Carpentry…The final push

The Solid Construction carpentry crew is busy working throughout the “L” Shaped House today. The first photo shows one of their guys working to install hinges on the the right hand divided light door to the music room. These doors were delivered without hinges so the millwork has to be completed on site.

The next two photos show the window and sill trim the Solid crew installed in the basement landing and guest bedroom. With these elements complete Steve Carmichael’s painting crew can finish up in the basement later this week.

Carpentry…The porches

Our friends at Scherer Brothers dropped off all of the Azek decking and building materials for the three porches late yesterday afternoon. A crew from Solid Construction plans to start working on the front porch and breezeway decks as soon as today (the miserable weather might prevent this). The first photo shows the pallet of Azek decking on the driveway.

The next photo shows all of the additional materials stacked in front of the breezeway entrance on the East side of the house. The Solid Construction crew will not only install the decking but also build the stairs, railings, and screen porch as well as install the decorative lattice work under the decks.

The “L” Shaped House…Lights & Laundry

As the carpenters, painters, and clean-up crew make their last pass through a space in the “L” Shaped House it is transformed into what Deb and I have been dreaming about for a year and a half. This series of photos show the first rooms that can be considered “done”. The photo below shows the back wall of the master bath with lights, mirrors, and plumbing fixtures all in place and ready to be used!

The second photo shows the same back wall of the master bath from just outside the hallway leading to the walk-in closets off the master bedroom. This view captures the “feel” of our new home nicely. Deb and Katie's decorating choices combined with the great workmanship throughout the building process have produced a really wonderful space. The last photo shows the washer and dryer installed along the back wall of the first floor laundry room. This space has honestly exceeded our expectations considerably. Neither Deb nor I were convinced it would be large enough, and getting the right laundry machines was frustrating…but in the end the room looks like it is going to be perfect!

Carpentry…Door adjustments

Keith (?) from Solid Construction is out this morning making adjustments as he works to fine tune the doors in the “L” Shaped House. In the first photo below he is installing the by-pass door guide on the floor in one of Anna’s closets. He had made his way through the first floor and was about half way across the second as I arrived around noon.

The next photo shows the door to Anna's room from the hallway with the door hinges aligned and all the hardware attached. The last photo shows the closet wall in Helen’s room with all the doors and hardware installed. It’s amazing how much better the place “feels” with nice working doors!

Carpentry…The final push

Paul Winters spent the last few days working to prepare the “L” Shaped House for what we hope will be the last bit of carpentry work before we can start to move in. The photos below show some of these efforts in the basement. In the first Paul has finished extending the sheetrock wall at the basement walk-out door to the floor (an earlier “oversight”) and repaired a section above the door damaged while painting. The Solid carpenters are scheduled to be back on Thursday or Friday to finish up the baseboard and trim.

The next two photos show the marble tops in the basement guest bedroom and stairwell after Paul finished re-installing them (we did not like how they fit). In both spaces the Solid carpenters will finish framing the windows and trim elements before the painters return.

The “L” Shaped House…weekend report

The “L” Shaped House saw a lot of change over the last week. While going through the photos I came across a couple of projects that merited publishing. The first photo is an extreme panoramic taken in the mechanical room after everyone (plumbers, HVAC, electricians, and home automation) finished up projects this week. The nice neat work everyone has done contributes to the “organized” feeling in the room.

The second photo shows the last stall in the garage after Luke installed the first two fluorescent light fixtures in the ceiling. We plan to make a couple of “tweaks” to the fixtures before he moves into the remaining stalls but the placement and “amount” of light will stay the same.

The last photo shows one of the Barn Light Electric exterior gooseneck light fixtures above the garage doors. I’ve included it here just because I like the shot!

Heating & A/C…Day 11 (continued)

John DoBrava, Mark, and their crew finished installing the Luxaire furnace and fresh air filtration system at the “L” Shaped House this afternoon. The first photo below shows the furnace assembly installed along the East wall of the mechanical room next to the water heater, softener, and drinking water filter. Mark has done a nice, clean, organized installation.

The second photo shows the front side of the furnace with the covers removed. We elected to purchase the Luxaire Acclimate Series furnace including a modulating gas valve and variable speed blower that promise to not only make the furnace more efficient with fewer starts and stops but also the house more comfortable with longer run times.

The next two photos show some of the details of the Honeywell zone control system we are also installing with the new furnace. This system includes the control box (seen in the first photo) and a series of motorized dampers installed in the ducting (seen at the upper arrow below). John and his crew have plumbed the house to have two zones…the basement and first floor on one…the second floor on the other. Each zone has a thermostat that controls both the furnace and the zone damper(s). The first floor thermostat acts as the “master” while the “slave” is located on the second. The zone control and thermostats work together to provide better (and wider) temperature control throughout the house.

 

The last two photos show the Broan fresh air filtration and heat recovery system installed with the new heating system. This system includes a HEPA filter and blower assembly attached to the heating system in the ceiling of the mechanical room. The system delivers up to 270 CFM of fresh air into the house and can be set to automatically exchange the inside air through the HEPA filter on a programmable schedule. The last piece of the heating puzzle…the fresh air intake…can be seen in the corner behind the networking rack. This insulated hose is connected to a louvered intake on the back wall of the kitchen and delivers fresh combustion air into the mechanical room for the furnace.

Heating & A/C…Day 11

John DoBrava and Mark are back working at the “L” Shaped House this morning preparing for the final heating inspection. One of the items on their list is getting the gas fireplaces up and running. The first photo shows the first floor living room fireplace with the protective cardboard cover removed revealing (for the first time) the ceramic logs and firebrick lining.

The second photo shows the basement fireplace with protective cardboard removed and the decorative front installed. This fireplace only needs Matt Sletten’s caulking to be complete.

I think it looks Great!

Electrical…Day 20

Luke from Wire-Rite was back today installing lights in the “L” Shaped House. The photo below shows the wall sconce he installed above the right hand sink in the master bathroom. Or at least this is what it looked like at about noon…Deb showed up later this afternoon and made him turn the fixture 180 degrees (something about the light shining down…).

I just like this photo better than the one I took later.

Edit…The two photos below now show the wall sconce “upside-down” and “right-side up”.

Electrical…Garage Lights (2)

I left the “L” Shaped House after dropping off some networking gear and got to see the Barn Lights above the garage doors after dark for the first time. The combination of the lights, the cloak grey siding, white trim, and paver driveway make for a very nice scene.

Enjoy…