Moving right along

  This last week has been exciting!  

  We are moving right along with our preparations for the electricity installation and heat pump install.  To have everything ready for the electrician we needed to finish attaching 2" wide wood strips to the metal wall supports.  This will enable the electrician to place all the junction boxes where they need to go. We had a walk thru with our electrician and feel confident he will do a great job.

  The electrical rough-in is this week!  Although this weekend was nice and cool 50 - 60 degrees, the heat is coming!!

  Since we have purchased the outdoor lights, they can be installed this week. We are very excited about this because we almost finished installing the shutters. Once the lights are installed we will just about have a finished exterior.




Here are photos of updated exterior with shutters on side complete!

The shutters were a bit of a pain. Each one took a bit more time than we expected. But then most everything usually does. 😊

  With the "R" panel sheet metal "hills and valleys" we had to insert 1" thick spacers strategically behind each shutter so that they were secure and flat against the panels. Occasionally, we had a bolt in a seam of the panel that required a slight cut out on the backside of the shutter. Using carriage bolts we secured the shutters nice and tight.

  We have two lower windows and the three upper windows on the front to finish another day.

  They look terrific and we installed all the ones the electrician will need to help him place the outside lights.

Wall strips installed above and below all windows and on all upright wall supports. The tongue and groove wood planks for the walls will be nailed right into those boards. We chose this route instead of installing another framed wall to keep the depth of the walls and window frames to a more desirable size.

 We are starting to be able to purchase interior items. The small bathroom dresser/vanity is being refinished and we placed our blue and white vessel sink on top and it looks fantastic. The copper exposed plumbing with the blue handles will look great too!

 The trees think it is Spring already!

Rejoice! Ceiling rafters finishing up today - and met the AC man!

Working so hard to finish these rafters!!  18 sets - Tough work.  

This process was a bit excruciating. 😆

We trimmed each 20' board outside.   The boards were trimmed on one end, wall side,  so that it would lay flat on its side on the supporting wall frame once in place. Pre-drilled holes helped with screwing the boards to the wall supporting frame.

Next, we carried each board into the house,
carefully maneuvering about the scaffolding and placed the board on the floor.

 We connected a rope via one c-clamp, took a deep breath and hoisted one end up to rest on the center supporting beam. 

Then the opposite end on the floor was hoisted up one step of the ladder at a time until it could be rested on the side wall support.

Slow and easy was the name of the game.

Each set was securely joined in the center of the top beam with an additional board.

 Rejoice!  all 18 sets are up, secure and ready for the next step.  Getting close to electricity installation and air conditioning/furnace installation!!

We met with Platt Air Conditioning and signed off on our system. The configuration will enable us to have a very comfortable home, even when taking into account the wood burning stove we will install and the open coupala.  The coupala will have two metal boxes installed that will cover the louvers. One box will house the vents for the plumbing. The other box will house air intake system to supply the "foam" house with clean air when the wood stove is burning. Once the two boxes are installed, the spray foam insulation will seal up the coupala. Having transit windows in the hallway doors to each room will eliminate the need for return air vents in each room. 

Break for Deer Season

Just a quick post :: After our Break for Deer Season and our First Annual Thanksgiving Family Dinner, we are getting back to building.

The rafters are going in slowly and carefully. Ladders don't take kindly to your knees after continual usage. Never the less, as of today, we have rafters up and over 1/4 of the rooms.

Oh and deer season went well:

Beam me up!

Oct 22 2016 Beam and wall framing

One man - SOOO many boards

After a brief hiatus we are back at it! All the walls are framed up to 10'. The wall in the center of the house separating the living space from the bedrooms is 90% complete. Wall sections above the 10' height are being completed now.

Photo of center wall. The ceiling in the living area is a cathedral ceiling. The wall up to 10' was built in sections and lifted up and bolted down and to the adjoining sections and floor. Above 10' is a work in progress.  An opening on the left will remain there until the A/C and plywood attic flooring is completed.

The last two days we have focused on our 24' foot exposed I beam in the center of the living area and preparing it for rafters. First we attached a 2' x 10' to the top and bottom of the metal beam. These 2 bys will make installing the 40 rafters easier and more stable. Then we added two metal straps for just a little extra support. The straps will not be visible once the ceiling boards are installed. Finally, we added 24" wide plywood on both sides of the beam.  Our final vision is for the beam to be finished off with a nice finishing wood. It is way up there!

While waiting for the sun to rise high enough to work inside, we installed our first set of shutters. We tested out a few ideas and finally have this set installed with supporting block between the shutters and the exterior wall ridges. We think it looks great! What do you think?

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.