A collection of progress, thoughts and photos from our Home Addition in Ballard, WA.

Our intention with the design and construction is to create a home that can last another 100 years and be very energy efficient.  We strove to use Passive House building practices throughout and to source materials as close to home as possible. The original workers cottage was kept and a new modern addition was connected via a breezeway.  The addition was designed by Joe Herrin of Heliotrope, framing and passive house detailing was performed by Dan Whitmore from Hammer & Hand.  

We have done quite a bit ourselves: WRB Exterior, Rain-screen, Siding, Interior and Exterior fine carpentry, Wood Trim, Drywall (not the mudding/taping), Finish Plumbing, Finish Electrical, Paint, Kitchen Cabinets, Tiling, and more.

Our 1906 bungalow lasted 107 years resting on sandy soil and a few large boulders in the corners.  We decided to save the structure which meant living in a lifted box for a month during excavation and foundation pouring.  

We wanted to follow the latest construction industry practice of creating a breathable air gap/rainscreen behind our Cedar shingles. Behind that layer, for the WRB we used Prosoco R-Guard CAT 5 (liquid applied air and water barrier), and the rest of the family of products to make sure we were nice and cozy.  #Passivehouse

We drove to Aberdeen, Wa to hand select clear #1 cedar shingles from the lumber mill. A Daly's Black Stain was chosen and we hand-dipped (with lots of help of family and friends) every single shingle over the course of a few months.

We installed a HRV and installed all the ducting to provide continuous fresh air to our highly sealed house.  The HRV mixes outside air with interior air to condition before it enters the rooms. 

We chose to install Big-Leaf Maple which is a local species that has beautiful figuring. After much research, Rubio Mono Coat was used as the wood finish. It's so easy to touch up and take care of.

Lumber from Wood Wise Mill. 

The entire bathroom was considered a wet-room so we chose Schluter Kerdi and Ditra to create a trustworthy barrier.   

We purchased enough of this blonde-streaked Douglas Fir from Joe at Wood Wise Mill to have a highlighted edge on each stair tread

Like many of the material in this build - we chose IPE for its long-lasting characteristics and ability to age gracefully.  All the IPE was sourced used from Craigslist.

We sketched up and then CAD'd the cabinets.  Once measured, we dove in and started building using pre-finished Maple Plywood from Green Home Solutions.

Waterjet dovetails made this quite the custom kitchen countertop. Meadow Creature on Vashon helped us dial in the amazing fit and the templates to make the install go smoothly.

We've gone through multiple designs and now have landed on using hot-rolled steel constructed by our friends at Meadow Creature.