Author: David Boufford

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

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!