September 1, 2009: Final prep for concrete

On Monday, I made it out to the house after work. The brickers had been there to finish off the arch modifications and to support moving an outlet. In the meantime the last of the forms for the concrete were put in as well as the supporting rebar. Some light interior work also went on which I mostly didn't take pictures of (second coat of paint in the garage, some polish on the granite, veneer on the railings).

I hadn't taken this a picture from this location in a while so I thought I would. This is from the tree on the northeast corner. Basically all that's left on the outside of the house now is pouring concrete and seeding (and a couple minor things).

How did the water cross the sidewalk? A little French drain.

Forms for concrete pads on the west side of the house. The closer one is for propane, the one further back is for the air exchangers.

Forms for a little pad outside the basement door. Eventually this will expand when we build the deck, but that'll be a while.

Another view of the basement forms and the forms for the garage stoop.

We're going to eventually have lights out by the driveway entrance controllable from the foyer so wiring is running underneath the sidewalk.

If you look for the off colored brick you can see where the outlet originally was (about chest high).

Some panels on the master tub. They're supposed to be doors, however, for access to controls and shutoff and such.

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April 27, 2009: More work on the second floor and a little in the basement

Most of the walls on the second level were completed when we came in the middle of the day on Monday, with basically just the north east bedroom and effectively the entire second level ceiling left to complete the main framing on the second level.

View of the house from the road. Most of the second level walls are up with the second level ceiling to go.

View of the house from the tree at the North east corner. The northeast bedroom on the second level is the one room with walls remaining to go up. At the same time, you can see the longer boards stacking up on the side of the garage that will be used to help build the ceiling.

View of the house from the Northwest corner. There was still some discussion on exactly how the recessed entry would appear so it wasn’t done yet.

View of the framing of the bumpout and the quasi-interior wall of the Master bedroom.

One of the workers stands on top of the corner of a closet and bedroom wall in preparation for working on the second floor ceiling. Don't think I would be comfortable standing like that, but it seemed like the most natural thing in the world for him.

I discuss ceiling plans in the Master bedroom with Juan. W.D. was a little startled to see me climbing up the ladder, but based on the brackets going in on the bumpout support, I was afraid that the ceiling was about to be built flat instead of as a tray ceiling. Turns out I was right about the intention for a flat ceiling, but wrong about the significance of the brackets. We’re now putting in the tray.

View of the trenches (to carry away sewage to the septic tank and drain field) in the basement from the West side of the basement (Den). W.D. (looking up the stairwell) also sneaks into the picture.

View of the trenches in the basement from the East side of the basement (Den). W.D. and Preethi discuss plumbing rough-in plans for the basement.

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March 10 - Forms Start

At this point the hole is completely dug out (due to the slope, it's level with the ground on the back right as viewed from the road and 7ish feet down on the front left). The forms (framing for the concrete in the footers) are going in. At this point, forms still need to be layed out for the garage and the inner trace of the forms needs to go in.

Looking at the forms from the garage entrance. That square at the top is where the main entrance will be.

Stones for the temporary driveway (so heavy equipment like the kind that carry concrete won't get stuck) where the permanent driveway will eventually lie.

Looking north-northwest from past the garage.

Mmmm... Stump pile still there. Eventually to be burned.

Preethi surveys the work.

View from the farm road looking back (northeast),

Looking down on the forms that will be below the great room and kitchen (main level). The great room is our favorite room in the house (or will be) and is what we're spending the most time on modifying the design. I've been doing some CAD modeling to help with the modifications which I'll post later.

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