Tile Roof

 Getting ready for the tile roof.

The tar paper has been layed and the boards have been placed.

Tiles are now loaded.  Just waiting for the weight to settle everything, then the tiles will be placed.  Oh, the joys of watching it all come together! 

Final Framing

We finished the final framing this week.  It's exciting to "see" the house come together. 

This photo is a view of our master bathroom.  I'm standing in the bedroom taking a photo of the bathroom and directly behind that is the master closet. 

Doti gets into the action.

Martin and Jeff are working on the formal dining room.  It has a recessed roof.  We'll put in some unique lighting to make this a nice focal point.

I'm standing in the living room bay window, taking a photo into the house.  As you can see, our living room has two archways on both sides of the wall.  Through those, you can see the great room and kitchen area.

This month, we also worked on installing the electrical lines.  I took this photo from the neighbor's yard.  We had to cross under the next door neighbors driveway and connect the wires to a new SRP box (notice the orange and white striped construction signs in the far right side of the photo.)  That's where they installed the new box.  Since the driveway was torn out, the neighbor was not able to drive into her garage for 24 hours.  On top of that, she was without power one morning for about 4 hours.  Luckily, she didn't seem to mind too much and has been really great to work with!  With electrical lines in, we were able to get a temporary metering device, allowing us to have electric without the use of a noisy, old, generator!  Yay!

Framing - Main Floor

Last weekend was one of the most productive weekends we've had.  Ed, Luke, Martin, Scott, and Jeff worked hard at framing the main floor.  Despite the heat of July, the guys worked diligently.  Fans helped cool the air and within days, the house was coming together more than ever!  It was really exciting!

Jeff's uncle, Scott, came down from UT to help put in all the electrical work.  He spent most of his time wiring the basement, while the rest of the guys worked upstairs.

Doti's brother, Martin, is Jeff's right hand man!  Martin is out there with us at least one day a week and most weekends. 

In this photo, Ed and Jeff are working on the banister.  Ed is Jeff's colleague.  He and his son, Luke work as many weekends that they can.  They're a two-man team we can't beat!  Ed is the mentoring, hard-working type.  A great guy to have on your side!

Luke is cutting the wood for the banister.  He and his dad work really well together.  It's a life lesson for us all to see them at work.  Someday, we hope our boys enjoy working as hard as Luke. 

Thanks Luke for spending your summer break with us!

In this photo, I'm facing the laundry room on the left and the nursery and guest bedroom on the right.  We built a mechanical loft above the laudry room.  Access to that will be through the garage.    

For perspective, Martin is standing in the pantry.  Doti's not sure if it's big enough, but compared to what she currently has, it's 3 x larger! 

In this view, the master bedroom is on the left (not framed yet).  The long skinny room down the middle is the powder room with access to the back yard.  Next to that is the kitchen.

Framing the Basement Walls

Today, Jeff, Martin, Luke and Ed started framing the basement walls.  What a great team; we're so lucky to have them help.  With the roof on, working inside isn't so bad.  We have a heavy duty construction fan which creates a nice breeze.  Today's project was to frame the boys bedrooms and closets.  Although the house is big, once walls are put in, it makes the space seem so much smaller!

Roof

It's the first of June.  Our roof is going on this week.  The timing is perfect as temperatures here in the valley haven't quite hit 100 degrees.  It's an unusually "cool" summer so far. 

We hired the roof job out.  The guys came with a crane to put on the trusses.  Once the trusses were on, they laid plywood down, forming the roof cover.  I video-taped the men lifting the plywood sheets as if they were 2x4's.  I guess when you're use to it, large sheets of plywood aren't that heavy anymore!  They really made it seem easy.  Within 4 days, the main roof was complete.  They're still working on the patio though.

The largest of the roof trusses were delivered and placed in the street.  The crane carried each truss up and over the neighbor's house.  They did it with such ease, but I'm still glad the neighbor wasn't home at the time!

It's all coming together nicely!

Garage and front entrace.

The photo is a bit dark, but I'm standing across the street taking the picture.  We were concerned that the house would look too large next to the neighbors, but since there are two-story homes in the area, it blends in well (for the most part!)  It's still a big house!

There's nothing better than a huge space for driving bumper cars!  Although Aspen's big red car doesn't have a motor, she gets bumped and moved by the boys with no problem.  She loves it!

Framing the Garage and Patio

We are framing the garage and patio in preparation for the roof.  A big thanks to Daryl, Martin, Luke and Ed for all your time and strength to help put up the support beams.  We definitely could not have done it without you!

Garage

Back Patio Before

Back Patio After

Front Entrance

The kids have spent a lot of time out here these days.  Thank goodness for the trampoline and large mounds of dirt, providing loads of entertainment.  Also, thank you Carrie for the cuddle-time with Aspen...she sure loves you...or was it all the bouncing??? 

       

Aspen loves climbing!           Our friend Carrie, jumping with Aspen.                     

Chase being silly!                 Stone, practicing his jumping skills!                        

Slabs

The garage, patio and front entrance slabs have now been poured.  The house is really coming together.

Jeff is up high and Chase is in front.  This is a 4 car garage.  Two in front with a single tandem off to the left.

Photo of the back patio.