Plumbing Rough-In Starts

This turned out to be such a long process and grateful to John for figuring out all the runs and connection points.  Sammy (retired master plumber) also came out and provided guidance during the process.

In the 4'+ crawl space looking at the 3" line

Vents and drains in place for kids bathrooms.

On with the Roof

We have been so fortunate that it has only rained one time since the subfloor went down and even though we used Gold Edge which can be out in the weather for months, I didn't want to test it.

Worked out a great deal on the roof for cheaper than I could have done it so these guys came in and knocked it out in two days ... 81 squares which was 240 bundles of shingles.  That's a lot.

They finished on a Friday and it rained that night - no water inside.  Love it.

Framing Wrapping Up

Finally the framing is getting ready to be finished.  It has taken much longer than the framer said and that was because he had a couple other jobs going on at the same time.  I understand the need to maximize projects during the summer but it is costing me money at this point.  Talked with the framer and he said he wouldn't do the other job until mine was done ... well that lasted about 4 days.

Anyway, starting to see the light.  The staircase to the basement is being put in so we no longer have to walk around the house to get to the basement.

Since the basement is 'unfinished', the wall has to be closed off and a fire door installed.  Knowing we would finish the basement at some point and want to have the staircase open when coming down the stairs, put in a header to carry the load so we could remove all the studs and the door that is showing below.

Loft framing is done and now there is a nice little sitting perch.  B likes to go up there and hang out ... once we get books in the library, he may never come down.

The rear deck roof is now framed and provides an amazing look out to the property.

Have started playing around the fireplace size and location.  I grew up with wood fireplaces and always wanted one and now that we have plenty of wood, we will have one.  Planning on getting the Fireplace Xtrordinair 44 Elite (http://www.fireplacex.com/ProductGuide/ProductDetail.aspx?modelsku=98500113) with the Artisan Face.  It is large and puts out some serious heat so the plan is to offset the electrical bill during the winter.

Here are some pics of just putting some boards up to get an idea of how we want it to look.

Catching Up

It's been quite a while since my last post and lots of people asking about updates so I'm going to try and get caught up.

I never imagined being the GC and doing alot of the work myself was going to take soooooo long. Even with all the research and planning I did, still wasn't prepared. Thankfully I've had the help of my dad, John, and the wife (kids too) for much of the time.

During the process, I've learned so much more than I ever knew before, met some really nice people and found many contractors that aren't good.  Have been fortunate and stepped into some really nice opportunities and savings that helped reduced overall costs that I had not planned on.  I will elaborate when I start updating the posts.

We are behind schedule quite a bit (about 6 weeks) but the framer was partially responsible and I just didn't allocate enough time.  I had hoped to be in the house by Christmas but doesn't look like we will make it after all.

Stay tuned and I should have lots of updates coming shortly .....