Author: David Boufford

The framing was completed this week on the interior walls, the drop down ceilings (between the beams to hide the sprinklers, and plumbing and electrical rough in). The deck framing will begin next Monday and will be completed by 12/5. YAY!

Patrick and Jon built a beautiful exterior archway to support the exterior great room deck roof. They have two more to be built in the next few weeks that will be decorative for the interior of the great room. 

The windows are still being installed. The primary suite is complete, and another 6-8 windows in the house are already installed. With the exception of the windows/doors in the Great Room, all the remaining windows will be completed by the Friday after Thanksgiving. That’s SO exciting!

This week, the plumbers started to do their plumbing rough- in. All of the plumbing rough-in should be completed by 12/5. 

We ran the ditch for the electrical line from the panel to the mechanical room. (Thank you Darryl for digging the ditch!) The other trades are filling the mechanical room with their equipment too. It’s starting to come together. 

We were busy with meeting with the architect, the engineer and also the County inspector, to keep the project moving along. 

The front door has been completed in Montana and will be shipped to us ASAP!

We moved forward with the interior trim/door package order, and finalized the fireplace purchase for the great room and the primary suite. 

So grateful for this team that is making things happen!

Wow, what a week! The new framing crew stepped up in a big way and got a lot of catch up work completed. James has taken over as the project manager, which will allow Patrick to apply his talents to the woodwork that has been waiting for him. All of the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall into place this week, and I’m so grateful! 

The original framing crew completed the turret framing this week, and started on the front and back walls of the great room. James will direct his crew next week to complete this unfinished task. 

All of the interior framing has been completed for the primary suite, and all of the lower level interior framing will be completed on Monday. YAY! This week all of the window openings were treated with the vapor barrier (red goop) to keep out the moisture. The window guys from Windows, Doors and More also installed the windows in the Primary Suite!!! These are our first installed windows and they look beautiful!

Patrick and Jon were busy in the shop making gorgeous beams for the great room, from wood cut and milled on the property! How cool is it to use wood that grew right here on the property and never left.

I spent time at Granite Marble Specialties and made the final selections for all of the countertops. The stone is so beautiful! I’m especially excited about the Blue Gaya Dolomite that I choose for the master bathroom. 

Next week the interior framing will be completed throughout the house, and the deck framing will begin on the deck base and on the roof. The rough in for plumbing and electrical, as well as for the in-floor radiant heat will also start next week. Lots of good things are coming. 

Thank you to all of the hands and hearts who are bringing this project to life. We are very grateful for you!

This was a stressful week getting back on the job and discovering that not a lot was completed in my absence. When they started in July, the framers gave me a completion date of September 21, and here we are 6 weeks after that date, with a lot of work still incomplete. Sigh. We’ve made some changes and hopefully this situation will be resolved over the next week or so. Still grateful for what IS done, but I’m getting impatient on the severe delay that the framers have caused for the other trades that need to follow.

This week the buckouts were completed and all of the windows are now being treated with waterproofing (that’s the red goop), prepping for window installation starting next week. Finally! We’ll start the window installation in the primary suite and work south through the kitchen and into the curved section of the house. Within the next two weeks, most if not all of the windows will be installed. I can’t wait to have the house buttoned up so we can start the interior trades.

The framing of the great room was completed on Friday, with the ice and water shield installed on the roof. The framers are so far behind that the deck and the deck roof haven’t yet even been started. Hoping to see this completed in the next two weeks.

The turret sheathing was also completed and the crew started to cut out the three windows that will follow the tower steps up to the next level. 

This week was also super frustrating in that it seems our well went dry. How can that happen during a rainstorm in Seattle, right? Darryl has been diligent with turning off all outflow from the holding tank and checking for leaks, to monitoring the water level each day. We’re not using water, yet the tank has less in it each day. We’re looking at options including adding storage tanks, expanding the current well to increase the water flow, or possibly even digging a new one. Decisions and options… we’ll know more in a week or so as the mystery is solved. 

In the meantime, we’re getting the job back on track and moving forward, albeit more slowly that I’d like. Still, there is much to be grateful for and the house IS coming together! Thank to the team for all of their efforts.

As you can probably tell from the lack of a weekly update, I’ve been on vacation, but I’m back now. Patrick and Henrick held down the fort and the work continued in our absence. The cooler weather is upon us and the leaves are changing. It’s so very beautiful at the property!

The framing continues…. (ALMOST FINISHED!). The turret framing is completed, the roof sheathing is on and the ice and water shield has been installed too. The roofing membrane (which will be underneath the green live plant roof) is on the curved section of the house is complete- yay! The great room roof isn’t complete yet, but they’re working on it.

The crew has worked on the sheathing around the house, to prep for the window vapor barrier and window installation to start next week. 

Patrick created what looks like a skateboard ramp, which is actually the curve for the swoops for the roof. It looks amazing! Thank you Patrick!

The rock, called Montana Moss, has arrived from Montana. This gorgeous rock will be used around the interior fireplace in the great room, to create the fireplace on the outdoor deck, and for the front of the entryway and it will also cover the turret. I can’t wait to see the exterior of the house once this stone has been applied. 

Next week we’ll be back with a more detailed update as well as a weekly video. I had planned to do one but my shoot was interrupted by a visit from a large neighborhood dog. Sorry!

I’m in Europe for two weeks, so there are less photos than I normally post. Thank you to Patrick for sending these photos in my absence!

This week the first layer of the roofing membrane was installed over the kitchen, dining room and curved area to the garage. This should be completed next week!

The turret is progressing, albeit more slowly than I’d like. With the cooler autumn weather here now, along with our rainy season, I’m anxious to get this fully dried in for the winter. 

