House Update: A Roof

We had to wait two week for ice and rain to clean up, but the roofers were finally able to put our roof on, so it's totally weather proof now. We are almost officially "dried in". If you don't know what that means, basically it just means you would stay dry in the house during a hurricane(no weather coming in or damaging the house).



















































The only thing that hasn't been done is our garage door. We bought it a year ago off of craigslist. The style we got is the faux carriage door(white with fake black hinges on the sides). They normally retail for over $1000. We got ours for $400. It's been sitting under a tarp on the ground for a year, so I hope it's still ok. Know anyone who installs garage doors? The electric kind? We'll have to install insulation panel on the inside of the door, especially since it's right under our living area. We want to keep the cold out as much as possible.

There is one little mistake we have to correct. Matt and I had a mis-communication about the kitchen window. I had discussed at length with the framer what window sizes I wanted and I thought Matt was around for part of that(maybe he was and he forgot. We really don't know). Point is, we(as the contractors) were ordering the windows ourselves, and Matt didn't know I wanted the single kitchen window to be wider than the other(since there was only one). All our windows are 32 in. wide and the kitchen sink window was supposed to be 36 in. The 32 in. looks SOOO tiny and narrow. I just can't see standing at the sink washing dishes looking out that tiny thing. It's also the only window on the back wall, so it feels really closed in.


















After we analyzed it, we decided that if we were going to go to the trouble to change it and reframe the window opening and cut out some siding for just 4 more inches...why not make it even wider? Whatever is the next size up. Either 40, 42, or 44 in. I think we'll be really glad we did it in the long run. I just didn't want to lose cabinet space with a double window(which would be two 32 in. windows). We haven't done anything yet. Maybe our framer will do it for us. He still has to come back to finish a few things. The downstairs bathroom needs to be framed in and the pocket door walls separating the bedrooms need to be framed as well. We keep trying to schedule a walk-through to discuss these things with our framer, but all of our schedules keep getting in the way. He's working on other jobs far away, so it's hard to get over to Stanley. I can't wait until we move on to the next step.

Our house got some BLING!

Yay for David! David is awesome! Our framer made these curved trim pieces for much cheaper than if we would have made a custom order for them. If you click back to view our original houseplan, you can see that they are in the design. He used treated pine, which won't last as long, but it's really cheap. We had the option of using white cedar, but we just can't afford to spend that much money on nonessential items. I love how they turned out. They are so beautiful.

Windows and Siding

We had a bit of a delay due to weather. Charlotte got a nice covering of snow last Monday. We got 6 inches, covered by sleet, which turned everything to ice. The roofer was supposed to come lay our shingles that Monday, but the northern(back) side of our roof is still covered in ice. So a week an a half later, still no roof.

The complication with that is that it makes the framer's job of hanging siding more difficult. The roof is supposed to be done before the siding, but he couldn't wait for the ice to melt, so our framer continued on with his crew hanging siding and windows. Our siding is hardiplank(the most common siding) which comes pre-primed in a light gray. We'll have to paint it so that it's completely protected against weather.


















































































We ordered 32 in. wide window everywhere except the kitchen window(which is 36in wide). They sure do seem much smaller once installed. It's amazing how much space is eaten up by the window casing. I kinda wish we had gone with 36in wide windows everywhere. Too late now.

This is one reason why we wanted to do a "practice house" before building our permanent one. It still looks good and I'm sure it will be fine. Right now, it feels dark inside. But once we have a light color paint on the walls, it will be much brighter than the medium brown that it is now.

First virtual house tour

Welcome to your first virtual home tour! As I post these pictures, I have yet to have had anything other than a virtual tour myself. Matt took this last series of pictures and I haven't made it back over there to see it myself yet. The interior wall studs are up and so is the deck and the full stair case.

If you missed it, here is the updated floorplan, near the bottom of the post, if you need to look at it to get oriented.

We'll start in the living room. Matt didn't take a picture of the back wall(where the kitchen will be), but only the front wall. This is the big picture window in the living room facing out to our front yard and driveway. The wall to the right is the bathroom wall. I was going to put the computer desk there, but now I'm thinking the love seat should go there and having the couch face the window.



















The ceiling trusses are in, which makes our ceilings 12ft high. I really didn't want to have those, but the engineer said we had to...something about the house falling down.



















No picture of the hallway, but here we are standing in the master bedroom facing the 2nd bedroom dormer window. Right now there is no wall dividing them. We are planning on having a double pocket door, so that when we're not using it, we can keep the doors opened and get more sunlight in the master bedroom.



















The next picture is from standing in the master and facing the bedroom door. To the left of the door, that will be the washer/dryer closet accessible from the hallway. To the right of the door is the bathroom. You can kinda see another door frame in the far left of this picture. That is the master walk-in closet. Above all of that will be attic space.



















Here is another view of our closet. That big hump is the head space for the stairs. Normally, we would lose the space all the way up to the ceiling, but we had David put a cap on it, so we could use it as a shelf and get added storage space.


















Another view of the bathroom from standing in the living room.



















This is the space behind the back bathroom wall. It will be lost space because there is not enough head room for it to be included in the bathroom. The space goes from the living room, behind the bathroom, and stops at the 2nd bedroom. We want to add some kind of door on either end and maybe make this a coat closet on one side, and a bedroom closet on the other.
























And on the outside...



















...we have a finished deck and stairs! We plan on filling dirt in front of the deck so that it's on ground level, just like the garage/driveway. You'll be able to get on the deck from the door on the side of the garage or just walk right on from anywhere on the front.

