Taping and Prepping…

Monday, December 9, 2013

They were busy at the walls again. This time they are taping the walls and using compound to seal seams and prep them for the future.

An Intricate Job

It is amazing to me what all they have to do to get the walls ready to finish. They are trimming the wall-to-wall and wall-to-ceiling joints. They have to seam together side by side wall board.  They have to seal around outlets. You can see the number of patterns in the kitchen, here. And this is only one room! (And there are 7 more to go.)  I really didn’t know how involved this was!

Living room Prepping

More intricate prepping patterns – this time looking out the front windows.

Stilted Compounder

This is my most fun picture. Look carefully and you will find one of the workers walking on stilts so he could reach the ceiling joints. They’re made of metal, with grips around the shins! Just out of curiosity, I had to ask him if it took him a long time to learn how to use the stilts – he told me “No.” I’ve seen them at other building sites, but had no one to ask about them. How cool!!!

Another new development! We are going to have new neighbors! There were many “guys” buzzing around up the street. One had what looked like architect drawings, one had a phone glued to his ear as he aimed a spraycan at the ground… Others were marking other areas with spray cans, and still others were pushing away snow. Interesting!!! The other house across the street from us has kindof stalled. No new changes for about a week. They are still waiting to get a roof on – their trusses are here already, just no work that we have seen. They must be going through a lull!

It is interesting how the houses seem to have pauses as they “grow” then they have growth spurts where lots of things happen all at once! Our contractor told us that his uncle (who lives on “Kelly Road” (just up the hill from where we lived) in Washington, is coming out here to work on the trim in the house! It is so funny how small the world is!!!

 

 

Putting Up the Walls, Part 1

We had to go peek at the house. We hadn’t gone sooner because of the snow and wind. Here’s the temp:

The Temperature!

Putting wall board up takes time. We saw them putting it up on day two. Crew of four. They had just turned off the heater when we walked in. I think we startled them.

It really is beginning to look house-like inside.

The Master Bath

This looks so neat and tidy! But not much color, yet. We’ll Fix that!!

Guest Bedroom

Not only is the camera responding slowly in the cold (remember the heaters got turned off?), it now has a dirty lens!

This bedroom seems larger than I imagined.  It is so exciting to see how the walls are changing the perspective we have of the house. It is almost like it is growing and expanding before our eyes.

Guest Bathroom

The Guest bathroom shower stall seems large in a large guest bathroom. It is hard to get any perspective with no landscape in the room.

All Weathered Up

I got caught in the picture. Note the layers: ear protectors under the hat and a super puffy jacket. This is over two layers of clothing! (Long underwear rocks!).

The Inside of the Custom Garage Door (The Garage)

Pink insulation, wall board and plywood all in one room.

Beautiful Sunset

It can still be very beautiful even when it is frigid – and besides 10 – 12 inches of snow…  Sunset, snow, mountains, wind and lots of SKY! How wonderful!

Skeleton Crew

Monday, November 25, 2013

Every year, I forget how horrible a cold or bug is until I get it again! I didn’t go anywhere over the weekend. And so, today I layered double, donned my heavy winter coat and took a whole bag of cough drops with me (not to mention the tissues stuffed in my pockets).  Alas, when we went out the temperature was in the 40’s.  None the less, I chose to let Willy take pictures. Thanks, Willy!

I have PROOF! The ROOF is shingled. Now both the West and East sides are done. We will see whether that means it is completed.

Antique Brown Roof

Now that the outer walls and roof have separated the workers from the outside weather (Tyvek over the Framing), I consider what the crew is doing now to be “working on the skeleton of the house”.  I do not by any means believe that Tyvek will keep tham warm!  We know they have heaters on in the crawl space! Smart workers!!!  The skeleton, you know, means the bones and joints;  the parts that will be covered up by wall board and flooring and stuff.  They have to get the skeleton stuff in or there would be no chance of getting inspectors to approve our house.

Big, huge Yay, from me!! The plumbers installed the master bath accessible shower! Yay for easy-to-get-into showers!

The Master Tub and Shower

Smaller than the Guest Shower. Nice!

Ready for Whatever Cable Connects

Contrast of Dark and Light – just perfect for representing the connecting of the electrical wires!  What I noticed first is the Electrical Boxes of different colors for carrying electricity and the latest of cables for computers.

Junction Boxes and Switch boxes Galore

This area is near the kitchen, which has to be loaded with electrical plugs and connectors for the appliances. It’ll be interesting to see how the electrician groups the wires as they travel from box to box. I’ve only ever helped “thread wire” because wallboard had always been up in our older homes. It sure seems a lot easier to do it this way!

Our Front Porch Posts

Last but not least: The front porch posts have now been installed! Tomorrow, if I get out of the truck, I just may take a picture of the post that should be on the back porch – if it is in.

Bustling Enterprises

Things are a-changing – and quickly on our lot!

BUSY

And, what are they doing down in that hole? They are installing drywall over the insulation as a fire retardant! I am impressed! I like safety!

The big round pipe in the foreground is to help the house offset water accumulation. If it ever begins to fill, all we need to do is pump it out. Drainage. Safety and care for our foundation! Yay!

Lots ‘O Lumber

One of the workmen we talked to was going on about construction after we mentioned the coolness of the insulated concrete forms. He then expounded on the nifty tools and jobs and said, “I’m just a big kid who gets to play with Legos all day!” I’m sure glad we have guys that enjoy what they are doing! I think that makes a huge difference in the quality of what you end up with!