Two more pieces...

We designed and routed the first few vertical trim pieces for the outside of the house. After the crew went home yesterday and things finally quieted down I installed a couple to make sure we liked the result. Now we can go into full production to create the rest of the pieces we need for all around the house.

With the front gable soffits in place it was time to begin the welding of the tops of the giant trees. Peter welded up the first today. This week the crew will add the expanded lath to the trees and then we can start sculpting them at last!

The many pieces of the house are quickly coming together!

-grampa dan

Rapid rock work!

Today we continued the sculpting of the rockwork around the house as well as more facia board. The left side of the house is largely complete as far as concrete sculpting. Paint work will begin next week.

The east side of the house is also ready for paint. The routed trim will be painted separatey and put on afterwards.

The roofers are making good progress on the roof and have started the first eyebrow. The PenFold's Eco recycled rubber shakes bend easily over the gently curved roof. I am really liking the look of the premium product! As good as they look, the fact that we will never have to roof again in my lifetime makes me feel even better!

The carport roof is now shingled save for the ridgecap.

Tomorrow, we begin the decorative work on the upper reaches of the center portion of the house. I can hardly wait to see it come together!

-grampa dan

What a crew!

The reality is that it will take hundreds of people to build our new house if you count everyone who somehow played a role. Many worked invisibly, behind the scenes. Most come for a specific task and then move on to another project. But we have a core group who were here from the start and saw the house through the bulk of the construction.

Harold's Contracting crew did a tremendous amount of work including the foundation, framing and sheetng of the house. They will return to install the windows and doors and a few other tasks as well. It was a delight to work with these 'boys' each day. They clearly understand it is our dream and they work hard to make it come true. They do it with constant good humor and pride and it shows!

Our crew worked hand in hand with them, often helping them, (or visa versa) most often making the solid structure the carpenters provided look pretty. 

Today, we took a few minutes for a group picture for it will only be a day or two more that everyone will be together on site. Some of Harold's crew are moving on to the next project.

Janis and I want to thank each member of the team for working so very hard to make our dream a reality. We realise this was not your typical build and so required a very special group of folks to pull it off. We had that team!

-grampa dan