Happy Holidelays! Wks 24 - 27, 12/9/07 - 1/5/08

Yes, the house is still progressing, but it's not so dramatic now. Most of the work is inside and with the holidays, it slowed down significantly. Some work was done to plan, but not to the changed plans, so that will have to be fixed, but we can definitely see things shaping up. I hope you can, too.

HVAC

Our first day back from the trip to WA, we headed out to the site and this is what we saw -- lots of HVAC company trucks. They were working on the ducting for the heating and cooling.

This is what they did inside.

Framing

While we were gone, the framers completed the porch roofs, including the posts. I think they look great! This is the back porch from a couple of different angles.

I love the detail of the rafter tails.

This is a post closeup that shows the color better, although the color will fade over time. All of the porch wood will be stained this color, as will the doors inside the house.

They also got the fireplace framed in.

Roof

The roofers got the first layer done on the roof. I freaked out when I first saw it, thinking it was done, but the roof will get two more layers which will be white.

This is the roof over most of the living area.

This is a closer view of some of the Solartubes from the outside...

...and from the inside. Trout has 3 large ones in the shop. We have 6 in the house. They are a great way to bring in light without bringing in a lot of heat.

These are the canales from the shop onto the garage. Any of these canales that can't be seen from the ground or road will stay basic like this. Those that can be seen will have downspouts and be prettied up.

And this is a cricket and canales from the inside of the roof.

Driveway

This is Trout and Dave siting the Cinnabar Driveway. The water will come from the street and be under it. We probably won't pave it with any solid type of paving.

And this is a bird in a Palo Verde close to where they're standing. Too bad you can't hear him sing.

Mistakes

What building project doesn't have mistakes? Certainly not this one although I'm not sure if all these really count.

Remember from previous posts that the plumber sited the guest bath toilet 2 feet farther into the house than on the plan? So that meant we needed to adjust the guest bath vanity to 52" wide rather than the 68" on the plan. Well, when the electrician and the plumber did their work, they forgot that and did it to plan. Wrong! It's even funnier because the pipe coming down from the ceiling is almost exactly in the right place for the 52" vanity.

Remember how we struggled over the height of the bar in the kitchen and decided on 45"? Well the framing wasn't changed on that when the plumber came, so the pipes are too high and will have to be adjusted after the height is lowered.

The plan shows the freezer, hence the icemaker, on the left, but the plumber put the water source on the right.

And finally, Trout decided he wanted the pedestal sink in the shop bath in the corner instead of on the wall, but the plumber did it according to plan instead of putting it in the corner.

All these are items that will be fixed soon, she said confidently. But not too soon, because much of this work won't be done until the windows and doors come so we can lock up the house. Those aren't due until mid-February.

If you're wondering what all that plywood is doing on the floor, it's to protect the concrete from stuff being spilled on it because it will be our actual floor. The staining and polishing will happen to the slab itself.

Mid-September Construction Action

Things slowed down a bit again the past 3 weeks. During that time our builders called for an inspection they really didn't have to have done. They wanted to make sure the pad was officially high enough to meet the county requirements. It passed with flying signatures.

Of course, just when we think things are moving along nicely, some other little snag causes a delay. This time it was two little snags: a lost plumber & a slight discrepancy in the concrete plan. The latter required additional approvals from the county that took an extra week. By Week 11 (9/10 - 9/16) that got resolved & by the end of Week 12 (9/17 - 9/23) the plumber was found & the rough-in plumbing was finished & passed inspection.

After the nice, flat, packed & settled pad passed the height inspection okay, of course it had to be trenched up for the rough-in plumbing. That's what you'll see in most of the pictures below.

These are the on-the-ground markings for the rough-in plumbing. The piles in the background are called A&B. It goes on top of the dirt before they pour the concrete.

These are the plumbers, the DuShane brothers. They're checking the plans as they continue to lay the rough-in plumbing.

The pipes sticking up are the septic clean out pipes. We spent some time spotting where we wanted our wall to go one day & requested that the palo verde in the foreground be kept. So this line appears to have been moved slightly north to avoid the tree. Everything perks on the lot so the exact position of the septic system & drain field isn't a big issue. It just needs to be outside our wall & not in the Natural Open Space.

For all you potential shop visitors, this is the rough-in plumbing for Trout's shop. There will be a small bathroom complete with toilet, sink & shower.

This is the major trench to the guest room. Yes, visitors to LMMM will have a semi-private bath & a place to sleep actually in the house. They won't have to stay in the shop.

The final plumbing rough-in that passed inspection.

Someday this mess will be our house.

The local grasshoppers seem to like the place. These guys come out after the monsoons. They are about 3" long & when they fly, the green you see on the wings looks red. We're guessing the wings are red on the bottom.

These views are irrelevant to the construction, but highly relevant to why we chose this lot. They are from about 6 p.m. one evening. We were supposed to be at a picnic & flute concert at Kitt Peak with some friends about then, but it was canceled due to the clouds. So the friends came over & we just went to the lot instead.


This is looking east at the moon rising & a rainbow.

This is looking west at the mountains we were supposed to be in. It's too early for sunset, but not too early for a nice view.