- Plants

- and more plants

- The sign has arrived for the boulder

- The boulder and pavement were both late-August / early-September arrivals.  The grass seed has started to take, but probably won't be seen again until May.

- a dry riverbed will be "flowing" in front of the front door and will be crossed by a small bridge.

- a gravel path has been created to ensure that we and the fire department have access around the back of the house

- ... and going all the way to the national forest along the east property line

- the pink paint shows the outline of the patio that'll be poured

- the rock streambed eventually connects up with the historic water channel that we believe the miners built 100 years ago

- The railing on the loft was installed along with the curved handrail that you see being formed in the picture below.

1/14/09 - This past weekend Preston went up to deliver a few more things, to hang some Elfa shelving, and a few other odd jobs.  The punch list is still being worked on and the current version is now somewhere between 150 and 200 items long.

- The finish carpenter appears to be working on an oak handrail for the curved railing in the loft area.  This is quite fascinating and it appears he's laminating together many small strips of wood in a curved form and will then mill it down to a handrail shape.

- The fireplace sitting area in the Great Room

- and the TV viewing area

- Dining Room

- Breakfast Nook (note the lack of a table; the cardboard box in then center is the pedestal but there are no legs or a top)

- The breakfast bar (with spectator chairs borrowed from the Pool Room

- The Kitchen

- and the rest of the kitchen

- Master Bedroom (with 2 leather recliners for snow watching)

- And the Pool Room

- The table is an A. E. Schmidt and includes a drawer for storing balls & cue sticks

- Finally, identical twin-over-double bunk beds for the kids

11/23/08 - Missed it by THAT much.  There's still a bit of finish work to be done today prior to the CO. Right now the final inspections are all scheduled for Monday.  If needed, Monday could be a late night of fixing things prior to a Tuesday reinspection.  There will still be a number of items to finish after the CO, but we should be able to have our deliveries happen on Tuesday.

It's looking fantastic!  The carpeting and electrical are all in and that makes a huge difference.  It now looks like a home.

We're trying to do energy-efficient lighting everywhere, but Preston really screwed the pooch when he used his preference for daylight fluorescent bulbs in closets and laundry rooms into a decision to put CFLs in all fixtures.  It looks horrible, so we're going to try warm bulbs in the fixtures and see where that gets us.

- the big chandelier in the stairwell has been mounted

- the light fixture, water faucet, and wildlife-themed backsplash have been installed in the kids' shower room

- the billiard table light is in

- the forest backsplash and faucet are in the kids' toilet room

- the tile backsplash in the kitchen

- there were a couple hiccups on the final fireplace inspection.  The non-combustible mantle was installed according to the implied specs in the instructions.  But the inspector wanted more clarification and it turns out that the new instructions require the same minimum distance to both non-combustible AND combustible mantles.  So the mantle is gone...

- and there needed to be another 2" of non-combustible surface in front of the fireplace.  So now we have slate tiles out in front.

- the hallway from great room to pantry.  The main entry is to the left, the staircase and cubbies are just past the wall on the left, the dining room, breakfast bar, and kitchen are to the right, and the pantry is straight ahead.

- dining room, breakfast bar, breakfast nook, and kitchen now that there's light

11/15/08 - We're very close.  Flooring is done, granite is done, cabinets are done, and appliances are in.  Now it's down to finish plumbing, electrical, and security.

- The chandelier is ready to install

- The cooktop is ready to go

- The guest bathroom

- Ready for a fire

11/3/08 - Yesterday the whole family went up to check on progress and to measure out furniture and such.  It's all coming to a close at breakneck speed and it's looking like some of the longer lead furniture items won't be ready in time for Thanksgiving.  But everything that's already been ordered (except for the master bed) should be ready in time.  Today the countertops were mostly installed and the tile work completed everywhere.  The painters are going to town and the cabinets should be complete.  We're cautiously optimistic about having a Certificate of Occupancy shortly.  Perhaps as soon as next week.

- Front side drainage to be worked

- First time we've seen the fireplace with the masking off

- Most of the railings are finished

- The cubbies in the mud room area have been built

- Daddy, can you take a picture of me standing on one leg?

10/18/08 - Two weeks of work got us a lot of good trim work and finish carpentry (shelves, desks, etc.) along with exterior grading and a well-packed driveway of road base.  It all looks pretty good though there's been a little miscommunication on the desk in the master bedroom.

- The desk area in the master bedroom.  The tall cabinet on the right was removed from the plans back in August because it obscures the window and covers the spot where we'll probably mount the TV.  It'll get fixed...

- The oak shelving in the guest bedroom closet

- After taking so long to figure out what chandelier to put into the stairwell, it took almost no time to get it ordered and on site.  It looks like it took a good shot in shipping, but doesn't appear damaged at first glance.  Crumple zones...

