Author: David Boufford

The week started off slowly with delivery of sheetrock on Monday, a scheduling snafu on Tuesday, and finally the sheetrock hangers showed up on Wednesday. Thank you to Summit Drywall! By the end of the week the crew had the garage fully hung/taped and sanded, and the majority of the rest of the house had been hung too. We still have the turret, the small office, the art room and the spa room to hang. This next week everything will be hung and hopefully taped by the end of the week. The sheetrock on the ceiling between the glulam beams is stunning! 

The three pocket door frames were installed this week. Speaking of doors, Darryl picked up the interior doors, and all of the window, door trim and baseboard and drove them to the jobsite. They’ll be installed in the next month or so.

We found damage to the sill for the exterior door into the lower left bedroom, at the doorway from the back yard into the bedroom. Fortunately Loewen is able to replace the sill so it will be back to “new” very soon. 

Janes Radiant completed the heating system and we now have radiant heat throughout the house! That’s just in time for the sheetrock crew to tape and mud the drywall. We need the heat to help the mud dry.

Slavic, our mason, started the fireplace off of the great room deck on Wednesday. YAY! This fireplace is 27’ tall and will take a few weeks to complete. Then, we have three more masonry projects remaining- the face of the interior fireplace, the exterior face of the area around the front door, and the exterior of the turret. We’re using Montana Moss rock and it’s going to be beautiful!

Speaking of moss, I’m hoping to create a work of art, with moss as the medium on the curved wall in the dining room. It’s about 8’ tall and 12’ in length, so it will be quite a project. I mentioned to my friend Jon that I need to meet a “mossologist”. He smiled, told me that (of course) he studied moss at UW (University of Washington). Jon pointed me in the right direction to find a connection to a bryologist- yes, a mossologist! I’m learning more about moss than I ever knew was possible. If this works, it will be quite beautiful and very healthy for us too.

Our stars arrived this week for the ceiling in the primary suite above the window seat. I can’t wait to hang the stars in the sky! We’ll get to the turret soon, but I want the sheetrockers out of the way before I head up that confined space. Soon!

Thanks to the team for another successful week. Getting the sheetrock on the walls has changed the vibe of the whole house. It’s almost starting to feel like home. Thank you!

The primary accomplishments this week were….

• Thanks to Insulation NorthWest, the insulation has been installed in the house. The first thing that I noticed when I walked through the house after the insulation was installed, was how quiet it is now…. And sadly, I can no longer see through the walls. I’ve lost my spectacular views from anywhere, as I’m so accustomed to seeing through the walls. 🙂 We’re using Rockwool insulation throughout the house, as well as spray foam and some blown in batts. This is a highly efficient home for sure, and oh so quiet. We passed our KC Insulation inspection on Friday and we’re now ready for sheetrock next Monday. (Check out the guy on stilts on the spiral steps!)

• The “Disney bark”, which is what I affectionately call the rubber Flex bark from Replications Ltd, has been ordered and will be here soon to wrap the tree in the center of the spiral staircase. We used this product for the “trees” supporting our treehouses at Snow Bear Chalets in Whitefish, Montana, and it looks SO real!

• The exterior deck off of the great room has been completed and looks beautiful! Thanks to Chris at CedECHO for introducing us to this quality product. 

• I also ordered the fiber optic kits for the starry ceiling at the top of the turret and above the window seat in the master bedroom. The ceiling will be covered with 600 fiber optic stars in the form of constellations, then painted to form a night sky. I’ve done more than a dozen of these starry skies, but it’s been quite awhile since the last one was completed. Hopefully this one will be as easy as the others have been. 

• The week ended with a survey of the North, East and South boundaries of the property. Thanks to Ian and Lucas from EastSide Consulting. This was the first time I’ve walked the boundary of the property since we bought it 2 years ago. There are some gorgeous spots on this 8-acre parcel!

• Thanks to Garrett for finishing the trim on the landing at the top of the spiral staircase. It’s beautiful!

• Thanks to Guy and his crew at Chieftain Construction for the extra effort to install the Zip panels on the lower section of the house. We’re ready for siding now. 

• On Saturday, two guys from Windows, Doors and More came out to replace one of the Loewen windows that had been damaged during the initial installation and had to be reordered. Thank you, the new window looks great!

