Basement Floor…Day 2

The Sletten crew poured the second half of the basement floor early this morning. Anna and I stopped by at about 7:00 pm and found Matt putting the finishing touches on the floor. The cement takes quite a while to set up in the cool conditions. The basement looks and feels completely different with the new floor in place.

Paul was working in the other end of the basement installing polystyrene insulation on the walls. The foam is glued and then screwed to the cement blocks. A framed wall will be installed inside the foam and covered with sheetrock. The Tappe guys plan to start the basement wall framing tomorrow morning.

A header and framing was installed in the passage into the crawl space this morning. There is an open web truss centered above the opening that required addition support and the 10” header height will provide space for the waste line plumbing from above to cross the doorway. Anna decided that the crawl space should be carpeted and turned into a play room!

Roofing…Day 4

By 2:00 this afternoon the roofers had just about finished up “drying-in” the roof. They had only one pitch on the main house and the music room left to finish. They plan to have it all complete tonight and we are all hoping for a dryer Thursday and Friday than forecasted.

The first photo shows Gill up on the Master bedroom roof attaching paper (I’ve included his business card above). He is going to install the shingled roofs and work with the folks putting the standing seam material above the front porch.

The last photo shows the the view out Anna’s bedroom window and the last little section to be covered.

Framing…Day 2o (evening report)

The sheathing is up on the front porch, the roofing crew has 3/4 of the house “dried-in”, and the Slettens poured 1/2 of the basement floor. All things considered its been a big day at the “L” Shaped House.

Framing…Day 20

By noon today the Tappe guys had the roof trusses and supports installed on the new front porch. The first photo shows the the front of the “L” Shaped House from the top of the dirt pile. Brody is finishing some of the detail framing. They plan to have the roof sheathing up by the time they leave tonight.

In this photo we can also see the roofing guys installing paper on one of the front dormers. They plan to “dry in” the whole roof today and tomorrow with roofing paper in anticipation of the rains predicted for Thursday and Friday.

The next photo shows an end view of the front porch with pretty much all of the structural elements in place (we won’t see the PermaCast pillars for some time). I did not get a chance to walk around on the deck but it feels really nice to stand in the living room looking out through the framing!

Basement Floor…The pour

The Sletten crew is hard at work this morning pouring the basement floor. They constructed a wooden chute to help get concrete into the basement and by 7:30 this morning were well into the pouring. The first photo shows the Marshall Concrete cement mixer backed up to the chute delivering mud to the basement.

The next photo shows Matt on the float, Jim working the area around the water meter and sewer main, and Chuck on the wheelbarrow delivering concrete.

The video below shows the action in the basement nicely. As you will see there is very little talking and a lot of activity. It seems prudent to just stay out of their way while the concrete is still wet!

I stopped by at noon today to have a look at the basement floor. Matt was there waiting for the cement to harden enough to trowel (the air temperature in the basement is still only 47 degrees). They plan to pour the second half of the floor tomorrow morning.

Framing…Day 19 (evening report)

The Tappe crew spent the afternoon working on the breezeway porches. The rear porch now has a roof over it and the fussy work building and then blending the extension under the bedroom floor trusses is complete.

The porch on the driveway side also has an extension to the floor trusses above it in place. The extensions bring the outside wall down under the “bumped out” bedrooms to provide space for the wide trim board that will eventually wrap the entire house. This is one of the fine details that Mike Kloti insists is going to set the “L” Shaped House apart.

Framing…Day 19 (The front porch)

The Tappe guys jumped right in and started building the rough framing for the porch decks this morning. By noon they had the front and both side porches set up and were about to finish up the 6 x 6 support structures that sit on the footings poured Saturday.

We decided very early in the design process to have large porch across the front to take advantage of the beautiful view and make the “L” Shaped House more welcoming. Two thirds of the front porch will be open. The last third will be a screen porch off the living room. In the next couple of days the framers will add support columns and roof trusses over the deck surface and the roofers will start to install a standing seam metal roof. It is going to be fun to watch as this last important element of the house develops.

Roofing…Day 2

In spite of the windy conditions and threat of rain the roofing guys are hard at work. The photo below shows the first 1/4 of the bonus room with the flashing, roofing paper, and shingles going up. The Charcoal color looks nice and it feels good to get the roof going.

The next photos show the work progressing on the opposite side of the bonus room. First a close up of the roof tail between the dormers showing a close up of the flashing and shingles. The second photo shows the back section of the roof with just the first course of shingles applied.

Porch Footings…Day 3

Paul and Matt came by on Sunday morning to finish up the front porch footings. Paul decided to add three additional 8” footings at the ends to help support the lattice work that will cover the deck foundation. The first photo shows the 7 footings that will support the front edge of the porch. The second photo shows Sam checking out one of the holes prepared for the footings on the East side breezeway entrance. It looks like everything is ready for the framers first thing tomorrow morning.

 

Porch Footings…Day 2

Saturday morning brought blue skies and dry weather. Matt Sletten and Paul Winters decided to pour the front porch footings by hand today after getting rained out yesterday. The original plan had the first half of the basement floor and the porch footings being poured together this morning but getting a cement truck close to the basement is going to be tough until things dry out and everyone wants to keep the framing moving forward. The first two photos show some of the 120 bags of cement Matt staged beside the holes dug for the footings. They started mixing and shoveling about 1:00 pm…

Sam and I stopped by at 6:00 just as Paul and Matt were cleaning up after pouring the eight footings for the front porch. The next photos show (first) a close up of one the bigger footings and (second) a long shot with all eight just barely visible. The muddy conditions made the mixing and pouring operation even more difficult…The whole operation had a bit of an ancient Egyptian feel to it!

