A very merry Christmas to everyone! Below is a new set of pictures from a recent visit to the house. Our windows have been delayed due to various reasons up until now, but all windows have finally been delivered to the site and are being installed. When Molly and I and my brother (he's in town again for Christmas) visited, roughly 2/3 of the windows had been installed.
Other subtle but major items that have been completed: electrical rough-in, plumbing rough-in, and the rough-in of the duct work between floors.
(Click any image to enlarge)
A front view of the house. Not a lot different exterior-wise (except lots more snow), but you can see some installed windows. That's our day-to-day project manager, Andy Olberg from Chuba Company, walking near the garage.
Here's a composite of two images that shows the house from a diagonal angle (with more installed windows on the South side).
The kitchen windows have been installed!
The location for the refrigerator (left) and the framed-in pantry (right). Locating light switches on the beam in the center was a challenge for the electrician, but he just did get them in there.
Duct work and electrical wiring in the ceiling of the kitchen. The exposed duct opening you see near the electrical wire hanging down is the vent for the range hood, which will be located over the gas range on the kitchen island. Locating this vent opening accurately at this stage of the process (with the island not yet present) was just yet another of our daily problem-solving challenges.
The view from the kitchen (near where the main sink will be) all the way down through the family room. This shows one of the many sight-lines my brother used in the architecture of the home, where you look through the home and out a window (at the end) to the outdoors beyond.
The same view from the opposite end in the family room, looking down towards the kitchen (and out the strategically placed window).
Installed windows on the East side of the dining room (with my brother standing to the right).
A similar set of installed windows in the the East side of the school room.
The window wall in the family room and library. The openings for the sets of windows have now been cut-out (heightened) to their final size close to the ceiling in preparation for the window installation. My brother and Andy are going over a few detail questions on the prints in the foreground.
A set of windows for the window wall, ready to be installed. It was extremely cool to see these for the first time. The windows on the upper right and lower left (on this set) are the operable casements, while the other two windows are fixed. I cannot wait for these to be fully installed!
At the top of the stairs to the second level, looking up at the fixed window on the West side that brings light into the staircase. I like this picture because it look like there's some sort of bottomless chasm in the home :-)
The two small stairs that lead to the area with the nursery and master bedroom.
Looking into the nursery/guest bedroom.
Over in the master bathroom, the plumbing lines for the dual sinks. We are having somewhat unique faucets that come right out of the wall, and you can see the valves and pipes that have been installed for the faucets and the hot and cold controls on either side.
Looking through the master bathroom to the installed window in the shower and tub area (another sight-line).
The master bedroom windows installed.
A closer look at the pair of windows above where the bed will be, which are awning windows that push out from the bottom so we can have them open when it's raining at night (our favorite :-)
Looking back across toward the kids' rooms.
On the other side of the house, a view down the hallway towards the girls' room at the end.
The girls' bathtub/shower unit (including control valve and tub faucet) have been installed.
Lastly, one cool development we hadn't thought of (but definitely should have). Duane, our main general contractor, was doing a walk-through and was thinking that the space above the girls' bathroom and the girls' and boys' closets would sure be a great space for a loft for more storage room or even a play room for the kids. Here's the print of the girls' and boys' rooms...
And here's the space Duane was referring to (all of which is capped at a 9 ft. ceiling, meaning there's dead space above up to the roof trusses)...
There's actually also a space like this above the master bathroom and master wardrobe that could be used for storage space.
Duane noted that our kids would probably thank us in the future if we turned the space in the pic above into a lofted room :-) It was a great idea, and even though we didn't feel prepared to act on it now (we'd rather decide how we're going to use the room and then design it properly, and also didn't want to have to figure out a ladder situation to get up there), we did go ahead and have the builders put a plywood floor up there and wire two light fixture locations in the ceiling. The view from the girls' room is below...
None of the walls are load-bearing up there, as the roof trusses bear all the load. So whenever we decide to in the future, we can have that lofted room finished (also an easy DIY project) and put openings in the right locations for some sort of ladder access to the room.
