Monday, January 29, 2007

Sunrise through the front door



I took these pictures Saturday morning (1-27-07). The second photo really doesn't show much yet, but you can see the ridges he's constructing on the left and right sides of the front porch. It should be more obvious when the sheeting starts going on the roof.
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I think we are going to get a new refrigerator and possibly washer and dryer. We were thinking of using the ones we have now, but we may just go "all new" appliances everywhere and hopefully get a few more years down the road before we need any repairs. This way we can also use the ones we have as potential bargaining tools for selling our house (if the buyers don't have some already), as they are still in good condition and are only a few years old.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Back to work

Well, our builder is back to work after a nice vacation. He caught a cold his last day there, so we hope he's feeling better soon.
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Windows were ordered yesterday and should be here in a couple weeks. We are using Milgard Vinyl Classic windows - some with frosted glass in bathroom areas.
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http://www.milgard.com/products/vinyl-windows/classic.asp
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They are continuing to work on the roof to prepare for sheeting. He thinks they might be ready for that on Monday or so. He also has to cover the front of the house with plywood (so the siding will be level and flush with the shearwalled areas) and get ready for the Tyvek wrap.
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We are using siding for the front (east) and garage (north) sides of the house and stucco for the remaining (to save some $$$). My wife went down to the stucco company and picked out a nice green color for the exterior a week and a half ago.
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We have a whole house fan going in to help with energy-efficient temperature control and two high-efficiency AC/heating units (one 5-ton, one 2-ton).
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We now get to pick out our insulated garage doors. We have 2 garage doors, one 18-ft wide and one 10-ft wide (both 8-ft tall). We'll get windows along the top to let in more light.
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We need to start pricing out fencing as well. We have an allowance in the loan for it, but we are not sure how much (linear feet) that allowance will get us right now.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Hi-ho, hi-ho....

Well, our builder should have been home from his vacation yesterday. I forgot to set up the camera, so today's work will go unrecorded. I think I'll go out in the morning and see how his trip went and get the camera going again. He'll probably still be in shock from the cold after the 85-degree days on the beach he's been enjoying.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Major trusses are up

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As you can see, the rest of the house trusses are up (large ones, anyways) and the garage is done as well.
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The smaller trusses over the computer room/den (extreme left side of photo) and master bath (left-center of photo) are up as well. They are now working on the trusses over the front porch (hard to describe the features being worked on, you'll be able to see it better when it's farther along). He's got some hips and ridges and valleys to construct....
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We are going to use Rinnai tankless water heaters, as they are the only major brand I could find that cover well installations, most other companies void the warranty for non-treated water. My cousin has a Rinnai and says they have been very happy with it. They also have the longest warranty on their new models (6 years, 12 years on the heat exchanger). You can find more information on them at:
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http://www.rinnai.us/.aspx/0/a.46f8f3/Overview
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and
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http://www.foreverhotwater.com/
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Our builder is going on vacation next week and won't be back until the 24th, so there may not be much (if anything) to post for the next two weeks or so....
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Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Trusses going up


Well, besides seeing the fact that our son likes to get in front of the camera any time he can, you can also see the roof trusses are being erected into place and braced. The trusses over the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms are up (left side of picture), as are most of the trusses over the main part of the house. For the larger trusses, still not erected are some trusses over the master bedroom/closet (main part of house - right side of picture) and all of the garage (not visible). Smaller trusses over the computer room (behind our son) and master bath (far right side of picture) as well as the entry area over the center of the front porch (between the two) still need to be erected as well.
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The two gaps in the trusses are where the dormer windows are going to be built. These will function as skylights in the dining room and living room areas. The roof trusses on either side of these dormers are "doubled up" to account for the "missing" trusses.
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I am surprised that he is this far along, as he estimated trusses would take about 2 weeks to erect. He's done this much in 2 days (Tuesday and today). Tomorrow is calling for rain, so he's got rainy weather items on his agenda, namely checking into the doors and windows we want, getting the 400 amp main electrical panel and the subpanels to serve the house and water pump/misc (200 amp and 100 amp respectively, I think), checking on the tub and toilets we picked out yesterday, etc. The weather forecast shows clear skies after this little hiccup until Friday, January 12th - good weather for building!
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We decided to go with Toto toilets. We have heard nothing but good things about them from plumbers, product reviews, and our builder, who says he recently switched to using them in his projects with great success. Here's where you can find more info on them:
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