With the first room dried-in and
liveable, it became time to add on. I added a dormer to get that
valuable morning sun. Notice all the south-facing glass. This provides
heat for free in the winter. In the summer the glass comes out and
those high windows coupled with the low windows in the addition provide
a natural breeze. I opperate a fan about two times each summer.
I've dug down the floors, so the inside is actually bigger than the
outside. With vaulted cielings, I have 10 & 12 ft of headroom.
Digging down has it's advantages & disadvantages. On the plus side,
it's cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter. on the minus side, I
was having to replace the floor with an annoying frequency untill I dug
it deeper, dug in french drains, covered the soil with sand and put
down plastic as a vapour barrier, and left space between the ground and
my floor. The concrete block foundation under the walls is also not
visible in the pics, but more than enough here in middle GA where frost
heave is not a problem.
For those people looking for information about building an addition, I
can only tell you that the roof is the tricky part. I paid my dues by
working as a carpenter's helper...toting lumber and paying close
attention to the houses being built.
Click the links below to go to the rest of the full-sized construction pictures.
