by Kelly M's work. Much of it not allowed in our jurisdiction.

for instance, welding by an owner/builder forbidden unless you are licensed and the work is inspected by a structural engineer.. And those unprotected elevator openings merit large fines should an inspector drop by. Our shaft had to be designed by an engineer as well.

We were not allowed to excavate for the water/sewer tie-ins either. City-awarded contract likely twice the cost of a private contractor.

It is a different world across the border for sure.

For example, I passed my final electrical inspection yesterday. I don't think a homeowner can pull an electrical permit in Canada, but I may be mistaken there.

That platform lift would also not be legal in Canada, I suspect. I did have the foundations engineered and the slab under the shaft is reinforced and it is 8" deep to allow for a typical elevator like yours, @worthy

I got those specifications by pulling drawings from a couple of local elevator vendors here in the PNW.

I figured someone might come along after me and want a traditional elevator.

I also reinforced the lfit side with double 2x12 to support one of those.

All an elevator company needs to do is come in and have the back wall installed and fur it in to his specification, I made it oversized to allow for that.

Beats having to carve out a space in an existing structure for certain.

We are American citizens now, but both my husband and I were born and raised in Canada and lived in Ontario for the first years of our marriage and you can pull an electrical permit in Ontario if you own the house and plan to live there. My BIL built his own house and pool and was able to do a very large part of the work himself and also has gutted/renovated a home for his daughter and he did it all legal, so yes the rules may vary by province, just as they do by state in the USA.

Residency isn't a concern for the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) in Ontario. I've done renos for rental properties for everything up to the pole connection.. No way I'm trying to pull those cables down the conduit. Let alone connect live wires as I've see the sparkies do!

For the elevators, in addition to any Ontario Building Code requirements, local municipalities can pile on their own rules. For the elevator, in this build north of Toronto the pit and the shaft had to be speced and inspected.

slow but steady

A little finish on the VG fir pops out the grain.

One gate hung, one built and ready for tomorrow.

That platform lift would also not be legal in Canada, I suspect.

To say the least!

And no interlocks on the gates? IOW, the gates can be opened without the platform in place.

And all that open space on the left.

Even with the permissible 3" between the floor and cab allowed here, I would be petrified to have small children at home.

@worthy is it common practice here to pick other's work apart? That space measured 4.5 inches before I added a strip of wood to reduce it to the code required <4" sphere test.

If you look closely it is there in that picture.

Perhaps Canada has a 3" sphere test for balusters, I do not know.

When I am done the gates will have automatic interlocks. For now they will have a double cylinder gate latch and the keys will be put away if little ones are visiting.

How tall is the gate? Is it similar to a self locking pool lock you’ll have on the gate? It’s likely no more dangerous than my pool in the yard that is obviously fenced, but when you aren’t used to the concept at first seems a bit scary or concerning. 😬

@GTBucky it is exciting to see the house all staked out on the property and great you have room to shift it based on the sun. How big is the property?

Cheers to slow but steady progress.... for most of us.

We're continuing to plug away at finishes. Hubby has been working on plugs, switches, and finally light fixtures, which he loathes. I worked up the nerve to stain the front door this weekend. Once I decided on a color it took me four hours to stain the exterior. I still have to clear coat it and then do the same on the inside. The wood pulled more red than I initially liked, but seeing it from the road changed my mind, I love it! It's Minwax Special Walnut.

We had a trim carpenter leave his business card in the house uninvited last week which did NOT sit well with me. I'm trying to get the house locked up asap. This is the only unannounced walk through (that we know of) to date. We live across the street and can see the house from our doorbell camera.

We're planning for hardwood floors next week and hopefully cabinets will quickly follow. I've ordered our shower glass, put a deposit on counters, and working away at the to do list.

the gate is 40" tall.

Code for residential is 36" and that is too low IMO. It is perfect for doing a stunt flip over the rail.

commercial IBC code is 42".

I have it designed with 40" at the gate and 36" in the elevator itself, so that double cylinder lock is accessible over the elevator gate. It is a pool gate lock type that requires a key on both sides, so the keys can be pulled, and the landing remotes if any kids are in house.

Even when I get the interlocks designed and installed I will keep those locks.

All my outside railngs are at 40".

So many homes with loft areas and catwalks ... all easy enough for a determined child to climb over, even after parents have warned them of the dangers. Some houses have an open staircase that spans 3-stories. I don't see Kelly's gates as any different than that.

In our first house we had a loft with a pony wall and a bookcase along the pony wall providing perfect climbing "steps". We did try to keep the door to that area closed, talked to our kids about the dangers and luckily our kids weren't the type to do stupid stuff.

@chispa my pet peeve is horizontal cable balusters. Those are just rediculous and code all over. Not only do they make perfect climbing rungs, they can entrap a child with the tension. Look cool? Certainly.

