Long lapse in posting

Sorry that I have been so long in making more posts. Our IMPACT 360 (http://www.impact360.net/) students arrived last week and we were busy all week with orientation and a retreat up here at WinShape -- ropes training.

















The house is "dryed out" at this stage. The dormers were constructed this week and they have started the screened porch. After the porch is completed they will finish the deck railing and then install doors and windows.

We are getting bids on installing the Hardie board siding and the metal roof. We have had some difficulty getting decent bids. We have had a couple subs who really did not want to do the job because of the height --or at least the impression that they are higher on the side of the mountain--so they jacked up the estimate. The framers said that after they got accustomed to the feeling of being up so high, they enjoyed the view.

New view--the front!


















We were able to leave Pine Mt. earlier today than we anticipated, so we arrived in Rome before dark. I don't know why I have not thought of this before, but I climbed the ridge in "front" of the house and took these photos. It gives a new perspective of the house.
The framers will complete decking on the other side of the roof over the next two days. The flooring of the deck is complete as well as the flooring of the screened porch. Plumbing work is going on in the basement as the framers are working upstairs.
The garage will be built to the right of the house (see top photo)-- detached garage -- in front of the tree.

New Students at IMPACT 360/no postings

Sorry we have not posted in several days, but we are in Pine Mountain for orientation of our new 16 students at IMPACT 360. Our students come from nine states from California to Pennsylvania. A great mix of students from diverse backgrounds and it is going to be another exciting year.

We will be back in Rome tonight and will have a post up on Thursday. The framers are working on the decking on the roof. We have had some difficulty with getting an estimate within our range for the metal roof. The subs say that the steep roof is a factor -- and it seems even more steep on the side of the hill.

Kitchen's first cleaning

Cheryl and I spent about 6 hours at the house site today cleaning up trash, burning wood scraps, cleaning up wet sawdust and water in the house (from the first rain since we started the house a month ago -- 1/2 inch), picking up nails (the sub-contractors waste a lot of material), and other cleanup work.



















Hopefully, Cheryl will not have to use the shovel to clean her kitchen again. That's wet sawdust! The door to the left is the "front door" at the back of the house where we will later build the garage. You can just see the lower corner of the pantry in the upper right of the photo.

The view of the house is looking up under the deck (not the first level just above the windows--that's just scaffolding for building the deck). Remember the deck is about 13 feet from the ground.

















Cheryl is also giving the great room its first vacuuming. She says that the contractors are going to think she is strange -- but there was sawdust and nails everywhere!

Starting the deck

We were back on the construction site today after my hand surgery yesterday -- second surgery in five weeks; first one didn't work! The first photo here is of the west side with the screened porch. It will tie into the deck which you can see in both photos as it begins to take shape. They are building the deck now so they can use it to move decking more easily to the roof. The workmen are standing on the porch. Cherly is sitting in the Kubota waiting for me to take the photos.

It is hard to get a photo of the "view side" (north) unless we rent a helicopter. All our photos will be below the house from that side.

another view



This is the view from the road coming up to the house. It was taken just below the small "silt pond." The black fences are slit fences that he county requires. We cleared out all the brush to make a pasture -- lots of work left before it will actually be a pasture (maybe in a year or so).

We are headed to Pine Mt. this afternoon and I won't be posting more pics until Tuesday.

Good construction




Our framing sub-contractor is doing very good work. The rafters are 20+ feet long. Ron Carter is on the job every day supervising all the construction. Ron is standing in the loft over the front porch. The "front" of the house actually faces up the mountain. When you drive up the road to the house, we call that the "view" side -- which is actually the back of the house. There will be a deck across the view side connecting the screened porch.

It's a tall building

We knew that we were building a tall house, but standing on the top of the first floor it feels like you are way up in the air. These are some photos from Tuesday's work. The framers left early because of the heat and humidity. No rain for a month, but it is great weather for framing a house -- maybe not for the guys that are actually doing it, but for the property owners, it is good framing weather!
This photo is looking to the east side over our bedroom.

This is the view looking out where the dormer in the west "future" bedroom is.

This is looking into the dining room and kitchen. You can stand where the bar will be and see 80% of the house.

Moving fast

Sorry that I have not posted since Sunday. Everything is moving so fast it is hard to keep up with the progress. Cheryl and I are going to the site in the evenings to clean up and look at the work (inspectors!). We have been busy picking out things for the house i.e. exterior doors yesterday. Cheryl is, of course, is spending a lot of time thinking about how to do the kitchen. The walls of the main floor are up and today they are putting up decking on the I-beams above the first floor. They will start working on the roof framing very soon. They will also go ahead and construct the deck around the view side so they can use it for scaffolding. The house is alreay 23 feet tall before starting to work on the roof framing.
Here is a shot of Cheryl and me standing in front of our bedroom door. The fireplace is just to your left.

First floor going up

This was the way the house looked by Friday when the framing guys left. Five of them are on the job and they are making very good progress. The temp has been over 100 every day, but the guys have worked a full day everyday. The dirt around the house site has been pulverized by the heavy equipment and the drought. There is 3-4 inches of "baby powder" dirt around. Tommy and Tim work for Ron and they are forming for the patio on the view side of the house.
They actually finished the outside walls of the first floor. I took this photo at noon on Friday.
BY THE WAY -- YOU CAN LOOK AT AN ENLARGED PHOTO OF ANY PHOTO ON THE BLOG BY POINTING THE CURSOR ON THE PHOTO AND CLICKING.
Pouring the patio slab. They worked all day on Saturday and didn't finish until dark, so I don't have any finished photos, yet. It is washed pea gravel and it looks great.