More blue board and windows

Windows

The windows arrived on Tuesday morning. The blue boards (exterior insulation) have started going up in tandem with the the windows this week.

Roof Trusses

This house is flying up. The roof trusses were installed in a matter of 2 and a half hours today. The second floor walls went up in the last two days.

Its a lot of fun to get inside and imagine the space. The roof decking goes on tomorrow and the moat around the house will be filled in with gravel to cap off a productive week. Good work, guys. And Joey.

Here's what the house is looking like:

Front

Joey lassoing the roof trusses for the crane

Jeff perched on a truss. Dude ain't afraid of heights.

credit to Lisa

Gray was really excited about today's events

Details... Rainscreens

For a while now, I've been wondering why so many have told me that they wouldn't be able to take on a house building project. Those who have taken it on have lamented about just how many decisions there are to make. It wasn't until today that I said aloud, to Jeff no less, "I didn't realize how many decisions there were to make."

Jeff and Joey took us on a River's Bluff house tour this morning. We were looking at small siding details like lapping verses butting and corner treatments. I think we made some good conclusions.

The biggest decision was how to treat the mahogany siding. We've decided to leave a reveal between each piece (instead of lapping). This will create a black strip between each piece. The skin of the house will protect from moisture. Like many green building features, we just liked the look of it, but there are actually good reasons for the method. For example, the pad of air promotes drying.

Here's an upclose photo of a house we saw today:

This is another example of the reveal lines that the a rain screen creates:

First Floor Walls

The first floor walls and ceiling are up. Enjoy the pics!

Front to back

Back to front

Floored

Jeff and the crew (Phil and Tom) are at the site full time from now until November! Here is a window into what they are up to:

(From the back of the basement)

(From the front of the basement)

Tomorrow the first floor walls will be up! Crazy, huh?

Superior Basement Walls

Just back from the lot, which is now a "site." The Superior Walls are being finished this morning. It takes only a matter of hours. Pretty cool.

Our neighbor, Brad, fearing that the Superior Walls just might come loose and demolish his newly minted house.

Saying cheese makes for a cheesy family photo. Gray thought the cables on the crane made the crane look like the "biggest guitar I've ever seen."

Gravel

Gravel was dumped in the clay pit today. Just in the nick of time before the first July thunderstorm. Jeff offered to enclose the truck in the basement. I think Gray would love that.

Next step: the Superior Walls (http://www.superiorwallsva.com).