Progress on the Barn

Kim and I visited the site today and met with Lee, Wes and Art, who is constructing our barn.  Lot's to talk about, but my focus was on the barn and how it would look feeding into the slope.  As you can see from the pictures below, great progress has been made.  Up close, the quality of the posts and beams is as promised as is the quality of the workmanship.

There is a bit of an issue with the windows though, and this is all due to the slope.  Left as planned, we would be missing all the windows in the back and two of the windows on the right side.   Lee, Wes, Kim, Art and I stared silently at the barn for a long time ... but then Art perked up and said maybe three small or medium transom windows (a row of small windows) would work in the back.  Everyone thought that would be a much better idea than adding skylights as they evidently always leaked.  That of course left me wondering why we thought that skylights were such a good idea in the first place.

So, it was decided transoms in the back, but we still had only one window on the right side of the barn.  I ventured over to that side of the barn to try and imagine what it would look like.  By the time I got back that problem had been solved as well.  It turns out, that once a foundation is complete, you can alter it a little.  The new plan was to cut out just enough of the foundation wall to make room for the second window on the right side ... and ... now it will match the left.

Framing Begins

Just a quick post and a picture that Wes took today ... the sills were put on yesterday and framing has now started.  Tomorrow, framing continues and the Country Carpenters team arrives to start the barn.

The Barn starts to form

Below are some shots of the Barn foundation in progress.   Not surprising after the complexity of the main house foundation, this smaller version was a bit difficult as well.  Building this little devil into the hill has the foundation stepping up from a 10 inch wall in the front to a 4 1/2 foot one in back and it had to move 1-1/2 feet forward as well.

We think it will look nice feeding into the slope, with the main drawbacks being that we lost all the back windows and one of the side ones as well, and we'll have to do some creative work to cover the interior cement walls.

Country Carpenters will be on-site next Wednesday to start the Barn, so next weeks post should show the beginning of our first wooden structure rising above the mass of cement we have now.

Ready to pour the slab in main house

Kim and I met Wes at the house this morning and talked about a lot of things, with the most important being the selection of the metal roof color; a sort of slate/bronze.

The roof is important of course, but the big announcement is that the Porto-o-Jon arrives Monday.  Stay tuned to next Friday's post.  I can't wait!!!

We also took a few pictures of the main house foundation, which is now just about ready for the slab pour.  Next week, Lee and crew will stamp down the dirt a bit more, lay out the insulation that goes under the slab and pour.  The only open question is whether or not we should include the piping for radiant heat, and we're waiting to hear back on some bids to make that decision.

What a difference from a month ago, when I was standing among the rubble of the blasting. The foundation really looks great and Lee and his gang deserve a round of applause.

Foundation Walls

I went up to the site this morning to talk to Lee and look at our brand spanking new foundation.  In the pictures you'll see the footings and how the forms for the walls are placed.  The last few show the walls in place with the waterproofing on the outside.  

Next up is the slab and then onto the foundation for the barn.  I also met the contractors who will be doing the framing, and hoping that part is done by the end of July.

The footings are poured

Here are some shots Wes took of the footing put process.  We see the cement truck coming up the driveway and the way it pours into another truck that can reach the different parts of the foundation and inject the cement.

Below that are a few shots of the pour down in the foundation and one showing the end result.  Today, they will be stripping the forms and then starting to build the forms for the walls.

Footing Forms

Wes took a couple of pictures of the forms that are now in place for the footing pour tomorrow.  The house foundation is in three steps ... footings then walls then slab.  We're still thinking about radiant heat in the basement and need to decide before the slab work starts.