The roof

Last Friday, the roof trusses were installed and today the roof sheathing was placed...what a difference it makes in the way the upstairs rooms feel! A temporary stairway is in place, so we can really see how things are going up there. The crew plans on completing the SIP portions of the roof this week, and once we get a decent dry stretch, the timber beams and tongue in grove paneling for the the living room ceiling can be placed.

Keeping an eye on the prize

What a dramatic change in the past two weeks - all the SIP walls are up. Now the progress becomes less obvious. Today all of the upstairs walls were framed and the stairway was started. Here's a little eye candy (to me anyways!) of the revised exterior of the house...with the metal siding, red windows, and updated stonework.

Onwards and Upwards!

Today Matt and I met for lunch at the land and were pleasantly suprised to see the second story going up! All of the SIP walls are now in place and tomorrow they will start on the stairway or the SIP roof panels. Also, the concrete guys were out to prepare to pour the porch floor, outside entry, and living room steps tomorrow. The timber for the beams is scheduled to arrive this week, and next week the windows should arrive! Today was a good day.

On a side note, we moved this past weekend to our condo sublet. What a job with our two little guys! We're still not done moving the garage stuff, but are anxious to close on our house sale on the 19th - that will be a big relief.

Progress continues....

The first floor SIPs are almost all up - the missing spaces are mostly windows...and we can tell that the windows are going to be pretty impressive in the living room. The ceiling is high - 13' - and all glass on the South facing wall. You can see in the photo the media room door and window from the living room. The concrete closet will be poured tomorrow. Other concrete will have to be delayed due to rain, but what's new?

October is off to a good start!

After being away for almost a week, we were pleasantly surprised upon our first visit back to the land. The walls are going up and most of them should be erected by the end of this week. Today Tim placed the styrofoam forms (ICFs) for our concrete closet - my "safe room" from tornadoes, since we have no basement. (You can see that in the photo - the white walls.) Currently the first floor of the West side of the house and most of the North side are up, as well as the South facing dining room wall.

The plan is to have our garage floor, the master closet walls, porch floor, exterior entry, and living room steps all poured with concrete this Thursday. It's very exciting to have something to look at finally - and even more fun to walk around and picture the final product in our minds.

The Slab

Yesterday all the tubing was laid for the radiant floor heat...in the picture you can see that the bathroom, living room, and media room have denser tubing for warmer floors.

Today the slab was poured! Overall, it went well... however, since this will be our finished floor we are being pretty nit-picky. There are some large scratches in circular patterns in the entrance to our bedroom which are pretty disappointing. One "flaw" we were pleased with are a few little leaf prints in the entryway to our home. We are very glad to have the ball rolling again. Tomorrow they will make saw cuts in 8 ft intervals on the diagonal as control joints to prevent cracks in the concrete. The garage slab as well as the porch, outside entry, and living room steps still need to be poured - hopefully soon.

Progress.

Today Tim leveled the gravel in preparation for the slab and started to lay the vapor barrier and styrofoam that will be under the slab. This is something Tim takes great pride in...really insulating the house, making it as energy efficient as possible. He'll finish the vapor barrier and insulation tomorrow and then the HVAC crew will come in to place tubing for the heated floors. The lastest thought is that the slab will be poured on Thursday...no promises, though!

Patience is a virtue.

Still nothing. Here are a few pics of the garage with some of the SIPs piled next to it. Also, with some help from Mom and Dad (Laura's), we seeded the septic field with a woodland prarie mix two weeks ago. The rye grass is sure sprouting - at least something's happening on the site. We are hopeful that the slab will be poured next week (it's been said before...). Then the concrete needs to sit for 3 days untouched - in order to get the best finish for staining. Since the concrete is the final finish for the main level floors, the workers will have to be very careful throughout construction.

Garage

Well, after a frustrating week, we do have something to show! The garage has been framed, and it's so exciting to see the drawings come to life....it's getting easier to imagine a house on our lot. The plumber had a good day today - got all the PVC pipes laid for all the drains in the house. Tim also installed all the tiling for the sump pump - around the perimeter of every wall. There will be a lot more plumbing next week, as the tubing gets laid for the heated floors among other things. The SIPs will be delivered Monday and stored on-site until we're ready for them - hopefully the following week.

Snails Pace

We are slowing inching forward. Our plumber's truck broke down and so we're stuck waiting for him in order to make any progress with the foundation floor...."why can't he take a cab?" was my question, but apparantly his truck is pretty important. They did start framing the garage today, which is at least something visible. Our SIP panels are done and they will start charging us $180/day to store them after Sept. 10th...unfortunately, due to the plumber issue, we won't be ready for them, but they will be delivered and stacked safely on site next Monday. It's been a frustrating day.