Well, it's been a little more than a month. There's been no updates because I've been strapped at work getting the website for Taunton Press up and running.
As I said in my last update, we started and finished the framing, the frame is up, the house is sheathed, we've got felt on the roof, and it kind of looks like a real house now. We even have a front porch!
For the most part the house has gone up as planned. We had fairly good weather, a few weeks where it got pretty wet but it appears no worse for the wear. The plan is to get the shingles on very soon but it seems that won't happen until after Nov. now. Our builders had to take off for another job, which is understandable since we got going so much later than we had planned, but it's disappointing to watch the progress stall. I've considered getting up there and starting the roof myself. :)
On the upside, we were able to get started with the plumbing. It's just pvc and pex so it's sort of ok that the house can't be closed in. I made a mistake on my first try with the waste plumbing in that I oversized the system. Luckily I have some friends who have either gone through this before or are professional plumbers that talked some sense into me. Not only did it save me $100 on $300 in materials, it is going to work better and take up less space in the ceiling.
We also got around to getting some more quotes on insulation. We're looking very hard at a hybrid closed cell spray foam and blown in cellulose or fibreglass. You can spray foam 1 to 2" to air seal and then use more traditional insulation and save quite a bit of money while still getting pretty good insulating value. Energy code where I live is R-21 in the walls and R-49 in the attic so R-28 in the walls and R-60 in the attic should be plenty. With the addition of the geothermal it will be many years before we recover the cost on more than that.
The one thing I have noticed over the past month is how different stages of framing has changed my impression of the space in huge way. Initially, it looked gigantic, then when the framed walls went up it looked kind of small. Then, unintuitively, the addition of sheeting and openings for windows made the space look much bigger. Adding on the roof made it seem even bigger.
So far there is only one thing I regret in my design and that's the 1 foot of space that the stairs stick out beyond my guest bedroom. The whole corner there seems like some wasted space, but the funny corner where the stairs stick out started to annoy me. Unfortunately that wall bears load because the trusses bear there, so there's no real changing it now. Still, if that's the only regret up to this point I'd say we're doing pretty well.
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| First time on the new floor |
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| My boys playing in what will be their room |
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| This one actually takes a little imagination because of the gigantic dirt pile in the way. |
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| View from the great room |
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| Driveway base. Now you can actually get up the hill when it's wet. |
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| Setting trusses |
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| Fractured Earth stamp on the front porch. |
