Before the blizzard

The framers were able to work today, but they couldn't have enjoyed it as much as they enjoyed the 73 degree weather on Saturday. It was c-o-l-d when I was out there trying to snap pictures today. Most likely, this will be the last day they can work this week.

They decided against putting the roof on before the snowfall, and I'm glad because the latest snow prediction is 12-20 inches.

Today's picture of the front of the house.

This is a pic of the front porch with the balcony above it. The balcony and the roof to the balcony have both been framed.

 This is close up of the front porch and balcony.

Here's a pic of the back of the house. The harvest/dining room is on the right (with three windows) and the master bedroom is on the left (with two windows). The area in between is the covered back patio. I am super excited about this patio!

The 6th day of framing

We have been in the framing stage for about 3 weeks. However, due to the snow & freezing temperatures, they have only been able to work for 6 actual days.

Look how much they've accomplished!In this pic, Shane is standing inside the coat closet. I've never seen a coat closet this size, but it works for me...I wonder who told them how much I like coats?

This is a view from one corner of the living room looking into the kitchen & backyard. In the center of the picture, you might can tell that they have started framing the ceiling to the harvest room & that it will be a vaulted ceiling.

This is a view from the upstairs balcony looking down into the entryway.

Here's the backyard with the neighbor's fence repaired (I think it was only torn up for a couple of days). The rectangular frame that you can see will be the covered patio.

They are almost to the point of putting the roof on. However, the weathermen are predicting 4 to 10 inches of snow this week and they didn't want the roof to catch all that snow before the shingles could be put on. So, I suspect it will be a week with only a few changes.

73 degrees

The construction workers must be enjoying this nicer weather much more than the freezing temps we had last week. It's been 73 degrees here and should be for a few more days and it looks like they've been hard at work. Here is a pic of the front porch with Shane standing in the doorway. Above the porch will be the balcony.

A view of the entryway, it will be two stories tall and the stairs will be to the right--I can't wait until they are built.

I took this pic while sitting in the harvest room...Here's the explanation for the name change: this is where our dining table will be. We were working with the architect and trying to fit everything we wanted into the size house we wanted and we knew we would only use a formal dining room twice a year. We didn't want to completely eliminate the space and we wanted a place for a formal table. So we combined the kitchen and dining area based on something we'd seen in another house called a hearth room; but that room had a fireplace. I've decided that the fireplace is where they got the name for that room and that our room needs to be called something different. We noticed on our plans the architect called our arrangement a 'harvest room'. I think that's perfectly fitting since it will be the gathering place and eating place in our house. So, harvest room=dining area.

They've spent the last few days putting in our sewage lines. I'm sure the neighbors are thrilled that their fence has been taken down and their sod is all torn up.

Now for the best news...I saved it for last. We found out yesterday that the Parade of Homes is June 11th-19th, which is earlier than we thought. Hopefully, we can move in the first week of July, rather than mid-July like we were planning!

The Framing Continues

Today's view of the house from the street...The tall windows on the left downstairs are in the office and the gameroom is above the dirt pile on the right.Can you see Shane way over on the other side of the room? He's standing by the fireplace, I'm standing in the kitchen & he is pretty far away. I just love all this space & the high ceiling.

This is the linen closet in the master bathroom. I just noticed today that it is the same size as the pantry in our old house.

Here is a view of the front of the house from the other side. The large window above the garage is in the gameroom and the smaller upstairs windows are in the bedrooms.

The weathermen are predicting two more days of great weather~I'm sure they'll get tons of work done. I can't wait to see what it looks like next week.

First Floor Video

Hey all playing with my new phone and decided to take a video of the first floor.  Trying it out on the blog to see how it works.  On the next one we will include voice over so you can tell what it is taking video of.

It is a little shaky so it might make ya sick :)  BTW Gayle and Nanette, just hit the little play button in the bottom left corner to play the video.  Don't forget to check out April's post below for new pictures from today.

Three days felt like thirty

All of that messy snow inside the house melted and then promplty re-froze, so the construction workers haven't been able to work on the house since Saturday. Three days with no changes have seemed like thirty & I'm sure you'll all be shocked to discover that I'm not the most patient person in the world.

From the street it didn't look like much had changed, but once we got inside there were many improvements.

Here's a picture of the dining room; the windows face the backyard and the nook is for our buffet. Next, we snuck upstairs...I'm sure our builders will be thrilled when they see these pics (just kidding).

This is a view of the front door with the office in the right of the picture, the rectangle that is outside the front door will be the upstairs balcony.

