December 1 - The columns arrived today. They will be installed in the next few days.
December 1 - The bump out in the garage now has a permanent post to support it. Actually, it is solid enough, the post is probably not really needed. It is there anyway. The foam wall has a stud wall in front of it for drywall.
December 1 - The lower part of the wall in the bedroom will have sheet rock. It has been stripped to make the wall flat and plumb. Sheet rock should begin in about two weeks.
December 1 - The roofers are started on the rear of the house. The shingles look very nice. The hip does not have shingles on it yet.
December 1 - Although it is not easy to see in the photo, shingles run across the house at the back. The lower portion on the left edge is not done yet because the trim carpenters have scaffold supports on it.
December 2 - Shingles are going on the front of the house around the small dormer.
December 2 - After a day and a half or so, a good bit of the rear (west) of the house has shingles.
December 2 - The chimney is being flashed as the shingles are laid around it. The chimney will have corner boards and siding to match the house.
December 2 - Siding and trim are going on the rear (west side) of the house. This is the last side that needs siding. There is other trim work (deck, front porch, etc.) but no more siding after the rear.
December 8 - The north side of the garage is roofed. Skylights are flashed and permanently installed. The water table (short roof under the gable) still needs shingles.
December 8 - Fiberglass insulation is being installed in the walls of the house and garage. Fiberglass subs are working here today.
December 8 - The roof of the house has been foamed. By insulating the roof, the attic becomes conditioned space and not excessively hot like it would be if the ceiling were insulated.
December 8 - The room over the garage has the gable wall and roof foamed. Although it is not visible in the top of the room, there is foam in the roof. Skylights are visible on the left side.
December 8 - More siding is being installed on the tall gable. Siding subs are working here today.
December 8 - Most of the roof has shingles. Roofers are working here today.
December 10 - We have extended the deck by almost four feet. This makes the width almost 10 feet. It used to end where the columns are.
December 10 - Siding is going on the chimney. It will be painted to match the house.
December 10 - This is another view of the extended deck. The plywood on the deck is temporary.
December 10 - A built in ironing board was added. The top framing member is in place. The bottom one is not in place yet because wiring has to be moved.
December 10 - The garage ceiling (and floor of bonus room office) has spray in foam.
December 10 - The bump out is insulated. A central vacuum will be installed at the far end. You can see the white vacuum pipe.
December 10 - The shower for the guest bath has arrived. Although the shower looks gray in the photo, it is white.
December 10 - The downstairs storage room is now going to be sealed (with drywall) so the HVAC ducts and wiring have been boxed.
December 12 - The deck extension is framed and ready for decking. The original deck ended at the beam near the edge of the plywood.
December 12 - Wires that encroached on the ironing board's space have been moved.
December 12 - The small dormer is partially trimmed and sided.
December 12 - The chimney is trimmed and sided.
December 12 - The rear of the house needs some siding, trim and decking. The exterior is starting to take shape.
December 15 - Since we are past the insulation inspection, we can cover the walls with plywood and then sheet rock. The plywood will provide a solid base to hold trophies.
December 15 - This wall will have sheet rock on the light colored plywood and stone on the darker, lower plywood.
December 15 -The storage room has been stripped for sheet rock. Sheet rock will be delivered tomorrow. Hanging will begin on Wednesday or Thursday.
December 16 - This is one truck of the sheet rock. We are receiving about 480 sheets. It weighs over 28,000 pounds.
December 16 - Truck 2 is loaded. There are two stacks side by side on the trucks. Notice the long boom on the truck.
December 16 - The secure storage room is ready for sheet rock. Hanging will begin either tomorrow (Wednesday) or Thursday depending on the sheet rock sub's availability. Originally I had told him Thursday, but we were able to accelerate things a bit.
December 16 - The wall that accesses the service yard has plywood on the inside. It has penetrations for the HVAC refrigerant lines, condensate lines, LP gas inlet and water.
December 16 - Sheet rock is distributed throughout the house. It is no small task moving nearly 250 double sheets (weighing about 120 pounds each) around.
December 16 - Here is how you get sheet rock to the second floor. It would be murder to carry it up stairs.
December 16 - The garage bump out is framed. There is a single bi hinge door for the central vacuum. To the right, is a closet with two bi hinge doors for access. The photo is poor quality because it is very overcast here.
December 16 - Look at the reach on that boom! The trucks are large and difficult to maneuver around the drive, dodging trees, the dumpster and fences.
December 16 - We took advantage of the old road to off load into the basement. It worked out well.