Another reason to wait on finishing this lofted room: Aidan is likely (no... certain) to think it a marvelous idea to launch himself from up there and on to a strategically placed bed below. No need for occasions of sin (or occasions of severe injury :-)
Other subtle but major items that have been completed: electrical rough-in, plumbing rough-in, and the rough-in of the duct work between floors.
(Click any image to enlarge)
A front view of the house. Not a lot different exterior-wise (except lots more snow), but you can see some installed windows. That's our day-to-day project manager, Andy Olberg from Chuba Company, walking near the garage.
Here's a composite of two images that shows the house from a diagonal angle (with more installed windows on the South side).
The kitchen windows have been installed!
The location for the refrigerator (left) and the framed-in pantry (right). Locating light switches on the beam in the center was a challenge for the electrician, but he just did get them in there.
Duct work and electrical wiring in the ceiling of the kitchen. The exposed duct opening you see near the electrical wire hanging down is the vent for the range hood, which will be located over the gas range on the kitchen island. Locating this vent opening accurately at this stage of the process (with the island not yet present) was just yet another of our daily problem-solving challenges.
The view from the kitchen (near where the main sink will be) all the way down through the family room. This shows one of the many sight-lines my brother used in the architecture of the home, where you look through the home and out a window (at the end) to the outdoors beyond.
The same view from the opposite end in the family room, looking down towards the kitchen (and out the strategically placed window).
Installed windows on the East side of the dining room (with my brother standing to the right).
A similar set of installed windows in the the East side of the school room.
The window wall in the family room and library. The openings for the sets of windows have now been cut-out (heightened) to their final size close to the ceiling in preparation for the window installation. My brother and Andy are going over a few detail questions on the prints in the foreground.
A set of windows for the window wall, ready to be installed. It was extremely cool to see these for the first time. The windows on the upper right and lower left (on this set) are the operable casements, while the other two windows are fixed. I cannot wait for these to be fully installed!
At the top of the stairs to the second level, looking up at the fixed window on the West side that brings light into the staircase. I like this picture because it look like there's some sort of bottomless chasm in the home :-)
The two small stairs that lead to the area with the nursery and master bedroom.
Looking into the nursery/guest bedroom.
Over in the master bathroom, the plumbing lines for the dual sinks. We are having somewhat unique faucets that come right out of the wall, and you can see the valves and pipes that have been installed for the faucets and the hot and cold controls on either side.
Looking through the master bathroom to the installed window in the shower and tub area (another sight-line).
The master bedroom windows installed.
A closer look at the pair of windows above where the bed will be, which are awning windows that push out from the bottom so we can have them open when it's raining at night (our favorite :-)
Looking back across toward the kids' rooms.
On the other side of the house, a view down the hallway towards the girls' room at the end.
The girls' bathtub/shower unit (including control valve and tub faucet) have been installed.Lastly, one cool development we hadn't thought of (but definitely should have). Duane, our main general contractor, was doing a walk-through and was thinking that the space above the girls' bathroom and the girls' and boys' closets would sure be a great space for a loft for more storage room or even a play room for the kids. Here's the print of the girls' and boys' rooms...
And here's the space Duane was referring to (all of which is capped at a 9 ft. ceiling, meaning there's dead space above up to the roof trusses)...
There's actually also a space like this above the master bathroom and master wardrobe that could be used for storage space.Duane noted that our kids would probably thank us in the future if we turned the space in the pic above into a lofted room :-) It was a great idea, and even though we didn't feel prepared to act on it now (we'd rather decide how we're going to use the room and then design it properly, and also didn't want to have to figure out a ladder situation to get up there), we did go ahead and have the builders put a plywood floor up there and wire two light fixture locations in the ceiling. The view from the girls' room is below...
And looking above the closets from the boys' room...
None of the walls are load-bearing up there, as the roof trusses bear all the load. So whenever we decide to in the future, we can have that lofted room finished (also an easy DIY project) and put openings in the right locations for some sort of ladder access to the room.Another reason to wait on finishing this lofted room: Aidan is likely (no... certain) to think it a marvelous idea to launch himself from up there and on to a strategically placed bed below. No need for occasions of sin (or occasions of severe injury :-)
