This week could have gone a little smoother...

This week at the house had it's ups... And quite a few downs. I should have made notes so I wouldn't forget any of them! 

Ask my dad how many times I called him crying! :)

Where should we start? How about Monday?!

Monday went fairly well. We locked down our new mason and quickly ran out to order all of our stone. We needed it by Wednesday because that's when the mason could start. The stone was in stock AND we could have it delivered by Wednesday. Sweet! That's an up.

The framers were working away trying to finish everything up for our framing inspection that was scheduled for Wednesday. 

The roofers also started on Monday! 

Tuesday:

Framers were at the house working, the main guy was sick, so not a lot got done. All the windows were in except the one that hasn't come yet and the one that needed to be fixed. Although I noticed that the master bedroom windows were in the wrong places... Despite my window labeling, so they needed to come out and be switched. 

Someone also hit the door frame of our patio door with a hammer...

It was an accident but if it wasn't so cold it never would have shattered this way. I've been told it can be "capped", whatever that means!

We also met with our plumbing/electrical/HVAC company Tuesday as well. We went through and showed them where we wanted everything as far as plumbing and lighting/outlets. 

Roofers were still working away, even with frost/ice on the roof. 

Wednesday:

Pre-inspection: Masons started, yay!! Framers were getting a lot done in anticipation of the afternoon framing inspection. 

Post-Inspection: 

What?!! Moving the windows AND changing the cathedral ceiling porches to flat?! I don't think so!!

This is when frantic, crying phone call # 37 to my dad happened. Along with an email to our timber designer (who had our timber drawings reviewed and stamped by an engineer). He seems to think it's just a misunderstanding... Let's hope so!! 

Needless to say, we failed our framing inspection. They also won't pass it until the timbers are completely installed. But the timber guy won't make them until he knows we don't actually need collar ties. Awesome. Our timber guy is also booked solid until the week of Christmas. So looks like our insulation and drywall will be waiting. 

 

Thursday: 

Plumber and electricians start with the rough-ins. Yay!

Our fireplace was delivered. Yay! But it doesn't fit in the opening. Boo. 

It's 4" too wide for the opening. Easy solution, just make the opening bigger. Except it's not that easy... There is honestly not enough room between the windows, not to mention the entire back porch is supported by this wall. Annnnd now we're sending the fireplace back and getting a new, smaller one. One plus is it's about $500 cheaper. Yay!

Roofers were finishing up after needing 13 more bundles of shingles that Jake had to drive an hour + to get. 

Framers were framing the basement and correcting any deficiencies from the inspection. 

One issue with the inspection was with a roof truss (all that girder talk in my text from the framer, Steve). What happened was the truss was delivered and it was 2" too tall. So they had to cut it down and repair it. But because it was different than the original plan from the roof truss engineer, it needed to be re-engineered. The fix that the engineer recommended was impossible to do because there wasn't any space to do it. By this point, the roof was shingled, and they were talking about taking trusses down... Oh boy. 

Friday:

Roof is done. Woohoo!

Plumber was finishing rough-ins.

Electrician was working away.

Framers were raising the two front windows to eliminate the need for cutting the top layer of stone all the way around and finishing framing the basement. 

Masons were working on the back of the house. 

Timber guy came by to take measurements and assess the situation. 

Jake bought a stain colour for the timbers that looks nothing like the colour in the brochure. Ugh. 

Roof was leaking in one spot. We figured it might not be an actual leak considering it hasn't rained or snowed since the roof has been on. But there was water dripping from the roof onto the floor in the kitchen. 

For now, we're assuming that it's from that frosty day earlier in the week and the water was coming from under the shingles. Fingers crossed!!

We also blew multiple breakers at our neighbour's house this week. We've been using their hydro until we get our own... We're going to have to get them something REALLY nice as a thank you!

So hear's hoping next week goes a little smoother!

We've got shingles!

Don't worry, not the infectious rash... Just the roof!

The roofers started shingling on Monday and they'll likely be finished by the end of today. Hooray!  They have been really good and we are quite impressed by them. Super nice guys who are getting the job done well and on time. 

The house looks great. Everything seems to be coming along quickly now. Framers are finishing, which is good because the house inspector is coming today!

Our mason has everything set up ready to go. The stone arrived this morning. 

Drywaller came out to measure today too. 

Plumbing, HVAC and electrical walk through was yesterday to make sure we're all on the same page before they start. 

Jake and I even did a bit of work ourselves! We had to insulate, vapour barrier and hang a sheet of plywood in the mechanical room for our hydro panel.

We just happened to take my car today, and the dog... Which wasn't the best idea since we had to go buy insulation.  

This was the only spot left for me!

I was laughing in the beginning. But then I started to feel trapped and panicky! Who knew I had confined space issues?!

All the more reason for me to NEED a truck! The want is now officially a need. :)

It's Closing Time!

Our house is almost closed in, finally! We are about a week and a half behind my initial schedule. Not too bad considering the blizzards and hurricane force winds we've had this month and rain the month before that! 