- A nice hardpacked driveway

10/5/08 - According to the schedule we're now within a month of getting our certificate of occupancy.  And things are coming to a close nicely.  The trim work is coming along very nicely.  We're reaching closure on cabinet and lighting issues (perhaps another week before it's all nailed down).  Diane and Carolyn selected a matched pair of granite slabs last week so they can be cut and mounted.

- The kitchen base cabinets

- Backing up a step to see the breakfast bar in front of the base cabinets containing the microwave and cooktop

9/20/08 - Preston spent his first night up at the house followed by a day looking at ideas at the Summit County Parade of homes.  In addition to lighting thoughts, the most interesting idea was a "leather" treatment for the granite countertops.

- Preston's campsite on the loft

- The cherry cabinets in the master bedroom

- At the parade of homes, one of the houses included milled beetle-kill lumber as decorative paneling throughout the house.  Note the blue-stain fungus results that killed the trees these came from.

- A bronze wolf sculpture that was pretty attractive

- The cabinets were starting to get put into place.  The base cabinets are all in good shape.  The uppers in the kitchen have some issues and need to be reordered.

9/14/08 - Work continues at a breakneck pace.  The wood flooring is about 50% done, tiling is probably 90% done, and the cabinets have been set in 4 of 5 bathroom spaces.

- Random width oak planking in the dining room

- 2 flooring samples: one is just the poly and the other has stain & poly

- Example of the tile work in the kids bathroom

9/6/08 - The painting crew is going to work now applying the tung oil & mineral spirits to the ceiling cladding, braces, posts, and beams.  The fireplace is now complete.  The moisture in the floor is dropping so the oak flooring should start next week.  And an additional 25 trees or so have been taken out. For the first time I can take pictures of the entire house without having trees in the way.

- the heater is definitely on inside

- The entire back side of the house.  The tree company took out 2 24" trees this past week and this really opened up the backyard.

- The Great Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, and Master bedroom part of the house

- The stuff on the left has had the tung oil applied while that on the right hasn't.  The tung oil is really darkening the wood up nicely and bringing out the red from the red oak.

- the hearth is under construction now

- the tile in the master bathroom

8/23/08 - Tiling is underway and a paint preference has been expressed.  The boiler and heat plumbing has all been installed and is ready to be filled too.  The house should be heated on Monday or Tuesday to bake out the moisture (though things look much drier than they were last week).  Once the heat has been on for a couple days, the oak flooring will be brought in from the garage to acclimate so that it can be put down early next month.  The rock-work on the inside chimney should be done in the next week or two as well.

- The Nomadic Desert paint sample alongside of a brace that's been treated with a double treatment of tung oil and mineral spirits

- The orange stuff is called Ditra and is a crack-isolation membrane so that if the relatively soft Gypcrete ever flexes and cracks, these cracks won't propagate through the Ditra and crack the tile or grout.  The slate and remaining tile should all be down in the next couple of days so we'll be able to see what it looks like next weekend.

- Tile in the guest bathroom

- Slate in the laundry room

- The new heating manifold.  The Tank is a "sidearm" (indirect fired hot water heater) which should work in concert with the boiler to provide essentially unlimited hot water.  The copper piping on the left is the supply manifold (which supplies hot water to all of the heating circuits.  The "diagonal" piping with all the grey boxes is the return tubing with the valves (grey boxes) that connect to the thermostats.

- The plumbing under the boiler.  The pipe coming up from the floor is the house water supply line which first goes through a meter (which is apparently an RF remote read).  The black pipe that comes out of the wall and connects to the yellow tubing is the natural gas feed.  The rest of this tubing provides domestic hot and cold water to the various faucets in the house AND routes the hot supply water and cooler return water to and from the boiler which apparently has 2 circuits to supply REALLY hot water (i.e. 180 degrees) to the sidearm and 130-140 degree water to the heating system.  I think the red things at the right are the pumps to circulate the water in the heating system.  It's dark in this room, so I'll really be able to check things out when the lights are installed (or I bring a light).

- The hot water that's used for radiant heating and baseboards is actually a mix of this antifreeze plus water.  They'll be filling the system early next week and somewhere in the piping above is a circuit that can inject additional fresh water into the heating system in case there's a drop of pressure for any reason.

8/16/08 - More great progress in the last 9 days.  The concrete landings for the two decks have been poured and the railings have been built.  Both look great and the fresh-cut cedar smells marvelous.  The gypcrete has cured but is still VERY wet.  The boiler is in but not yet hooked up and working.  That should happen early next week so we can heat up the slabs and start baking the water out of the gypcrete, floors, and walls.  The cabinets have all arrived and the oak flooring is spread out and acclimating in the garage.  The doors will be set soon and painting may begin before the trim carpentry (baseboards and casement) due to a late bid and need for clarifications and options.

