Countdown to Drywall . . .

The house is ALMOST ready for drywall. Let me show you everything we’ve done . . .

This is the back porch ceiling before.

And after the vinyl soffit was installed.

The front porch ceiling.

The front door with the trim – it still needs the clear coat and finishing. You can also see the door bell wiring sticking through on the left.

The siding is now complete for the entire house! No more house wrap is showing through. :) The siding is installed and caulked, the only thing left is the painting.

Here’s the door bell on the inside of the house, it’s mounted on a wall in the Great Room.

We covered the garage floor with ¼” sheathing for protection.

We cleaned up the house to get ready for insulation & drywall – it looks so clean now!

We installed the last hose bib.

The exhaust vent blends right into the brick. We passed our framing inspection on March 30th.

The batt insulation was installed in the walls and under the bonus space upstairs (noise barrier). This is the garage.

The office and hall bath.

The bonus area upstairs looks all cozy. The foam insulation is underneath the batts.

The dormer bonus area, which is doubling as a storage space so drywall can go in.

We installed both tub surrounds, they’re ready for drywall.

Drywall was delivered to the house on April 5th. They used a boom truck to deliver the drywall to the 2nd floor, so it’s already up there whenever we decide to build it out.

The drywall material – everything’s ready. We just need to pass the insulation inspection.

The drywall is spread throughout the house. They ordered 4x12 boards instead of the typical 4x8 for residential. This should give us a smoother finish so you can’t see the seams.

The insulators missed something and should fix it Tuesday next week, which means an inspection on Wednesday. If that goes okay, drywall starts Thursday – it should take one week. Can’t wait for that!!

I am thankful for . . .

the progress we have been making on the house! The arches and soffits are complete and the ductwork is progressing well. Let me show you in pictures.

The insulators put batt insulation above the walls in the dormers.

The soffits on the dormers were finished up Monday, Nov. 9th.

The curb appeal is coming along well.

We installed the glass inserts with integral blinds on the three back porch doors.

This is the meteor shower . . . okay, not really . . . but here's the house with the soffits and arches complete (in the rain).

Here are the glass inserts & hardware installed on the back porch doors. It's looking nice.

We wrapped the bottom and back of the back porch beam. The areas above the columns are getting additional trim, but it's not on yet.

The front porch today.

The siding on the sides of the porch is on - it just needs to be caulked and painted. You can also see the porch arches well.

Insulation on the left side of the bonus area.

Insulation on the right side of the bonus area.

The wall for the HVAC closet was built.

The ductwork above the bonus area that is heading toward the back bedrooms. We are going to have three zones on seperatae thermostats - master suite, back bedrooms and the common area.

The ductwork over the kitchen.

The duct going into the living room. We are putting in sheet metal - which is mainly a commercial installation. But, I work for a mechanical contractor and designed a really great duct system (if I do say so myself), so we are getting a top notch system.

Earlier today I spotted a snake on the front porch. It was scared of us and went under the peel and stick along the bottom of the porch. Unfortunately, the snake didn't know that the back of this is very sticky . . .

Adam and his dad got him off of there . . . but he didn't live long after that.

The garage door will go in next week and the front door is on the way. Things are looking great. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Trenches, Shower & Soffit

This week at the Harris Residence, we've been up to a few things. Adam added a shower pan membrane to the master shower and tested it for leaks. It passed, so we are ready for tile (that'll still be awhile).

Here it is. We stapled it to the blocking at the top. Tile backer will cover at least six inches of the menbrane down the wall. We also had to double up the membrane and cut a hole for the drain.

Adam and Brian put in a soffit in the garage for the dryer exhaust. Now, the exhaust duct has a direct route out of the house, which is good for the dryer.

Here it is in the back of the garage.

Another view of the soffit. It's not very deep.

Earlier, Adam dug out the 4" sewer pipe from all the dirt that had washed in during the rain. He made the connection for our house to the sewer line.

The connected sewer line.

Yesterday, I helped Adam fill the trench back in (and by "helped" I mean I shoveled a little bit then got tired in the heat. So I took the wimpy job of spraying down the dirt with water to make sure the pipe is packed down tight.)

We put a yellow caution line in about a foot below the line, for future digging. This way, no one cuts through the pipe accidentally (hopefully).

And here it is all filled in. We'll make it perfectly level with we grade the yard.

Adam is set to pick up the electrical stuff tomorrow and we should be wiring the house this week.

As of 3-25-09

If you couldn't tell, I've been catching up. The brick is now clean . . .

You can also see we have all the trenches back filled.

The fireplace should be here any day now. The framing is ready.

The closet under the stairs is framed.

The bar in the kitchen is framed.

The wall in the kitchen was changed from a pocket door to a cased opening.

We passed an inspection, so we should be setting the insulator and duct guy loose soon. Things are coming along well.

Brick, meters, & more metal

The brick is complete . . . well, practically complete. The masons finished the remaining gable ends and window sills on Friday, February 27th. They still need to brick around the electrical conduit, which we now have ready for them. Here are some new pictures.

The front of the house has completed brick. All the remaining areas with house wrap will have hardy board siding.

The right side of the house is complete.

You can see where they cut out below the meter for the conduit. Also, notice the window sill.

They made brick thresholds under all the doors on the back porch. I wasn’t expecting this, but it’s a really nice touch.

We also framed the fireplace wall March 1st. Here is where the fireplace is going. We had to move our temporary plan table to make room.

Here’s the new plan table and storage area – in the breakfast nook.

We’re going to have a 42” fireplace and it is set to come in next week.

Another thing Adam and his dad did a couple weeks ago, was add two rows of 6” bolts, every 4” – 9”, through the 4-ply and 5-ply trusses upstairs, as well as bolts every 2 feet. It was a LOT of work, but they finished it.

We connected the conduit to the electrical meter on March 7th. Adam had to use the concrete drill to chip away at the brick ledge from beneath.

Inside, the electrical box looks like this.

We also put in four of these guys – 32 nails in each of them. This house is going to be pretty secure in a hurricane.


We got a shop vac a couple months ago and Clint has enjoyed keeping the house clean.