A Successful Week

We had a very successful week of progress on the house. As you can see in the above picture, most of the wrapping of the house was completed at this time. We returned today and the wrapping was complete. You can also see that we have a fully shingled roof. Progress on getting the windows installed was going very well.

Here again is a view of the covered and screened porch area. They were working on the ceiling installation at this time. From the progress today, this is also complete.

This is a view of some of the interior of the house. The photo is taken in the front part of the family room looking towards the kitchen and dining area. The dining area has a bay window to provide some additional room. We are not having a formal living or dining room. The house is designed with a formal dining room, but we call it "the computer room". In the far corner of the photo, you can see the outline of the master bedroom. The stairs in the photo lead up to a bonus room above the garage. I am now calling that room "mine". However, I have had to sacrifice the computer room to my better half. Next time, I will try to get some wide angle photos to better see the rooms. I was waiting until the sheetrock was in place before doing this.

When we arrived today, I noticed that the electrician had begun his work. Noticing several places where the electrical boxes were not in the correct location, I talked with the contractor. The electrician was in his office and asked if I could stay to get the electrical box locations settled. We did much more than that. Once we had finished with the electrical, cable and phone box locations, we started on the air conditioning/heating system. We were able to get most of the locations for the units settled and had the framers complete the necessary work for the return duct work. We will have 3 units. A 4 ton unit for the main house where we will be spending most of our time, a 2 ton unit which will control the guest bedrooms and bath and 1.5 ton unit for the bonus room. I felt much better after his visit. I wish I could have done the same with the plumbers before we leave on a short vacation.

The picture above shows the front of the house with all the windows installed. While I was there, the framers finished installing all the remaining windows except for a glass block window in the master closet. I do not think that has arrived yet. They also had the front door ready for installation. Hopefully, if it does not rain, they will get the painting of the outside done and start the bricking of the house. Also, possibly install some of the doors.

We are headed to Florida on Saturday for a visit. Hopefully, we will be seeing Ron and Gwen. That is if they can get out of the Northeast this the latest cold front coming in. Bill and Lyn may also be able to come and visit. It will be really great. We return home on February 27th and will make a trip on Monday the 28th, so look for an undate after that.

A Rumor of Shingles

As you can see, the guys are putting down the felt on the roof. There was a rumor going around that shingles have been ordered and to be applied next week. You can also see if you look very hard that the soffit areas have almost been completed. That is the white colored material. They have to paint the soffit before they can shingle since we are getting black shingles and the soffit will remain white. If not painted ahead, we may have spotted shingles. You can see some of the hardiboard used for the soffit lying on the ground. It will also be used for several other areas on the house. It is a concrete impregnated wood, so it is much more durable.

The back does not look much different from before, except the hardiboard has been added and the siding finished.
Here is the view looking straight into the screened and covered porch areas. The next photo gives a better look. The opening on the left is to be doors leading out to the covered porch and the barbeque area.

Here is a different view in which you can see where the deck will be under roof. The screened porch is very large (approximately 17' square). This is to accomodate the table and chair sitting area, the table and chair eating area and of course the hammock. We will probably only put temporary furniture out on the deck. Just when we are cooking outside and everyone wants to make comments to the chef.

We met with the cabinet makers to talk about what we wanted to do in the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room. All the cabinets are custom made by a local furniture builder. We will be meeting with the plumber and the electrician next week to finalize locations of various pieces of equipment. Be sure to check back. We will probably post more near the end of next week.

Another Day A Little Progress

Another trip to Hattiesburg provided us with a little more uplifting of spirits. At this time, any progress is good. The rains have really hindered progress lately. We usually get two days of sunshine and then rain. Fortunately, the rain did not start until around 1:30 in the afternoon. Unfortunately, I was on the six hole of the golf course. Being the avid golfer that I am, I kept going until the end of the eighth hole. By then I was soaked through and through, so I quit and went back to McComb. Next trip is Thursday, so check back on Friday or Saturday for a new update.

North side view. The window openings here are ready for the windows to be installed. The windows are on order and should be arriving next week. You can see the covered porch in the very back. If you are the only visitors to our home, you can enjoy the deck as there will be a door exiting the house from this room. You will also be the nearest to the barbeque, so you may have to cook your dinner.

The front view of the house is looking east. You can see the bonus room framing above the garage. The window openings of the garage are not yet complete. They are going to be the size of the other two windows on the front. The computer room will be next to the garage. Then the front entry. The bonus room finishing will be my project. I am having the electrical and air conditioning roughed in. Also, sheetrock will be set up in the room. I am leaning toward having that work done also. I am not good at tape and bedding. I tried it once in Casper in the garage and it did not look very good, so I will leave this for the experts. After the sheet rock is in place, I will do the rest.

From this side of the house you can see more of the bonus room framing. The hole is for a window, not a door. Originally, I planned to have a golf cart. The smaller door in the garage was for this access. However, in order to be able to change the filter at floor level and not have to climb a ladder, we had to confiscate about 1 foot of that space. So now it will be used for other things. The golf course management also does not want other carts on the course.

This is the rear of the house. The window openings do not reflect the actual window sizes. You can see the covered porch area that wraps around the screened porch. You have to look hard, but you can see the screened porch area. Next time if it is not too muddy, I will try to get a better angle on the screened porch.

Roofs

Wednesday, 1 February, I had a hair appointment so we were in Hattiesburg all day. The weather was lovely but rain was in the forecast for last night and early this morning. Hopefully, work can continue today and the storms were not too bad over there. Here is what we found when we drove up Wednesday. The decking on the roof has begun. If the weather holds (rain in forecast for the weekend, though) maybe we can get the roof finished soon. (The next step will be the tar paper and then the shingles.)


The back. The the first window at the corner is the master bathroom, the next two to the left of it are in the master bedroom. The empty space is the deck and screened-in porch area. The garage is to the right of the photo. There were some questions in the framing of the 'bonus room' above the garage so that area was the least complete.


And the front. From left to right: garage, computer room (dining room in original plan), front door, and guest bedroom.


How we left it Wednesday afternoon. Only the area that was in question remains. We talked with the framer and answered all his questions and so they are ready to complete the work. We are hearing that the price roofers are charging, the price sheetrockers are charging, in fact, all construction workers prices are escalating at a furious rate due to the demand created by the hurricanes. We were told that our builder has already paid more for the flooring than was expected. We pray this doesn't become our 'money pit'! After our year's sabbatical to get settled and get this built, we will both be looking for work to cushion the future.