- Rigel eating lunch while Preston admires the smell of the new cedar railings

- Railings and stairs for both decks

- The gypcrete is definitely wet still

- But the boiler is nearly ready to be hooked up

- The inside of the boiler.  Pretty simple and small.

- But DAMN efficient apparently

- The acclimating oak flooring

-And the majority of the electronics for the solar system

- Plus the batteries.  In theory this is enough to power the boiler / pump / valves, computer infrastructure, one computer, AND the fridge for 3 days.

- Ready to start tiling the master shower

- And around the master tub

- This is the guest suite bathroom.  Tile is going down on this floor and it's heated from below, but I have NO idea what the red stuff is.  (8/23/08 update: this is called Red Guard and it's a waterproofing material)

- The three roll-up carriage doors.  The rock, corbels, changing orientation of the siding, and the carriage doors help break up the mass of this part of the front of the house, but it's still big and boring compared to the rest of the front.  The lights and shutters on this window will also help a lot.

- The lift station location

8/7/08 - Holy SMOKES!  They made a LOT of progress in the last week and a half.  The garage floor looks great, all the granite "chips" from the chimney were used to fill the dry well, and the garage carriage doors are installed (they're faced with 100 year old barn wood).

When I arrived at 1230 (took a half day off of work) the solar guys were putting up the panels, the excavator was digging with a backhoe to install a lift station for the sewar, and the gypcrete guys were fixing their equipment so they could pour the floor. CDOT notwithstanding, I'd JUST made it to take pictures before the pour covered the heat tubing forever.

- The heat tubing in the dining room and great room

- The gypcrete pour upstairs

- The excavation for the lift station

- The roll-up garage doors are dressed with the old barn wood

- And the solar guys were there installing the panels.  The inverter should be in next month and then we can start selling electricity back to the utility.

- Nice sunrise for an early trip up to Breck

- The fireplace has been installed

- The garage is ready for pouring

7/24/08 - The drywall is all hung, has been taped, and should have been textured by now.  I believe the sleepers should be down by tomorrow (for nailing the oak floor down onto the concrete floor) so we should be ready for the gypcrete pour next week if everything goes well.

- We're still struggling with nailing down the lighting.  We'd finally found a nice yet inexpensive surface-mount fixture for upstairs (where we have 24 surface mounts) but it turns out to be a trim piece for a can.  Back to square one...

- Example of the mudding and taping that's been done.  As for texture, we're going for a medium knockdown texture which is reportedly much easier to patch nicely than orange-peel texturing that we're more familiar with.

- They've started installing the doghouses on the ridges of the cold roof parts of the house.  Warm air is able to escape through these ridge vents which draws in cold air through the soffit vents.  See the last picture from 3/1/08 for the soffit vent.

- Beetles continue their rampage through central Colorado.  Check out this satellite picture from north of us in Granby.  These brown trees have all been killed by beetles.   Now check out this Breckenridge ski area picture.  There are fewer brown trees but it'll look like Granby within a couple years.  We're expected to lose 90-95 percent of the trees, but we'll get nice views in exchange (assuming that the forest service knocks down the trees in the national forest that border high-risk wildland-urban interface areas like ours).

7/12/08 - WOW!  Those drywallers are fast.  Last I heard, drywall was being brought into the house on Wednesday.  As of Sunday the vast majority of the drywall is already up on the walls.  I'd bet they can have it all up by noon on Monday which leaves the rest of the week for edges, taping, mudding, sanding, and texturing.  Then it's time for the tubing in the floors and the gypcrete floors.  I'm guessing that all this should be done the end of the month.  Then comes flooring, cabinets, finish carpentry, finish electrical & plumbing, etc.  We're still slated to be in by the end of October.

- The PVC for the garage drains is in and being pressure tested.  These drains run out the back door into...

- a drywell that's been dug.

- The garage is one of the few spots where the drywall hasn't been finished.

- The drywall up in the loft; for the first time we can't see all the way through the master suite.

- The bonus space above the closet at the head of the master bed.  Jayme's fantastic idea (see 7/4/08) will put a surplus 6x2 window into the wall (below the beam) and will REALLY lighten that space up.  Plus a couple sconces will go in flanking the window.

- The lower-right window is the new one that arrived late last month.  It looks so right there that I didn't even notice it until I was reviewing exterior pictures one evening after Rigel and I got back.