Safe? not so much IMO.

is it common practice here to pick other's work apart?

No, no, no. Just comparing Code differences.

Code for baluster spacing is 4" here--practically speaking, 3.75".

Horizontal balusters also not Code permitted.

Pritzker Prize winner for 2026, Smiljan Radic, didn't get the message.

This type of design is permitted--provided it is covered by plexiglass to prevent climbing.

We tossed together a temporary kitchen for occupancy the other day, using some laminate surfaced MDO I had, some ugly salvage cabinets and a really heavy cast iron sink.

I made it nice enough to use for a couple of months. I do not want to rush the cabinet building. That is my happy place.

Then the 180 mile round trip to Forks for some fresh #1 cedar $awn $hingles hot off the mill.

Finally getting the accent patches done. Two today, two to go.

Doors are in primer. We have yet to choose paint colors, but it will be fun.

This patch has some lightning scars in it.

The plan is 1x6 T&G cedar soffits to match with that. I suffer from wood fever.

Yes, 2 acres gives you quite a bit of flexibility. We only had 2/3 of an acre and it was a reverse pie-shape, so even less flexibility on where things could go.

the cedar details are done. Now to pick a color (or two) for those primed doors.

Gates are done and installed on the lift.

The outer gate is set wide to allow the inner to open fully. The platform measures 39" by 59" with the door closed and the opening is 37" as shown. I am topping that steel rail with wood tomorrow to match.

@Kelly M - we are thinking about building a new home = I decided to read the August 2026 post. I didn't realize that an elevator/lift like yours could be used in a residential home. I am a bit claustrophobic - it would be very nice to have an open air one!

I will be back to see how everything turns out!

@GTBucky - great idea to run plastic fencing around the footprint of the future house + visit the site in the morning/afternoon/evening in order to see if anything needed to be "tweaked." It also would help someone visualize the future build more than on paper.

I'm going to go back and read prior months' posts - I need to decide if I'm ready to do this (it's been awhile since I built a house).

@dani_m08 check with your local elevator companies

dani_m08 -- welcome. Going back through prior months is worth the time. You pick up a lot just watching how different people's projects evolved from where they started to where they landed.

The planning phase feels slow from the inside, but it's useful slow. There are stretches where nothing seems to be happening and then you realize you've quietly made twenty decisions you didn't know you were making.

Glad the staking walkthrough idea landed. Once the footprint was actually on the ground and I could walk it in the morning light versus the afternoon, things made sense in a way that no drawing had quite managed.

If you've built before, you'll have a different relationship to the decisions ahead than someone starting completely cold. That experience tends to pay off at exactly the moments when first-timers freeze up.

We're moving along fairly well still. Continuing to work on installing light fixtures and lining up subs. Our interior trim has begun as well as hardwood floors. Our gutters were installed last week, but in the wrong color, to be corrected. Aiming for cabinet installation late this week, then counter measure. As soon as the gutters are corrected we'll have final grade done, then driveway & sidewalk. We're likely going to list our current house this week. DOM in our zip code is 43 days.

This is our kitchen window. It overlooks our rear covered porch and back yard. Behind the wood line is a small creek on our property.

Master bathroom and closet.

Foyer with lighting and hardwood installed. Door has been stained.

Flooring going in. Ordering the mantle soon.

Front porch posts were installed. They will be painted the same color as the siding.

@Joy M it looks beautiful. I'm sure you can't wait to be sitting on those porches having your morning coffee!

@Kat thank you. I'm pleased with everything so far. There is always a slight fear that finishes will not look like the idea in your head once they are installed. We are so eager to get moved in and enjoy fall weather on the back porch. I know I've mentioned it before, but so excited to watch college football with friends out there. Hubby said this weekend he foresees lots of naps on the back porch.

@Joy M since your home still has a lot of interior finishes to install I would recommend covering the light fixtures (as long as LED bulbs are used) and try to keep them powered off. The finished floors can collect grit that gets ground in by construction traffic, so I'd recommend vacuuming the entire house then protecting the finished floors with heavy construction paper or "red rosin" paper using blue tape, even if only a "pathway'. You may have to vacuum weekly. Change out HVAC filters as needed. Sometimes that's weekly.

Be careful with blue tape on engineered wood floors. DuChateau had big written warnings about not using blue tape on my engineered wood floors with a hard wax oil finish. Every day I had to go and make sure the painters didn't put blue tape on the floors ... it was like a full time job for two weeks!! You can still lay the ramboard paper and use blue tape to keep the paper sections together, just not on the floor.

Ramboard covering all the finished floor during painting.

@Jeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor @chispa

Thank you both for your suggestions, I do not want our floors to be damaged. I'm going to borrow my FIL Rainbow vacuum, they are amazing at getting all of the dust up.

Lord help me reisist engaging the AI generated design posts in Houzz.

I did not see a new post for September so I went and ahead and made one. Click here