This blog is solely about the start-to-finish construction of a house.
It is recommended to start at the earliest post and proceed chronologically.


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October 30, 2014

Heating the Breakfast Nook

Routered Subfloor
This piece of plywood will be the subfloor for the breakfast nook seen beyond. 

I'm using a router to cut channels in the 1 1/8" thick plywood.  Radiant floor tubing will be placed in these channels to make sure the breakfast nook is nice and cosy in the winter.

A piece of tubing is inside the channels on the left, making sure the bends are workable.

The finished flooring (fir) will cover this tubing, and insulation below it will direct the heat upwards.

A first glimpse of the large awning window (custom from Versatile) can be seen beyond.  Didn't get a chance to photograph the install.  Now it huddles under a tarp until I get protective finish on it.

A straightedge guides the router for the straight cuts, but the curves are freehand.  A little bit of wonkiness is acceptable, I hope. 

October 27, 2014

Exterior Assembly Work

Steel Window Box, Exterior Insulation
Today's work covered a few milestones:
- The first of the steel window boxes was installed
- The bottom-of-wall metal drip flashing and bug screen was completed
- The first of the exterior rockwool insulation was installed.

October 25, 2014

Tales from the Jobsite

This evening we had wind gusts approaching 50 mph.
Out on the deck trying to further ballast down the billowing tarp, I was locked out of the house when the wind slammed the door behind me.  (Predictable? Doh.)
The exterior latch handle has yet to be installed.

The deck is on the second floor.

Feeling foolish, I considered my ninja skills, or lack-there-of, for a climb down two stories in the rain.

As luck would have it, I realized there was still a ladder leaning against the east canopy, and I was able to make the much less dangerous lateral clamber over to it.

I might just leave that ladder there for a while longer.

More Bathtub

Wait, what?
Just had to share this shot of the bathtub install. 

A bit of on-the-fly awkward adjustment process.

October 23, 2014

Overheard at the Jobsite

"Well I don't have a magic wand, so what am I supposed to do about it?"

Feelin' Sill-y

The first steel sills installed
Remember those steel sills and copings here that I was painting?

Today the weather broke long enough for me to install the first run of them along the master bedroom window 'slot'.

Duct, Duct, Grille

Duct Spaghetti
As part of the Mechanical System rough-in, the ERV has been installed.

Feeling Tubby

It is a bit difficult to sit in
Plumbing rough-in continues at a good pace.  One of the more visual aspects of this is the new tub!

We are quite pleased with this tub.  I would specify this again, no problem.  Opening the box elicited oohs & ahs - a nice deep soaker.  Here is a link to the item. 

The tub is rocked up on its side so that the drain & overflow assembly can be installed first.  Also, a grout bed will go down to give good solid support to the bottom.

Then we get to see how well the framing wall & ledger I built will fit.

Also visible in this picture is beefy blocking, low & high, to support our wall mounted vertical radiator.  You can see the feeds poking through from the floor.

October 21, 2014

We Have Water

Men in a rut
Portland Water Bureau showed up and gave us a water meter.

(If charging a hefty fee can be considered "giving")

October 16, 2014

We Have Gas

Gas Meter, mid-install
(and the meal was worth it.  Sorry.)

Today they connected the gas meter to the house piping, and connected it to the street.

Man in the Hole
Now we're (on the way toward) cookin' with gas.

October 14, 2014

Overheard of the Jobsite

G1: Ok, if you lose this bet, you have to wear a New York Yankees hat for a year.

G2:  No.  I won't do it.  A man has to have limits.

Steel Sills & Copings

Primed Steel, and a lot of it
Yesterday the raw steel window sills and parapet copings arrived. 

Here is a shot of today's task of priming each of these heavy things, one at a time, two different sides.

Some of these are quite heavy, and I lost control of one as I attempted to set it down softly on the cardboard to dry.  Made a nice sound, which got the attention of the framer nearby.

Connections

Drilling in the water line
The day came when the house needed to be connected to the outside world.

October 13, 2014

Sunday Progress Update

Mechanical Room takes shape
The past week was mostly about Heating and Ventilating.
The framing crew did a fair amount of misc tasks, but hard to take a photo of.

October 05, 2014

Overheard on the Jobsite

G1: "So what I don't understand is why Narcissists like to riot on May Day."

G2: "Anarchists.  I think you mean Anarchists."

Ladder Pile

This is not even all of the ladders currently involved.

Sunday Progress Update

We have a Fascia! 
(the boards that define the edge of the roof)

October 03, 2014

Observations from the Field:

Most of your clothes will quickly become 'project clothes'.

October 01, 2014