We need a roof!

It's been a good week for progress on the house. We've had some snow this week but not enough to slow down our two man crew.

 

Trusses are on the garage

Second floor is framed

Front porch is started

Large 10x10 beams were set for the upper balconies

Another picture of the back porch beams

Here is another view of the room above the garage. It will be a 1 bedroom apartment in the future but for now we are just planning on using it for storage.

The last picture is Quinn playing the water. We have had a few inches of snow the last two days and as it melted today it was dripping onto the bottom floor.

We are wishing we had a roof as it proves to still be winter around here. But...there was lots of progress this week and if all goes well the framing will be done in about 3 weeks.

The snow is slowing us down!

Another crazy week of weather for us. We worked last weekend on getting a retaining wall around our lower power vault. The retaining wall is required by Pacific Power so we have enough cover over the power line. 3 inches of rain in one day followed by 4-5 inches of snow was a little too much water on our freshly moved dirt. I wish I had remembered to take a picture after it was done last weekend...it looked so nice! But here it is now....

 

Oh well...I guess we have something to do this weekend. So the progress on the house was pretty limited this week due to weather but they did start to put up the second floor walls.

Here is the front view....

And here is the back view.....

The kids were enjoying the most snow we have had all year. Avie thought it would be a good idea to throw a snowball at her sister. Taryn in turn thought it would be a good idea to rub Avie's face in the snow. Just kidding but I know she was thinking it....

This is just a picture of our deck supports. When the crane is here to set the trusses they will also set the large beams for our back decks as well.

Last but not least, Thomas got one of his speakers for the home theatre system. He is going to be doing all the wiring for the phones, cable and media.

So next weeks forecast looks like lots of rain again. Since the interest rates are going up we are getting even more ready for this house to be done. Hopefully next week we will have some trusses up...

We've got power

Another week down and lots of changes to the place.

Doesn't seem like much but it was a lot of work to get power up to this house. This held up framing for the day but it's one more (expensive) step taken towards final completion.

 

Here is the house today. Does it look different?

The kitchen has a roof now! This week the upper floor joists were placed and sheeted.

 

Quinn didn't want to take the time to put his shoes on this afternoon. Of course his big sister always happy to oblige meeting his every need. Yep...he's spoiled.

 Here is another picture of the garage with the trusses placed and ready to be set on Monday.

The posts were also set for the future front and back decks.

Finally...this weeks design dilemma.

Concrete sink vs. stainless steel


I really like the traditional ceramic craftsman tile but it's a little dark...what about tumbled marble subway tile?

Walls, Walls, Walls!

Well in two weeks the house has really started to take form. It's great to see it come to life. I have to admit I've been a little disappointed about a few things (size of my pantry) but pleasantly surprised about others. We are now in the midst of picking out windows, doors, and plumbing fixtures.

Here is the before and after of the garage. Although this is only the first floor, the transformation is pretty exciting. This is one of those pleasantly surprising moments. The garage is much bigger than I had originally thought.....my mud room is too!

Here is the house last week-

And here it is today. All of the walls on the main floor are up....

And the I-beams were set today. This will be wrapped in fir in the future.

Our goofy kids are loving the building process. It was Pajama day at preschool. Avie also goes to Quinn's preschool and packed jammies to change into after school. This is the living room french doors and side windows.

Here's Thomas checking out the view from our bedroom.

I turned my back on the boy for 30 seconds and he was halfway up the hill.

Quinn saying "save me"! He could climb up but was a little scared about the coming down part.

Here are the interior doors....I think.

These are the emtek knobs that I'm thinking about...would love any feedback. I'm also contemplating crystal handles even if I just do them on the bathroom doors. Thomas isn't crazy about the idea but this is a new/old house and I like them.

Things are coming along....

We have had a great week of weather here in Southern Oregon. During this weather break we have been blessed to get a lot done on the house.

The plumbing and HVAC is in. Before the flooring comes in on Monday there's a bit of water that will need clean up. Hmmm...and I know just the teenager for the job!

  Speaking of kids....Quinn is loving the outdoors. Here he is asking Avie "wanna fight"? A little while later he was playing in the dirt and managed to fling dirt onto the wet cement floor.

We were able to pick out the rocks and such but then he did it again. The picture below is Quinn after the stick was taken away.

Quinn pouting

 

 

This is a picture of the boys pouring concrete. It was 38 degrees and one of them was even sleeveless. They were working hard and on a Saturday too. Hopefully the completed garage floor will make the framers job a little easier.

Here is Avie standing in the hole for our deck footings.

Here are the footings after being poured today.

We have been really fortunate to have found Jim Brown our contractor that did our foundation and garage slab. He will also be doing our masonry fireplace. Anyways...he called Thomas and told him the time to come up so the kids could put their names in the concrete. Here is Thomas and Taryn making a plan.

Here is the finished product and quite possibly my favorite part of this house. The kids were wishing Auzzie was here so he could have been included too.


Any of you who know me are well aware of my indecisiveness. I am running out of time to pick out windows and I need to get plumbing fixtures ordered.
To continue with the craftsman theme, I think I have decided on these windows.


Thankfully...I still have a few days to think about plumbing fixtures!

And so it begins.....

So I must start this week with out little Quinn. He really enjoys preschool and is learning a lot. He especially likes circle time, each day they learn one or two new signs. He flashes me an "I love you" all the time now. My sweet little man.

So we arrived at the house today to see the floor joists completed. Here is a picture of Avie checking out the view. I really can't believe how excited she is about this house!

Our little Quinn is always in motion, probably why so many of my pictures of him  turn out fuzzy. Anyways, Quinn and Thomas are standing in our future full masonry fireplace. This was one of many fights that Thomas has won. I grew up in Burns Oregon with a house heated with wood only. Frankly, I hated trying to start a fire and especially hated cleaning up the messy floors. But...he had his heart set on it. I think it will be beautiful and I also think Thomas might be getting a new vacuum for his birthday present.

Here is another picture of Thomas checking out the progress. I can't help but think about the view that we are going to enjoy once we are living here.

This is our outside garage wall. Thomas and Taryn spent some time last weekend cleaning this up, only to get another few inches of rain. I think I know what Taryn is doing this weekend. No wonder she doesn't like us much.

Well...here is Avie being goofy again. Next week the plumbing and HVAC will be roughed in the crawlspace. It's really exciting to see all these changes every week!

The foundation has begun

It's been awhile since I have had anything new to post. We had over 10 inches of rain in December, hence, no work was being done.

 There is still a lot of water

 

The lower part of the foundation. When finished it will be about about 5 feet high.

Silly kids. Quinn is excited for the new house so he can get his toys out of storage. Avie is just excited because she will finally have her own room.

 

 Avie was so excited about the sunset tonight. This will be the view from her bedroom balcony.

If the weather holds....the builder should start in about 5 days. This is the exciting part!