Posts Tagged ‘Sustainable’

The Hobbit House

This is the last day this house will be open to the public. Come out today between 10am and 4 pm to see this amazing one of a kind house with the round  front door. Whimsical and charming, this house hides the fact that it is on the cutting edge of Built Green and sustainability. I will be hosting the house all day along with Diane Gassman of Interior Dimensions. It’s a house everyone should see. From Rainer rd, turn right on Steadman, right on 103rd and left on Katie Ann. From Hwy 99 turn left on Waldrick, left on Steadman, left on 103rd and left on to Katie Ann

Don’t miss the Eco Building Guild’s South Sound Green Tour this weekend, April 16th and 17th. All sites are open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.  There is also a Expo at the Lott building behind Alpine Experience.  Come see all the wonderful site and vendors. Look in Friday’s Olympian for the insert with all the information.  We are featuring the Hobbit House this year. Come out and see the round door. The address is 10621 Katie Ann Lane. Follow the signs from Steadman Rd. Turn on to 103rd and then on to Katie Ann Lane. Hope to see you there.

Recently we completed a  shower remodel at a home in Tumwater. The old shower, built in the early 60′s, had seen better days and needed an upgrade. The faucet and door were worn out. The original ceiling was at 6’6″ even though the rest of the bathroom had 8’0″ ceilings. Because the ceiling was low the shower head  came out of the wall at 6’0″ makeing it uncomfortable for any very tall to shower.

After demolition and some bug repairs to the framing members, we discovered we could easily lift the ceiling to the 8’0″ level. Actual we left it down just a few inches to accommodate our tile layout. We then built into a wall a soap and shampoo cubbie, that allowed large bottles of shampoo on top and still had a 6″ area for the hand soap .  we added blocking in the locations where we wanted to add Grab Bars. We moved the faucet to be near the door, so you could turn on the water without getting in, yet put the shower head on the side wall, which made the most sense with this shape of shower.

After the tile was all set and grouted, we installed the  grab bars, plumbing trim and a new shower door. The homeowners tell me they cant believe how much bigger it feels with the taller ceiling. And for the elderly mother the two grab bars offer a lot of support and ease of mind for everyone.

When someone becomes wheel chair bound, things like narrow hallways and door openings are just few of the things that make it impossible for people to stay in there homes. Universal Design is the concept of designing a house in such a way that it will be easy to adapt it to accommodate homeowners as they get older. Wider hallways and doors are just the beginning. One idea is to creating a design so the master bedroom and bath, kitchen, and laundry are all on the main floor eliminating the need for stairs. Other ideas include stacking large closets on top of one another on each floor, creating a area that could easily be remodeled for a future elevator. Bathrooms that have no curb showers, so that a wheelchair can easily access it. Blocking in the walls for future grab bars, wide areas in the bathroom, kitchen and laundry so maneuvering around in a wheel chair is easy. These are just some of the ideas that make it easy to create a home that is universally designed. Designing with these things in mind, minor remodeling is all that is necessary when and if the time arrives that you need a wheel chair. Both the Cooper Project here in Olympia, and the Bouvier/Rogers Home near Offit Lake were designed with these concepts in mind.

Wheel Chair Accessible Shower