The Amazing Spiderman and Sometimes things just work out .....

HI!

I learned something watching the framers put the sheathing on the outside of the home yesterday, Framing is a job for young men or for The Amazing Spiderman! Able to handle a 4 foot x 8 foot sheet of sheathing with two hands, 20 feet up on a ladder, one foot on the ladder, one foot on the window sill, 10 penny nail gun in one hand, holding onto the ladder with the other and suspended (or maybe kept from falling) by a strap attached to his back, the Amazing Spiderman puts nails about 2" apart in all the horizontal and vertical studs / beams to hold the sheathing on.

Rough Framing is Almost Completed: They are getting close to being done for a while. After all of the parapets and exterior framing (like for the decks) is complete, and all of the interior walls are in place, and the fireplace is framed, and the kitchen cabinetry has a place to land, the framers will go on to other jobs and other contractors take over.

Next to come (probably in a week or so) are the roofers and the window and door installers. As they complete their work, the home is "weather proofed" meaning that we wouldn't expect any water leaks or wind leaks. The plumbers and electricians can then begin rough installation of all the plumbing and electrical runs to the termination points such as where the sinks, faucets toilets, etc are located.

It may be that the exterior of the house has work going on too. Once the openings in the walls are framed and windows and doors installed, the exterior work can begin. Can't wait to see these new aspects of construction get under way.

Granite and Countertops: We went over to the granite supplier's house to check out our last decision on the type of granite for the Master Bath vanities ...... 84" long x 24" wide with two sink cutouts. The granite turned out not to match well with the dry stack rock we picked out for the walls of the shower. But, searching around Deb found a 1/2 slab that was the last piece of granite they had in stock of that type .... discounted by 2/3 or so.

While Deb was searching, I was wandering .... and found a stack marked "FREE"! Lo and behold, a slab 84" x 25" with a sink cutout in it already ...... finished edges, polished, and ready to go was in the pile. We planned a utility sink in the Workroom, and this slab of granite will fit perfectly and provide us with undercounter storage and a great work surface. Who says there's "No free .... ?"

Fireplaces and Open Flames: We had the pleasure of attending our friends' first Evening on the Patio a week or so ago. They had work done to create a new patio space and it's spectacular. Located on a hill near the tee for one of the fairways of the golf course, they have an unobstructed view of the Rampart Range mountains to the West as well as the lakes and rivers closer in. But the best part of the evening (in addition to the great food, home tour, meeting new friends) was sitting around the fire pit and talking. The fire pit was so nice that it inspired us to change the Party Deck fireplace to a fire pit.

Parapet Walls and Photovoltaic Cells: Bye the way, as framing was being completed, the parapet walls went up around the various "boxes" that make up the house. These parapets define the roof segments for the various sections of the house, and hide the roofing materials from views below. As it turns out, these roof areas, which are essentially flat, would be perfect places to spot in photovoltaic cells taking advantage of the sunshine to produce electricity. We're not going to pursue that right now, but it is something to think about in years to come.

Expanding the Party Deck: And, in looking at the framing for the different roof sections, we noticed that there was an opportunity to expand the Party Deck area. The plans called for the Party Deck to cover only the area above the Great Room, but the Great Room and the areas over the stairwell and the hallways to the Master Bedroom / South facing deck are within the same roof "box." As the plans laid it out, we'd end up with a parapet wall in the middle of the Party Deck that looked out over a 9 foot x 16 foot area of roofing membrane. Rather than upset the views to be had by our future guests, we decided to expand the area of the Party Deck by 1/3 to a total of about 600 square feet.

What's Next? We're actually going to build something for the house here in a few days. there's a wall in the powder room off the kitchen that has a low wall installed in it. The wall has been designed to have a small section of "bottle wall" imbedded in it, so we'll take a run at making our first bottle wall. Should be an interesting little project!

Cheers!