November 27 - Roof Sheeting is Done

The sheeting on the roof was completed yesterday. Marshall will finish the wall around the front entrance then start on shingling the roof on the weekend.

 

We hired a mini-excavator last week to dig the trench to bury electrical wires but it broke down. He came back today but the ground was too hard, so didn't get much done before he called it quits. Now we have to hire a bigger machine to do the job.

 

It's coming along!

 

Next update will be on the weekend!

November 25 - A Couple of Videos

It was very cold today...about -25C with the wind, but at least the sun was shining. Marshall finished up sheeting the west side and back of the house and I did a yard clean up (picked up the scraps of wood & garbage before it all got buried from any more snow).

 

Just finishing up the sheeting. Yes that is the moon in the picture. We finished up about 6:00 (an hour after this picture was taken) and it was very dark except for the beautiful moonlight. I held the light for Marshall so he could see to nail up the last 2 boards.

 

Here's a couple of videos I took today.

http://youtu.be/TesEnSph9aw

 

http://youtu.be/brY5Mc5LxbY

 

November 24 - Roof 95% Complete

Wow...talk about progress! Except for a small area over the front door, the sheeting on the roof is complete. Marshall was out there yesterday and it was a chilly one. It's very snowy and blowy today so we thought it best to stay in the city and get caught up at home.

Working on the back.

 

Back is complete! Trusses on the deck are for the sunroom. There will be a window on the back wall of the garage. It's framed, just not cut out yet.

 

West side of house.

 

Roof sheeting is complete on this side. Marshall will be finishing the sheeting of the wall just below the roof line all around the house.

 

Working on the sunroom in this picture and the one below.

 

 

East side of house. To finish the other side of the sunroom where it meets the house, the last few cuts were made with the help of a flashlight. (It gets dark way too early!)

 

The trusses leaning up against the house will be used to finish the roof over the front door. There will be a widow in the garage, it's framed just not cut out yet.

November 22 - Sheeting Continued

Only a few pictures today as it was almost dark when we got there after work and absolutely freezing out there (-20C w/windchill). It's a chilly one and very windy.

Finished up this area yesterday.

 

Close up of picture above. The door to the right goes into the 3rd bay of the garage and the window straight ahead is the dining room.

 

West side of house.

 

Sheeting in preparation for the framing of the remaining trusses that form the front valley. Because of the north winds, the front has to be done before the back or the sheeting will just blow off.

November 21 - Sheeting Has Begun

For today and the rest of the week we rented a Telehandler (forklift with a working platform) to make the sheeting go a little quicker. We sure are missing the long daylight hours. It's hard to get out there after work while there is some daylight left!

The garage is sheeted.

 

Back of the garage.

 

Sheeting on the platform to go on.

 

Close up of the telehandler. Having the platform saves the guys building & moving scaffold and having to carry the sheets up.

 

Lots to do...tomorrow is another day.(But the weather is supposed to be crappy.)

 

A little chilly today.

November 20 - Trusses Continued

The crane was back for a couple of hours today and the rest is up to the guys to 'stick build'. By the end of the day the roof of the garage and the house were joined and the framing was done for the soffits on the ends of the garage. The other truss areas that need finishing by hand are; over the front door, most of the west side of the house (the right side of the picture below) and the sunroom. Then it will all be sheeted.

Some sheeting is up so that the garage roof and house roof can be joined.

 

The entrance to the single bay of the garage (around the back) and a man door.

 

 

 

Framework for the ends of the garage are being built in the house and passed out through the dining room window. These are manually lifted up and nailed into place.

 

 Trusses for the sunroom are laying on the deck.

 

We are very lucky to have such wonderful carpenters building our house. They make sure everything is measured, checked & checked again before it is attached. From what Marshall has told me, they pay such attention to detail and aren't happy with even 1/8th of an inch out! It is hard to find such good craftsmen these days!! 

 

November 19 - Trusses

Today was truss day!!! The crane arrived minutes after Marshall & Alanna this morning and it was about 9 hours of go, go, go. Another few hours tomorrow and the crane will be done. 

The crane is getting ready to start lifting in the picture above and below.

 

 

 

Moving the sunroom trusses. Marshall attached them to the crane's hook & then ran to the back to guide them down onto the deck. These will put up by hand, crane not needed to raise them.

 

Marshall is watching the first truss that was hoisted up & now being attached.

 

From the dining room looking towards the bedrooms.

 

If you look closely, you can see Alanna on the left. She was the Swamper today...hook up the trusses to the crane and guide/keep them from swinging. She was running lots!!

 

Another one going up.

 

It's starting to look like a house. :)

 

Working on the garage now.

 

The back of the house and garage on the right. This is where they stopped for the day. Back at it tomorrow.

 

November 17

A beautiful sunny day today. Susan & Glenn stopped by for a visit & after a tour of the house they helped put up the snow fence on the septic field and Glenn helped Marshall finish off the front steps.

Snowfence to help catch the snow and insulate the septic field.

Marshall nailed up the pressure treated sheeting to the framing & sill plate on the garage yesterday and today Joël (Laurie's boyfriend) nailed the sheeting to the concrete around the garage (but he had to drill a hole in the concrete first).

All the roof trusses that were delivered yesterday.

 

The sheeting for the roof (once the trusses are up) and the temporary steps that Marshall built. These will be our front steps until the spring when we finish off the deck.

 

Tailgate Party!!! A little afternoon snack!

 

Here we are in the front (north east) corner of our yard!

 

Laurie is in Oakville visiting with her Grandparents & baking with Grandma. Joël offered to come out and help today and Alanna & her boyfriend Marc did our grocery shopping and fixed the flat tire on the snowblower. It was an 'all hands on deck' kind of day. Thanks kids for helping out!!! :)

November 16 - More Rooms

More pictures of sticks today. Hopefully you could follow along with yesterday's post cause there's more of them today.

The trusses arrived today - a full truck load of them with Marshall's name spraypainted on the side of each bundle.

 

Marshall took this one with his Blackberry...it wasn't that dark out!

 

Now let's decipher the sticks & try to explain what room you are looking at...

 

In the living room with the front door to the left and dining room window to the right. The yellow hole in the floor is the basement stairs. The area in this picture is the hallway to the laundry/mud rooms & the 2 piece bathroom.

 

From the front entrance looking down the hall to the doorway to the garage. On the left are 2 coat closets.

 

Stairwell to basement. To the left is the hallway mentioned above. To the right is the dining room.

 

Just before the door to the garage is a small closet for 'back door' coats & shoes. Under the window is where the washer & dryer will be.

 

Across from the laundry area is a 2 piece bathroom, shown above.

 

Looking into the kitchen & the pantry in the corner. The window on the left is the dining room.