Build - Day 18 - July 29, 2011

Today is our anniversary and the progress today seemed to celebrate that with us. Here's the rundown:

• Main level walls have been cured
• Interior framing has been completed
• Stairs are installed and usable
• I-joists for the 2nd floor hung
• 2nd floor sub floor laid
• Wall placement for 2nd floor drawn

All-in-all a very large amount of work got done today. Since the majority of the walls are all up now, we've also taken the opportunity to add some personal touches to them. 

Speaking of personal touches, we've also found a potential issue with our design regarding the stairs. We've envisioned them as being open, but maybe that got lost somewhere in the idea-to-plan translation. We've send some pictures of the 'idea' to our GC to see if we can still realize that. Carefully optimistic that we can... ;-)

After talking with the foreman it is his prediction that by next week Friday they might have the roof on!! As a testament to their work-effort, they normally have a ranch under roof in about 2.5 weeks, but since we have a 2-story it will take 'm a little longer. Still, under roof in about 4 weeks is unheard of in Europe, especially with concrete exterior walls. Oh, and the building crew is only five guys... and no, not the burger-kind... ;-)

I know I've been slacking a bit with the photo sets and later tonight those will go up as well. They are available on FB already for those with the right access. Below is a sampling of the progress over the last 36 hours.

Start framing the in-law suite

The in-law bathroom

Looking at the kitchen wall. Cooktop will go where the
sheet is standing. The in-law suite is in the back and covered.

The 'store', a.k.a. the pantry. Large, but could double as elevator
shaft in later years if necessary.

The cured cement inside the ICF blocks and the sub floor of the
2nd story.

View from our bedroom. Due to the well on left, it will be
permanently green.

This is where the 2nd story walls will be.

Build - Day 16 - July 27, 2011

Today the crew will frame the non-ICF walls on the main level, mainly the garage walls and the front and back porches. They also wrapped the garage and got most of the basement stairs done. Tomorrow the main level ICF blocks will be back-filled with concrete.

Progress at 9am - start framing the garage and front porch

Progress at 1pm - garage framing almost done

End of the day pictures start here... The wrapped garage

Right side of the house

Framed back porch

Mostly framed front porch

Inside of the garage

This shows the window frame against the ICF wall

Basement stairs done, short of the landing

Build - Day 15 - July 26, 2011

Start of the third week of construction. As mentioned yesterday, the basement work - including the main level sub floor - is done, the lot is graded so no more moat and the main level ICF stacking has started.

Today, having the window casings ready we hoped to see some higher walls as a result. See for yourselves what the actual result was...

At 9:30am the main level walls are almost up. Nice progress, again...

Lunch-time progress. One more course and the main level ICFs are stacked.

Delivering lumber for the interior walls and I-joists for the 2nd floor.

Front of the house - main level ICF stacking complete

Back of the house - main level ICF stacking complete. Gorgeous sky...

Great room - ICF will go up to 14' high here. Just see the framing for the higher windows.

On the photo set page we've been grouping the pictures by week. I've added the 3rd week set and any pictures from today until next Monday will appear in that folder around 10pm each day.

Build - Day 12/13 - July 23/24, 2011

The second weekend of the build. This week a lot was done in weather that most resembles the Gulf coast in mid-July rather than North-East Ohio. Despite RealFeel levels in the triple-digits, our Amish building crew has been able to make remarkable progress. Even a freak storm dumping 7 inches of rain in 3 hours didn't seem to faze them. A moat a foot-and-a-half deep (we have no drainage and/or backfilling yet so everything collected in the hole) was completely drained in the same amount of time it fell.

You might wonder about the off-the-grid lifestyle of the Amish - we actually do agree with it - but there is no denying their immense work ethic. They are on the job every day at 6am and every day when I get back from work they did more than we thought was possible. This build keeps going at an amazing speed.

Here's a little thought; if they continue the pace of the basement we'll be under roof in about 4 weeks. I know that the outside goes fast, I just didn't think it was sponsored by Team Penske (those who know us get the little inside joke here...).

To recap, last weekend the foundation was dug, footers were poured, and the crew had just started stacking the basement forms. In the last 5 days, they:

• stacked the rest of basement forms
• braced the basement wall
• drained the basement
• reset the forms on the footers and re-straightened the walls
• poured the concrete into the ICF forms
• laid the concrete blocks for the garage, front porch and back porch
• installed the steel i-beams, supports for the i-joists, and the i-joists for the main level
• laid the sub floor
• installed the moisture barrier wrap
• passed the basement inspection
• started laying the blocks for the main level.

Amazing. Anyway, the crew is enjoying a well deserved weekend's rest. We're off to a wedding and will be back taking pictures first thing Monday-morning.