Drywall and siding

Drywall in the master bathroom

Master bedroom

One of the kid's bedrooms

Family room with unfinished coffered ceiling and fireplace.

View from hallway of family room.  The french doors open to a screened porch.

The house is now fully sided.  These aren't the paint colors, the siding comes looking like this.

Family visit to job site

Windows and stairs (and shingles)

Windows on the second floor.  These are casement windows.

Detail of trim work around exterior of windows.

The stairs are in.

Rear of house.  Right side will be a screened porch.  Middle is a eating area off the kitchen.  Left side is a landing that leads to the kitchen.

Who is that bald guy?

"It looks like a house"

The trusses and roof have been installed and the house finally looks like a house.

Roof trusses

Testing the size of the breakfast room.

More of the second floor

Interior walls on the second floor.

2nd floor exterior walls set in place

The right side and rear exterior walls are now in place, braced, and sheathed.


Left side exterior wall. All exterior walls are framed with 2x6's rather than 2x4's. This allows for more insulation and should reduce energy usage. See, we're green!!  [Please ignore the fact that using 2x6's killed more trees.]  The area around the hole in the floor is where our staircase will be.


The framed 2nd floor exterior walls from the street. In addition, the ceiling of the front porch has been framed. Two front facing bedrooms will extend out 4' over the front porch in a wide shed dormer.

Framing of 2nd floor exterior walls

The exterior walls for the 2nd floor are framed on the floor and then stood up. This is the exterior wall for the right side of the house.

One back wall has already been framed and braced.

A view of both side walls for the 2nd floor (on the floor) from the back of the house.

The little ones sitting in one of their future bedrooms.

An 11,000 pound elephant meets a shovel.

Ever had two feet of snow INSIDE your house? It wouldn't be an interesting building process without a blizzard dumping two feet of snow inside the house.

The culprit: the house isn't yet under roof. We shoveled out the entire first floor's 2 feet of snow. Snow had to be shoveled out through the framed windows and door openings. This picture was taken after shoveling was completed.

The Washington Post ran an interesting graphic which noted that 1,000 square feet of 2 feet deep snow weighs 11,000 pounds, which is equivalent in weight to an elephant.

More pictures of the house after the blizzard...

Porches, Etc.

Sheathing partially installed on exterior walls. 28x8 front porch framed.


Concrete piers being built under front porch. 8x8 pressure treated posts will sit on these concrete piers and support the roof and bedrooms over the front porch.

Rough framing of rear screened-in porch (13x8). The rear porch will open to the family room via three french doors. To the left of the rear porch is a breakfast area off the kitchen.

Landing for rear mudroom entrance.

Concrete and First Floor Framing

Footings and basement walls poured.

Basement walls are braced for back-filling of dirt around outside of basement walls.

Drain pipes laid. Notice the fashionable high-waters.

Concrete slab in basement being poured. A few floor joists laid in advance of the final concrete work.

First floor exterior walls being framed.

Interior walls being framed out on first floor. The opening on the left is the front door. The opening on the right is a set of triple windows to the dining room.

Excavation

Hauling away lots of dirt to make way for the basement.

The lot after excavation is complete.

Demolition Day