• I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our amazing project manager, James Ramsey, with Ramsey Construction. Not only is he capable and professional, he’s no-drama, happy and also kind and funny. He has a way of taking anything that happens and when he presents a potential problem to me, it’s always accompanied by a recommended solution too. I would give James 5 stars and would recommend him to anyone looking to build a home. I’m so grateful we found him!

Wow, what a FUN week!

I was busy with finalizing the stain colors for the interior windows, trim and beams, as well as lining up all of the remaining subcontractors. We ordered our Thermador appliances from Frederick’s in Redmond and look forward to installing them in a few months. 

Garrett and Patrick spent the week working on installing the two decorative trusses in the great room. The one on the outside deck has been installed for a month or more, but these two interior beams finally made it to the top of the list. There are some great photos of them being installed. It was fun to watch them do this work. 

The framers built the soffit for the Zehnder manifolds in the lower level. What an improvement from what we had earlier that we tore out! This looks intentional and will be very pretty when it’s completed. They also added a soffit to house the Zehnder flex ducts in the wine cellar as well.

Mercer Painters will be painting and staining our house. This week they started by cleaning the natural glulam beams with an eco-friendly chemical that removes any residual from the water damage from being outside and exposure to the elements. We’re going to leave the glulam beams natural as they are so pretty!

The trench was dug to bring the propane to the house for the linear fireplace in the living room

On 1/29 we passed our final framing inspection- YAY! During the week we also passed our electrical, plumbing,and mechanical inspections. It was a big week in moving forward.

Friday was Patrick’s last day on the jobsite as most of the finish framing is now complete. Thank you Patrick for sharing your time and talents with us. 

Thanks to the entire crew for another great week! 

What a very busy week it has been! 

Patrick and Garrett started the spiral steps that have been in planning mode for several weeks. I’ve been (impatiently) waiting for these steps for two months! The good news is they were completed by the end of the week! YAY! Well done Patrick and Garrett!!

The HRV has been completed with the new design and spacing, utilizing shorter more efficient runs and no crazy huge soffits. I’m grateful for Zehnder’s help with this product. 

The electrical and plumbing rough-in is almost completed. Thanks for Lakeside Plumbing and to Tughan Electric for all of your help!

Check out the floor radiant tubing which has been installed throughout the great room, kitchen, media room, office, spa and powder room. Love the curvy red tube design.  

Met with masons and siding subs to move forward in the very near future.

Check out the photo of me with James and Zachary- my favorite electrician. This job is full of happy people and it shows in the vibe throughout the job. 

Our framers started to install the deck on the master suite and off of the great room. The wood is gorgeous!

Gypcrete was poured at the end of the week to cover the radiant tubes. By the end of the week we had a beautiful floor that even Koko loves to run on.  

Grateful for the work of the whole team!

What an incredibly productive two weeks, full of good moments and some challenging situations.

The new year started out with the excavator filling in the trenches that we had to dig to run the power from the electrical transformer. We now have permanent electrical power. Yay!

The garage door installation began with drywall installation around the interior opening, then the installation of the beautiful doors. Woohoo! We can now heat the house!

The great room and the master bedroom fireplaces were framed in preparation for the installation of the electric one in the master suite next week. 

Perhaps the biggest WOOHOOO was the installation of the patio slider doors. They are gorgeous! The opening is 12’, made up of four 3’ doors that completely slide into exterior pockets, so that the entire span of 12’ is open to the outside deck. The view is amazing!

To get the whole house buttoned up, the temporary front door was added and Tyvek was added to the exterior of the turret and to the facia all around the house. 

Avdo and his crew started to install the HRV system which is required in new construction in WA. It’s a system that provides airflow throughout the house. The Zehnder Heat Recovery Ventilator is a high efficiency ventilation system that continually brings in fresh outdoor air while exhausting stale indoor air, significantly reducing energy loss and improving indoor air quality. It requires two 3-½” flex tubes to run to every room in the house.

I left on the 8th to visit my brother, Johnny, in LA who is suffering from a horrible disease called Primary Progressive Aphasia. It’s very similar to what Bruce Willis is dealing with. He’s 7 years post diagnosis and we lose a bit more of him every day, which is why we visit LA often. 

