Power and Services

The inspector was out today and gave the okay to the power panel installation in the basement. The excavation team immediately arrived and began digging and trenching to support connection from the street service boxes to the house.

By the end of the afternoon, there are 2 trenches to the house; one to the power/cable/phone box, and the other to the gas line. The both meet at the side of the house to connect up to their own service port into the house.

The excavation gear was moved to the back of the house and dug the trench from the house to the well. The water lines are laid and enter into the house at the rear. When power is activated all the basement equipment for HVAC and water will be installed.

Siding, HVAC and Electric

The rear of the house and screened porch are now complete. The work now moves around the corner to the side with the dining and living rooms. The peak of the porch roof is a complementary, staggered, cedar shake that we will have in all the peaks and part of the front to add a nice, same color, contrasting texture.

The HVAC man is in the basement now installing the full length duct work to support all the smaller ducts extending along the ceiling to each room entrance point. Amazingly, he does everything on one foot.

The loft will have a ceiling fan and light at the cathedral peak to offer light and air flow to the loft and the living room below. By day’s end there are a myriad of wires running through all the walls and ceilings to support the switches, outlets, and recessed lighting.

Stairs and Siding

We have still been impacted by rainy days that have made for slight delays. However, the main stairway was delivered and by day’s end the entire framing team was available to raise them to the second floor.

The electrical work also began by laying out the locations of the wall outlets and switch boxes, and now that we can actually be in the space, we went around and nudged them slightly to better fit our needs. (no pix)

The siding team began and the detail needed to frame the windows and prepare for each piece of siding was more than imagined. The rear is attacked first and halfway done by late afternoon when the rains and thunder came back dramatically.

Fireplace and Skylights

The rain continued and kept the roofers away, but good weather promised for tomorrow. Nevertheless work continues inside by the HVAC team installing more of the duct work. The fireplace man showed up late morning and installed our propane fireplace, which will be great on days like today.

Later in the day, even with the rain, it was necessary to get on the roof to install our 3 skylights over the living room ceiling. The roofers are likely back in the early morning and the skylights need to be in for them to continue their work.

Roof Shingles and HVAC

Another rainy day, but the roofers were on site and began installing the shingles at the back of the house. By late morning they were done in the back, and had finished part of the front. Continuing rain prevented further completion.

The HVAC team arrived today as well. After some review of the framing location options, they gave use the lowdown on their approach. They made the cut-ins on the floor and along the walls, and installed insulation for those ducts on the exterior.

The plumbers were back finishing in the basement, and installing the smaller pipes in the bathrooms and kitchen. The French door from the dining room out onto the screened porch was installed, with the 3 living room skylights going in next.

Windows, Doors, and Plumbing

Today all the windows and exterior doors arrived. After a brief warm-up to put on the roof boards of the screened porch, they started installing windows at the rear of the house. It was a 2-man job to secure, level and nail in each window.

When the windows were done, then they began on the exterior doors. The lateness of the day only allowed the front door and the garage entrance door to the home office area just off the kitchen. The exterior garage door and basement entrance door are next.

While all this activity was going on, the plumbing team was in to rough-in the all the pipes for both bathrooms, the kitchen, the laundry area, and the pipe to the refrigerator. Tomorrow, down in the basement to finish things up.

Tar paper & Porches

With the roof boards all on, they started applying the tar paper in preparation for the roof shingles next week. The large exposed layer in the front roof is left until the 3 skylights are inserted next week when the windows and doors arrive.

The front porch was next with a lot of detail work needed to integrate the porch roof into the main roof. The porch is a basic front porch with pillars at the corners and a serpentine sidewalk to the driveway.

The rear screened porch was next. We will carry through the vaulted ceilings into the porch area for an airy, open feel with a great view. There will be several steps down to the small patio where a barbeque will be located.

On goes the roof

More rain delayed the start of the roof, but today full speed ahead. The roof trusses were first, each supported properly with angle cross-braces. The various-length wall framing pieces were then cut to their own unique length to perfectly fit between the level wall top and the truss.

Then, more sheathing up to the peaks to finish the side walls and give further strength to the structure. Then the cornice was added to overhang the roof and allow water to drip off away from the house.

The roof boarding was then added to finish off each portion of the roof. Now standing inside the house gives us a true feel for the space, size and flow – plus we are out of the rain.

Second floor, please.

The rain was gone and the team started the exterior framing on the second floor. First the sill plate all around and then building and raising each portion into place. After a short while the rear walls were up and secure.

By early afternoon the side and front walls were also up; same process as before. Here’s a rear view showing Evan’s bedroom on the left and the loft on the right. Below is the office, kitchen and dining room.

By the end of the day the interior framing was nearly complete. With the cathedral ceiling above the living room and no front wall to the loft, there was only about half the amount of framing to do. Here you see the second floor bath and front guestroom.

Second floor sub-floor

Today was tricky because it looked like it could rain any moment, dark and ominous – but the guys were there ready to go. The order of the day was to lay in the second floor sub-flooring and glue & nail it down. They first started over the dining room.

By late morning, and still no rain, so they were able to complete the full second floor. This went quite a bit faster since there will be no floor over the living room. There will be a cathedral ceiling similar to our previous home, which extends up over the dining room and above the second floor loft.


By noon things were getting darker and darker, so the guys prepped for tomorrow by lifting all the building materials onto the second floor. When that was done, the rains came.