glass

The doors and windows are mostly in and the piers are set for the steel girders supporting the second floor porch. I want to use all roughcut timber for the 8 x 16 foot raised front porch, the stair stringers and the board and batten siding. Some electric and plumbing planned this week so hopefully I can be running hot water into the floor to start heating it up by the weekend.

buttoning up

The house got closed in yesterday and the masonry heater core was installed today. The electrical service inspection was also today so now we wait for NYSEG to run us some wire and finally get some juice.

looks like a house

We finally got the heavy machinery (thanks Al) to get the upper walls on and the roof sheathing. Al and I worked thru the weekend to get it sealed up.(thanks again Al). And sure enough it's Monday and it's snowing. At least I don't have to shovel out the loft again! Now we put in the doors and windows, put ice and water shield on the roof, get the electricity hooked up, house wrap with tyvek, and get the masonry woodstove in, hopefully by the end of the year. Then we can work on the inside in relative comfort.

setting the LVLs

first snow

thursday november 8th

Here's the progress as of hunting time today.

walls up

The SIPs went up relatively easy with 3 of us. A 4X16 foot section weighs about 255lbs. The roof rafters are a little lighter but more involved (cutting,placement,etc.) Finally has the profile of a house/barn.

the walls are here

The SIPs came this morning. Unloading was relatively easy and took about an hour. Mike and Al should be ready to start work later today or next week. I think with the three of us it should go pretty fast. The heaviest panels are 255 lbs. We may need the crane to put up the second story panels... or lots of Wheaties!

winter says hello

The yard's been finish graded and I have a gravel driveway down. The shed roof wall is sheathed and ready for the electric panel and meter to be installed. The ridge beam is up and ready to accept the rafters. We're down to the wire as it is going to go well below freezing tonight for the first time this fall.

the stick built wall

We decided to frame this wall traditionally so we can put up the roof joists and get moving with the roof. I've abandoned plans for a metal roof after seeing the great job that Mike and Al did with architrctural shingles on the main house. The rest of the walls will be SIP panels which will hopefully be here within 2 weeks.

floored

Floor joists and subfloor installed yesterday, now we work on the roof and the end wall. It's starting to feel like a structure. New utility pole goes in today so electric hookup is getting closer.

erecting the beams

The beams went up in about 4 hours with the help of Dan from Delta Crane Service and my worker bees, Mike and Al. Here are some shots of the progress

while we wait...

The electric cable gets buried and the old posts and beams get erected in a week or so. After that we put on new roof rafters and enclose the place with SIP panels, Hopefully by November. Until then, the view to ponder...

moving the barn

After taking the shed roof down last winter, we stripped the barn down to the beams. Then Mike, Al and Dan dismantled the bents and hoisted them to the ground for cleaning, de-bugging, and transport across the street to the building site.

the pour

Saturday August 18 '07. The Concrete was loading in before 7:00 AM. The finishers were done by about 2:00PM. Kept it wet the rest of the day. So far So good. The next work on the slab will be polishing the concrete.

The view

Here's the view due south from my house site. No neighbors, good passive solar gain and purdy too!

In the beginning

Here's a picture of the last known farmers in my family. My great great grandparents, with my grandpa Jack Casperson.