Trusses delivered today

We had no trouble with the trusses being delivered today. Here is a shot of one set of trusses being unloaded. The ceiling height in the center of the house is 10' with the porches and some rooms at 9', hence the "stairstep" in the trusses at the ends.

You can clearly see the attic truss feature in this photo - the truss opening is about 5.5' high by 10' wide and runs almost the length of the house. In the garage, the truss opening is of similar size, maybe *slightly* shorter and wider. We are having plywood placed throughout the attic trusses for future storage use and ease of access in case of any necessary repairs, etc.

Our builder hopes to get all the trusses up and braced over the next 2 weeks or so, then he's on vacation for a week (planned before he started on our house), then it's attacking the roof sheeting (if the weather allows). Looks like the forecast is for clear skies next week, so we're keeping our fingers crossed on getting the trusses erected pretty quickly. You can see some of them lying on the walls in this picture.

Happy New Year to all!

Rain, rain, go away....

We got a bit of rain yesterday and this morning. We are expecting trusses to be delivered on Friday 12/29. Looks like clear weather after this last bit of rain goes away (at least through 1/4). Hopefully thigs will dry out enough for the truss guys to get the access they need to deliver the trusses.

Forecast is calling for sunny, breezy conditions today and tomorrow, so that will help.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Ready for roof trusses

You can see that the front (above) and rear (below) porches have posts and beams installed for the roof trusses (both porches are covered).

The original truss company repriced the trusses and their new price is about 5% lower than their original quote. The other truss company actually came in more expensive, so that issue is settled. Trusses have been ordered and should arrive Wednesday 12/27. I thought they wouldn't be here until the new year, so this is good news!

They are not working tomorrow or Friday - doctor's appointment for the builder and his helper went home sick today - so they will just come back after Christmas. He still has some minor framing work to finish up next Tuesday (finish framing in the windows, etc.).

I am on vacation next week (at least most of it), so hopefully the weather holds and I will be able to get some good photos/video of the trusses being put up.

Basic framing complete

OK, basic house framing is complete. This is the front of the house, with the computer room/den (9-ft ceiling) on the left of the front porch, with the family room and living room to the left of the front door (with a photostitch seam running through it, grrr) and the dining room and master bedroom to the right (all 10-ft ceilings). Master bath is to the right of the front porch (9-ft ceiling).

The front of the house is perfectly symmetrical about the front door. The six large openings will each house two single-hung windows side-by-side.



Here is a shot of the man-room (err, garage). We will have an 18-ft and 10-ft door, both 8-ft tall. The extra space to the right of the doors is the testosterone corner (err, workshop area). The openings you see through the larger garage door are going to be a door to the back yard (left of the sawhorses), a large slider window, and a double door to the back yard.

He's got another 1-2 weeks worth of misc. stuff I guess (securing the framing, adding all the top sills, putting in the columns and headers in the porch areas, etc.). Sounds like we should find out more tomorrow about the trusses. He's thinking that with the holidays coming up, we'll shoot for trusses after the first of the year.

Made the first payment to the builder today (draw #1) from our loan (well, we wrote the check, he'll pick it up tomorrow). Money was wired to our account today from the lender and it's already gone. Easy come, easy go....

Framing about half done

Here is our son standing in what will be his bedroom (photo on Saturday 12-9-06).

This is the framing work they finished on Monday. It was a little wet today to do much, so he was going to check on the trusses today. Have to see if he found out anything.

In this picture, you are looking southwest over the driveway apron, through the garage (as yet unframed), and into the house. Most of the house has 10-ft ceilings, except as noted. To the very left is the master bath (9-ft ceiling) and the master closet. Just over the left sawhorse is the laundry room. The half bath and pantry are over the right sawhorse. Then comes the kitchen and an open breakfast nook. Finally, to the right lies the guest room, second bathroom, and our son's room (all 9-ft ceilings). The rest of the rooms are along the front of the house and are not really framed in yet.

Here is the view out the kitchen window (looking west). Sunsets look better when it isn't cloudy/raining....

Well, it's a good thing that we poured all the concrete early, as the recent (and still upcoming) rain has made it a bit muddy out there. You can pull up the driveway and walk right onto the driveway apron and not get your feet muddy.

Walls are going up

The builder started framing and as of today has our son's bedroom and the adjacent bathroom framed. The guest bedroom is partially framed. You can see that many other walls are about ready to be tilted up as well - pretty quick work for just 2 guys.

He is going to be out tomorrow trying to get the final inspections/finishing touches done on the house he completed before ours. Hopefully all goes well and he can put that one to rest. Framing should be pretty much completed next week unless weather interferes.

We are checking on getting the roof truss costs reduced by having the company who did the truss calculations recheck their prices and also by checking with another company who is a little more affordable. Our builder used the other company for his last house and was very pleased with the product, so we'll just see what happens.

We did it

We signed the loan papers today, putting us in the "poorhouse" for the next 30 years. Paid a few points (not out of pocket, wrapped into the loan) and will be saving about 10% per month which will "repay" the points in less than 4 years.

On the bright side, the well is being put in so at least we'll have water. One of the well drillers is a high-school friend of my sister's, so it was neat seeing him after almost 20 years. Here's a shot of the drill rig.

Loan approved

Got the call today that our loan is approved - we should be signing papers on Tuesday if all goes as planned!

Now we're broke for the rest of our lives!

Oh, yeah, and there is a lot of lumber piled up out there. 2x4's and 2x6's mostly (we have 2x6 exterior walls), along with some headers and a glulam beam or two for good measure.