7/4/08 - There've been some delays due to the solar permit and inspection, but we should be moving again this next week with interior sound insulation probably happening on Monday or Tuesday.  The drywall will be stocked on Tuesday.  By the end of the month we may have the gypcrete floors poured and have a solid schedule that gets us in the house by the end of October.

Trilogy had the house cleaned up really well to use it as a site for their annual Raise the Roof marketing event.  It's looking great and Jayme had a fantastic idea on Saturday for a minor addition that will make use of an extra window and really improve a bonus space.

Oh, and the tub was raised up to the second floor by the guys last week.  All it took was a ramp, genie lift, and a whole bunch of guys...

The solar system consists 2 separate arrays (one over the garage and one over the great room) that can operate independently (in case one is shaded before the trees all die).  The power is fed into a control system and inverter which should be sized to operate our boiler, valves, pumps, security system, and computers for up to 3 days.

- The low voltage wiring has been tidied up and readied for drywall

- The bottom part of the low voltage.  Note the blue conduit which runs through the crawlspace and then straight up to the attic so that in the future wires can be run almost anywhere without impacting drywall.

- A couple additional windows arrived and have been installed.  This picture shows the new window in the 2nd story nook (right over the covered deck) as well as the corbels that have been installed this month.

6/14/08 - Preston and Rigel got in one final walkthrough prior to installation of insulation and the start of drywalling.  As of 6/20 it's expected that we'll get the insulation installed next week and drywall shortly thereafter.

- The roofing is moving forward

- The siding on the North End is pretty much done now

- A Genie lift and the cast-iron, two person master bathtub that it's going to lift

- The excavator has done some digging to tie into the water and sewer.  It looks like the sewer line isn't buried deep enough.  If it had been buried at 9', we'd be able to flow sewage from the house out to the line in the street.  But the connection out in the street is only 6' deep, so we'll have to install a "lift station" that grinds up the sewage and pumps it up to the sewer connection.

- Supports for half of a 2 kilowatt solar electric system that our renter has decided to put in.

- The original cedar decking has been swapped for Veranda composite decking.

6/7/08 - Preston and Jaymes met up with Dan to do a walkthrough on the plumbing.  Things have REALLY come together for the electrical, plumbing, and low voltage in the past 10 days.  We could be putting in drywall in about a week.  I believe the electrical inspection has already occurred and the plumbing inspection is scheduled for Monday.

The walls and floor joists are VERY full of cables & pipes and such.

- This is our hot water heating manifold.  The pairs of copper tubes are supply and return runs for each "circuit."  Right now the system is pressurized with air for the inspection.  The system will be completed with control valves replacing the connections to the vertical tube on the right.

- The fireplace has been built out inside the great room and the hole has been cut through the panel to access the outside chimney.

- The roofers have started (though a color selection had yet to be made).  We've checked out the color and it'll be fine.  Turns out the house is the color of pine needles while the roof will be the color of the tree trunks.

The exterior masonry is done and looks fantastic.

- The finished chimney.  Also note that the white oak timbers which turned golden upon receiving a SuperDeck UV protectant / sealer have darkened a bit.

- And wainscoting.  The body is a split-face granite while the cap is a sandstone (because it can be worked into an appropriate shape).

- Pretty thick wiring needed to get 200 amp service into the house.

- Wiring of the electrical box is taking place.

5/18/08 - After taking last week off, the plan was to take off this weekend as well.  But we wound up back from IRC's Annual Meeting (in Estes Park this year) early and Preston wound up heading up to check on progress (since rock had been delivered and installed on the chimney already).

The chimney is nearly done and looking great.  The masons are chipping the edges of each stone (most are about 6" thick) to get a VERY tight finish.  The siding, electrical, plumbing, and low voltage are nearly done too.

The water flowing under the neighbor's driveway currently washes through our lot right behind the house.  We'll have to make a stream bed for it to keep it away from the house.  The crawl space is still pretty damp even with all the fans running for weeks and the sump pump running for 22 seconds every 10 minutes or so.  I estimate that it's cranking out 25-50 gallons an hour or so.

- Amazing changes.  The chimney is all rocked since we were last here.  Plus the corbels and external timbers were all sealed with a UV protectant (which turned the white oak to a golden color).

- This is the sample of this rock that we located last July.  The mason ordered the same stuff and the match is pretty good.

- And this is the garage part of the house.  To offset the large bulk of the garage, the sectional garage doors will be made from reclaimed barn wood and adorned like carriage doors.  And shutters will be added to the windows.  Plus the corbels provide additional distraction.

- First look at the stone wainscoting near the front door

- And finally, the master bathroom whirlpool tub has arrived.  So the tub deck has been framed in, in preparation.

