Despite the crazy weather and snow we've had recently, the house is showing promise. The drains are in and inspected, back filled with gravel and the concrete is poured for the basement floor. The basement windows are in and the framers are well under way. The rest of the valley was under a red air alert meaning the air is un-healthy to breath. We was shocked how clear and nice it was at the lot. It's probably 5-10 degrees warmer than it is further north in the valley. We are excited about that.

The framers began by putting the load bearing walls up on 3 1/2" stilts because the basement floor had not been poured when they started. Amazingly the builder likes doing it this way because they put 16 penny nails through the seal plates so when the floor is poured, the wall is secured better than it would be using concrete nails or powder actuated hammers which they commonly use now to secure the walls to concrete.

This is the South-East of the house looking at the master bathroom, master bedroom and one of the guest bedrooms. The tiny rocks came out of the ground when they were digging the hole for the foundation. We will eventually be using these to build a rock wall behind the house for the landscaping.

The removed soil around the back of the house next to the scrub oak is where the rock wall will eventually be. From the top of the rock wall, the lot will go back about another 20' to the back of the lot and be flat tapering slightly to the sides for drainage.

This the back of the house looking at the nook and great room. Eventually there will be a 12' by 16' patio off the door from the nook.

This is looking at the kitchen, laundry room and 2 car garage to the left and the 3rd car to the right which haven't been framed yet. The trusses laying here are one of about three or four piles of them. These will be used on the West-Side of the house.

Looking from the South-West corner of the lot towards the nook.

This is Robert thinking with left-brained wisdom that I exhibit too frequently, did I do the math right on the financing of this project?

 

Front of the house looking at the den, front entry and other guest bedroom. These trusses will be used in the great room for the vaulted ceiling.

This is one of two granite slabs that will eventually be the counter tops in the kitchen and master bathroom. It's called Santa Cecilia and it comes from Brazil. When the framers are finished, the cabinet guy will be out to measure for the cabinets and generate a template for the counter top guys so they can cut the tops and drill the holes for the sinks and faucets. It's amazing how all these different trades can pull this stuff off. At least we hope they pull it off. It's not done yet. :-)

Another look at the front of the house and more trusses. The builder told us that it will be framed with a roof and windows in the next 7 days. We are supposed to be in there at that point in time wiring in the video cable, data and 5.1 sound. Not sure how excited Barb is to dig the 18" deep trench from the corner of the house out to the street where the cable and phone boxes are located. She said they will have to move their skip loader first.  

Looking North from the South-West corner of the lot towards Salt Lake and all the yucky air we won't have to breath. The next step is to get all the trades in for the heating, plumbing, electricity and hopefully cable, data and 5.1 sound. The builder is planning on having the 4-way inspection done, insulation, another inspection and drywall by the end of January.