Willow lane
This was our home
and offices for quite some time
With offices/bonus rooms that have exterior access for
project design meetings with our clients.
4806 sq. ft. of finished living space
built 100% by Elite (plumbing & excavating excluded) as a
winter project
less than
$100.00/sq. ft.
living space
Exterior Details Completion summer 2005.
Below you will find elevation drawings, interior floor plans
and pictures with narrative of the project as it progressed.
Enjoy, come back and look often....oh and tell your friends,
especially the ones thinking of designing and building the home of their dreams.
Front, Right side, Left side, and Rear Elevation Views.
 
Lot Layout:
2.2 Acres Off of Hwy 29
East just before Hatley turn
North on Duncan
Rd. about a city block to left on Willow Lane to the
East, approximately 2/3
of a mile to our
driveway on the right or South R-21239 Willow
Lane.
Lot is developed and naturally
landscaped with a parking area,
garden, large
fire
pit:
Main Floor Layout - Garage & Storage, Kitchen W/
6-person eat-in snack bar, formal
dining, formal
living room
w/wood burning fireplace,
and half bath:
Second Story Layout - Master Suite & Offices, Large
"dormer" bedroom, full
bath
and guest room:
Basement layout - 2
bedrooms, full bath,
laundry/storage,
"Leinie's/Northwoods"
bar area,
"Packer" family
room & uility:
 One of the first things we did after clearing and prepping the
land for building was to
put up the American flag. It's a grand pole over 16' tall flying a huge flag that I've had for years.
You can also see some of the natural landscaping
we've begun to do.
 The
property has alot of rock on it and we hit this little one while digging.
For another size reference for those of you that have seen our equipment trailer, this rock is about half
the size. Since lifting it out of the hole was not
an option, we dug it down in the middle of the garage floor area
and out of our way.
Note in
the first pic one can see our new fire pit in the foreground.
After digging we formed up the footings, poured them and then put down cleats to
hold the bottom of the Form-Fold insulation wall forms. If you zoom in you
can see the outside of the footings are filled with rock, which has drain tile
under it running the perimeter of the home. This tile is code and even in
the best drained soil is an inexpensive bit of insurance in keeping the home
dry.
Fold-Form is a foundation wall system. It is two 2" foam pieces held
together with plastic cross members. They stack up very much like Legos. When in place and braced on the interior, the concrete
is poured down this middle cavity. The system provides an R-20
insulation value wall. The interior is then finished by attaching drywall
directly to the foam, which is screwed to plastic squares in the foam blocks.
The blocks for the system are 1' x3' which provides some design options,
like frost walls and full basement walls of varying heights. It also makes
it easy to form the lintel over the top of basement windows. The trick is
to make sure the walls and all openings are well braced and take your time
poring the walls, which was done with a conveyor belt that is guided around the
wall by a radio remote control.
We put on the sill plate that is bolted on top of the wall and is green treated
for cement contact. Then we put in the main supports for the floor and
stairwell and backfilled. Note that the first 6' of wall are water proofed with
an "ice and water shield" barrier material and then the exposed walls are treated with a cement colored
water proof sealer. The joint at the bottom of the wall and footing
was tarred to complete the seal.
We built a small section of wall to install the electric service panels. The silver box to the left is basically an A/B switch lever down and we are
using power from WPS lever up and we can hook up to our generator in case of a
power outage. Providing we do not have it at a job sight.
A few pics of the main floor support and stairwell from the lower level. Also the first floor
finished with the 3/4" glued down Tongue & Grove sub flooring.
The first floor walls were built and sheeted off and the main support LVL that
also form the stairwell to the second floor were installed.
The Second floor framing has the LVL for the front porch as part of the
structure that also supports a second floor bedroom dormer. This beam is 42' long 16"
deep and 3.5" wide and is over 600 LB ............. what a 2 (should have
been 3-4) man job that ended up to be. The floor I - Joists were laid and the 3/4 sub floor glued and
screwed.
We are using LSL headers over all the small door and window openings up to 5'.
Not inexpensive, but they are labor saving and come perfectly square precut to length at 3/5" thick and 11.25" deep. The larger openings
for closets, doors and windows are supported by LVL headers consisting of double
1.75" thick x 11.25" deep. The LVL's are nailed together and cut to length.
These members along with the engineered main beams and floor joist - makes an incredible strong system.
Next we cut and installed the very spacious 5' wide stairs to the second floor.
With a 5x5 landing and a ceiling height of 15' above they are
to be quite grand. Note the custom made OSB stair treads made from
4'x12' x 1-1/8" OSB to last forever, glued and screwed to never squeak.
We opted to manufacture our own treads instead of using the more common particle
board treads which used in most homes today. Why, for strength, and
secondly, so that they do not get damaged from a spill or moisture during
