Cold, Windy Weekend!

It was a very blustery day Sunday, and though the wind has subsided a bit, it is still very cold today...

Not much is going to be happening on the house itself for the rest of 2008, so don't expect a lot until early January...

I did get a couple of better pictures of the front door, though we still have some stain to clean off the glass since it seeped under the tape...

Front Door and Siding...

John and Irvin Miller worked on Saturday, and put the front door in, finished the siding on the garage side, and started the siding on the front.  The pictures didn't come out great because the camera was cold and the lens cover didn't open all the way...  I'll take some more pictures later...

Pocket Doors and Sweeping

We were able to get all five pocket doors put up -- actually, the pockets and the tracks -- not the doors themselves...

We also have worked to clean things up and sweep -- it is looking a lot better.

Here are a couple of the pocket doors.

More Staining and Framing the Kitchen Island

We have been trying to get the front door ready to put in, and so while Dawn has been staining the door, I've been working on framing up the kitchen island.

Here is our "tent" that we used to keep the door warm while the stain and polyurethane dried...  It is sheets of insulation around it with plastic sheets over it, and a space heater inside...  It worked pretty well...

My wife had to take this one...

 

The kids were there for a while tonight...

 

The tent again...

 

Here is the stainer...  Yes, it was that cold!

 

  

 

 

And, here is the framing for the island in the kitchen...

Progress on Staining the Front Door

My wife and I are making some good progress on staining the front door in less than ideal conditions...

The temperature was cold yesterday, but we are trying to use a space heater and insulation around the project (like a big rectangular tent) to try to warm it up. It is warmer today, but still it is drying slowly...

Here are some pictures of the door and side lights -- and one of Dawn... The last few are from the trusses above to get a better view. I hope the darker panel on the lower part of the right sidelight is due to that not yet dry, but we'll go with it...

Stair Risers

Well, I went back over to the house, and finished putting in the risers for the attic stairs.  I have yet to attach them back into the treads, but they look nice...

More Baby Steps...

Well, the Wenig's continue to make progress on the duct work, and they believe they will be finished with rough in by a week from Friday (12/19).

You have to look closely to see that this is the supply (on the left) and the return (on the right) running down one side of the house.

 

We were able to start the risers for the steps today -- got them all cut and put 2 in just to get a picture...

 

Rainy Day...

Well, it got a lot warmer today, and I was able to get a little bit of work done on the deck rails -- after spending most of the day doing my "real job"...

Here are some pictures of the ducts upstairs -- they are getting them ready to install -- wrapped with insulation and lined up...

And, a couple of the rails I got done -- one for the deck steps and then one for the deck end.

Deck Steps and Skirting

Well, we were able to actually get the first piece of skirting attached to the deck where the stairs are at so that we could then attach the banister.  It really looks pretty nice, and the banister is very solid.

Slow Progress...

Well, we continue to make very minor progress -- it is very cold working out there -- that is for sure!

We got one of the two banisters put together for the deck steps, and I also took another picture of the front door -- turned out to have a glare, but it is a little better.  It is hard to get a good picture while it is laying on the trailer...  I'll wait until we get it on the house for any more...

Front Door

I was able to go pick up the front door tonight, and now it just needs to be stained before we can put it in.

I didn't get a great picture of it as it is laying on the flatbed trailer in the garage, but you can get an idea of what it will look like.  Picture a dark Mahogany finish.


I also was able to put some of the insulation up between the garage and house -- this is actually in the machine room behind where the plumbing manifold will go and over to where the HVAC unit will go.  It isn't nailed to the studs yet but it is taped together...

 

Railing and Deck Steps

It is cold today!  We did get a little bit of work done, and I wanted to post a couple of daytime pictures of the railing with the ornamental top on it...  It isn't attached yet, but there is time for that when it is a little bit warmer than today...

We did get the posts and decking on the steps...

This first picture shows the deck railing with the top on, and the second one is for my wife to see that the porch roof really does line up with the peak...  ;)

Here are the steps before the posts were on...

Here is my helper and the steps with the posts...  Note that the post tops perform their intended function just fine!

 

Misc Progress...

We got the wood for the deck steps built and attached to the deck.  We need to attach the posts, and then add the decking for the steps and the skirting around the deck and for the risers.

 

The Wenig's were there today, and put in the vent for the kitchen stove -- out through the soffit, so it isn't going through the roof...  You know what they say about haviung a hole in your roof!  The camera wasn't centered, so the blue is the sky :)  You can see the vent pipe going back over the deck into the house...

 

And, they got the duct started over where the air conditioner will supply...  They insulated over it since that space is not currently heated or cooled.

 

And, last but not least, the Watkin's did get the power hooked up today, and so I don't have to use a generator anymore!