The deck is in! Work on the house itself hasn’t started up again yet, but Harry and his crew were free and I was excited to get this checked off early. My deck is 17×19 feet, and is accessed from … Read More

“What’s going on with your house?” This is easily the question I’m asked most, both online and in person. It’s a hard one to answer succinctly. I’ve obviously had some extraordinary problems with this project, and that has made things … Read More

Although I tried to give away or reuse as much wood as possible, at a point it just wasn’t reasonable to try to salvage everything from the demo. I went thorough every piece of wood on the site, pulled out … Read More

Over the summer, I put out an open invite for folks to come up to the house site and salvage wood from the framing demolition. I had at least fifty people up to the site over the next few months. … Read More

Getting the building site clean was one of my biggest tasks over the last year. It’s hard to understate the amount of scrap, debris, and extra materials that can accumulate when a house is framed (or, you know, framed twice). … Read More

Water that enters and becomes trapped inside a wood-framed wall can cause mold and rot, leading to long-term structural damage. Unfortunately, window and door openings provide big targets for water intrusion, and mistakes can be costly. So what’s the solution? … Read More

I’m currently giving away all of the wood in my scrap/demo pile at the AK House Project site. I posted a series of Instagram stories about the wood giveaway a couple weeks ago, and the response has been great. Two … Read More

Meet Rodney and Patrick, from FM Home Builders. These two did the vast majority of work reframing my home. Rodney has been framing for decades in Alaska, and has built or repaired many homes in my neighborhood. His insight into … Read More

Very happy to announce that my home is now completely reframed. Most of the work was completed over the winter but we finished up a few tasks this spring. This time around the cuts are tight, nailing is correct, and … Read More

One of the deepest philosophical divides I’ve noticed in the building community is between what I’d call the “craftsman approach” and the “building science approach.” Both are intended to result in high-quality structures, but the gulf between these schools of … Read More