Framing Week #6

July 13 - July 17, 2009...Finally able to upload photos from this week's work. I love the look of the naked framing right now. The great room seems like it could've been part of Noah's ark. We have plans to create faux beams that will wrap around these not-so-finished-looking roof supports. We will hang a ceiling fan from the center beam, and 4 recessed lights in the ceiling on each side.

These walls at the back of the great room reach from floor to roof. I'm already imagining a quilt or two gracing these expansive spaces.

There is some unusable space here where the rooflines intersect. (Not sure what we'd store there or how we'd access it, anyway).

Looking up from the second floor to the third floor hallway skylight. Ray framed this out to carry more light down into the space. He continually goes above and beyond what we expect. He is not afraid to suggest things that will add to his work load, if he feels the finished result will please us.

J-Bird standing in his bedroom.

In each of the upstairs bedrooms, there are 2 crawlspaces between the kneewalls and the roof. The spaces aren't huge, but we'll find some things to store in there, I'm sure. The boys are already insisting on a hidden play area...

The skylight in J-Bird's bedroom. I'm really glad we didn't omit these due to budgetary concerns. They really bring in a lot of light to the upstairs bedrooms. And, so far...no leaks!

The roof is done! We're really happy with the color, and look forward to seeing the siding go on next week.

Friday, July 17, 2009...Sewer tanks were scheduled for delivery. The excavators arrived bright and early to cut-in a road for the trucks to access the tank locations, and to dig the holes for the tanks.

Here's Jesse manning the trackhoe:

The hole in the front will accommodate the septic tank...the one behind will hold our fancy-dancy peat bio-filter tank.

Don from ECOFLO, the peat bio-filter distributer, was on site most of the day to supervise the preparation for and complete the installation of the tank.

This green monstrosity is the peat bio-filter. It will process our liquid effluent after leaving the septic tank.

Jesse bringing in stone for the peat tank, while Don and Alan the excavator look on.

Several tons of stone are loaded into the tank.

Don climbs in to level the stone.

And..."Ta-Da!" The product of a hard-day's work. Our only choice for sewer on this parcel of land was to install a "small flows system." (That's not entirely true...we could've opted for a sand mound IF we brought in sand, waited for 4 YEARS, and had it tested. IF it passed, we'd be good to go). We were limited because of the steep terrrain, and because there is a stream at the bottom of our property, what gets discharged must be as pure as possible. It is a three-phase system. The gray tank in the foreground is the concrete septic tank. Plastic septic tanks are also available, and much easier to maneuver, but cost more than twice as much as concrete. Solids stay in this tank...liquids move on to the peat bio-filter...the large green tank. This tank is filled with...you guessed it...peat moss...which will filter and clean our liquid waste. The last leg in the journey is a UV light...(not installed yet) which further purifies and disinfects our effluent, which will then flow through about 200 feet of PVC pipe and discharge into our stream...as clear, pure, drinkable water. The ultimate in recycling, don't you think?

We also talked (begged...pleaded...) the excavators into using their trackhoe to position our outdoor furnace. What we struggled with for hours before with the builder's Skytrac, took a matter of minutes with this machine. So glad that is in place and ready to be hooked-up when the time comes.

Looks a little wonky here, but I know it's level! (Must be the camera angle).

Here's the loading door. We positioned it on the uphill side so we could use gravity to our advantage. Plus...c'mon...how about that view?

Stay tuned,
Kris