Author: David Boufford

A busy week, you guessed it….framing! The garage is now completely framed and the SIPS panels have been installed. Once the garage was ready for the roof membrane installation next Tuesday (after Labor Day), the framers moved on to the last section of the house that still isn’t framed. That section includes the great room, kitchen, dining area, the gym and office, that wrap around the turret to the garage.

The glulam beams that connect to the steel ring and form the spokes of a sunrise will hold up the roof over this area.  This week, the first beam was installed! I was so excited and anxious for the framing to begin and now I can’t wait for the framing to be completed!

We’ve had a huge slash pile on the corner of the property comprised of tree stumps, limbs, etc, from cleaning up the property. This week, that pile was turned into mulch to be spread around the property.

Darryl and his tractor excavated the area where the footing and foundation will be poured for the outdoor fireplace later next week. 

The week finished with the installation of the roof curbs around the SIPS panel roofs, to prep them for the installation of the roof membrane first thing on Tuesday morning.

Thanks to the team for all the hard work this week! We appreciate you!

The week started with the delivery of the SIPS panels. These Structural Insulation Panels are placed on top of the stick framing underneath and comprise the roof. They arrived on a large truck that was unable to navigate our private lane to the jobsite, so, Patrick unloaded them by forklift on the main road. From there, Patrick and the team brought the panels down to the jobsite. To me, they look like gigantic ice cream sandwiches!

By midweek, the primary wing was half complete. By the end of Friday, the whole wing had SIPS panels forming a roof! The space is really starting to feel like a home!

I met with a roofer from France, who is very experienced in installing zinc roofs that last for 100 years. We’re exploring the options for the great room. Lots of time spent selecting colors and playing with AI to get renderings to help envision various options. 

While the SIPS were being installed, the framing crew installed the sill plate for the curved wall, preparing for the interior framing to commence. The framing in the garage is now complete, awaiting the installation of the SIPS panels, starting next Monday morning.

The primary suite is almost ready for the installation of the roofing membrane! By next week at this time, the entire house should be ready for the roof membrane installation on the entire house- coming September 3rd!

Thank you to the entire team for all of your great work this week!

Building a project is like watching a child grow up. You never notice the day-to-day changes, but when you look back over a period of time, the changes are significant! This week was “just framing”, but when I look at the photos from a week ago- WOW, what a difference!!!!!! 

This week Henrik, Lonnie and the framing crew completed the interior framing of the lower level. Check out the photos of the lower level, taken from the top level, which offers great detail of the flooring substructure. Look at that crazy pattern!! By the end of the week, all of the lower framing was completed and the sub floor was in place. 

There’s a short 10-second video of one of the workers nailing the subflooring down into the support below. I’ve never seen a nail gun like this one. It reminded me of a nail gun connected to a pogo stick!

The framing for the primary suite was also completed this week. The SIPS panels (Structural Insulated Panels that comprise the roof) are being delivered next Tuesday, so the crew was busy making sure the beams were in place to support the next step. What fun to watch some of the progress this week. I LOVE the beams outside the primary suite to the east, which will hold up the roof over the outside deck. I’m glad I was here to watch it go up! You can click on the photos and watch the progression of getting the first vertical beam installed.

Thank you to the entire framing crew for all of the work this week! Our project is starting to look like a house! 

This week the focus was framing with the completion of the primary suite, and the start of the lower level. Although it looks like very little happened, there was a lot of work going on! You’ll remember that last week the subfloor was installed across the “bridge” kitchen. This week the focus was working on the lower level, so that the kitchen floor above could continue throughout the second floor – soon. 

Some of the beams on the lower level have been set and early next week the main level floor will have the support underneath it to continue around to the garage. 

This week we also got the welding inspection for the steel ring completed, and the PSE inspection for the new electrical vault and new transformer down at the building site. We also ran the plumbing and electrical lines from where they stopped on the driveway, and connected them to the house. Last, the septic was completed and the drainage field was installed to the north of the new homesite. Grateful that this is complete, even if it drained the water tank and shut off our water for a day!

Yesterday the final lumber delivery arrived with a load of 24’ glulam beams for the roof support. At this point, all of the pieces are here, now we just need to put them all together!

Thanks to the team for all of your help this week!

This week was more framing, steel ring and septic drainfield installation. The framing continued all week. Monday the floor joists and subflooring for the great room was installed. (You’ll see a photo of me sitting on the great room floor with Koko and Kuma, our Japanese Spitz pups) The floor joists and subflooring for the kitchen bridge was built too, and more subflooring was added. More walls appeared in the primary suite area and by the end of the week, the sill plate was complete on the lower level, just awaiting the construction of the lower walls! It’s so fun to watch Henrik and Lonnie and their crew create this masterpiece!

The septic system was completed with pipes installed to the drainfield (that part is still under construction). In preparation for this, on Tuesday, we relocated more than 30 giant ferns from the area where the upper drainfield will be installed. Thanks for Valentin for helping with the ferns, and to Mike and CLS Septic for the excavation and piping. 

