Well, can't believe its been 3 weeks already since the last post. A lot has been happening, but we're basically still working on the same things I mentioned last time.
The roof is coming along, amazing how many steps there are, most of which include an inspection by the city. City inspectors have been a little particular, requiring extra detail from the engineer, which slowed things a little. But, at this point we should have the roof completed by the end of the week. As I'd mentioned, we'd wanted a standing seam metal roof, but bids came in higher than we'd expected and we started to have second thoughts. We priced just getting the materials from a wholesaler and having our crew do it, but materials were still really expensive. Eventually, we decided that the extra money we'd save (cost is about a third as much) going with a regular shingle roof could be better spent on other things. And, a big deciding factor was that our house sits on an upslope lot and you can't even see the roof from the front of the house. So, we've picked out some charcoal colored shingles and found a roofing contractor that needs work and will do it for $15 an hour. We should have the roof completed this weekend.
The other major tasks have been finishing the log walls. It took longer than we'd expected, about 10 days to sand the entire thing and our crew went through tons of sanding discs. But, we were happy with the results. Despite sanding off several layers of wood, these logs have a lot of black grain that shows through, but it lends a rustic feel to them. You can see the difference on the overdangles which were left black since they will be cut shorter.
After lots of samples on log pieces, we finally went with an oil-based stain by Cabot in a natural color. Since we won't be moving in for at least six months, we were told there would be no voc's to worry about. Cabot makes a good, long lasting product and we're hoping to have it last as long as possible.
,
Then comes the chinking. We'd known this would be a time consuming project. It took about 2.5 days to chink the first exterior wall with two guys working on the wall and one below mixing concrete. The next few walls were a little quicker as they had more openings, but it still takes about 2 days per wall. Inside should be easier though, with a floor to work on.
Its exciting to see the wall looking finished though and we really like how its turning out.
This weekend, we'll start laying out the plumbing for the basement so we can pour a slab. Then, as soon as the walls and roof are done we'll start building the loft floor and stairs. Jeff has been staining the flooring at home every evening for this project. We've ordered windows and doors for the main level and those should be arriving in about a month. Building the front deck and stairs from the outside is also a priority since this will be the entry till we can finish the basement down the road. Lots happening at once, but still so much to do.
Mario had some extra plywood so he and his crew built some temporary doors for the basement in no time. It will be great to be able to leave more tools at the property now instead of constantly moving them back and forth. The basement will remain unfinished this year and we will get permits and finish building it out next spring.
Digging trenches in the basement for utilities required a bit of jackhammering boulders, but not too bad. We need to pour a footing for the water heater and furnace as well as build one wall for plumbing and gas to run upstairs. Plumbing has been a little difficult to plan but we are getting through it.
Inside, we've been mainly working on building the loft floor, which you see below. This week the beams will be inspected and they can lay the t&g on top.
We're waiting on some changes to our plan from the engineer and we can build the stairs to the loft, start building the front deck and stairs which will serve as our main entry off the front for now till the basement is finished. We have also been working to design the windows for the gables, which seems to be coming together. As soon as we can get up in the loft and walk things out, we can feel confident with our window plan for the master bedroom and bath and go ahead and start framing and order those windows. Windows and doors for the main level will be delivered in the next week or two and we can start installing those.
So, lots happening on different fronts. Good progress, but not without constant stress that its not going fast enough, but money is... I'm sure this will continue to be the case.