5/4/08 - Nothing much new to report.  Work continues on the electrical, plumbing, and siding.  The siding is getting close to completion and still looks great.  I expect that we'll do our final closeout walkthrough in about 2 weeks.  Maybe gypcrete in 3 weeks and drywall in 4.  Or so.

- Rigel & Rees; much of the siding is done on 2 sides of the Great Room

- and the lights and cladding are done on the back porch

4/27/08 - We continue barreling towards closing up the walls and pouring the floors.  As expected, the water table is pretty high in our area and water has come up inside the foundation.  Since it was expected, there's gravel most of the way around the perimeter which helps the water flow to a sump.  The sump pump was installed this week but it appears that the float is not working because when we arrived yesterday it was making one helluva racket that could be heard from outside the front of the house.

- The siding on the back of the house is close to being done.

- The siding on the west end of the Great Room was done this past week.  Note the sheet metal at the bottom.  This will rust and then be varnished to protect it and mute the orange color.

- More of the metal on the south side of the Great Room.  The north side's wainscoting (along with all the wainscoting visible from the driveway) will be done in a split-face granite that we like.

- Some of the in-wall plumbing in the master bathroom.  Here you can see the inner workings for two sinks (drains flanked by hot and cold water supplies) as well as the in-floor radiant heat plumbing (the copper piping that's in the wall and coupled to clear plastic tubing).  I'm NOT sure what the PVC in the wall is for though...

- And we have access to the crawlspace above the guest bedrooms and bathrooms.  Thick SIPs...

4/20/08 - Work continues at a good pace.  The water plumbing and electrical are nearly done and the gas is up next.  John and Preston will be working on low voltage plans so that we're ready for drywall in early May.  The siding is about half-done and still looking fantastic.  After drywall comes the sleepers, in-floor radiant tubing, and the gypcrete pour.  Then flooring, cabinets, doors, trimwork, etc...  We're still on track for a Sept / Oct certificate of occupancy.

- The cricket uphill from the chimney has definitely been installed and sealed with the Grace Ice and Water shield

- Front and Center is mostly done now and looking good.  The corbels have all been assembled and will be attached as the siding is installed.

- Along with a lot more with the back

- This is the plumbing in the upstairs guest bathroom.  Note the staple-up radiant floor tubing designed to keep all the other plumbing from freezing in the cold garage.  If this heating loop doesn't kick on too often then we may have to put the garage heater on a thermostat in order to keep the garage above freezing.

  - 2 of the 4 tubs have been installed and protected with OSB.  The one from downstairs has mistakenly migrated upstairs and will be carried back downstairs for installation in the Powder Room.  The master bathroom's spa tub (Kohler massaging Tea-for-Two tub) is enroute; the framing will be modified for this tub shortly.

4/13/08 - WOW!  What a difference a week makes.  The electricians are still going to town and seem to be close to finishing.  The plumbers have had a solid week behind them and a lot of the drain work seems to be done.  Plus many of the supply lines have been run as well as some of the tubing for the in-floor radiant heat.

But the BIGGEST differences are on the outside.  The ice & water shield was put down, along with the sleepers and top deck, so the roof is now dried in.  AND EVEN BETTER is that the siding has started to go on and looks fantastic.  Very exciting to drive up today and see the difference.

Yesterday Diane, Preston, Rigel, and Andromeda hit the town to start looking at furniture, pool tables, and an ATV (to mount a BIG snowblower on).  So, there's a ton of things going on.

- Some of the siding on the front

- Close up

- The backside; changing orientation of the channel rustic siding really adds some visual interest

- Detailing on the window trim

- Plumbing in the crawl space.  The large PVC is drains, clear Pex (?) is for the in-floor radiant heating, and the red & blue Pex up in the joists are the hot and cold water supplies.

As for the house itself, the electrician has made about 4 days worth of progress and the plumber's supplies have just arrived.  They're making progress on the roof and the fascia & soffits are nearly

- the last of the windows was finally installed and looks GREAT

- The plumber's supplies, ready to go

- Corbels that will go over the garage

3/26/08 - Preston went up to walk through with John and Mark, the electrician, on short notice Tuesday morning.  In about 2 hours, many decisions were made and/or clarified.  The electrical rough in should go pretty quickly.  The plumbing should start shortly.  And the siding has arrived.  If the roofers could just catch a break with the weather, the house could be weathered in fairly quickly...

- Another look at the soffits and fascia.  The formerly white spruce (treated with LifeTime) is definitely darkening up and still looking greenish gray

- The chimney chase has been built and looks massive.  The bundles at the base are the siding

- Another neighbor with an impressive ice damming problem

3/22/08 - Taking a weekend at home to concentrate on paperwork (taxes, house plans, etc.)

