Step right up!

Today I was able to walk up my new front steps and through the front door of the house! This may seem insignificant, but up until this week, in order to gain access to the house you either had to make your way up a 10 foot long makeshift ramp to the front door, or take your chances stepping up onto an improvised stepping stool-type creation to gain access through the garage entry.

I was so pleased to see the step done! It’s done in exposed aggregate, the same finish that the driveway and walkway will be done in (eventually).

Now that the snow has melted and it's no longer a muddy mess out there, I managed to get a shot of the side/back of the house.

They have been busy inside, mounting the furnace and air-to-air exchanger, and completing the ductwork. It all looks so complicated...it's a good thing they have this very professional mechanical drawing (wink wink):

They’ve also completed the framing for the enclosed “warm zone” in the garage ceiling – this warm zone has been designed to enclose and insulate the ductwork and lines running to and from the bonus room (which is directly above the garage) to keep the bonus room from losing heat/cold through the floor. It’ll be nice and cozy up there!

I stood in my closet today

I nearly froze my tush off today but I managed to spend some time walking through the house and triple checking to make sure that things were coming together as we wanted them to. So far so good, no changes = a happy contractor!


Perspective is hard since the walls are only framed, but here is a tour:


The dining room (view from the living room)
Front foyerUpstairs hall (it will have an open iron railing and be open to the stairs and foyer below) Bonus room

Uh, hun, it' snowing in the house!

Well, no roof. I was *really* hoping that the house would have been closed in before it snowed. Now I have an inch of snow inside! The entire house has now been framed and the roof trusses are just about in. This week the plan is to finish the roof, and to get all the windows and doors installed.

To no one's shock, the dumb-ass developer - who has been months behind on everything, including keeping the contractor up to date on the status and availablilty of service, etc. - didn't let my builder know until last week that we won't have natural gas access for FIVE more weeks! There seems to be a loose plan in place to make use of propane heaters until they can heat the house with a temporary furnace but the heaters will only work if the weather holds out. Fingers crossed people...I want nothing to slow us down now.

Walls!

For the most part, I am a practical and pragmatic kinda girl. Though exciting, I have tended to approach this whole construction project with the attitude that it is an investment, a business endeavor of sorts. That all changed this weekend when I drove out to check on progress and got my first taste of emotional involvement. For the first time, I saw a glimpse of what this home would look like once completed and I was overwhelmed. There stood the first floor of my house, not fully complete, not closed in, no windows even…but it was my house. Then it dawned on me…HOLY CRAP I’M BUILDING A HOUSE! It was so much fun to walk around and visualize where things would be, what it would look like. The garage hasn’t yet been added, the footings are poured but no walls built yet. Even still, it looks great! Here are some pics of what’s standing!

I'm gettin' out the tap shoes, I've got a floor!

Slowly but surely the house is coming together. They ran into a few issues with some beams and had to re-order them, which caused delays. But I am assured that things are back on track and framing should take about 4 weeks.