shampooing. Avoid using any particle board in a home - something I
generally advise.
Time to frame up the second floor exterior walls.
Installed the sheeting for the second floor from a set of scaffolding. We then
utilized a crane to put up the trusses. Unfortunately, bad weather
that day, cold....... then started to snow.
In between the cold and snowy days that allowed us time to work a couple of
customer interior projects we
have also managed to install the sub fascia gable ends, fly rafters and look outs.
Additionally we have been able to sheet off the roof a bit. Also installed and framed up the chimney so we
may soon light a fire to warm up.
During a cold snap we fabricated up the drop end trusses and valley sets for
the dormers. The first of which we installed on a day that then
began to snow. Ended up getting stuck on top of it with snow on the roof and had to
sweep a safe path down.
Just a few more days of relatively warm days with minimal snow and wind and
then the outside will be buttoned up and we can start to get the house ready for
finish work.
Another product you will be seeing more of is Tri-Flex 30 a roofing underlayment. It is attached with cap nails
and comes in a 10 Sq. Roll. This product is guaranteed not to
rip or blow off in winds up to 60 miles an hour. It can be left exposed for up
to six months and will not wrinkle like standard tar paper. For
building/re-roofing projects its the only answer, and we will use it on all
our projects from now on.
A few items to note: 
We installed a Fireplace Xtrordinair wood burning unit for the formal living
room. It is by far the best unit out there. Safety , how much it
heats 2500 sq ft and the look of the fire itself are all unsurpassed. The
unit brings in outside (filtered) air for combustion as well as for heating to
keep the inside air fresh and clean.
In the Master bath we installed a large fan, that takes an 8" exhaust
pipe. Very quiet and then put on a timer switch, the only way to go in a
large bath.
We put in a corner garden whirlpool tub for the master bath, note the large seat in the
corner.
Special windows like the 45 degree bay for the dinning room, and the large in-swing French style patio door for the living room.
Not much to show but the plumbing, heat and electrical are all in now.
Quite a few circuits in this box!! Some interesting statistics, we used 1000' of
coaxial cable in this house and 500' of phone line.
A Few Pics of the inside before we Drywall. 
And some of the outside before we start the finish work. 
We installed a state of the art on demand hot water heater into this
home. A product you see frequently used in other countries. Two people can take
steamy
showers all day long with this system and never run out of hot water.
The drywall technique we use is fiberglass screen tape on all corners,
joints and edges. The first coat of Setting Type 90 mud that
holds like a rock and limits any chance of cracking. Then two coats to
taper, top and feather. We used rounded corners on this home, with a heavy splatter
spray, primer and 4 mills of scrubable paint. The windows are all drywall
returns, that will have oak ledges.
We selected a #1 Character oak 3/4" wood flooring in 3", 4" and 5" random
widths for use in Elite's office and the kitchen/dining room/entryway
area. It was then finished with Golden Oak stain and a satin poly.
All of the bathrooms and lower level bar area are ceramic tile, 1/2"
Durrock and Bestbacker was
applied below the wood floors and surrounds.
The front of the home has a South Western style front porch, that when
completed will have a tongue and grove ceiling and River Rock back wall.
We are installing a "variegated"
Cherry color double 5" vinyl siding, along
with Hickory custom order soffit & fascia.
One of the first areas to be finished was the kitchen. Shelby designed
the layout and selected deep Autumn Blush Oak cabinets with a "Shaker/Mission"
door style, crown molding and under cabinet lighting. We then had a custom
4'x6' open shelf shaker style island made to our design with a Silestone granite
top.
Note the formal entryway and attractive and functional desk areas also designed into this
open concept main floor area.
A fantastic view from the large bay window in the spacious dining room which
has a beautiful arch doorway as you enter from the open concept, LARGE
kitchen. The rounded drywall corners which were done throughout make an
elegant statement in this part of the house.
Don't miss seeing the cat door next to Shelby's antique "Hoosier"
hutch. It leads to a
cat size set of steps into an enclosed storage room in the garage where cat dishes and
all the mess can be out of sight and "smell".
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and after a paint job
The second floor full bathroom features a one piece tub/shower combination
and ceramic tile floors.
The main floor "powder room" designed with privacy in mind has a
view blocking "knee wall" beautifully finished with an oak ledge.
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The "Northwoods" lower level full bathroom also features the one
piece tub/shower combination and ceramic tile flooring.
Two identical but mirror image bedrooms in
the lower level
The piece'de'resistance "master bath" has a two person corner
garden whirlpool tub and large two person dual head shower. His & her sinks,
and cupboards creatively designed with electrical outlets tucked neatly inside to hide
hair dryers and rechargeable shavers. This is
one room to which pictures can
due justice.
 