The framers have spent this week working on the sheathing (so that we can prepare to install the windows), and also started the beams for the great room roof. It’s finally starting to look like a house. 

We had a beautiful full moon on the night of the 6th which was spectacular to view from the house! 

This week we also moved the time-lapse camera as the view was blocked by the addition of the garage walls. So, from here on out, the time-lapse will be a bit different. We moved it to the north so that the view now includes the front of the house, with as little blockage as possible. You’ll notice a blip in the existing time lapse from this point on, where the footage will move from one location to the new location. Sorry for the problem, but hopefully this will be a good long-term solution through the rest of the build. 

Thanks for everything this week!

This week the framers were busy finalizing all of the details to prepare for the roofers’ arrival next Monday. They were supposed to start on Wednesday or Thursday, but were delayed until Monday due to rain. 

The SIPS are finally installed and the framers have moved on to the beams to support the roof in the great room, and the turret. In one of these photos you’ll see Henrik and Lonnie measuring the beams on the floor of the great room. Rest assured, they’ll be installed up on the top of the strong walls, to form the peak of the greatroom. This was for measurement only. 

The most exciting part of the week for me was my walk on the roof to watch the framers work on the turret. The view from up there is AMAZING! You can see the guys wrapping the turret with 2 layers of ¼” plywood, as you can’t bend ½ or 5/8ths plywood around a circle! The bizarre photo was taken looking down the turret. You can only see down to the main level, even though the staircase will continue down to the lower level as well. 

My normal video update is a bit different this week, as I shared my excitement with the turret construction during a visit to the rooftop. 

I’m heading out of town for the next 2 weeks, so stay tuned. You’ll still get photos and an update, but the photographer will be Patrick, our project manager. 

Thanks to the whole crew for your continued support and great work. Looking forward to the next few weeks and seeing the house buttoned up soon!

This week marked the beginning of fall, and with that, the annual first batch of chocolate chip pumpkin bread- with each of the crew enjoying a mini loaf. It was our little way of saying “Thank you” to each of the team members, and it was yummy too!

As far as the house getting completed, the SIPS panels have now all been installed! YAY! We’re a bit late as per our schedule, but we’re almost ready to install the membrane for the remainder of the green roof. 

The concrete was poured for the foundation of the fireplace in the exterior deck, meaning that the mason can soon start to build the fireplace. It’s an intricate web of timing…. Fireplace installation, deck beams/roof installed,  deck framing, deck flooring installed, etc, and it should all come together in the next few weeks. 

The taping was started on the ZIP panels to protect the exterior from the rain that is coming next week. 

The framers worked on the small office off the turret, which will provide access to the “secret” top of the turret. Hopefully, this will be completed by the end of this coming week. 

The week ended with the installation of the strong wall in the southeast corner of the great room. Fingers crossed that those beams will be installed within the next week!

What happened this week? You guessed it…. More framing and more SIPS panels installed. The best part of the week happened when I was walking down the lane to the house, looked up and saw that the framers had built the kitchen walls. What makes this so remarkable is that you can look in the west window and see directly through the kitchen and out the east window- and it perfectly frames the view of the Cascade Mountains! WOW! This home is going to be so beautiful!

By the end of the week the framers completed the installation of the SIPS panels in the curved area of the house- from the garage to the north end of the kitchen.

This coming week should wrap up all of the framing on the kitchen and the great room! 

Saturday we mulched the entire disturbed area to prevent erosion, awaiting the native planting in late October. You’ll see the “teal colored” photos.

This week I included my normal weekly wrap up video and also added a flying SIPS panel video to show you how this is done. I also included several photos of a large hornet nest that I found in a parking space at the jobsite. It appears to have fallen from a tree and cracked open. It’s about a foot in diameter and is so beautiful, even though it cracked into three pieces when it fell. Fortunately, it appeared to be vacant with no hornets nearby. 

Thank you to the team for your continued hard work and beautiful results, We appreciate you!

This was a busy framing week, with the reward being flying SIPS panels. It took most of the week to complete the huge glulam beam “sunburst” of 14 large beams, bursting outwards from the turret column. Once all 14 were set, the ceiling level for the kitchen and the great room wall was ready for wall framing and for the installation of the SIPS panels to form the roof. 

By the end of Friday, the last beam was set, and 5 of the 24 SIPS panels were in place. 

The membrane was completed on the primary suite wing and on the garage. The architectural detail was created for the fascia, and the drip edge of the green roof.

The driveway/road was graded and new gravel was installed, so now it’s easy to drive down to the building site!

The electrical conduit trench was dug, CLS completed the electrical connection to the septic and the panel was installed on the east side of the house. Once we have L & I approval on Monday, the trench will be backfilled, prepping the dirt for the hydroseeding next Saturday. 

Each week it looks a little bit more like a house.Yet, each Friday it feels like so little got done that week- until I look at the photos from Monday through Friday, and write this summary for you. I know it’s all happening in perfect timing, but it’s never taken me this long to build a project. Then again, I’ve never built a project quite like this one either. It’s going to be so beautiful when it’s complete!

Thanks to the team for everything this week. We really appreciate each one of you!

This week was a busy one, catching up from taking off for Labor Day Weekend.

The week started with the roof membrane being installed on the primary suite. As soon as the roofers had that complete, they moved to the garage roof, and that’s almost complete too! We’re almost ready for the green roof on those two sections! 

Meanwhile, the framers were busy with installing the glulam beams that form the “sunbeam” pattern across the ceiling, and which will support the roof structure. Looking up at the structure from below, it looks like a great big spider or crab! This project is starting to look like a home and I’m getting more excited to see it come together.

Thanks to the crews for all of your help this week. We appreciate you