NEW DUNBURY

Liz and I visited the site today. On the way in, we observed that the electrical meter had showed up and the plugs were installed in the post. It’s not running yet but the green box is a-hummin’.

Driving in we were greeted by a billowing green wall the was part of the tent the timberframers have set up to provide some shade for them while cutting timber and for the timbers themselves so they won’t dry out too quickly.

Liz was out of the car and up on the deck in a flash. It’s had its “skylight” closed up. There’s been some more rough grading and the foam drainage aid that is sheathing the foundation is pretty much covered up all the way around. We’ll be having some discussions about the final grading eventually.

We even have a front step. it’s just a board laid across two cinderblocks, but it does make it easier to get up on the deck.

The deck itself now sports a compass so we can all agree on which way is north, and a to-size layout drawing of a bent. Which is good because, as the title of this post says, framing has begun.

It was a lovely day and we didn’t get to spend nearly as much time as we wanted hanging out there, discussing the possibilities, angles, options, and such like. We did measure the deck, finally laying to rest our sudden terror from the beginning of the week when the foundation survey paperwork arrived. According to that, the foundation was 3 feet narrow than spec. Measurements (our project manager’s and our own) disagree. None of us was looking forward to demolishing the foundation’s south wall, extending and modifying the slab (and its plumbing) or rebuilding the deck. We can only hope the surveyor’s other measurements are more true to reality.

Excitement is high. It’s starting to get really real.

Oh, yeah. Eric, we’ve got a new spring crop of rocks.

1 Comment »

Yesterday I took a trip down to the site and got to see the deck. There are pictures posted in the jobsite album.

The deck is not quite finished: there is a 4 foot square chunk missing near the southwest corner, the plywood doesn’t quite cover to the south edge, and the whole of the central position is supported from beneath by temporary bracing. But it’s walkable and offers a far better hint of what the views from inside the house will be than we’ve had before. I did much contemplating of building and site matters from that vantage point.

We have also had timber delivered (although technically it’s lumber now, having been sawn.) Four piles of fresh-sawn oak. The place smells like a sawyer’s yard. A number of saw horses are milling about, awaiting their chance to go to work.

On the wildlife front, a pair of the white-wing-flash birds I have seen before deigned to perch where I could see them better. They have red heads and look to be woodpeckers. They left before I could focus the camera on them, as did the pair of crows I spooked from the driveway.

No Comments »

A visit to the land last Sunday confirmed that we have a slab. Yeah!

We did not have a first floor deck. We later learned that the threat of inclement weather delayed the start of that phase. We have been informed that, as of close of play Tuesday, said deck was well underway and the first of the timbers had been delivered.

On the other hand, there are issues with the electrical installation. Something about a junction box being installed instead of a transformer.

No Comments »