Note that all of the bathrooms are tiled with a matching ceramic tile border
in the place of base trim.
The cozy guest bedroom on the second floor, also with a beautiful view, but
no closet, just decorative oak pegs, enough to hang clothing for a quick
overnight stay.
Another large bedroom on the second floor encompassing one of the large
dormers with a great view.
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and after a change in color scheme
Our Master Suite area is also located on the second floor with the bedroom
featuring his and her skylights, wired with surround sound, ample room to relax
on the ever so comfy chaise lounge chair. Along with the "room all
its' own" walk in
closet and large windows, this is a bedroom one can spend a lot of time in.
Note the custom made entertainment center.
 
This is the lower level "Northwoods/Leinie's" area which has a custom
built solid oak freestanding front bar and built-in back bar. These in
addition to the island and the master bedroom entertainment center, were hand
crafted by
Swita Cabinetry of Mosinee, WI. You'll see more of their work in the pics
of some of our customer's projects as well. The large daylight window in
the back bar area has a boulder
retaining wall/window well outside. A cozy gas
stove to warm up the guests until the drinks kick in completes the
"up north"
look. As an added touch and convenience, the 10" wide oak ledge with
built in electrical plugs was specifically designed to display Shelby's lighted
Christmas village and runs the full width of this lower area.
On the other side of the lower level is the "Packer" room with full surround sound
for the big screen TV and a comfy 10-person green sectional. We also made room for a
gaming table that serves as a place to play cards and hold snacks for the big
game.
The five ft. wide stairs leading to the second
floor, an excellent feature we very much enjoy and one we've received plenty of compliments
on. At the top,
another sky light has provided lots of additional warm sunshine and moon light
for this large open space.
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Elites new office in working order.
 
A second office currently also a craft/exercise studio,
could be a fifth full bedroom
The formal living room has a Frenchwood patio door that opens to a raised
patio again rimed with a boulder retaining wall. This room has large
windows and features a custom crafted & designed oak fireplace mantle made by Elite in the garage shop. The
solid oak turned columns were specially made to our
print from a "post" shop in Canada. On the far end, a separate
sitting area and special place for the piano.
 
 
We had time open but it was winter so we plastic'd off the porch area and used
the heat from the fire place to install the tounge &
groove ceiling and stone
front. The first step was to pre-paint the ceiling boards and put up wire
mesh for the cement to bond to. Last was custom building a porch swing. We
used Wisconsin Pride Stone, a smaller company with a great product. We
installed this for under $20.00 per sq ft.
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A few views from the outside:
 
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And after the sidewalk and driveway were in, and the fire pit area in back
ablaze.
If you'd like to visit our show home in person, go to the contact
page, fill out the requested information and tell us in the message field that
you would like to schedule a showing.
Updated,
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
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