A schedule doesn't really mean much when you are building a house

Had we been able to stick to the original schedule which was laid out for us we would have a buttoned up sealed up house and garage and breezeway by now.  But...the best laid plans of mice and men and contractors...  Last Tuesday Miked, Ray from 84 Lumber, Layne (owner of the framing co.), Jose (foreman of the framers), Charlie (the architect), Erin (the project architect), and probably at least 2 other folks I am forgetting had a looooong meeting.  They went over all the stuff that has not been completed as of yet, things that were finished incorrectly, and created a new timeline/plan.

The good news is all of the windows are in with the exception of the basement windown which was broken and so could not be installed.  This is not really a big deal because of where it is in the house.  The small roofs on the bump outs were finished as well so the majority of the house is closed up to the elements.  This is a good thing, because we are expecting more rain/sleet/snow/crap on Sunday.  I mean really? When has it rained this much?  People keep telling me it is normal, but I never noticed until now because I am building a house.  To that I say phooey!

Miked and I spent all afternoon today putting up some of the ZIP panels over the open doorways to keep out more of the elements until the doors arrive.  This was a good thing to do, but it was also rather trying.  I am not sure which of us it was more trying for.  I am not as strong as Miked would like me to be and he puts more faith in me that I would like him to when I am holding things up while he is on a ladder on the other side.  But alls well that ends well and 4 hours later (mom and dad of the year b/c Thing 1 and Thing 2 were inside watching TV or movies and eating the lunches that I left on the counter for them.  Thank goodness for the walkie talkies that we snitched from GJ and GT's house.  They have been a LIFE SAVER!) the doors are sealed up tight.

The garage is supposed to start getting framed this coming week and the stairs are also set to be installed.  I am really excited about that because it will mean the kids can go up and see their rooms and I won't have to climb a ladder to go up there!

Update on 12-19-09

So I am finally getting to posting pictures.  The garage was framed and mostly covered before the snow began last night.  Unfortunately they did not get the gables covered so the snow is just blowing in through there.  At least the roof is on though.  We are still in VA because of the snow.  When we are gone we are going to be relying on mom and dad and Matt to keep an eye on things.  Matt is going to be posting any blog updates while we are gone so the upcoming blog posts will most likely be funnier than what I have been writing. 

Another exciting thing as far as I am concerned has to do with the attic space.  It was going to be just storage space for us, but it was going to be conditioned space.  We heard from the city that we have to drywall over the insulation that is up there, so it is now going to be the playroom space.  I can't wait.  The dormer in the attic and the other windows up there let in awesome afternoon sunlight.  COZY!

In addition to the garage being framed up the breezway and porch columns were poured.  Unfortunately, one of the columns needs to be taken out and repoured because it looks only slightly better than the leaning tower of Pisa.  We also had the electrician in to hang the outside electrical and the 2 inside panels.  The sewer line was also installed and water is next on the list as soon as the guys doing it hear from the city. 

A great deal has been done, but there is a great deal more to do.

The side of the garage that faces mom and dad's house.

View from Lincoln.  I LOVE THE DORMER!

Did I mention I love the dormer?  You can also see

another wall of the garage going up on the right side of

the picture.

View from the corner of Lincoln and Pine.

View from up on Pine.

View from up on Lincoln looking down.

Again.