Interior work begins

Plumbing is complete. HVAC is 99% complete and electric is almost there. After we complete the rough in for everything, we will need the framers to come back and fur out some walls and ceilings to hide a few pipes/ducts/wires/etc. After that, we're on to insulation and drywall!

The fireplace is installed and the vent pipe run. The recess for the TV is now built in as well.

Above are just a few more shots of the interior- to the left is a bedroom, complete with sliding glass door out to a front porch and to the right is the third floor loft area, overlooking the living room.

Exterior finish- finished?

We have waited through what seemed like a life-time of rain but the exterior siding and the roof are finally complete- or almost. We're missing a plank here or there but that is only because of issues we have had with waiting for brackets (last minute addition by the engineer) and doors (this is only the third time we have sent them back...but we're not bitter, honest!).

Now that the exterior is 99% complete, we're ready to move inside!

P.S. At long last we provide a pic of the west elevation (back of the house). You can't complain when your house looks this good- even from the back.

Covered up and ready to go!

The house has been sheathed and has passed inspection. We're going to get the roof felt paper on and hopefully the doors and windows in place before the massive amounts of rain we are supposed to receive in the next few days.

Doors and Windows

With sheathing comes, of course, the need for doors and windows- and here they are in the flesh...or fiberglass/vinyl. We'll need to pass yet another windstorm inspection (this time for sheathing) before we can install these. I expect that inspection to happen early next week- Monday if we're lucky...

Sheathing

The sheathing process started yesterday and you can really start to see the house take form!

This of course means that we got the thumbs up from the engineer (not without a few extra clips, straps, plates and bolts, but none the less ;-)- we also had an inspection with the city building inspector who said, and I quote- "If this house falls down, there won't be anything else standing to stay for". I guess that means we passed ;-)

Interior views

Above to the left you can see the third floor loft which overlooks the living and dining room area. To the right, you can see that no three story house is truly complete without an elevator shaft!

Above is a glimpse of the fantastic cathedral ceiling in the kitchen/living/dining space. The big holes vertically stacked to the left will provide entrance and exit to spacious decks while the fireplace and TV will go in the corner to the right.

The ceiling in the master bedroom has a cathedral ceiling as well which includes a ledge for mood lighting ;-). It provides the room with a higher elevation which gives the illusion of yet more space and at the same time creates a cozy centralized area in the master suite.

To the right is a quick shot of the kitchen area which is covered by the loft above. The big Anthony Power Beam that runs across the top of the kitchen wall as well as the post that runs vertically above it will both remain exposed to give the house a beautiful and very distinct detail.

Framing: Complete...

...or almost.

The great majority of the framing of the house is now complete. There are, as always, still a few little details that will need changed but as long as we get the OK from the inspectors we're ready to move on and dry her in!