Like the Jefferson's...we're movin' on up!

It's been several weeks since my last entry...sorry about that. During this break we've made some changes to the project so that we can go even faster moving forward. So, what's been going with the house? Well, believe it or not, we have 2nd floor walls now! We stacked the blocks last week and poured two truckloads of concrete this past Saturday. Our architect, Rodney brought some new clients to the job site to show them some of his past work. They are doing a remodel of an older home. What's unique is that instead of adding on a second floor, the are going to lift the current house up by 1 story...and then build a story beneath it...effectively making the old 1st floor into the new 2nd floor. That's the typical high quality creativity of Rodney!

This week our truss company will be coming out and doing final measurements for the trusses between the 2nd and 3rd floors. We're hoping to have the trusses manufactured and onsite, ready for installation in the next two weeks. Installation of all the trusses and temporary sub floor should only take about 5 days. Once the 3rd floor sub-floor is in place, the crew will go ahead and start stacking the 3rd floor ICF blocks. I have an outstanding bet with our builder that we will have a roof in place by 4/30/08.

In the next couple of weeks, we'll see some of the other sub-contractors start working (plumbing, electric, etc). Fingers crossed that progress picks up now.

Drive on a parkway...park on a driveway..

A couple of delays recently between our engineer and Matt. We've had about a 2 week break, but, we are making a little progress. Our driveway/sidewalks are formed up and should be poured Monday. I will post pics then. With a driveway, we can get a dumpster which will allow the site to be much cleaner. Actually, in visiting the site last night with friends, we noticed that all the wood that was left over from the framing has been stacked nicely in the garage...and the slab has been swept completely clean. A far cry from other worksites that I've seen. Additionally, all of the trusses and decking have been installed on the second floor, so once Gail gives Matt the go, he can start stacking up the ICF blocks for the second floor. I'm guessing we'll see a second floor in the next week or two. I will post again soon with more updates.

Always get it writing...

Well we made some progress this week....and learned some valuable lessons at the same time. After some false starts and additional details from Interfield, we were able to get started on the trusses which go between the 1st and 2nd floor. In the far left picture below, you can see the size of the main laminated beams that span the entire width of the garage and support all the trusses. Unfortunately, we're going to have a delay for one day this due to a misunderstanding. Up to this point, we've learned that it's very important to follow the chain of command...basically, do NOT talk to the subcontractors directly...ALWAYS go through the general contractor. Earlier this week, it turned out that two of the subs had talked to each other (Interfield and Matt)...without going through the general contractor. While that in itself isn't bad, the problem is that there is a debate about if certain instructions were given to on how to handle a problem...over the phone (no real record)....not in writing. Now we've got a debate on who will cover the additional charges to fix the error. There won't be any substantial delay or increased cost to us. Kudos again to our general contractor for keeping our best interests and budget in mind. The picture in the center shows our general contractors (outside) and our architect (center). The picture on the right shows the trusses in place as of Monday afternoon (1/21).