Sheet Rock…Day 17

The Big Sky Construction guys continue taping and mudding the first floor ceilings and walls. They add layers of mud between the sheet rock as move toward their goal of 16” (wide) joints. The first photo shows a close-up stairs to the second floor. The “look and feel” of this element of the “L” Shaped House has been the subject of many discussions between Mike Kloti, us (Jim & Deb), JLM (Paul & John), and the folks at Solid (the finish carpenters). It is going to be fun to watch as the stairs take shape!

The next photo shows the sheet rocking details around the fireplace in the first floor living room. The framing surrounding the fireplace will be covered with Durock and eventually cultured stone. A wood mantle and rock hearth (Limestone) will be installed at the top and bottom of this opening.

 

The last photo shows what I think is a really good example of the very nice work the Big Sky Construction guys are doing as they install sheet rock throughout the “L” Shaped House. It’s just too bad that this cool intersection of walls, ceilings, and roof lines takes place in Deb’s walk-in closet off the master bedroom.

Sheet Rock…The garage

The Drywall crew started sheet rocking in the garage on Christmas Eve. They got most of the ceiling done before the weather turned cold and drove them back inside. The garage doors are in and scheduled to be installed the middle of next week. Once the doors are up and the heat turned on…both the garage and bonus room (above) will be transformed into great working areas for everyone!

Sheet Rock…Day 16

The Big Sky Construction drywall crew has been taping and mudding on the main level of the “L” Shaped House for the last few days. In the photos below I have tried to capture the beautiful work they are doing on the archways between the rooms. The first shows the arches separating the living room, foyer, and dining room from the music room entrance.

the next photo shows the same archways from the opposite corner in the dining room.

The third photo shows the arches separating the kitchen and dining rooms from the hallway outside the first floor laundry room. The nearly finished drywall has given the first floor a very elegant feel.

Sheet Rock…Day 15

The Big Sky Construction crew finished up installing sheet rock on the first floor last night and are busy preparing the walls for taping and mud. The first photo shows the living room, stairs, and front hall from the music room end of the house. This is the very first time we get to see the staircase with sheet rock covering the surrounding walls.

The next photo shows the kitchen, dining room, and front hall from the first floor laundry room entrance. The whole feel of the house has changed once again…I am really loving how it is turning out!

Painting…Day 1

Pete and Oscar from Carmichael Decorating were hard at work priming the walls and ceilings at the “L” Shaped House this morning. They had almost 1/2 of the second floor done as I arrived around noon. Deb and I have met with Steve a few times in the process of preparing to paint the house and it is nice to see this important element under way.

The first photo shows Sam’s room with freshly applied primer all around. The drywall guys did an awesome job on the walls and ceilings…everything looks great.

The next photo shows Pete on the sprayer as he applies primer to the ceiling in Helen’s room. Oscar follows along behind with a roller on the walls. The last photo shows the end of the hall at the upstairs laundry room.

The video shows Pete in action as he sprays the ceiling in Helen’s room. This video marks my first use of Microsoft’s new video editing tool Windows Live Movie Maker (it is a surprisingly nice tool).

Sheet Rock…Day 14

The Big Sky Construction crew is hard at it installing sheet rock on the first floor of the “L” Shaped House. Their crew expanded back up to 5 guys and the place is buzzing with the sounds of screw guns and routers. The first photo shows the archways leading through the dining room, kitchen, and back hall with drywall installed on all the walls.

The next photo shows the arches at the living room, and dining room entrances from the foyer. At noon today they had just about all the walls on the first floor covered and were mudding in the bonus room as well.

The video captures the fast paced activity pretty well. The house is absolutely filled with particles of sheet rock floating around and lots of noise. We also get (for only the third time) a glimpse of our camera shy site supervisor …Paul Winters…at the very end.

Gutters…Day 4 (Wrap-up)

The Protective Home Coverings crew finished up the gutters last night. The first photo below shows the gutters on back side of the “L”Shaped House by the breezeway porch. The two gutters that drain the roof pitches above the breeze way porch as well as the gutter at the stairwell window are visible in the photo. The second photo shows the downspouts that come down each side of the stairwell to the bonus room from the garage.

The next two photos show some of the details of the gutter systems on the back side of the “L” Shaped House. In the first the splash guards on the short section of gutter that drains the big expanse of roof above the main stairwell are visible. The second photo shows the downspout that connects the two gutters above the breezeway porch. all of the gutters look great and will (I think) be very functional.

Sheet Rock…Day 13

The Big Sky Construction guys finished up the sheet rocking on the second floor this afternoon. They were cleaning up and getting the place ready for the painting crew who are scheduled to arrive Monday morning. The first photo shows the master bedroom with all the walls and ceilings rocked, taped and mudded.

The next photos show parts of the second floor hallways. The first shot from the inside the book nook at the top of the stairs showing the stairwell and archway. The second showing the closets in the hall outside the kids bathroom.

The last photo shows the inside wall and closets in Helen’s room. The drywall crew has skim coated all of the ceilings and sanded all the surfaces. It all looks terrific!

