Contractors

Jim is acting as our general contractor, and this makes perfect sense because A: He subs out jobs to contractors every single day for his company Monroe Sealers so he is very comfortable being in charge and orchestrating multiple subs, B: Jim personally knows nearly every major sub we are hiring, and C: We are saving a bazillion dollars in construction costs. The place we blew our original budget was in lumber costs (here's a link with more info), but thankfully Newfane Lumber offers a great product, great service and a competitive price.

So far we have had 2 subs on the site: A Superior Concrete did our foundation, and Parlier Developments is doing the framing. As of today we are highly pleased with both!

Week 5 ~ Time Lapse, con't

6.26.13

Panorama 4

6.26.13

More Walls

Today is a scorcher, but the crew is still making excellent progress. How they all do not collapse and die I have no idea. 

Mom's sun porch, with evidence of a mistake: the foundation plan was never updated to reflect the placement of another window and the door being moved ... sorry, Mom, but the corner window can't go in.
Of course, look at the view that still remains!

master bath window

master bedroom window

fish pond from living room

fish pond from our sunroom

back of the house from our sunroom

view from sunroom through to kitchen/mudroom/garage

Mom's bedroom and bathroom beyond

view across house facing southeast

our stunning front yard, looking from front door - note the boombox :)

Week 5 ~ Time Lapse

6.25.13

Panorama 3

6.25.13

Week 4

There is still a lot of dirt that needs to be moved, the lumber is delivered, the steel is in place, the decking has begun. So far the progress seems fast to me - I hope I am still saying that by the time fall rolls around! 

Panorama 2

Not much of a noticeable difference at this point ... the mountain of dirt needs to be used for backfilling once the framer gets the first floor in place.

1776

The Bicentennial year of 1976 was a fun year for those of us old enough to remember it. Even the ice cream was red, white and blue! 

I remember attending a parade in my village and finding a working camera in a flea market that was set up on the route. The camera cost 25 whole cents, and I still have some of the teeny black and white photos that I took with it. I wish I could remember more about the camera, but I do remember it was small and plastic - and it was all mine. This generation has grown up with instant digital photography so that memory may not seem like a big deal, but I can assure you I thought it was HUGE.

Our house number just happens to be 1776 which we think is pretty great. Happy Birthday, America!

~ last fall when we first put the sign in the ground ~ 

~ last week, the sign surrounded by grasses ~

Week 3 Begins

Walls are poured and ready for the steel to be placed. There are tons of dirt that need to be removed and moved from the walk-out area, but Jim will be chipping away at that over the next few weeks along with back filling.

Exciting stuff!