Month No 2 ends: walls

Walls, walls and more walls

Moving right along on this one man job.  The walls are going up pretty quickly and easily. We are due for a cool front and it can't come fast enough. Without insulation it can get pretty hot in there. Here are a few photos of the additional walls which completes the Master Bath, Master bedroom and almost the hallway. Sam is in the first photo.. trying to take some credit for all the hard work.

Photos from atop the scaffolding

It's no easy task climbing up there! and it is way up there. 

CHANGE:  decided to move the hot water heater to the attic to improve on the installation and run pipes to exterior back side of the house.

UPDATE: Shutters are 80% done.  They are all built, but ran out of polyurethane.

INTERESTING: the El Camino - The Texas Gravel Adventure bike race ran right by us. On a 90 degree day, those brave riders had more than gravel to contend with.

Being as hopeful as we can for nice cool Fall weather

DAY 50-52 Scaffolding and so much more

DAY 50-52 Scaffolding, plumbing and interior framing

Finished installing all support boxes inbetween the side wall beams to support the ceiling.  We received some scaffolding on loan for the duration of the build. We put together one large 14' section with two landings. The wheels are coated so hopefully we won't damage the floors that will be eventually stained. That should help us work smarter and not harder.

 In the center photo you can see we started the interior plumbing. These pipes make up the vent from the master bathroom that will go up and vent out the cupola. We are using 2" pipe for that section and metal straps to hold them in place in a slight upward angle.

Break time in the hammock on a hot day

DOORS!  Finally, no rain and time to polyurethane the doors. One coat complete. We will lightly sand and put on another coat to seal the deal!
That's Bailee photo bombing in the right photo.


















Ended the day with leveling and adding sand around
the foundation that had washed away with all the rain.

BTW, these 5 apple trees are doing great!

Can you pick them out? hint, there are cages around them.

NEXT:

For Gary: more plumbing & interior walls

For me: finish cedar window shutters, boards have been cut

DAY 43-44 Installing interior framing - more changes

DAY 43-44 Interior begins

Now the real work begins!  For us anyway. The builder has almost finished exterior framing, roof and walls. We are just missing a few minor finishes.  So now begins our two man (one man, one woman) interior construction job.

Day 43-44 was spent putting up about 30 framed boxes that will hold the ceiling joists giving us 10' walls through out the house.

The boxes were originally going to be fewer and larger, but the exterior frame went up in such a way that we had to change plans. With teamwork, my husband and I made them all and they all fit! It took quite a bit longer to make all the boxes, every one a different size. But they are done and installed. 
 

Sam loves that the windows are just his height so he can keep watch!

MORE CHANGES:

After checking measurements for built-in kennels in laundry, we decided to move the 6" wall back a foot. This will give us about 2'+  space from the door framing to the wall. At first thought, with the plumbing pipe already in the foundation, we thought it would not be possible. But it will work out great and opening the laundry room a bit will really help. Since the back entry will be through that room, it just made since to make the change.   It will take a foot away from the large second bedroom, but that won't be missed. We will be adding one wall that will enclose the pipe, but we will gain a much better floor plan.

Planning the exterior lights we decided not to put any electrical wiring in the underpinning over the porches.  So we called the electrician and put him on hold.  We will be installing wall sconces along the porch and beside each door. There will also be one antique gooseneck light above the front door for additional available lighting.  No ceiling fans on the porches.. just don't make since when it just circulates the 100 degree heat.

Addition:  Needing a project (to keep me out of his way??) I have begun design and fabrication of shutters for the windows.  Still in the planning stages, looking at cedar with stain or clear coat to maintain a darker brown color over time.  Here is the test. He is checking my measurements! color is way to lite.

DAY 10 - Rethinking the floor plan - Windows schematic

DAY 10 - Reviewing the floor plan, the use of each space and physical layout led us to make some floor plan changes.  Initially we wanted 2 bedroom home since we were downsizing. However, we ended up with a 3 bedroom plan, with one very small guest bedroom. Today we made some slight changes.

We removed the wall between the two extra bedrooms making one large 19'x12' room. We took out the closet in the hall and extended the wall towards the front of the house giving us a very large walk in closet. The closet that was in the tiny room was removed and a shelving system in the mud room will take its place. By making these small changes we removed 3 interior doors, one wall and gained alot of storage. Not to mention saving a significant number of Franklins!



We will be ready to mark cement and hand over plans for window placement in a few days. The lower side wall windows are all 35 x 71 aluminum sitting 24" off the floor. The kitchen windows are 35 x 35 and will be at 46" above the floor. Bathroom window is 23 x 35 and also at 46" above the floor.
The challenge may be placing the three windows above the front door.... Here is a view of how we designed the front. The software program is showing 6/12 roof, so the pitch will be a little different since we are building at 5/12 pitch.