While I was gone, the team continued with the plumbing, electrical, audio rough in and HRV installation. Unfortunately, our architectural team made an error on the mechanical drawings they provided and the installation team informed me that we needed to order another THOUSAND feet of flex tubing to complete the job. When I walked into the lower level of the house I felt like we were being eaten by a sea monster with large tentacles in every direction. Gone were my beautiful ceilings and in place was a 4’ soffit right by the curved window wall. How was this intentionally designed?? I was on the phone with the manufacturer that afternoon, trying to determine where things went sideways. Unfortunately we discovered that our architectural team provided incorrect drawings without doing the research necessary to design it properly. Likewise, the local distributor of the Zehnder system, Small Planet in WA was unhelpful and just wanted us to purchase another 1000 feet of tubing. I’m SO grateful to Joe at Zehnder for his kindness and expertise in helping us solve this problem. 

After a few days of tearing things out and reinstalling the manifolds then running new flex lines, the problem seemed to be solved. The huge, ugly soffits by our beautiful windows are gone and instead, we have a well designed small soffit in one room only. What a difference! Thank you James and Joe for your diligence and positive attitude when I was ready to jump off a bridge. 

My reward for hanging in there came the next day, when I was able to actually stand on the floor of my meditation room at the top of the turret. Thanks to Patrick for the design and to Loren and Aiden for your time and talent in creating such a beautiful wood floor! This was the first time I’ve been up in the turret and I was literally jumping up and down with excitement!

Thanks to Blossom Solar for the quick installation of our solar panels on the south side of the swoopy roof over the great room. It’s actually pretty- if solar panels can be pretty!

We’re getting ready for the trades coming in next week now that the house is buttoned up. Darryl and James and the team installed heaters and dehumidifiers throughout the house. It’s toasty already! Thank you Darryl!

I had hoped to share photos of the spiral staircase, but although Patrick and Garret worked hard to accomplish it for the last two weeks, the first steps have not yet been laid. They are built and hopefully next week they will be installed and completed. 

I’ve been busy finalizing a bid for the future subs and sourcing the rest of the materials, as well as designing the plans for the hidden staircase behind the bookcase, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

We’re looking forward to maintaining the pace and moving in soon. Thank you to James who has made a huge difference in the momentum of this project. Know that we appreciate your kind spirit and your positive attitude. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! The job was a bit slow with progress for these two weeks, as many of the subs took time off to be with their families over the holidays. We dealt with rain and more rain. Everytime I’m ready to complain about the rain, I remember 27 solid days of rain in October of 2017 when we broke ground for the treehouses in Montana, and then the coldest winter on record with TONS of snow…. And I’m grateful for the rain. 🙂 

We celebrated the holidays with pumpkin pie and Godiva chocolate, and everyone enjoyed it. 

Since I last wrote…. the front door arrived from the craftsman in Montana, and it is beautiful! These double doors are each 3’ wide, 9’ tall and about 4” thick! The wood is raw, so it will need to be installed, then stained and coated, to protect it from the elements. We’re going to wait a few months to install it, to protect it from the sheetrockers and the painters. I can’t wait to see it fully installed!

All windows are now installed- including the change to fix the error to the kitchen windows. They were removed, reframed and reinstalled so that they now match the specifications on the plans. They are beautiful!

The last remaining window to be installed is the patio slider doors. Thanks to Garrett, Patrick and the framing team who built pockets for the doors. The patio sliders still need to be installed by the crew from Windows, Doors and More. Hopefully soon!

We got our first snow on December 27th and the mountain view was stunning! But back to the house…

The CeDur shakes arrived and Gil installed them on the roof of the turret. They look amazing!

Electricians are moving forward with their rough in. The lower level has been completed and the upper level is almost finished too. 

The Zehnder supplies have arrived and Avdo started the rough-in for the HRV system. 

I spent five full days finding light fixtures for the foyer. How is that possible, right? It’s more difficult than it sounds.This home combines traditional English Cottage/French Chateau vibe, with sustainable mountain modern. I found the perfect light fixture for the foyer and can’t wait to see it installed.

And, drumroll please…… FINALLY, we got permanent electrical power to the house on January 2nd. Grateful to CJ, the excavator and to Tughan Electric for all of their help! Thanks also to Aimee at PSE and to the crew at Patelco for completing this installation. 

We’re looking forward to a productive 2026 and completing the beautiful project!

