Edited 8/25/2009

Finally uploaded pictures to Picassa. The slide show is below.

Drywall installation began the week of August 17, 2009. I took pictures on August 23 and will upload them this evening. I could definitely “feel” the solidness of the construction with the drywall holding it all together. More to come later!

It has been a while since I have had a chance to update the blog. Yesterday the county was out doing a bunch of inspections – mechanicals and framing- things were in compliance except for two minor framing problems – one was fire blocking for the tray ceilings in the dining room and the master bedroom – this was remedied with some unfaced insulation because there was a gap of ~1 inch between the top plate and the framining for the tray – the other issue is the header in the garage – there seems to be disagreement between the manufacturer and the building codes – if the walls are shorter than 4 feet, the header should be continuous – in our case this is unrealistic. Tony has arranged for an engineer to look at the wall and make a recommendation on what is needed to satisfy the code requirements. It does not seem like this will be a showstopper. In the end, we have the ok to proceed with insulating and drywall. The rough ins for the plumbing, HVAC and electrical are complete. In the meantime the decks were completed.

Today the insulators started and are about half way done. They started with spray-in foam (closed cell, similar to Great Stuff) on the outside walls, then followed with fiberglass. The corners were filled with cellulose (otherwise there is no insulation). The ceilings will have a mixture of fiberglass bats or foam with fiberglass blown in (this will be done after the drywall is up).

Today the electric company was out marking the location for underground power line. They were appreciative that we added conduit over the geothermal lines, so that there is no risk of digging them up when then install the line. They expected to have power inside the house next week. Once this is done, the temporary power pole will come down and we will have power in a few outlets in the house.

While the drywall is being installed and finished, I will be working on the retaining wall and adding the porch railing as well as doing some of the other odds and ends, like painting the floor in the mechanical room before the HVAC units are set.

Good progress today, all the footers were poured. The concrete trucks had a bit of a challenge with the mostly clay soil around the build site. Check it out!

Today John and I will be laying out the lot lines for the house. This is the first “real” thing to get us closer to the Big Dig. Right now, excavation is scheduled to begin the week of May 11, 2009.

Weather is forecasted to be 85-deg F and sunny. Right now there is a light breeze blowing and I hope it keeps up throughout the afternoon.

We’ll add some pictures later on this evening.