Our framers (who I HIGHLY recommend!) came back to work on our house this weekend to try to make up for lost time. They worked last weekend too!

I always appreciate a hard worker and someone who makes an effort. These guys certainly do both. 

On Friday they finished framing the back covered porch and sheeting the roof with plywood. 

I absolutely LOVE this deck! Neither Jake or I are very big sunworshippers so this deck is perfect for us. 

The roof of the deck is currently being held up temporarily until the timbers are installed. Which reminds me, we need to pick out a stain colour! Note to self... 

Our roofers are starting today, and there's even some sun in the weekly forecast to help seal up the shingles. Yay! 

I was really hoping that they wouldn't need to shovel off the roof before shingling, fingers crossed the weather stays as predicted! 

We picked black shingles, or "charcoal" as the manufacturer calls it.

Framers will be finishing wrapping the house and installing windows today. We have the Building Inspector scheduled for Wednesday, so they better be ready!! Our big kitchen window hasn't even arrived yet... I've been told tomorrow. 

Here's a glimpse of our first windows and front door installed! Love them! I'm glad we went with black. Our framer took the picture and sent it to me... I didn't even have to ask! :)

The front door will be black as well. You know what they say, once you go black... You paint all your doors black to match :)

We still need to order our garage doors. The ones we picked don't come in black, so we'll need to paint those as well. We decided that we'll get them in dark brown so it's easier to paint over. We're still debating whether we should paint them before they're installed or wait till after and paint them in the spring. It's going to look so bad until spring if we wait! People driving by will wonder what the heck we're doing! 

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words

In this case, those words are actually only one word. 1000 times... SORRY!!!

So the "crisis" with our roof, is no longer a crisis. Why? Because it's perfect!! It was just a really, really bad camera angle!

Just a refresher... This is what our house is supposed to look like:

This is what I thought it looked like:

And this is what it ACTUALLY looks like:

Ahhhh... Big sigh of relief! After apologizing profusely to the framer, my dad, the roof truss guy and the house designer. All of whom put their regular days aside to meet the crazy girl with an imaginary roof problem... 

I won't even get into my 7am visit to the roof truss manufacturers office. 

Let me tell you the embarassment I felt when I pulled up to the house to see a roof completely different than the one in the picture!!

So now we can move forward instead of starting over! 

All but 2 of our windows are boarded up in the garage waiting to go in, the missing ones will be here tomorrow. Shingles are on the roof waiting to go on and the back porch is a work in progress!

The peak of the covered porch is on now too... But my phone died last time I was out there.

I went out to label windows. We have a lot of windows that look the same, but open differently. I wanted to make sure that they went into the right spots. Hopefully I labelled them correctly!!

Look at that beautiful black window! :)

Ok! Off to get the kiddos from school... Just wanted to update now that everything with the roof is fine!!

Shit + Fan = Our Nightmare

Oh boy... Where do I even begin?

I worked days the last 2 days while the framers worked tiressly on our house. They have been sheeting the roof in near hurricane strength winds and working weekends to try to catch up from last weeks blast of winter. 

Jake was off the last 2 days so he could be around in case we had any problems with the house, plus our windows were delivered on Monday, yay!! 

Jake has been excellent at sending me photographic updates while I was at work. Greatly appreciated!

Although a picture he sent me today, had me thinking... 

Here's the picture, and then I'll point out the problem. 

Front porch looks great, plywood going up, great! But wait a second... Something doesn't look quite right. 

Have a look at what the front of our house is supposed to look like:

And again, here's what it's actually looking like:

Notice anything missing? Maybe the entire roof?! The pitch is WAY off. Someone f'd up, and f'd up huge. 

So after countless tears, phone calls, texts and emails to my dad, framer and roof truss sales guy at 9pm... All but one of us have determined that things aren't right. 

Have a look from the back:

What it should look like...

And what it actually looks like...

Me, my dad, the framer and the roof guy are all meeting out at the house first thing to play the blame game... This is a game I don't want to win. 

Boom Shakalaka

Finally, after days of waiting for the weather to improve, the boom truck arrived to put up our roof trusses! 

It was too windy for a good 3-4 days so it put us behind schedule. 

Thankfully there was still lots for the framers to do. Like frame the basement walls including our laundry room downstairs. We'll have laundry rough-ins on the main floor for when we're old. But for now I'd like more space in the mudroom and I figure I can manage stairs for a few more years :)

The sun is shining now and my fingers are crossed that plywood will be making its way onto the roof today. Next week is supposed to be milder, so it would be ideal for shingling!  

The timbers for our back porch were delivered yesterday. They look so big and strong! 

They are 8x8 pine timber posts which we'll stain to match the cedar on the front of the house in the spring. 

With this crappy start to winter, we're really putting the pressure on to get everything closed up. Our windows are being delivered on Monday... Exciting!!

How our house looked at 7:30am today!