Photo Update

I'm home for a week and thought I'd post a few photos. The guys are all off this week, but got the last of the windows in while I was at work. And got the trim in on the south side and part of the deck is on.

Front entrance, the wiring is in for the outside lights.

Front door lock & handle.

Kitchen windows along the back.

Basement doors and windows.

There is a bit of snow on the deck, but not too much. More to do here but it's a start :-).

New Aircraft

Today, N959BP showed up on a test run. It really is a pretty aircraft. This picture was taken around 11 am, the sun was still 'rising' though it doesn't get over the horizon these days. Anyway, I got a chance to go take a look at the inside. All brand new leather seats, and the carpet is brand new. It's really, really nice. And 136 seats which will replace our older 737's which have 110 seats. With some luck, 959 will return on Thurday, this time with passengers.

I really hope the over seat lights are correctly adjusted. My biggest pet peeve about flying is having the reading light shining in my eyes, or someplace where I can't place my book! Sometimes it's the little things that matter the most.

Thursday - Doors being installed

I stopped up to talk to the crew before I left Homer on Friday. It was getting really cold, but they were getting the doors installed. I think I'm going to paint the doors all the same blue-ish green color that we painted the soffits.

Once the windows for the north side of the house arrive, we can get them installed and get some heat in the house.

Here is the door into the back hallway from the carport.

And these are the french doors leading out to the deck.

And the door & part of the window frame from one of the guest rooms, onto the deck.

Glass! ... and other stuff

The wind finally stopped blowing, some where between 4 am and 5 am. So today was fairly nice. The window guys got most of the glass in. Actually, it's the vent units that aren't here yet. I'm not sure why, but they said they'd be back to install them when they showed up. So you'll notice a few 'openings'. Paul said he may have to put cardboard in them to keep the snow out.

The windows for the north side of the house (they are fiberglass, not aluminum) are still on order. They should have shipped 12/3 but haven't yet. I hope to get an update on them tomorrow. However the doors did arrive, so that's good. Paul & Dave can get them hung which will help keep some of the snow out.

And the guys are working on the roof over the entry way. It's roughed in. Lots of progress this week.

Aluminum Windows

The window guys arrived today, about 11 am. Of course the blowing snow started around 10 am, and it just keeps getting worse. You really can't tell from these pictures, how nasty the weather is. Swirling snow that's really wet and heavy. I guess it's raining in town, but I'm not going to brave the roads to find out. Besides, the bank inspector is supposed to show up this afternoon. I'm hoping my feet thaw out before I need to go back to the house and meet her.

This window system for the front of the house is a Kawneer system. It's a commercial, thermally broken, curtain wall system. It's not used in residential construction very often here in AK. But it will really open up the view, 2 1/4 inches of aluminum between each pane of glass, instead of 8 inches of wood or trimmed sheet rock.

So, I hung around this morning as the guys unloaded their equipment and got the first window frame installed. They want to get all the frames in today, and then come back tomorrow and install the glass.


Here is the delivery truck. Even though the driveway was sanded this morning, the truck was too heavy, so the guys parked up at the road and hauled the window frames down the driveway. At least they're really light weight.

Here are a couple of the frames.

The flashing needed to be dried and warmed up a bit. And since the snow kept piling up, a temp piece of wood was screwed up outside, to provide a bit of a wind break.

Then some really thick grey caulking was applied. Sorry that this photo is so blurry, but it's the only one I have of the caulking.

The sill is installed over the caulking. It gets shimmed up and made level.

The black stuff in between the 2 pieces of aluminum is the thermal break, so that cold won't transfer from the outside to the inside. Once it's level, it's screwed in place and the screw holes are covered with more caulk.

And then a line of caulk is put just inside the upper lip of the sill. This is where the window frame will sit.

And here is what the frame looks like sitting on the sill. It is shimmed too and screwed into place. Before the siding is put on, expanding foam will be used to seal any spaces between the aluminum and the wood.

Soffit Color

On Friday Dave Ellington & his crew got the soffits up on the front of the house. Here is the color I picked, sort of a teal, but looks very blue in some lights. It should stand out rather boldly against the gray siding. Or at least I hope it does.

SonoTube Supports

It rained last night and was probably 40 today. Which turned out to be good, since the cement for the sonotubes was delivered. We needed some supports for the deck, carport roof, and entry way roof.

And the scaffolding is up for the guys working on the fascia board. Scary to me though, not what we'd be allowed to use at work. And they're not using safety harnesses.

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Windows & Views

Here is the front of the house, it's ready for the big windows. They should be installed next Monday or Tuesday. I'm excited because I'll be home to watch.

These pictures were taken about 11:00 AM. It's overcast, but also just plain dark this time of year.

And then here is the view out of the master bedroom. It's a bit grey today, but still rather pretty.

I have steps from the basement to the upstairs.

And here is the extra support for the cantilevered front of the house. Very nice welding job.

More roof pics

Well, it's about to become totally obvious that I know nothing about building techniques. Valda sent me these photo's this morning. The guys are still busy working on my roof. They're doing some sort of double thickness thingy, but exactly what this does, I have no idea. Maybe it's to make it stronger? Or give them room to add the insulation?

If you know whats going on, clue me in.

The final sunrise for 2008...

It's cloudy and snowing, so I don't think we'll see it, but the sun should rise here in Deadhorse at 12:09 pm, and set at 1:10 pm. The next sunrise is January 18th, 2009, at 12:43 pm.

Check out http://www.sunrisesunset.com/, it's kind of fun to play with.

Woodpeckers

Patty sent these to me, she took them today. The local Woodpeckers have found my house. They're little, but kind of cute.

Ceiling in the kitchen & living room.

Paul sent me these pics this morning. He said they were taken on Friday, about 11 am. Lots of progress.

The outside walls are getting closed in.

How do you like the ceiling in the kitchen & living room?

This one is taken from the living room looking back toward kitchen.

Another Retirement

Les retired today, another one of our ERA crew departing. We had cake yesterday and gave him a few gifts to remember us by :-)

A few more roof building pictures.

Patty sent me these, they were taken last week on Thursday, and first one (above) looks like Saturday or Sunday.

Plus, here is one of her cat, ignoring all the excitement :-)

Sunset from my new roof!

Dave Ellington sent me this photo last night. Sunset from up on my new roof :-)

And here it is again, lightend up a bit so you can see the trusses.

Roof Trusses Arrive

Here are some pics from today. The weather was a bit warmer than yesterday, but we're still having scattered snow showers.

Some of the walls are going up, as is the interior ceiling over the hallway and front entrance.

And the trusses for the roof arrived. I wish I could have hung around and taken pictures as they lifted them into place, but I was headed north. Have to get back to work tomorrow morning.

Fresh coffee...:-)