December 17 - This is looking from the sitting room to the master bath. The green sheet rock is moisture resistant.
December 17 - This is looking from the sitting room to the master bath. The green sheet rock is moisture resistant.
December 18 - The kitchen soffit is covered. The refrigerator will go on the left. Wires are for under counter lights and receptacles.
December 18 - This shows the soffits over the Laundry area (on the right) and the Butler Pantry cabinets (on the left). The far right is where the oven and microwave cabinet will fit.
December 18 - The living room ceiling will have beams in the coffer. Two beams will run in each direction.
December 18 - This is the view from the living room through the master bedroom to the sitting room. Sheet rock hanging is proceeding well. The main floor will probably be close to finished by the end of today.
December 19 - This is the kitchen looking across the island location. The opening on the left is a bump out which will have a desk. The right door is a closet. You can see the water lines for the island sink in the lower center of the photo.
December 19 - The butler's pantry is sheet rocked.
December 19 - This is the sun (breakfast) room as seen from the kitchen. The bare wall will have cabinets on the close side and a bar on the far side. The plumbing for the kitchen sink is visible in the half wall.
December 19 - This is the view looking in the front door. The library is on the left. it will have double French pocket doors. The opening on the right goes to the dining room. The living room is straight ahead.
December 19 - This is the dining room. The front door transom is visible on the right side of the photo.
December 19 - Here is the view from the dining room. The coffered ceiling is visible. It will have beams in it. The retangular opening on the right is an HVAC supply line. The small round holes in the ceiling are can lights. The larger round opening is a speaker.
December 19 - The sitting room is through the opening. The close room is the master bedroom.
December 19 - This is the master bath. A shower goes in the far corner. A soaking tub goes in front of the window.
December 19 - It is difficult to walk past the deck without taking a photo.
December 19 - The office over the garage has natural light from three skylights and the window. Each side has closets. The closets on the left will be cedar lined. The closets on the right will have shelves for office supplies.
December 19 - This is the upstairs bedroom. The bath is the far opening. The stairway is around the corner on the left side of the photo.
December 19 - This is the trophy room. The recess in the center is for a television. The fireplace is blocked from view by sheet rock.
December 19 - This is her closet. A linen closet is on the left. A built in ironing board is on the right. A cubbie is in the center.
December 23 - The garage is all 5/8in (fire rated) sheet rock. Code requires 5/8in on the ceiling only (if there is occupied space above). We upgrade the walls to fire rated also.
December 23 - This is how the stairwell looks from the garage. The sides of the garage door are visible on the edges of the photo. The basement double doors can be seen.
December 23 - From the stairs, the office/sitting area is visible. It has sheet rock over plywood walls. The plywood backing is to make the walls strong enough to hang any trophy. The floor is dusty from spackling dust.
December 23 - The trophy room has a fireplace (behind the cardboard), a recessed flat screen television (in the plywood area above the fireplace) and stone along the wall on the right where plywood is showing. Book cases will be built in beside the fireplace on either side. A painting will hide the television. It will slide to the right for television viewing.
December 23 - The storage room is large. The soffit covers HVAC ducting and wires. There will be three 4ft lights under the soffit and three more in the high ceiling. If you look closely, you can see some of the wires.
December 23 - The downstairs bedroom is nice sized. The window looks out over the water.
December 23 - A stone wall will go on the wall beside the stairway. It will be about 3 feet high. The stone wall will stop at the foot of the stairs. The black box on the wall near the foot of the stairs is a box for light switches.
December 23 - The plywood on this will will also have stone between the stairs and the bar (on the right).
December 23 - The living room ceiling will have beams in it. This is how it looks from the breakfast room opening. The black opening in the center on the right side of the photo is the HVAC air intake.
December 23 - The butler's pantry is on the left of the thin wall. A freezer, laundry sink and pantry will go on the right. The washer/dryer will be installed just to the right of the window. The oven and microwave will fit into the niche behind the Coca Cola bottle.
December 23 - The view from the living room shows the dining room on the left, the foyer in the center and just to the right of the foyer, the opening to the library.
December 23 - There are two sets of closets in the office over the garage. The closet on the left (shown in the photo) will have a cedar lining and rods for hanging clothes. The smaller closet on the right (not shown) will have shelves for office supplies and other goodies.
December 23 - From the bar in the kitchen, the bump out (left) and coat closet are shown. An island will be in front of the bumpout (note the pipes and wires in the floor). The coat closet will have a door. The bump out will have a deck. Stairs are on the left.