3/16/08 - Richard & Preston dropped by the house to check on progress after dropping Rigel off for his first day of ski school.  The first soffits are starting to starting to turn from a new-spruce white to a greenish gray; they'll eventually go more gray.

- The sill-plates have been placed for the chimney and the roof has been  notched.

- One of our neighbors appears to have a recurring ice damming problem.  Having checked out all the houses in the neighborhood over the years, we were determined to see what we could do to prevent such issues.  Hence the ventilated roof described on the last 3/1 picture.

3/8/08 - Rigel and Preston made another trip up this weekend.  The fascia and soffit work continues.  We're still needing to decide on the short wall separating the kitchen area from the mud room area.

- The forklift on the back side of the house along with the fascia and soffit

3/1/08 - We made a surprise visit to the house after Rigel declared "I wanna go to Breckenridge."  Of course, as we crested Hoosier Pass he woke up and said "I don't wanna go to Breckenridge.  I wanna go home!"  He opted not to leave the car when we got there and then barfed on himself (gaining some minor measure of sympathy).  Anyway, the roofing is well underway along with the fascia, soffits, and some window raising.

We hope to finally nail down all the kitchen appliances and plumbing fixtures shortly.  Then its off to cabinet design and such.  Electrical should go in this next week and possibly plumbing.  Exterior trim and siding is also about to begin. Then we're ready for drywall.  From that point, it's 4-6 months to finish it all.  Current estimates are that we'll be in by next snow season.  Possibly September or October.

- Here we see ice and water shield applied to the non-SIP part of the roof

- Here's the fascia and soffit over the back deck

- Here's fascia over a SIP.  On top of the roof, we'll get sleepers and a second sub-deck on which the Ice and water shield will be applied.  This makes it a cold roof or "ventilated" roof.  This is to prevent ice dams from causing water damage.

We also need to determine whether or not to include a short section of wall near the kitchen.  Preston has modeled this quickly using 3d Home Architect (see above on 3/9/08 for links)...

- The location where the cricket will be going to prevent water from collecting at a horizontal seam between the roof and the wall

- Great Room, Loft, Dining Room, and Staircase

- Staircase from above

- They're about to put on the roof, so they had to shovel off everything that collected.  This is letting a lot of water drip into the house currently

- They also finished the covered deck on the back side of the house

2/16/08 - Preston and John did a plan and house walkthrough along with lunch and viewing examples of different things.  Overall, it took about 6 hours but we made a lot of decisions (including door swings and such).  The staircase is done and all the construction debris has been cleaned up.  I'll take pictures of it all next weekend when we're not running through to make decisions on window heights, door swings, light locations, etc...

- Example of a carriage door (this is a standard roll up garage door with reclaimed barn wood dressing)

- Example of a high efficiency boiler

2/10/08 - Woo HOO!  We have half a staircase and most of the windows installed.  Having the windows in makes a night and day difference.  Next week we have a walkthrough to finalize rough-in locations for plugs, plumbing, etc.  Lot's of pictures since now I've got enough light to see and take decent pictures.

- Front door and staircase

- West end of the Great Room

- Breakfast nook and master bedroom nook

- Staircase, halfway through the second attempt (John had the first try ripped out because it was wrong)

- Staircase from the breakfast nook

- Great Room looking SW

- Great Room looking North (fireplace goes between the windows)

- Kitchen area; sink goes under the right one

- Breakfast Nook

- Loft with built-in bookshelf

- Diane's Closet with door framed in

- Nook in Master Bedroom

- just to the left of the last picture, this is the Office corner

- looking out into office & nook space from the bathroom

- similar view, but looking through the main master bedroom door

- window in the pool room with Rigel's bunkroom wall

- Hallway from Pool Room to Master Bedroom

- Downstairs Powder Room

2/2/08 - The interior framing is mostly done.  The windows are starting to go in and the staircase is about to be built.  It's looking great!  Now we're picking appliances and starting to think about furniture and electronic equipment.  It was too dark to take pictures of the downstairs framing, but here are some other pix...

- The framers rounded off the platform on the loft.

- This is the pool room.  On the other side of the wall is Rigel's bunkroom.

- Standing in the pool room, looking at Andromeda's room (with a bathroom on the right side of the picture).

- Standing in Andromeda's bathroom looking towards her closet.

- French doors from master bedroom to the loft

- Diane's closet.

1/21/08 - Having finished the roof everywhere, the framing crew was busily working to install the underslung SIPs in the garage space.  There's no interior framing yet but we're pretty close to having the house weather-tight and well insulated.

- The last section of roof.  Yea!

- The 5' knee-wall under that new section of roof.  This is in the bunk room.

