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!

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 40 - All walls up and roof is on

DAY 40

We have a roof!

Today the 3rd and 4th walls and roof were installed. Next few days will involve installation of the ridge cap, underpinning and more trim.

The front, better known as the "nightware wall" by our builder.  But, they are doing a fantastic job! Thank you Huff Welding.

DAY 38 - Exterior walls - antique barn door hardware

DAY 38

Every day we have rain, lots of rain. Today was first chance to start install of exterior sheet metal. Looks like a good match to the coupala.

Got a great deal on some antique barn door rollers through Instagram! These will be used on door to master bathroom.

8/22/16

DAY 29 - Door install

DAY 29 - Door install - kinda

Started and finished staining large entry door with sidelights. The smaller side door was purchased already stained(door company mistake).  The front entry door was stained with Early American Minwax stain and covered with clear polyurethane.   Racing the rain..again.

Side door install proved to be more of a test of nerves than originally thought. But it is in. 

Note: you tube videos are a wealth of information!                                      

 Front entry door was a breeze!

 And then it rained and rained and rained and rained.
                                                            If we get a dry day the sheet metal install will get started.

8/13/16

DAY 20 - Windows in

DAY 20 - Windows in!

Today the windows were installed into the frame. We purchased aluminum frame, double glaze, Low e, argon fill, clear windows from Home Depot. After pickup, haul, loading and unloading twice and installation we ended up with one crack. It may not be the last. Some adjustment was made to the large window height due to the framing which lowered them slightly. They will still be 22"+ above the floor.

Now that installation of the windows is complete we wait for the order of exterior sheet metal. Here is the color we chose. We anticipate installation in about 2 weeks.

Next: in a few days we will install the doors. This is the side door.   The front door has two side windows.

DAY 14 - framing and cupola install

DAY 14 - Starting to really see the frame of the house!

Framing is almost finished and ready for exterior steel panel walls.  Those exterior panels will be ordered in next few days. Window framing will be finished tomorrow.  We will not be installing additional wood framed walls on the interior, so extra supports are being included in the steel framing approximately every 4'.

 Cupola was hoisted up to the top and installed. Weather vane will be installed at a later date.

DAY 11 - Underground plumbing - cement pour

Here we are at day 11. All underground plumbing was put in place 2 days ago.  Forms are in place for 4" cement foundation. The weather forecast is predicting 90% chance of rain.... 

Underground plumbing includes black and grey water drains and vents for 3 sinks, 2 toilets, shower and mud room.

                 

Video here: Cement Pour

Cement pour went well. Three cement trucks full filled the foundation.  Despite the threat of rain and a few sprinkles the job was completed. With the heat index near 105 degrees, we will keep water on the cement for a few days.  At the end of this day the forms were finished for he two porches. They will be poured tomorrow.

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.

DAY 9 - Chimney Delivery - Cupola Completion

Day 9 (its been a slow week-we are not in a hurry) Yesterday, the support beam was installed. The installation of the underground plumbing will start today and the cement pour will start in 3 days. (All approximations!)

 BUT,

Today we received delivery of the chimney parts!  We will need them in the next week or so when the roof is installed.  We are using 6" SuperPro Cathedral Ceiling support, 6" x 48" Class-A chimney pipe, Guardian 304 Stainless steel (5/8" mesh) chimney cap, 6" Champion stainless storm collar and vented roof flashing. The cast iron oven will be installed in the living area that will have a cathedral ceiling.


In addition to the Chimney, the handmade cupola will be installed as well.


My talented husband designed and fabricated the cupola. He made the wood frame, painted and installed reclaimed aluminum panels on two side walls. We purchased 36x24 end-louver flush mount vents for the other two side walls and topped it off with a very nice copper deer weather vane. Some final finishing will take place this week.

His lovely wife painted the flat aluminum star so it looks 3d. There are two, one on either side of the cupola.