There are still more details the framer is working on today and tomorrow(all these little things we keep changing and adding). Then the windows will go in. Check back for more updates!

Finally a Frame!

Tuesday was one of the most exciting days since Matt and I got married. Of course, that's nothing compared to when we actually get to move in. We have waited so long to see this kind of progress happen. I never thought it would take 2.5 years to even start! And I didn't know life would slap us in the face a few times along the way. But it's finally happening!!

It's amazing how fast construction goes when you pay someone to do it fulltime. We've been given a taste and it's hard to go back to a snail's pace. Reality has hit and our budget has been blown out of the water. We are considering paying someone to do the plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and sheetrock. Yeah, that's pretty much everything except inside finishes like trim, cabinets, floors, ect. We'll get some quotes from people we know who are in that line of work and weigh their labor cost against our time costs and see what wins out. Some of those things won't cost much in labor and it's easier to pay someone to do it while you are at work instead of stressing out about it yourself.

In you live in NC or maybe even the east coast, you know how unseasonably cold this December has been. Fall in NC is usually in the 50's or so. And we've had record breaking low temps like highs of 30 degrees for a week straight! Tuesday morning it was about 20 degrees. I had to meet the inspector out there at 8:00am to get the tarps off the pillars we were trying to insulate. I felt so bad for the framing crew who had to work out there all day. I tried to start them a fire in our fire pit, but the wood was too wet. That afternoon, I saw that they had had a fire and had started it with a lot of flammable construction adhesive. I guess in that situation you do whatever works.

Tuesday afternoon, we had this(click on any picture to enlarge) :

And Wednesday, this:

Thursday gave us a delay because they were calling for sleet/snow/rain. Yucky stuff. There was some, but not much. They'd already called it a day off and it was too late to get the crew of 4 together.

The end of Friday:

Only the top part of the stairs are built. The bottom half comes out of that door in the picture below. They will sit on a deck that goes across from the top of the cinder blocks. Before the deck got built, Matt wanted to dig out some dirt with the skid steer to give him more storage clearance for things like lawn mowers and tractors. He was very excited to learn that his red tractor will fit under the deck because it's over his head at the back(at the entrance). He was careful not to dig out too close to the footings(under the foundation) because the county might not like that. We can always do it later.




















David, our framer, and his crew came Saturday to make up for missing Thursday. They only got to work a half day because it started snowing heavily on them. Of course, the snow was short lived(see? nothing on the ground), but they had already packed and gone.

When I arrived today(Monday, Dec. 20), it looked like this. And an hour later when I left, it looked even different. They'd already finished the other half of the roof.





















Side note: Most of the windows have not been cut out yet. And some of the windows you see aren't the full size they will be. There is plywood overhanging them that hasn't been cut yet.





































Speaking of windows...I had no idea how frustrating they would be to pick out. David framed all of them has triple 62''(that means three 32'' in windows side by side, that are 62'' tall), like the ones in the picture above(only without that plywood overhanging). We would be crazy to actually have windows this big all over our apartment. There would be no where to put the furniture and it would cost more because windows are expensive. If Matt had it his way, this is exactly how we would frame the windows, but ya' know I'm the practical one who thinks of every detail.

I'm also a very visual person who needs to see the real thing to know what it will be like. There was no way I could tell David how big I wanted the windows to be until I actually stood in the room. It's easier to add another 2x4 to make a window smaller than it is to rip out 2x4s to make it bigger. The only window we left as a triple 62'' is the front living room window. Most of the others will be counter-top height to accommodate any furniture or counter-top we will use there. There's hardly no wall space in our bedroom, so our bed will sit under the dormer window, so that one can't be too low to the floor. The other bedroom wall has a double window and our dresser will need to go under that.

I finalized all the sizes and called around for a price estimate. We'd already checked Lowes and Home Depot. Lowes doesn't stock the size we needed most of(32''x46''), so they were going to charge us out the wazzoo for them, in the neighborhood of $230 each. Home Depot had them for around $160 in stock. I call a few building material places, like Matthews Building Supply who we got all our lumber from, and who supplies materials for the Dowd Co. where Matt's mom works, so we have some loyalty there. Not to mention, David, who does the framing for a lot of the Dowd Co. fancy houses, is used to dealing with Matthews.

The first place I called was Dellinger Building Supply. He gave me prices for what I needed and in the conversation he said, "The 46'' windows aren't for a bedroom are they?" "um...yeah, they are." "That's not going to pass egress." What the heck is egress? "The inspector won't pass you unless you have enough opening for firemen to get in and out of." "Oh" crap. "You have to have at least one 62'' tall window so that the opening of the window meets code. You better check with your framer on that because I don't want you to have to buy windows twice." It's really awesome that he caught that. That's the kind of expertise you don't get at Lowes.

Well that's just great news! Now I won't have any wall to put a dresser. It will have to sit in front of really tall windows. I called an inspector and asked him what the code is. He said they don't care how tall the window is as long as the opening is at least 22'' tall. Slightly good news. Now I need a window to measure. I went over to Matt's grandma's house, which has modern vinyl windows like we're using. Her bedroom windows appear to be about 62'' and they open to 27''. Dang. Thats plenty of room. I could go down a size...I think. So an hour later I was having a pow wow with David on the picnic table and he was on his Nextel walkie talkie with the guy at Matthews getting confirmation on what windows are required for egress. Apparently, I can't go down a size and have to go with 62''. Oh well. It is what it is.

I hate windows.