As some of you know, my "normal" trophy room as seen in the Outdoor Writer's Trophy Room thread in this section is crammed full. Now that my African critters are trickling in from my taxidermist, I have them sitting on the floor just waiting for a place to hang.

Sooo....there was only one solution: add a room and convince my wife it would be the ideal display space for nothing but African and New Zealand (still waiting on tanned hides!) animals. It took some convincing but all is a go now.

So several months ago I started my new project - a 14'x26' addition to the present family room & kitchen area of the house. I'm doing most of the work myself, so it's taking a while.

Thought you all might enjoy following along with the progress from start to head hanging day. Thus, as I move along from where I'm now at, I'll add pix to this thread. Here's the first installment from the beginning to date. -TONY

The first thing I did was build a temporary wall to support the roof trusses while I tore out the existing wall, which contained two 6'x6' windows, a 6' arcadia door and the regular door to the back patio.

This is the temp wall as seen from inside the existing family room & kitchen.



This is what it looked like after tearing out most of the exterior wall other than the arcadia door, steel lintel and support posts. Also note the existing patio, which was 2.5" below the house floor level. In this photo and the few that follow, the forms for foundation and slab are already in place.










The slab is poured, and the two 4"x14"x27' GluLam beams, bought for $25 ea. from a local salvage yard, are in place across the 22' opening. The rough-in begins.







Walls are up and rafters are in place.





Sky lights, roofing and OSB siding in place.



This is where it's at on Nov. 29. It's all insulated, drywall in place, temp wall removed and now being textured in a faux stucco finish. All the windows except one to bring in bulky stuff are installed.

View from kitchen:



View of upper wall and windows. Max height is 12'.



View from existing family room. Once the scaffolding comes down, the beam will be covered with sheetrock as on the addition side and have curved arches where it abuts existing walls at each end.



View from doorway that leads to my other trophy room and another entrance to the kitchen.




View looking back into kitchen and alcove.

Very nice, but that looks like real work and I have an allergy to that.

Nice work...I'm sure the end result will be exactly what you want. Keep us updated on your progress.

Looks good so far. Keep after it.

Kyler

Can you come do my basement and garage?

Frans

Looks as if all is going well. Can't wait to see the end result!

OW,

Nice job! I'd give anything to have a trophy room like that! First thing I'd have to do is stop hunting for awhile...............Hmmmmmmm!

Don't think I can do that!

Good job!!

Great job! Made me involuntarily twitch a little,though.
I just finished a addition that was 25' X 34',with an 11' cathedral ceiling.I started it in early fall of '03.Told the wife I'd have it done by Christmas! (She ASSUMED I meant that Christmas!).She did talk me into using T&G pine on the ceiling.It was a lot of work,but looks great.Going to add a raised stone pedestal and back wall for a fireplace at some point next year,then I'm DONE.Time get out and start hunting for some more wall hangers and memories.

I got the same involuntary twitch when I see stuff like that. I remodeled a house a few years ago and lived in a construction zone (NO furniture...lived in a sleeping bag on subfloor for three months) and can't say that I ever want to experience that again. Your place looks great though! CONGRATS!

Best,

John

Tony,

Looks great man, cant wait to see more pics

Drum

Tony,

Any progress on the addition?

Drum

Man, didn't realize how many replies I had missed here.

Drum,

Yes, progress has been made, but not quite as much as I wanted by now. Had a bit of a bout with a sprained back muscle that put me out of commission for nearly two weeks.

That said, the main addition has all the texture and paint in place. I'll take a few pix later and post them here.

Everyone else,

Yup, it's a bit of work, BUT...as of right now, I have less than $5,000 in the 14' X 26' addition, and the most expensive single part of that was for the ready mix and finishing work at $1,800. I dug the foundation and put in the forms for the concrete slab myself.

I already had bought the ceramic floor tile a couple years ago because I knew I would be adding the room and wanted it to match what's already there. It cost about $400. So the only other expense left is the ceiling fan and a hanging light fixture to go over a table.

More on what else is left when I post the photos. -TONY

Great going Tony!! Cheers to the do-it-yourselfers...unless it's me of course. ;0)

The high wall over the glue-lams looks like it will be great for hanging shoulder mounts etc.

How are you diverting the water that comes down the roof over the existing family room/kitchen area? It looks like it would drain directly into the high wall and leak through.

Did you build a cricket on the back side of that wall?

quote:

Originally posted by Palmer:
How are you diverting the water that comes down the roof over the existing family room/kitchen area? It looks like it would drain directly into the high wall and leak through. Did you build a cricket on the back side of that wall?

Palmer ... I had the very same question.

Lookin' great Tony!

Palmer,

You guessed right!

The cricket slopes UP the house roof for about 4' feet and the side wings go from the center to each corner of the high wall. Thus, it carries the water along the two well-flashed gullies formed where the cricket side wings meet the roof. One side runs off into the yard at the end eave, and the other runs down the sloping roof of the small patio area I left in place for the barbie.

And yes, the high wall will basically hold all 10 of my African shoulder mounts, plus my animals from NZ. I'll be hanging the zebra rug on the wall in the already existing family room.

I have to get a move on, too. My taxidermist called yesterday to tell me my blue and black wildebeests are done. I'll pick them up manana and add them to the nyala, gemsbok and kudu that are already sitting on the floor in my other trophy room. -TONY

See the OW's New Room Part II As Of Jan. 12 thread for the updated pix! -TONY