Nerves of Steel!

 I love to build things, but I would NOT want this job. These guys have zero fear of heights. They climb around like this is just monkey bars, especially Troy's son. The tops of the walls are only 6" wide; the tops of the trusses are only 1.5". I commented to Troy about his son's fearlessness and Troy said "He's too young to know how much it hurts when you fall."

And the House Grows

 Since I didn't post last week, this starts out with the house progress that preceded the workshop completion. 

The temporary stairs went in to access the loft, and the stairs for the garage attic. 

All the extra bracing in random spots makes it interesting to navigate through the space, but if the wind comes up, we'll be glad it's there!

Virginia brought the kids out to check on our progress, and they put some wood scraps to good use. I have since collected a tub full of nice-size pieces that will be sanded and sealed to add to the box of building blocks. One can never have too many building blocks, and our current collection is lacking in the larger sizes. 

This is our pile of roof trusses. This is what held us up for *7* months! 

The upstairs walls framed! 

My sewing room!

The library.

Guest room and bath. 

At this point, work shifted to the workshop trusses and roofing. Today, a week later, they started on the house trusses. First up was the central portion. 

Sid and I were out there early today to pick up the trailer so we could go pick up the new fridge. On clearance, and Menards was running their 11% rebate, so we bought it early. It can sit in the garage for a few months. This is the one appliance that we wanted a specific model, so we grabbed it at the best possible price. All other kitchen appliances will be whatever is in stock at a clearance house. 

When we returned to park the trailer, the house was at this point. All loft rafters in place, and setting the last one over the living room. 

We stuck around and watched them start the trusses over the garage. First they had to move the whole stack to the other end of the yard. 

We watched until they had about 6 trusses in place. It was getting cold, and once you see the process, the excitement was limited. The square space in the middle will be the storage attic.

Sid found a comfy seat out of the wind to watch the work. 

With trusses- the living and dining rooms. This is going to be a tall space! 

Sewing room. 

Looking from the library upstairs to the living room below.

This will be the view out the two-story windows. Minus the truck and the dirt pile. 

The Workshop Grows

 Oh, my! I can't believe I let two weeks go by without a post. SO much going on and so much progress!

I really wanted to buy a property with an actual old barn and turn it into a house, but Sid had no interest in that kind of project. We both like a gambrel roof (barn-shaped), so that was a good compromise. The roof shape provides a lot of "excess" space, so of course we had to make good use of it! In Sid's shop, this means 3 extra rooms upstairs. Eventually they will probably become guest space for the kids/grandkids, or man cave, but for now they will sit unfinished and empty. In the house, the second floor will hold the sewing room, guest room and bath, and a library. 

The builder finished the framing on the workshop first, so I'll start there with the pictures. Sid did a FB post of a tour through the building, so I'll use his pictures. 

The workshop. Photo taken from the driveway. 

Starting in the garage. This garage will hold the motorcycle, lawn mower, and whatever other "toys" we acquire, as well as giving Sid a covered space to unload the truck in inclement weather. Straight ahead is the door into the back hall and the back door. We did not originally plan on a door here -just a window- but the inspector required otherwise as a fire escape from the upstairs. Bathroom will be on the left of the door, and the stairs on the right, along with a short hall to the main room. The large doorway on the right side of the garage will have a sliding door that will allow large wood to go in, and large projects to come out. 

The main shop area. Looking out the front door to the driveway.  The end window looks down the hill toward the creek and our fire pit. 

Middle room upstairs. Two windows overlooking the driveway. Also one on the backside, but because this level will be unfinished and unheated for now, the back window will be hidden by a wall along the stairway to keep the downstairs heat from going up.

One of the side rooms. The opposite one is identical, in reverse. The long wall on the right edge of the photo is the one along the stairs. In the future, this wall will be cut down to a half-wall and its door removed. Photo was taken standing in the doorway to the stairs. 

In addition to the framing progress, the power has been hooked to the house and a meter installed. This procedure is one of several tasks that have benefitted from a GC that is trying to save us money. Troy knew that after a certain date the power company would charge more to connect the power because they charge double after the ground freezes. Although a bit earlier in the process than normally done, he got us on the schedule for the hook-up before that date. It's a substantial enough charge that I'm thankful for his attention to detail!

It's a house!!

 On Monday, Nov 1, the actual framing of the house finally began! Our crew consists of the GC, Troy, his teenage son, Brock, and one employee, Dustin. It's amazing how much work can get done in a week! 

God celebrated the first day of framing with some snow pellet confetti.

First truckload of lumber delivered on Monday. 

By Wednesday afternoon we had this much house. 

Front door and living room window, taken from the dining room. 

Dining room and kitchen, taken from the future den. 

Master bedroom.

Pantry. The tubing is for the in-floor heat for the open half of the house. The manifold for this zone will be under the counter in the pantry. 

No end wall yet. I think the roof trusses will need to go on first, to help support this wall. It will be 2 stories with a double row of windows. 

By Thursday afternoon, we had the addition of the posts and beams to support the stairs and loft. I really like the look of these posts, and plan to ask Troy about leaving them exposed. (Update: Can't be left exposed. They are treated wood and won't take stain, and not appropriate to leave open for contact.)

Sheathing in place all around, and wrap applied. 

Electrical box in place.

Just beginning framing on the workshop. 

And by Friday, the workshop framed, wrapped, and starting on the second floor. This view is the interior of the garage portion, which will hold cycles, lawn mower, other big "toys" as acquired. Behind the garage will be the bathroom and the stairs up to the second floor. 

Interior of Sid's workshop. This is taken from the opening between the garage and the shop.

Also completed Friday and not shown, is the stairs in the house up to my sewing room, and the floor joists placed ready for attachment. I forgot my phone/camera at home, and Sid was more interested in taking pictures of his shop. Go figure! :)

I'd say that's a pretty good week's work for 2.5 guys!