Here is a view of the upstairs hallway, looking in the direction of the gameroom & bedrooms. The decking in the left of the picture that is higher than the rest of the upstairs floor is the ceiling to the living room. In this picture you can see how the living room ceiling is taller than the other downstairs rooms.

This is a view into the gameroom. The window on the top of the picture overlooks the front yard and this hole in the floor is our super cool accent floor that our builder is designing. (Stay tuned for more details).

Here is a view of the gameroom from the other side of the upstairs. You can see the outline of the balcony on the right of the pic.

This is a view of the future media room, which sits above the kitchen. The downstairs room to the left is the office.

I wonder what it will look like at the end of the day tomorrow?

The Second Floor

Today, when we went to tell the house 'good morning' there were several workers busy with the second floor. Obviously, it was still chilly out but I didn't see any campfires today. Later when we went by, they had accomplished a lot more upstairs. This wall on top of the garage is the front of the gameroom.

Here you can see more of the gameroom-that window on the right is in the gameroom and what looks like a doorway in the boards to the left of the window leads from the gameroom to the balcony.

Here, Shane is standing in the kitchen, looking at the backyard.

It's hard to tell from the pic above, but in this one you can see just how wet and messy it is in the house since some of the snow has melted. We had to be careful where we walked so we didn't soak our shoes.

And here is a view of the front from the street at the end of the day.

I promise when we move in we won't have a trash pile out front. ;-)

Keeping Warm

On my way to school I went stopped to get a picture of the house construction surrounded by snow. I was sure no one would be working in this weather-it was 18 degrees and the ground was still covered in a layer of ice and snow.

I was shocked to see the workers there, building away in the cold. They had built a little campfire near the road and someone had stopped to warm his hands by the fire. I took a minute to chat with him and thank him for working on our house in this awful weather, which he seemed to appreciate. The entrance, with makeshift steps going to the door.

The beginning of the second story; a future media room above the kitchen.

The kitchen area with the ceiling joists & the dining area, still with an open-air ceiling.

The front view, from the street.

I can't wait to see the changes another day will bring.

Before the bad weather...

Our house saw a bit of action today.

Shane sent me a message around 10 this morning that said, 'walls are going up'. Of course, I was thrilled and it just so happened that I had a bit of time without students, so one of the other teachers and I ran over to check things out.

Yes, that's right. The picture taking started early today.

Here's a panoramic pic that Shane took from the kitchen looking into the living room. A view from across the street, including the red port-a-john (nice of them to give us one that's my favorite color, isn't it?)

The front of the house with office on the left, front door in the middle, garage on the right.

Standing along the back wall of the house. The kitchen is to the right, front door on the very left.

This view is from my little art studio, looking through the kitchen into the dining and out the back window. I am really going to like this view.

Standing in the dining area looking into the living room. The horizontal board near the left is the fireplace.

This isn't the staircase we designed, but I guess the workers need some way to get to the top before they build the real staircase.

This is Shane's work area in the garage.

With the bad weather coming, Shane took a minute to cover up some of the wood for the night.

...and if the bad weather really comes, we won't be expecting any changes for the next few days.

Waiting Game

Well the lack of updates means only one thing, nothing is happening. Currently the builder has 3 houses going and only one framing crew it seems. The house that snuck in front of us while ours waited for permitting is currently at the end of the framing stage and they are trying to get it finished before the possible snow/ice storm comes in on Thursday. Also it seems that they had run out of some lumber pieces and those were delivered today. We hope to see workers back on-site by the end of the week.

April continues to say well at least its a Parade Home and therefore it doesn't impact the completion date.

Oh, the changes one day can bring...

At 5:01 today (I know this because the pics are time stamped) we stopped by our new house & oh, what a surprise we had!

Clearly, I was tired after a day of errands and a 4-mile run before the sun even bothered to come up. I'm sure this explains why the sight of those vertical studs brought tears of excitement to my eyes. Shane was happy as well, but I can say with absolute certainty his eyes were dry.

This is the first pic we took today; a view from the street, looking at the garage.

A view from the dining area looking towards the front of the house & the garage.

A view standing in the backyard, looking at the dining area (right), living room (where Shane is standing), and the master suite (left).

A view looking at the kitchen & dining area.

And lastly, from across the street looking at the whole shebang.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Ready...

Today things look a little different.
Lumber was delivered...

A port-a-john was delivered (and strategically placed right in the front of the lot)...this will be wonderful for all our future photographs!

Plywood and Tyvek were delivered...(and some extra dirt, just in case we don't already have enough.)

It going to start looking like a house soon!