day 259: screens

the Hostetler crew came back to put the screens on the porch

Dad said the screens are pretty open and don't interrupt the view at all.

the guys also added some cedar trim to conceal the porch floor beams and... some other stuff.

day 220: higher

day three working on the stone walls


the house is starting to look anchored to the site


best part of the wall is the enormous stone near the end of the barn foundation wall


the ground and the wall is finally high enough to begin the upper patio portion.


back side of the rebuilt barn foundation wall


cladding the lower screen porch columns in cedar to make them more robust looking


base detail


steps into the screen porch from upper patio


7'-4" long stone steps into the kitchen reused from the farm. awesome.

day 11: walls

it was 3 degrees when i went to the house this morning. my big toes were mostly frozen right away thanks to the steel-toed boots i was wearing. luckily i had to run to the store on errands, so i warmed up in the car and switched to my shoes. and by lunch it was in the mid 30's.

the plumber never showed up today as promised, but the framing crew came out and worked like crazy. i'll bet they had to just to keep warm! they framed most of the walls on the main floor, finished the high ceiling joists in the living room + the stub walls down to the other ceilings, framed the skylight wells in the master bathroom-twice, and framed the fireplace opening. they also finished up some work in the garage roof and put foam sheathing + tyvek on the north + south sides of the house.

It's kind of difficult to take pictures of framing since you see right through everything, but try and see what you can.

driving to work at 3 degrees

Homer Dody House

starting the stairs

dining room

walk in closets + master bedroom beyond, living room foreground

skylight over the sinks in the master bath

through the wall is the shower + toilet area with skylight above

hall looking back to kitchen; i wish i could keep that open

fireplace surround

no more ladder

day 9: garage + elec

i was supposed to be at the house this morning but New York City got 19" of snow overnight and shut down all the airports. So more pics from Uncle Paul. i managed to get to the house after the crew left for the day but before it was totally dark.

the Power company finally came and installed the temporary power. This involved putting up 3 new telephone poles and stringing power lines over from near Aunt Sharon's house.

the crew continue working on the roof of the house installing OSB sheathing + ice guard waterproofing. The other guys finished framing the garage walls and started the roof of the garage. they sure are quick.

day 8: roof sheathing

The crew installed sheathing and ice guard waterproofing to the roof of the house. By code you only need the ice guard at the edges and peaks and valleys, but it's good to just cover the entire roof. The stuff won't stick to the roof if it freezes, so they tried storing it in Aunt Sharon's basement to keep it warm. That didn't really work because she keeps the doors open so all the wild cats and other animals can get in for a little warmth. So Chris had Uncle Dave rent a blast heater so they could thaw before being stuck on the roof.

they also started installing 1" R5 rigid foam insulation and Tyvek house wrap on the walls. This extra insulation should help keep the heat inside the house. a wood framed house looses heat at all the studs, so exterior foam covers all the studs to stop that heat loss.

3/4" tongue + groove OSB roof sheathing

peel + stick ice guard

sheathing on the west side of the roof

screen porch roof

east side done, with temporary 2x4 anti-slip bars

day 7: open eaves

More pictures from Uncle Paul while I was away. The crew continued framing the walls and roof for the Link. They also added the flying rafters and installed tongue + groove barn siding at the open eaves. Much better than looking at OSB.

skylight openings and roof framing

the Link framed, rafter tails notched for soffit boards

a finished eave on the house using tongue + groove barn siding

soffit boards installed for the open eaves

day 6: roof

Uncle Paul took these pictures of the roof rafters going up on the house and the Link getting framed. enjoy! and i hope you like the larger pictures.

day 4: floor framing

I don't yet have pictures from when Dad and Mom were at the site on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'll try to post those later.

Here are pictures of the first floor deck going in. I was surprised at how quickly the guys got it done. What a great construction crew! I still have to get to know some of the guys, but i know that i have two uncles and some cousins in the group.

Rim board + porch columns

hoisting the last PSL beam in place

coolest construction crew

Uncle Chris supervising

floor joists

view north from window in Bedroom 2

basement almost covered

subfloor + lowered shower floor

view northeast

view south