Roof

With the exception of a small section, all of the shingles have been applied to the roof. We were so shocked to see that the was done because of it being a holiday weekend. The roof we used is Heritage Weather Wood. It is a rusty brown/black color. This is a great alternative to the traditional black shingle. A temporary staircase was also built. It was so exciting to see the upstairs.

They have also started applying what we call "Pratt Wrap". This is the house wrap that helps to prevent outside water from entering walls, along with sealing the house to keep outside air from entering. The right side and 1/3 of the back of the house were wrapped.

Framing Completed

The framing has finally been completed. A lot of progress was made between yesterday and today. The first picture below was taken yesterday afternoon; the second picture was taken this afternoon. Obviously, the framing crew has really worked hard over the past week!

Next step...roofing!

Framing Part II

Framing of the second floor was completed today. The staircase has not been installed, so we can't actually go upstairs to see the work yet. Hopefully, they will be in place soon! Being able to see the roof line really allows us to see the house take shape.

Front of the house, taken from the street.

Back of the house. We still aren't sure what we want to do off the back of the house. Maybe a deck, patio, raised patio, covered deck...
We do know that we want either a fireplace or fire pit, and a great place to grill!

Front of the house, on the garage side.

Framing Part I

Major progress has been made over the past few days. The first floor was completely framed today. The second floor should be completed tomorrow.


This is the front left angle. The front left side of the house is the master bedroom, master bathroom, and master closet. We were also excited to see the "SOLD" sign in our front yard!

This is the front of the house on the side of the garage. You can see the outline of the bonus room above the garage, and the window outline of the two story foyer.

This is the back of the house. I love all of the windows!

The great room and the master bedroom on the left (taken from the dining room). At the last minute, we decided to push the fireplace to the outside of the house, thus creating more usable square footage in the great room. In the original plan, the fireplace extends about 2 feet into the great room.
Finally, my favorite part of the house! This is the kitchen and keeping room. We added the two windows to the wall on the right, which will allow for wonderful views from inside the kitchen area.

Concrete Slab

Today, our concrete slab was finally poured. We had some rain over the weekend, so the process was delayed slightly.




The garage floor was also poured today. Framing should start in the next few days!

Pipes

All of the drainage pipes were laid in the foundation today. Tomorrow, the concrete will poured over the top (before the rain, hopefully)!

Rocks in Foundation

All of the rocks were poured in to the foundation today. Wall reinforcement bars were attached to the concrete blocks, outlining the walls for each room.


This is the outline of the keeping room/kitchen/laundry room/walk-in pantry.

Gravel was also spread in the area where the driveway will be poured.

Our two water meters were also installed today.

Concrete Blocks Completed

Unfortunately, we have had some rain showers over the past few days. So, this has resulted in a very slight delay.

We went over to the lot today, and were glad to see that the concrete block foundation has been completed. This really allows us to visualize each room of the downstairs area.


The above picture is a side angle of the front porch.

The bay window and fire place outlines are visible on the back of the house.

This is the front angle of our garage.

We are scheduled to make our final interior selections on Friday. This will include: hardwood (color/style), granite (color), cabinets, cabinet hardware, interior paint colors, tile selections/grout colors, crown molding style, interior door style, and interior door hardware.

Concrete Blocks

We were quite surprised to see how much progress was made since Thursday afternoon. A little less than half of the foundation was stacked with concrete blocks. I think they will finish this step tomorrow, and hopefully pour the concrete on Monday. Our builder says that it will be roughly 90 days from the time the concrete is poured until completion (weather pending).

This picture (above) is taken in the area that will be the Master Bedroom.

This is a side angle of the dining room .

The front of the house, taken from the road.

Concrete into the Foundation

Thankfully, everything on the lot has been happening according to schedule this week. We have had several gorgeous days, making it possible to get these steps completed. The first layer of concrete was poured into the footers today.



Several HUGE piles of rock were delivered. I assume this will be going into the foundation tomorrow.

Since the concrete was still a little wet, we were able to leave our mark on the foundation.

Footers

Today, the contractor dug the footers for the foundation. We were really able to see exactly where all of the exterior walls will be placed. Concrete will be going in tomorrow.

Lot and House Stakes

Although it doesn't look like much, there was quite a bit of progress on the lot today. The corners of the lot and the location of the house were completely staked out and surveyed. It is kind of difficult to see the marking stakes in the following pictures.





A few of the foundation building supplies were delivered, and an electrical box was also up and running.

Finalized Exterior Selections

Today, we met with our designer and made final selections for our exterior. We decided to change our front columns to a solid cedar with the arm extensions. The look we are after is a cottage/craftsman style. The round white columns are too traditional for our liking. The cedar columns provide a very rustic look. We also got our total square footage today, which is approximately 3400sq/ft.


We were very excited to see that progress was being made on our lot. The top soil has been scraped, and a temporary "Lot #134" sign has been placed in the yard. The next step should be staking the lot so that we can see exactly where the house will be placed.


Our rock selection has been very difficult. There are SO MANY from which to decide! After several days of constant debate, we finally chose to go with Handcrafted with a Fieldstone accent design. The colors will be a blend of Mossy Creek (grey/brown/clay) and Westchester (tan/beige).


For the brick, we chose Jenkins Brompton with a tan, flat scraped mortar. This brick is filled with texture and portrays a very aged look. We are so excited to see the combination of our brick and rock.

The 2 dormers on the front of the house will be Hardishingle Staggard Edge Notched Panel in Timberbark (dark brown/grey). The sides and back of the house will be Select Cedarmill Hardiplank Lap Siding also in Timberbark.

Because of the restrictions in our neighborhood, we are required to install wooden windows. Energy efficiency is very important, and often times wooden windows can be a problem. As a result, we chose to install a high quality, efficient, and reliable window. We chose to go with JELD-WEN AuraLast Wood, double-hung windows. The color is "Desert Sand", which is a tan/beige.

We are scheduled to meet in two weeks to finalize our interior selections.

House Plans

After a year of unsuccessful house searching, it was decided that building a home was our best option. We searched through several builders and plans, and ended up choosing to build a custom home with Pratt & Associates. Over the past 2 months we have decided on a lot, floor plan, and all of the materials to be used on the exterior. Construction is expected to start 2 days from now in The Canyons.