- Putting up an underslung panel (note the orange expanding / sealing foam on the T&G joint between the panels)

1/18/08 - We went up on the 13th to check progress and meet with John on framing, lighting, and electrical details.  We wound up not taking any pictures but the windows have arrived and the rafters over the remainder of the garage have been put it.  As of today the interior framing is well underway despite the bitter cold weather (framing started in earnest last Wednesday when the high temperature was 4 below zero).  Preston will be heading up on Monday (MLK day) for a house visit and budget variance meeting.

- Before they left, the Woodhouse crew started installing panels in the over-garage space.  You can see how the trusswork in this part of the house is standard but we get the efficiency of SIPs by using SIPs horizontally rather than vertically.  Except for floors, the entire living space is encased in SIPs.

- Current overall status.  We still need to get trusses installed over the last part of the garage.  And the garage holds the exterior white oak corbels and materials for the back deck.

12/19/07 - No new pictures are expected before around 12/29 or so (depending on when the baby decides she's ready to be born).  No additional work has been performed while Trilogy gets quotes from local framing crews for finishing up the work.  Tomorrow we should decide whether to bring the Woodhouse crew back to finish the job in mid-January OR if we'll have a local crew finish it up and do the interior framing.

12/9/07 - The Woodhouse crew leaves tomorrow after a day of work.  They've continued their great work and are still on-site tonight putting up ceiling panels in 2/3rd of the garage.  As expected, they're not quite going to be able to finish but made one helluva good run at it.  The Trilogy crew will wrap things up and we should be weathered in soon enough.

- The entry porch (this is made of white oak vice the red oak that's inside)

- The spaces are pretty impressive.  It's almost a shame to break up some of these vistas by closing off the master bedroom

- The entry porch and stairwell

- Overall

12/2/07 - Diane, Rigel, and Preston went up to check out the progress.  This was the first time that Diane has seen the project since the foundation.  Rigel, on the other hand, had little interest in the project but was having a GREAT time in the snow just spinning and falling down.

The guys all had a good Thanksgiving break and were able to work a few days prior to Saturday's snowstorm which dropped and/or blew 6-12" around.

We're now to the point where the ceiling cladding (T&G cedar) and roof panels are going into place.  It's really amazing progress.  It's touch and go whether the crew will be able to finish by the time they're slated to leave...

- Overall view on Sunday morning

- Great room with all walls and roof panels in place

- The delicate step of roofing.  After putting a lot of 8" ring-shank galvanized roof panel nails into the panels, one takes the claw end of a hammer and punches 2 holes in the OSB so steel hooks can be driven in.

- Then the forklift lifts the panel

- Master Bedroom ceiling in the morning...

- 1st attempt at a primitive composition of 3 photos.  I'll have to work on this...

- Great room is looking good

- From below the backside is an imposing blank wall.  Michael and Carolyn are working on surface embellishments that'll make this a lot more visually interesting.

11/18/07 - Preston come up for a 3rd day with the crew.  The truck arrived at 1130 and was unloaded quickly and work commenced immediately with about 25 panels being installed by the end of the day.  The guys have Monday and part of Tuesday to work before the Thanksgiving break.

- Shawn, Jesse, Craig, Terry, Eric (Tony's gone hunting)

- The frame still awaits the final timbers but the guys finished out the 2nd floor and put up the complete 3rd level of the frame.

- The garage was another project undertaken while waiting for the delayed 2nd shipment.  It's solid, level, and has passed the Terry Deflection test.

- The joists above the garage are on 12" centers to help ensure a solid foundation for a pool table somewhere up above.

- The SIPs arrived on the 2nd truck.  These "Structural Insulated Panels" are exactly what the name implies: structural and insulating (yes, and panels too).  You could build an entire house out of these.  Indeed, half of this place is built exclusively out of panels while the rest is panels nailed onto the oak frame.

- Here's the panels going up on the south side of the dining room and great room.

11/16/07 - DOH!  The Wednesday truck was looking like a Saturday delivery (which was going to work out GREAT for Preston because he could see the final timbers going into place) but now it's delayed until Sunday.  So the crew's taking a day off and resting up for a Sunday-Monday push.  But in the interim the garage was framed in, the structural steel was put placed in the garage, and the 2nd floor joint / floor system was installed.  The crew is kicking ass but has run out of productive things to do due to the delayed delivery.

11/15/07 -

11/12/07 - Whew!  The Woodhouse crew started work on Thursday (11/8/07) and got the first floor framed up in preparation for an early delivery of timbers on Sunday (11/11/07).  Preston joined the crew on Sunday and Monday.  The truck arrived and was unloaded by 1130.  By 1230 lunch break was over and the majority of the first floor timbers were in place by the end of the day.  By the end of Monday the majority of the delivery had been lifted into place (the rest will be in place by Tuesday noon).  The second floor flooring and garage framing package will arrive on Tuesday.  The second truck with the rest of the timbers and the first set of panels is expected to arrive on Wednesday.

