Thursday, August 28, 2008

August 28 - Windows

The windows arrived towards the end of last week. Courtesy of the K.C. Company and Pella, we were able to purchase some very well featured and high efficiency triple-pane windows for basically the price of double-paned. In most cases they are openable awnings above casements. On the back of the house you can see the bump-out that is in Lydia's room. This should be really nice and give her room a bigger feel. The final picture here shows the very nice sliding doors in the back.

Tomorrow Anilton will finish putting the roofing paper on the area above the garage. The shingles should be delivered as well. Robert Ream, a friend from Ohio is coming out this weekend and will install them during the first part of next week.

We really need to make progress on the radiant floors and HVAC system(s). I pray this happens soon.



Saturday, August 23, 2008

Aug. 23nd Update - Now That's a House!


It's great to see the house take shape! Anilton and his crew are really moving us along. It's also really great to have the house backfilled. Reginaldo had the footers prepared for the columns in the garage and these also went up this week. Next week hopefully we can get the basement slab poured.

Meanwhile, the roof trussses look great from the inside of the house too, as can be seen in the second to last picture. The Great Room should be a very beautiful, comfortable, and serviceable space. The last shot shows the view out the back from the Great Room. Very soon this should be enclosed by French sliding doors, with openable awning windows above. The front door of the house will also have an openable awning window above it. Having all these windows open when we leave the house on errands, should permit wonderful ventilation through the main area of the house, as the prevailing winds come Northwest to Southeast, and should blow nicely through the house.


Wednesday, August 6, 2008

August 6th - A Second Story

I worked from home today and was cleaning the deck with Mike until after sunset, so as soon as I could get free, I raced over to the property to see what had happened. Anilton and his guys got the floor of the second story in place (no more sky views from the garage like you see in my previous post) as well as the exterior walls. What a joy to see progress!

In my mind, it's a second story of a different nature - a double entendre of sorts. This story says a lot can happen in a day, and it's a story I'm praying to hear repeated often in the days and weeks to come. The other story has been heard way too much for my liking - delays caused by poor communication or execution on the job. We still slog along with the waterproofing fiasco. The vendor rep from Tremco told me today he's never seen anything like this in the 30 years that he's been in business - a county inspector that wanted detailed documentation on how standard insulation board was installed. For my part, I like the inspector doing his job, but we need a resolution soon. It's holding up the work.

I enjoyed seeing the crescent moon (an overexposed blob in this picture) through the window of the second story. It reminded me of the overarching story of my Christian life - God's faithfulness. Here's a little poem I wrote about THAT story and the moon:

Can it be that daily You return upon me smiling?
I would hardly look for You until the darkness falling
Caused an anxious glance to find Your face - so reassuring;
Ever watching over me, Thy grace, my soul securing.

I know You're watching and that You'll be faithful to help us. Make Your name great on the property You gave us. Amen.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Udate August 5 - Go Anilton!



What a difference a day or two make! Yesterday the steel girder that spans the garage was put in place as well as a wooden "cap" across the full perimeter of the house. This evening when I went by I found that our framer Anilton Rezen and his crew had framed out almost the entire first floor. I called Maureen and raced home to pick her up so that we could go back out together while there was still some daylight to get our first real "sense" of the rooms. We both did this with a certain degree of fear and trembling. It's one thing to look at plans, and quite another to "feel" the space. In the end, both of us were relieved. Though we might have wanted some parts of the house to be bigger, both budget and reason dictate they not be much different from what they are. The nine foot ceilings throughout make for a nice feeling. The studio and greatroom have even higher ceilings and should be very inspirational spaces. The study was bigger than I imagined it might be; the powder room bigger than what Maureen expected. The foyer seems ample and the bedrooms comfortable, with much larger closets than we have now.

The saga of the waterproofing inspection continues. The inspector rightly wants assurance that the mechanisms and methods used to attach the insulative panels onto the sprayed cinder block walls don't somehow compromise the seal. We're trying to get the insulation contractor and material supplier to provide sufficient documentation to satify the inspector.