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...:-)

Framing in the snow.

Saturday was beautiful, but we woke up to quite the snow storm on Sunday, which continue all night and part of Monday morning. Then it sleeted for a couple of hours and coated everything in ice. The guys showed up Monday morning about 8:30 am, but it was still pretty dark. They didn't get much done and finally gave up.

Here the guys are working where the back door will lead out of the kitchen to the side yard. You can see the space on the right where the kitchen windows will go. And you can see the inner wall between the back hallway and guest bedrooms.

Pauls crew is there, and so is Dave Ellington and his crew. So the framing is progressing fairly quickly. Though watching them melt ice of the 2 x 8's with a torch is interesting.

Walls are started

Here are a couple of pics from Friday afternoon and then today. The guys got the walls started mid day on Thursday. I'm hoping they are ready to put up the roof trusses by the end of next week.

This one was taken Saturday about noon.

Sat about noon...

Friday work crew, it was windy and very cold.

Plumbing Fixtures

Today I got the showers, toilets & faucets ordered. Actually, not the kitchen faucet yet, I still haven't found exactly what I want. But I have a few more months before it gets critical :-)

I'm splurging and putting a steam shower in the master bath.

http://www.us.kohler.com/onlinecatalog/detail.jsp?item=7550502&prod_num=704310-D3

Backfilling is done...

I got home late on Sunday. The backfilling around the foundation was done on Thur and Fri, so the wall framing should start this week.

Here is a pic from Friday that Valda took for me.

And here is one I took late Sunday afternoon.