Friday…Rain Day

It started raining at about 8:30 Friday morning and it rained all day. The site of the “L” Shaped House turned back into the sticky mess we have seen a couple of times before. The weather service reports that the Minneapolis airport recorded .42” of rain with the storm. There's really nothing to do but wait when it rains like this. The photo below shows evidence of the only activity at the “L” Shaped House all day…Paul’s tracks as he came back up from checking the basement…Yuck!

Porch Footings…Day 1

The excavating crew also dug the holes for the front, side, and back porch footings. They used an 18” auger on their backhoe to drill the nearly 4’ deep holes and only ran into two giant rocks along the way. Paul Winters & Matt Sletten will set the sonotubes tomorrow and plan to pour concrete Saturday Morning. The first photo shows the 8 holes for footings under the front porch.

The last photo shows the 3 holes for footings under the breezeway porch. The photo in-between shows one of the holes with my foot beside it for scale. If all goes according to plan the Tappe guys should start framing the porches on Monday morning.

Grading…Semi-finish

The excavating crew came back today to do a couple of jobs including a semi-finish grading of the front and East side of the “L” Shaped House. They added some fill around the foundation and spent some time working on the grading in front of the breezeway and garage. The first photo shows the freshly graded front corner of the house.

We want to have a close look at the grade along the East side of the “L” Shaped House as we decide exactly how to deal with the stairs to the breezeway. This photo shows the breezeway entrance and the grade in front of the garage. The whole East side of the house looks different with most of the dirt left over from the original excavating spread around and the grade transitions better defined.

The last photo shows the grade around the back side of the garage. It looks like the choices Paul made earlier related to the garage floor height and grade are going to work well. The pitch to the maple tree seems fine and the transition to the opposite side works nicely.

Roofing…Day 1

The roofing crew started on the “L” Shaped House this morning. They got going on the back end of the garage first and are staging their supplies inside the garage. There are some pretty big stacks of ice & water shield and regular tar paper as well as a bunch of pallets of shingles. Hopefully we will continue to be blessed with good (dry) weather as the roofing continues around all the pitches up there.

Ice & Water shield and a pallet of roof venting supplies.

We are installing a Timberline Natural Shadow shingle in charcoal (black).

Framing…Day 18

At noon all of the rooms on the first and second floor were rough framed (I’m sure there are still details to attend to). The first two photos below show the hallway extending from the stairs to the upstairs laundry room at the East end of the house. Anna’s room and the attic space next to it show in the left hand photo. The right hand photo shows the book nook, the top of the stairs and the hallway. The whole second floor feels “cozy” to me.

The next photo shows Sam’s room, the hall, and bonus room. With the big window on the East wall his bedroom feels a little like a tree house. I’m sure he is going to enjoy the easy access to the wide open space that is the bonus room!

One last photo showing the front of the “L” Shaped House with the roof sheathing exposed. The roofers start shingling tomorrow morning!

Deb and I stopped by tonight to walk through the second floor. We ran into Paul and Matt Sletten as they finished laying out the footings for the front porch, Amy from next door popped over and we all toured through the house. The framing has made it difficult to get a decent photo but its fun to finally walk in and out of all the rooms.

The last photo shows the arch installed in the entry to the book nook at the top of the stairs. Oh…and Anna also ran into her friend Chester and showed him all around the “L” Shaped House!

Framing…Day 17 (evening report)

A couple of panoramic photos of the second floor taken during a fast visit on my way home tonight. The first photo is taken from Anna’s bedroom looking out at the book nook at the top of the stairs and Helen’s room across the hall. The book nook space feels really good…I’m glad we decided to include it and especially happy we enlarged it (book nook).

The second is shot from the front corner of Helen’s room looking toward the two closets and doorway leading into the hall. The interesting little attic area on the left will have an access door just behind the stack of lumber. It looks like all the rooms in the “L” Shaped House will be framed by tomorrow night making it the first night we’ll be able to walk the whole house with all the interior spaces in place.

Framing…Day 17

The roof framing is now officially complete. The Tappe guys finished up their work on the soffits and house wrapping last night and this morning. The photo below shows the house from the top of the dirt pile in the back yard. From this vantage point you can see the 3/12 pitch garage and music room (shed) roofs, the 12/12 pitch roofs on the garage & main house, and the 8/12 pitch to the back between the dormers over the stairs on the main house.

By noon they had a good start on the second floor interior walls. The first photo shows the view looking toward the master bedroom from the East end of the upstairs. From here you can see the beginnings of the hallway and the end wall of the book nook.

Next is another panoramic composite image using three separate photos. This one shows the master bedroom looking towards the opposite corner. The two walk-in closets and West wall attic space are visible in front of the master bathroom at the rear of the photo (the yellow arrow shows the pathway into the attic space). These shots always get a little confusing and seem to work better when they are left un-cropped.

The next two photos show close ups of one end of the book nook and a shot down the attic space adjacent the West wall of the master bedroom. We decided to take out the door to the attic in the bedroom and provide access through the back of the walk-in closet. This is going to make a fine “hide-and-seek” destination.

 

Finally the inside wall at the top of the stairs to the bonus room from the garage. This wall will get a fire door and a solid glass (non-operating) window to comply with the requirement for separation between the garage and bonus room spaces.