It was a busy week with most of our crew back at the job site. Yes, it’s still raining, but we think the worst of the damage from the flooding is behind us. 

The great room roofing has been completed and the turret roof was started on Friday. It looks GREAT! Thank you Gil and crew for the great work!

Ryan, Jason and the team at Tughan Electric  completed the electrical rough-in for the lower level by the end of the week. Monday they’ll move upstairs to work on the rough in there. 

The plumbing rough-in was completed and we passed the inspection. Yay! Thank you to Kyle, Tyler and the crew from Lakeside Plumbing. You guys are so good!

The framing is continuing, with the framing crew just keeping in front of the other trades. The framing WILL be complete soon. We’re going to celebrate that accomplishment!

Our original framer misread the plans and installed the two gigantic windows in the kitchen more than an inch too low. In other words, if left as they were installed, the cabinets and counter tops would have met the wall above the bottom of the window. Oops! Therefore, the  windows were removed, re-waterproofed and they’ll be reinstalled next Monday. 

I spent a lot of time working with the cabinet company to finalize the designs throughout the house. We should be ready to order them early next week.

Months ago, we found the perfect door for the front door, custom made in Montana. It arrived this week and it’s beautiful! 

Avdo at Perfect Temp completed the rough-in for the air handling system for the house. We’re installing a Zehnder air system. Thank you Avdo and team.

One of my favorite snow ball lights was ordered months ago from China, and it finally arrived this week. The pieces are all coming together. I’m so excited to see it in a few months!

Overall, a good week. I feel like the most difficult part of the build is behind us. I’m excited to see the next few weeks and months unfold into something truly beautiful. Thank you James, Patrick and the rest of the team for all of your help!

This was a week of torrential rain in Seattle, creating significant flooding throughout the region. Many of our framers couldn’t show up for work as they live in the Carnation/Duvall area, which had turned into an island.

Framing seems to be the first thing I write about each week, and this week is no different. Pick up framing was completed throughout the house. The main framing crew from Chieftain completed the deck and the roof over the great room deck! YAY! It looks so pretty and I can’t wait to see it with the decking down too… but that’s a few months from now.

The framing for the interior stairs was started, but other squeaky wheels were squeakier and that project was put on hold. We’re going to have a party when the interior stairs are completed!

Plumbers did more work on the rough in, so things are moving forward. 

This week it felt like not much got done, but it was a crazy week all around, due to the extensive flooding in the area. Our thoughts go out to those directly affected by the flooding waters. I got to see a lot of it first hand when I drove to Bellmont Cabinets in Sumner, south of Seattle. Just off the 405 freeway I saw a field that had been turned into a lake, dotted with hundreds of floating pumpkins. I did a double take and would have taken a photo, but I was going 60mph on the freeway. It was a bizarre thing to see. 

Amidst all of the angst around us, we have much to be grateful for, even when it’s still raining.

I hope you all enjoyed a very Happy Thanksgiving with your friends and family! It was a short three-day week, then the holiday, followed by a long, quiet weekend enjoyed by all. The following week the crew was back at it, creating a masterpiece.

The framing crew worked on the interior pick up framing and then to the great room deck and the deck for the primary suite deck. It looks beautiful! We especially LOVE the truss for the exterior deck roof support. Thank you Patrick and Jon for your talent in creating this!

All of the windows have been installed except for the east and west side of the great room. We’re still waiting for the entry door and for the back deck to be completed so that the patio door can be installed. The window waterproofing has been completed.

Speaking of windows, we have to remove, reframe and reinstall the two huge kitchen windows, as the former framing crew installed them an inch too low. Think an inch doesn’t matter? It does, because without the correction to make it higher, the countertops would be higher than the window sill. We’re hoping that correction will be completed this week.

Meanwhile, the plumbers have been busy with the rough in, along with fire sprinkler prep and rough in.

The electricians were busy helping prepare for the connection of permanent power from PSE. The electricians will be back this week to complete their electrical rough in.

CJ, our excavator fixed the ruts by the property and smoothed the terrain by adding mulch to the side and the back area. It will be nice to not have the manlift and the forklift stuck in the mud!

James and I have been busy with meetings for sheet rock and painting, doing the take off to order the trim, and finalizing the order for the cabinetry. 

Still so much to do, but it’s moving in the right direction!

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!