Ceramic Tile…Day 8

Matt has made steady progress as he struggles to stay out of the way of the sheet rockers. The first photo shows the master bath shower with ceramic tile installed almost all the way up the walls. The glass accent tiles are in place around the shower interior and Matt is ready to install the corian shelves in the corners. The second photo is a close up shot meant to show the glass tile better (it looks much better in person).

Gutters…Days 2 & 3

The Protective Home Coverings guys have installed gutters all the way the way around to the back yard breezeway porch. They plan to have all the gutters installed before they go home tonight. The first photo shows the crew adding a downspout to connect an upper pitch to the gutter servicing the breezeway porch. The water collected in this set of gutters will eventually  flow through one of the 4” PVC pipes to a point beyond the back hill.

The next photo shows a close up of the upper to lower gutter connection. All of the gutters are 6” and look like they will control the water running off the roof adequately. The last photo shows the new gutter and downspout installed on the roof over the back end of the bonus room.

Sheet Rock…Day 11 & 12

Compelling photos of the sheet rock activity at the “L” Shaped House have been hard to come by for the last few days. The Big Sky Construction guys have been hard at work filling, taping, mudding, and now skim coating the whole time (its me who has been sloughing off). The first photo below shows the drywall in the stairwell after the second skim coat was applied. The second photo shows the skim coating operation on the ceiling in the master bedroom. They plan to start sanding on the second floor tomorrow and think they will be done upstairs on Friday.

Gutters…Day 1 (wrap-up)

The PHC (Protective Home Coverings) guys finished up installing gutters on the front corner of the “L” Shaped House. The first photo shows the Southeast corner with the new gutters running down the outside walls from three roof pitches above.

The next photo shows a close up of the newly installed gutters above the second floor laundry room. The PHC crew is doing a very nice job on the installation. I think they look great!

Week 24…In Review

The “L” Shaped House is really starting to come together. This series of photos shows the progress as of the end of week 24.

First…the house from the middle of Cottage lane.

Next…The inside of Helen’s room showing the progress on the second floor.

Then…The first floor (living room).

And finally…the family room in the basement.

Sheet Rock…Day 10

The Big Sky Construction guys are hard at work hanging drywall on the first floor and mudding on the second. The first photo shows the kitchen and dining room from the laundry. They have all the ceilings and walls covered from the mudroom to the end wall of the kitchen. It’s amazing how different the place looks with the drywall in place.

The next photo shows the end wall of one of the interesting attic spaces off the second floor hall. The intersecting drywall makes for tricky taping and mudding…and does a nice job of showing how far the crew has progressed upstairs.

Ceramic Tile…Day 6

Matt had another productive day installing ceramic tile. He is working on both the kids and master bathrooms on the second floor. He and the drywall guys are working hard to stay out of each others way as they both work in the small confines of the bathrooms. The photo shows the master bath shower with the base, cement board, and wall tile. He will install the strip of decorative  a couple of courses above the tile already set.

Gutters…Day 1

The nice folks from Protective Home Coverings started installing gutters on the “L” Shaped house this afternoon even though the high temperature was only 20 degrees. They have started on the front (East side) corner  of the house and by 3:00 this afternoon had worked their way to the roof pitches above the breezeway entrance. We are installing 6” K-style gutters on the “high” roofs all around the house and talking about what to install on the front edge of the porch.

Ceramic Tile…Day 5

Matt has finished roughing in the shower base and installed Durock all around the inside of the of the master bath shower. The second photo below shows the wall tiles laid out on the floor as Matt carefully decides where to place the all important first tile. The photo does not do justice to the brown glass tiles. In person they are a kind of iridescent bronze (see Katie Hunsley’s plan here).

Sheet Rock…Day 9

Mike Kloti and I met today and walked through the “L” Shaped House. The Big Sky Construction guys were eating lunch when we arrived so it was easy to a photo of at least three members of the crew. They are doing a great job and have been good sports about the blog.

As a matter of fact they even agreed to let me film the really cool way they cut openings in the drywall for electrical boxes. The high speed router in the hands of skilled guy makes this tedious task look simple.

Ceramic Tile…Day 4

Matt has set most of the tile surrounding the tub in the kids bathroom and has a the shower base installed in the master bath. The first photo has Helen sitting on the tub in the kids bath in front of the new tile. The second photo shows a close up of the two Corian shelves he has inset into the ceramic tile surround. There will be two in the front corner of the surround and one (high) in the back. The tile looks great in the room!

The next photo shows the shower base in the master bathroom. Matt has poured the concrete on top of the PVC liner and formed the curb at the doorway. Setting up the shower base this way gives us a lot of confidence that there will not be any leakage into the spaces below the bathroom.

Sheet Rock…Day 8

The Big Sky guys have started to hang sheet rock on the first floor. Helen and I visited the “L” Shaped House around 9 pm and found most of the first floor ceilings have been rocked. The first photo shows the living room ceiling and staircase. All the first floor ceilings are covered except the music room.

The next photo showing Anna’s secret passage to the attic also gives a pretty good idea of how far the taping has progressed upstairs. The second floor is starting to feel like a house!