We have completed siding!! Yay! It’s amazing how much a house takes it’s character on when the siding is up. It’s the final skin that the house will be in (save some paint!). Also topped out was the electrical and data cabling. Wow. It is looking good. I still marvel in the fact that there…

The siding started going up today! Wow, it’s looking good. Everything is straight and joints are well done. Very little caulking will be necessary to conceal gaps. I’m impressed so far. Interestingly enough, apparently the tar paper has a 30 minute fire rating. Who knew? The ledger for the porch was installed and looks very…

The rain finally came. The house is now closed up – all the doors and windows are on and the place is locked down. This is good. Now the construction team can start on things like electrical and final trim without worrying about thiefs coming in the night and stealing anything of value. The gas…

More excitement today! We took a few days off of updating. I met with most of the sub-contractors yesterday and went over details on HVAC and Electrical mostly. It was fast paced and intense. Should be getting $’s back from the contractor in the next few days on how much OVER budget everything I want…

A slab appears! The garage has the first finished floor in the entire house. More plumbing was done upstairs in the master bath as well.

The plumber was here! The majority of the rough-in plumbing was done today. Quite impressive, really. They are using a type of PVC water piping that has become very popular over the last few years called Wirsbo. It’s really neat stuff – durable, quick to install and flexible enough to require few angles and unions.

Most of the bracing for the shearwalls was removed today. The garage has some framing. It looks like they’re almost ready to pour the slab! There is a banister that they framed up erroneously. Geoff assures me it will be gone in the next few days. We’re having a banister installed there instead.

Wow! We took a few days off and TA DA! Here’s what’s happened since last we updated: Windows started going in! In fact, they put 3 or 4 in during the 20 minutes I was there. Whoa! The fireplace has been rough framed in. At this point, we haven’t really decided how this is going…

The contractor was out today to draw where various cabinets are to go on the floor and walls. The exterior is looking nice, too.

The trusses are in. Check out the vault in the master bedroom! The remaining framing on the upstairs is done now. There are a few adjustments to be made to the upstairs framing. Notably, the master closet will grow a little thanks to the 90% efficient furnace that’s being installed. It doesn’t require a flue…

We took a few days off while I was out of town from taking pictures. Here’s what’s changed in a week. WE HAVE A SECOND STORY!!! The downstairs walls are sheeted on the exterior in their entirety, though the framer still has a few window holes (known as ‘Fenestrations’ in the ‘biz) to cut (structure…

The sheeting and walls started taking shape. The main purpose of the sheeting that’s down now is for structural stability of the first floor. The walls are assembled down on the ground and then tilted into place. This is a heck of a lot quicker and easier than trying to build them in place. This…

The gas flex and furance base was installed. The gas flex runs between where the stove and fireplace will go back to the furnace base. This will be the termination and distribution point for the gas line coming into the house, which will penetrate the east side of the garage from the meter (not installed…

After that rain delay, I was sure things would be stalled for a bit. Boy, was I wrong! Up went the vapor barrier and first floor post and beam in 1 day! It’s unbelievable how fast these guys work. The first floor air ducts, waste lines and water lines went in. Rumor is that sewer…

It rained last night, making the lot muddy. Gravel was put down from the sidewalk to the garage. We now have a better sense of where the height of the driveway is going to be. This is going to be one tall garage!

All the boards have come off! The foundation now stands on its own. This must be quick dry concrete. It’s amazing how quickly it set! At this point, it’s starting to make sense and look more like a house and less like a mess of materials dumped in a hole in the ground. An interesting…

The wraps came off the footing (only 24 hrs to set? Wow!) New forms went up for the actual foundation. Several new pads (for the posts holding up the beams in the first floor) and some grading work on the driveway have been done. The grading in the driveway shows the elevation that can be…

These guys move fast. Like the wind. The footing for the foundation can be seen here. It’s done and ready for the foundation that sits on top of it. Footings are interesting to me from a archeological perspective – they are what essentially is the base for the rest of the house. Curiously, it’s buried…

The lot has been cut! Much of the clearing work is done, too. It’s incredible how quickly (1 day) it took to happen!

Betsy and I started our search for a new house in Portland in the Fall of 2008. Needless to say, after looking at hundreds of homes – we decided that our initial intuition to build was our best choice. Bottom line – the houses we like in Portland are beautiful on the outside, have character…

The day just before the clearing of our lot. Betsy and I took my mom out to the site for a little plant identification assistance (and so she could see what was to soon become home). Not too surprising, the flora on the lot had been maintained over the years by the previous owners. The…