Framing Week #5

July 6, 2009 to July 10, 2009...We completed adhering the rigid foam insulation to the exterior walls. Applying the adhesive in large globs rather than thin lines seemed to improve its holding power. We also weren't working in the rain, which probably helped, as well. This is a different angle...not sure if we have another shot like this one. Roof is almost ready for shingles.

Shingling is in process here. I am amazed that these men will do this job...it is so dangerous! It is a learned skill, like so many others, but one slip while up on the roof could be disastrous. They have been in my prayers. Amish Ray even worked a day and a half...by himself...because one of his helpers was on vacation and another pulled a muscle. Would YOU climb out on that roof ALL BY YOURSELF to shingle a stranger's house? It's not like anyone would know if he fell! Brave, brave man.

Two of the three rectangular Velux skylights are installed in the third floor roof...these will help to illuminate the bedrooms, as they only have one window each. A third skylight will go in between to illuminate the hallway below.

Inside the third floor, 8' ceiling is taking shape...original plans called for ceiling height of 7'6, but it was no problem to raise it to 8'. We wanted to expand the spaces as much as possible, and both bedrooms will have ceiling fans, so the additional height will be an asset. Knee walls are also in the works, and the space between the knee walls and the roof will provide us with 4 crawl spaces for storage. (Not sure what we'll store there just yet...)

The third floor bath is visible on the left...it juts out from the roofline on the back side of the house. It is not a large bath, but will probably be used the least (shared by J-Bird and Sissy). Third floor still needs doorways, closets, exerior sheathing, interior skylight framing, and crawl spaces finished.

Meanwhile, at the end of the week our excavators returned to install the french drain system. The black cloth is laid over a layer of stones which covers the black perforated tubing which is supposed to carry any water away from the foundation. More stones will be placed on top of this cloth before the final backfilling is done. The finished ground level will follow the top edge of the blue foam...which is why we cut it at an angle.

Here is the stone on top of the tubing, before the cloth has been laid down.

Inside view of the Velux Sky Tunnels (on the right and left), and the opening for the woodstove vent pipe in the middle. Once the ceiling is finished and the other halves of the sky tunnels are installed, the light will be diffused throughout the room.

Dad and I started installing electrical boxes on the second floor...kitchen wall outlets here.

Master bedroom, wall on left faces the driveway...main floor bath framing visible on the right... (I'm making a few changes here now that I see how the space works).

And...our windows are here! I'm so anxious to see them in place! We have been struggling with molding choices around the windows...I keep envisioning wide brown boards setting off the white vinyl windows from the fern green siding. When we saw the windows we realized that we had ordered them with a wide white brick molding already attached, so we decided to drop the brown trim board idea. More money saved!

Next week is shaping up to be a busy one, so

Stay tuned,
Kris