Building Update #16 - First Floor Sheathing and Windows Cuts

With help from my Dad, lunch from my Mom and little sister, and cold but sunny and calm weather we managed to get a lot done today.  We installed protector plates for all of our in-wall piping, finished installing all the sheathing, and routed out the windows.

The view out the kitchen window on the north side of the house.

The west side door and dining room window.

The east side door and window, and the south side picture windows.  Jake finished routing the big windows during nautical twilight...

Building Update #15 - A Turkey and Four Walls

The north and south walls survived the windstorm - luckily our site is sheltered by trees on all sides.  Jake and I spent Thanksgiving day putting up the third wall, and laying out the fourth wall.  My parents scheduled a late Thanksgiving dinner so we could get in almost a full day on site.  Today we put up the last wall on the first floor and started finishing up the plywood sheathing.  

Wall number three.

The last wall is up.  Jake did a great job - they are almost perfectly plumb!

The view from the south-east corner.  We haven't routed out the plywood from the large windows yet. 

Building Update #14 - Two Walls Are Up...Waiting for Wind

Jake and I spent this past weekend getting ready to get the walls up.  The sill plates and bottom plates took longer than expected, mostly due to all the piping penetrations on the north wall and a general learning curve.  It doesn't look like we accomplished much, but all the prep work allowed Jake to frame the north and the south walls single-handedly on Monday, and to put up two walls on Tuesday with the help of his friend Jason and my Dad.

Measuring in order to cut pipe penetrations in the sill plate.

After the sill plates were fitted, we removed them and added silll plate sealer on the bottoms, and then re-installed them. 

The entire perimeter sill plates in place.  Jake would end up removing the side wall sill plates when he started framing the long walls because they were in the way. 

The north and south walls framed up.  The pneumatic framing gun was well worth the money.

The north wall up and braced.

Jake and my Dad raising the first section of the south wall. 

One more section to go today.  There is a wind advisory in effect through tomorrow with gusts up to 50 mph.  Fingers crossed that our walls will hold.

Building Update #13 - Ready to Start Framing

Jake and his intermittent assistants have spent the last week and a half since pouring concrete finishing up the rest of the foundation details - forming up and pouring concrete for our house main and back door entries, digging a trench for and installing the foundation drain, applying perimeter insulation ("frost skirt"), and then covering up everything with crushed stone.  We never imagined how much shoveling would be involved!

Frost skirt on the garage entrance slab.

Our front door slab formed up.

Our back door slab formed up.

The front door entry finished concrete with frost skirt in place.

The frost skirt covered with rocks.  The dog did not assist at all.  

Building Update #12 - Concrete Poured

Jake oversaw the pouring of the house and garage concrete today.  The NOAA weather forecast shows temperatures above freezing through Friday.  Below are pictures Jake took of the pour.

Garage

Garage

Garage

Garage

House

House

House

House

House

Garage

Building Update #11 - The Guest Worker Program

My parents got a reprieve this weekend because Jake's parents made a surprise visit from Chicago, showing up Friday with work gloves in hand!  Jake's college roommate showed up Saturday to help out, so we are seriously thinking about starting an official Guest Worker Program.

We have the foundations all prepped and are waiting for an inspection and then a warm weather window to pour concrete.  NOAA says Tuesday through Friday should stay above freezing long enough to let our concrete cure.  Fingers crossed!

Jake's Mom and Dad.

We shoveled stone to backfill the insulation form work to prevent it from "blowing out" when the concrete is poured. 

We built forms for the concrete apron at the garage entrance. 

We had to slope the stone around the garage foundation to promote drainage.  This is the insulation skirt that is four feet wide around the perimeter.  

The garage all back filled as well.  The black pipe is our foundation drain that we had to relocate to provide the slope for the skirt insulation.