It was amazing to watch.  The trees were cut within the last 2-3 months and are machined and erected while still green.  They'll season in the final assembled form given how fast the crew works.  Total error tolerance across the ENTIRE house is <5mm.  There's not a single shim in the timber frame portion of the house because the foundation was within 3/16" of level everywhere (it's one of the 5 best foundations that Craig has ever worked on).

The Crew:

- Sunday's starting point (blank deck with "holes" for the posts)

- Truck arrives.  Nifty sliding setup that keeps everything inside clean.  It was running with a maximum load of around 80,000 pounds.

- 1 post with 4 braces

- Check out these joints between posts and beams.  The top and bottom posts mate to the beams via mortise and tenon joints.  The side beams (joists in this case) are mounted to the assembly via a shoulder joint and a chinese dovetail joint.  All machined and shipped without needing a test fitting.  They all slide together (sometimes with encouragement) and are VERY solid.

- Progress in early-afternoon on Monday, 11/12.  The great room is mostly finished (just 7 more rafters and then the peak.  The master bedroom has been framed and by noon tomorrow they'll have finished the 2nd story frame and will start on the 2nd story floor system while waiting for the rest of the 3rd level timbers, rafters, and panels.

11/3/07 - Nice foundation pour!  No voids.  The tops of the walls are nicely finished too and straight as an arrow.  We arrived while Al's foundation crew was using a crane to lift out the forms and load them onto trucks.  Quite a sight.  John from Trilogy said that they did great work and did it fast, but DAMN!  Hopefully John's finally enjoying a weekend with family after one of those travel days from hell (rear ended at the toll booth in a rental car, event canceled by a hurricane, and 3 projects with crises to resolve over the phone before spending time with family).

Now there's some perimeter drains and backfilling to do.  The big (6-man) Woodhouse crew starts driving from PA tomorrow in a van & truck to start work on Thursday.  They'll put in laminated beams, columns, floor joists, and floors in preparation for the frame delivery on Monday the 12th (Veterans Day; THIS veteran plans on being up there to work his ass off on Monday [and maybe Sunday]).

- Crane removing the forms

  - Rigel and Preston taking a tour (near the front door)

- Back side of the garage

- Looking south (at the north end of the garage)

- Looking Northeast (the pads inside the foundation are to support the massive timber columns that support the upstairs floor)

- Looking southwest at the kitchen and dining nook.  That's an 8' wall of concrete!

- Looking southwest from pantry to kitchen to nook & dining room to great room.

10/30/07 - The footers were poured today.  Despite a possible snowstorm tonight & tomorrow the foundation guy plans to set up the foundation wall forms tomorrow, have them inspected on Thursday, pour on Friday, and tear down the forms on Saturday.

10/27/07 - Rigel had daddy take him up to Breckenridge to play in the big dirt piles.  While up there he observed that the footer forms are pretty close to being done.  Weather doesn't appear to be a factor between now and a pour on Monday or Tuesday.

- King of the Mountain

- Garage Area

- Front Door

- Main part of house

10/26/07 - Though the permit was approved on the 18th, it couldn't actually be picked up until a Development Impact Fee (approved by election in 2006) had been paid or delayed.  After executing and notarizing the paperwork yesterday, FedEx delivered the paperwork today and Melinda from Trilogy Partners is our hero for having walked it through the courthouse for all the necessary signatures.  We now have a permit in hand and the foundation contractor has already started on the forms for the footers.

10/24/07 - The excavation is done.  Staking today or tomorrow with footers potentially on Saturday.  Goal is to get foundation done by 11/1/07 so we don't go into the Summit County winter procedures with freeze checking every day.  Woodhouse crew scheduled to arrive on 11/8 to start in on the first floor package.  Hoping to schedule the package for delivery on 11/12.

The permit was issued on 10/18/07 after a brief "scare" that a county engineer might delay the permit until April/May due to a possible "wetlands" concern.  After providing professional testimony and some detailed photos, we were allowed to sign a form and are off & running!

Pix that follow are from 10/20.  A foot of snow is due tonight and tomorrow night.

- They brought in one big-ass machine to pull the stumps and dig the foundation.

  - It's REALLY big

- Impressively so, actually

- Really, Preston WAS impressed

- That's a 6' bucket!

In September the plans were finally finalized and submitted to the building department for approval. 

Pictures of the lot after dropping trees

After thinning trees we're getting a view of the Peak

The Mother of All Chippers