Weekend Progress

Lots has happened since the garage doors were installed. The cleanup continues too. I have picked up about 2 whole pickup loads of good lumber scrap. That includes the small triangular pieces of log that were cut off of the gables ends. The old jeep is full. Lots to go. Inside it's starting to take shape. My father, Vince & his daughter, and Kelly have all been working hard. One side of the house is sided, the chimney chase is now framed, the custom hearth is framed, the master bedroom walls are up, and the basement insulation is done. Also, all of the doors have the knobs and deadbolts installed so we are now secure. We're also pumping water every day for a few hours. The well water has cleared up very well. The turkeys and deer seem to like it.

Enjoy the pictures.

Here's the siding pictures: (Thanks Dad)




Here we are framing the master bedroom walls: (thanks to Vince and Ashley)



And here is Kelly insulating like crazy....notice I am keeping my distance...I'm alergic to insulation....it makes me itch. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.






And the insulation installed:



Here's the hearth and chimney progress:





Finally, here's a picture of the wildlife watering hole. Clean clear water from 613 feet below the montana soil.

Garage Doors

When we were purchased the land we were fortunate enough to work with a realtor that had connections. Rhianna's husband, Brian, happens to be an expert on many things, one of them is garage doors. We were getting quotes on doors and installation when Brian offered to help. He ended up getting the doors cheaper and installed them for us for less than we would have paid through anyone else. The install looks extremely professional and it is sealed well. And with that the house is weather tight. Thanks Brian.

Roof Done

Late last night the roof was completed. Tim and Jason are done and with that I am on my own. It has been a real learning experience and I hope I have the good fortune of working with those two again.

Here's how the house looks from the main road.

Interior Shots

Much of the material is now on the house. It looks bigger inside with every step. The skylights look great and seem to add lots of light. The temperature upstairs has definately risen since the doors and windows were installed. The passive solar thing works well.

Insulation

With the doors and windows done and the roof nearing completion, Kelly decided to start insulating the basement. She got almost half of the living area done and that was no small chore. It's made a big difference in the temperature and the noise downstairs. More to go but we can now move on to other rooms and these two can be used as storage.

Doors Get Installed

We had some delays with the roof steel. Apparently when we measured, we forgot to carry the one, cause we ended up short on steel and fascia. To use up the time, Jason, Tim, and I set all of the doors. It's pretty straightforward on the basement walls but on the log walls we had to bolt a heavy aluminum channel to the logs to straighten them perfectly, cut a groove in each wall, and then pound in a piece of angle iron to hold the walls in place. Then the jambs had to be set with slip joints to allow for log settling. Once all that was complete the doors were set and trimmed out.

We were also able to get the last window set. While the boys worked on that I got the well power conduit placed, the wire run, and stubbed through the wall. Here's how it all turned out.

Cedar Siding--More Progress

We've gone from this:

To this:

The cedar tongue and groove siding is great stuff. I was able to put up the tyvek house wrap and the siding in about 2 hours. The wood is beautiful. I'm having a hard time putting it on the outside of the house. It needs to be on the inside.

And here is the view of the house from the main road in.

Roof going on

On goes the roof. While I was cutting firewood with my buddy Kevin, Jason and Tim were busy putting down tar-paper. Once I got back to the house they had started to put up steel. I threw together some ropes and harnesses for them and went up to help. By the time I got down we had steel over almost all of the garage and the valleys had the steel placed in them. I started working on the cedar siding while Jason cut steel for the valleys and this is how it looked when I left.

Windows are in!

All of the windows are in now. All are trimmed out and sealed up. Another big jump ahead. The house is really starting to look like a home.




Further proof of running water. I have been running the well a few hours every day before we do a water test. The more I run it the better it gets. Can't seem to make it run out of water any more. Now the deer, elk, and turkeys have a place to get a drink.

First Set of Windows and Skylights

Jason and Tim managed to build all of the window frames, mount them in the window openings, and got the upper windows installed in the great room. The windows look great. Can't wait to see the rest of them installed.





The Skylights are in too.

More Progress--Roof and Soffit

The roof is sheeted and the steel roofing is ordered. Tim and Jason knocked out the Soffit and fascia too. Should be setting windows tomorrow (Monday). Lots of progress this last week.





The view from inside. It's strange how putting a roof on it makes it seem bigger inside. I think you could play football in the great room.

And the view from the master bathroom window. What a beautifull day it was.