The work continues

All round the house everyone continued to be busy today. The caprenters worked on the last of the bits and pieces - almost done.

Out front the our crew finished the sculpting on the second big tree today. The first tree recieved it's third coat of base paint today, meaning it will begin to get it's final glazes tomorrow. 

In preparation for more concrete sculpting in the porch area we put up the corner trim today. It instantly framed the house beautifully! Soon I'll route the horizontal trim to cover the backing timber.

Bec continues to paint sample trim to help figure out just how the trim will be painted. We are getting close to our final decision.

The plumbers did all the in-wall connections to get things ready for the insulation and drywall. The HVAC and airconditioning crew were also busy through the day. And Richard's plumbing and heating installed the wiring for the thermostats, making the infloor heating system ready for drywall.

We are quickly getting ready for the next phase of construction. Stay tuned for more...

-grampa dan

One more tree (house)

I have a theory about spoiling grand kids. I think it is a bad thing. If I give Phoebe everything she asks for it wouldn't be good. But if I can think of it first then that is perfectly OK.  :)

The new house has an upstairs room that is just for her. The way to get to her secret room is high bridge that crosses the living/dining room area. And to get to the bridge one has to enter a giant tree that is in one corner of the dining room. Today Peter began welding the structure for the tree. It will be abut fourteen feet tall.

The giant tree is half inside the house and half outside. Out back by the patio the tree is hollow and houses a playhouse for Phoebe. It even has a window that peers into the staircase area.

Phoebe is getting excited about the new house - almost as excited as her grampa!

-grampa dan

Hopefully this project sucks big time!

A project like the house requires plenty of thought about a myriad of things. Most of these will be buried inside the walls when we are done. We don't want to think about them later - just have them work perfectly and be handy when needed. One of these things is the built in vacuum. 

We started on the outside of the house a while back, installing one outlet inside a tree in the carport. This one will be handy when the car needs to be cleaned.

The big central vacuum is in the electrical/mechanical room and is easy to get at when it needs service. Today's task was to extend the pipe out to the rest of the house and install the balance of the needed outlets. It was a relative easy task as one central line went down the center of the house in the long hallway with drops extending out from that. I started at the back of the house and worked forward.

Most of the pipes ran through the arched ceiling suports we had routed. The round hole I had planned and cut into each arch support worked perfectly for a neat and quick install.

Now that the vacuum is done it is time to move on to the next project. Stay tuned...

-grampa dan