A Grand Tour of the Family Handyman Getaway

The Getaway Revealed!

Welcome to the Family Handyman Getaway! You’re looking at our family room, kitchen, gathering space, relaxation zone and escape to the outdoors.

We love the Wayne Dalton insulated glass panel door that opens wide to our deck — it’s like a convertible wall. The opening is designed for a tight seal and no water penetration. We do get plenty of bad weather here!

A single Kichler pendant light illuminates our kitchen island, providing plenty of light and minimizing clutter overhead. The pendant dome measures more than a foot across, and the metallic gold finish that coats the interior adds a warm glow to the space.

Bellawood artisan flooring

This Bellawood Artisan flooring from LL Flooring was easy to install and looks as natural as our surroundings. A 4mm wood veneer tops this engineered material, and each board is 7-1/2-in. wide. We nailed our flooring to the subfloor below, but the material can also be glued down, or installed as a floating floor with edges glued.

Delta Keele kitchen faucet

This Keele single-handle pull-down faucet from Delta has the clean look we wanted, as well as modern features. The faucet cleans easily — important for any vacation home. And the pull-down handle includes a magnet to help the spout return in place each time. A few finishes are available; we chose matte black.

Kichler Fole pendant lights

We chose Kichler’s Fole mini pendant lights in the main bedroom because we like the wood-and-brass style and the extra space on the nightstands. The energy-efficient LED lights are dimmable too. These lights are as much show piece as light source.

Shower with style

The shower, tiled in Daltile’s Geometric Fusion porcelain, delivers stylish appeal with its random “pattern” design. We added a pair of built-in wall niches to hold the showering essentials.

We finished the plumbing with Delta’s Nicoli Monitor 14 Series Shower in matte black. The showerhead uses a distinctive wave pattern to expand coverage with no more water use. You can see how we installed the Delta glass shower surround.

Zura vessel faucet from Delta

The angular Zura single-handle vessel faucet from Delta works well with the Getaway’s modern, minimalist style.

Life on the deck

The composite decking from Deckorators (the Tropics product line) adds woodsy appeal with little maintenance, which means more time enjoying life on the deck. The surrounding Deckorators ALX Contemporary cable rail is nearly invisible, as are the majority of the deck screws, thanks to the hidden fasteners that hold the decking in place.

We make the most of deck time with this Traeger Ironwood pellet grill. It combines the functionality of an oven with the character of wood-fired barbecue.

Hunter outdoor ceiling fan

Mounted high on the ceiling of the large covered patio deck, the Hunter Solaria ceiling fan still adds a nice breeze when needed. The fan includes an LED light, and it’s all controlled by a convenient wall-mount switch. Installation was easy because the control receiver is built into the wiring. The fan is easy to operate, and it’s quiet, too.

Kwikset door hardware

We chose matte black door hardware on black-painted doors, but that doesn’t mean we don’t care about the visual style of the hardware. The Kwikset Halifax levers throughout our Getaway maintain the home’s simple and modern styling.

The easy-to-install design features reversible handles that work on right or left-hand doors, and they install with just a screwdriver. The hardware includes an antimicrobial finish that adds peace of mind.

Moving materials

Moving stacks of building materials — drywall, rigid insulation, lumber, siding, you name it — is an energy-draining task for anyone building or remodeling. A rough and remote worksite can complicate the manual labor.

Our Getaway project, located on wooded and often muddy acreage, would have taken five times as long to complete if not for our CAT Telehandler (model TH255C). This is NOT a tool we have sitting around the shop. We turned to the CAT Rental Store for a short-term rental that kept the Telehandler on site throughout our build.

Property maintenance

One of our goals with the Getaway project was to build a vacation home that maximized weekend enjoyment with a minimum of maintenance. Of course, we knew all along “minimum maintenance” didn’t mean “no maintenance.”

To help keep the driveway passable in our deep-woods setting, we chose the DR Power Field and Brush Mower. This tool makes easy work of clearing the dense growth that keeps on coming. With its 26-in.-wide pivoting deck, this mower eliminates tall weeds and growth up to two inches thick.

Get to any task

Step ladders, extension ladders and raised work platforms are the often overlooked heroes of our Getaway build. We relied on our Werner Ladders to install our steel siding, get us on and off the roof, finish the lighting, drywall and paint, and so much more.

These ladders took a lot of abuse during our four months of construction. We stored them on the ground outside at least half the time. And they’re ready for more work at the Getaway or in our office shop.