Tuesday, the metal subcontractor started prep for the installation of the steel ring, to be located about 5’ down from the top of the 27’ concrete column. Plates need to be set on the floor of the staircase, and vertical steel beams will then be attached to support the 2400 pounds of the steel ring. It’s supported by two tall steel posts that will be buried in future walls on the lower level, as well as braces on the turret concrete wall. Tricky engineering, but wait until you see the finished product!

This was the biggest project of the week and was required now, as this semi-circle steel ring will support the glulam ceiling sunrise beams. It was a bit trickier than anticipated and wasn’t completed until Friday. Thanks to Phil, Josh, Patrick, Geoff and Garrett as well as the engineers at CT Engineering for making this happen!

The week ended with running the electrical conduit and plumbing lines to the house. It seems that one of the hiccups we had to resolve was the fact that there was no water on the property on Friday afternoon, until we resolved the problem on Sunday morning. We found the solution, or at least we think we have!

Now that the slabs are poured, this week was busy with stones, finish grading and delivery of lumber, lumber and more lumber. 

The stone steps that go from the front of the house underneath the kitchen bridge and down to the level below were completed. 

By midweek, the concrete columns had dried and the framing boards and sonotubes were removed, to reveal the columns that will support the great room deck above. Eventually they will be covered with bark, just like the treehouses at Snow Bear Chalets.

Patrick, our project manager, joined our team this Monday. We’re grateful to have his assistance.

The highlight of the week was that the framers started on Monday. YAY! Thank you to Henrik and Lonnie for installing the sill plate in the primary suite side of the house, and to Victor and Jose for joining us later in the week to hang the joists for the greatroom floor. By Thursday, we had our first vertical wall!

Framing s my favorite part of the building process as it’s amazing to see the vision take shape. I can’t wait to walk in the main level of the house! We have the SIPS panels being delivered in just over three weeks from now, so the framing team will be working fast to get the house ready!

By the end of the day Friday, they had one sheet of plywood installed on top of the joists in the greatroom. I know it’s only one piece, but the rest of the floor will be added quickly next Monday. Can you tell I’m excited!?

Thank you to the great team that worked hard onsite this week to move this project forward. Also, a big THANK YOU to my friend David who posts my photos and handles the website, and to Darryl for all the errands and assistance to the entire team. I appreciate each one of you!

This week started with Janes laying the radiant heat in the slabs for the primary bedroom suite and the two lower guest suites. You’ll see them as bright red tubes. (Thank you Janes!)

Then, the concrete was poured for the foundation of the footings for the support columns to hold up the deck off of the great room. (thank you Foundation Specialists!)

With the completion of all of the concrete work, lumber shipments arrived, and our team is ready to begin framing next Monday.  My favorite part of the build is the scent of the wood as the house is taking shape. Should be a fun month coming up!

This week was busy with the completion of the prep for the pouring of the slabs in the primary suite, in the two lower suites and in the garage. It was also a week of rocks and dirt. The drainage pipes around the perimeter of the foundation were laid and the drainfield was completed.  The end of the week brought more prep to pour the slabs, with rebar and insulation being installed, to be ready for the pour of the two slabs (primary suite and the two suites in the lower level). 

It was also a week of moving dirt- a lot of dirt. Mike and Braydon completed the preliminary grading around the entire house and WOW what a difference! Mid-week, Mike and I went to choose rocks and found some gorgeous grey/blue/green boulders. The week was topped off with these rocks being installed to create a passway from the front of the house underneath the kitchen floating overhead to the back of the house. 

Check out the stone heart! When the stones were dumped on the property, two of them collided and this rock chip broke off. I thought it was a beautiful heart, again, confirming this is a house that love built! This is going to be a beautiful home!

This was a short week as many of our subs took off early for the 4th of July holiday weekend. We were lucky enough to get the plumbing drainage laid out in the primary suite slab and in the slab for the two guest suites on the lower level. The underslab plumbing was inspected and approved by the King County Health Department.  

The rest of the week was spent installing the downspout drainage on the exterior of the foundation and backfilling as needed. Many truckloads of dirt needed to be trucked in to fill to the proper grade. By the end of Thursday (7/3), it’s started to look like a house!

A special thank you to Brayden and Mike from Mike Carlson Excavation for keeping us on schedule, and to Darry,l who can be seen in a video moving dirt with the bulldozer. 

See you next week! Slabs and then framing are coming very soon….that’s my favorite part when we get sticks in the air!

I started this week early on Sunday morning at the property and was greeted by a beautiful deer and a bobcat! Check out the photos! 

Early Monday morning, we poured another 87 yards of concrete to fill the turret tower (27’ center pole) and the walls throughout the house.  After the concrete dried for a day, Javier and the guys started to remove all of the heavy wall forms and clean up the site so that the backfill can begin. A big thank you to Javier and his team at JB Concrete for the great job with all the concrete work.

Thursday and Friday were busy with waterproofing and Mike (Mike Carlson Excavating) started to backfill the space. Thanks to Mike, Braden, Logan and Garrett for all your help this week!

This house will look a lot different in the next week or so when the slabs are poured and we can actually walk into the house. Each week brings something wonderful for us to look forward to!

Check out the 3:00-minute video if you want a “tour” of the house, including a conversation with a deer, who even left heart shaped footprints (see photo below).