Front Porch

Introducing...wait for it...THE FRONT PORCH!

We are thrilled with the size of the front porch.  It is 8' wide and east facing, so it will create very livable outdoor space.  We plan to have a deck style floor and ceiling fans on each side.  We will use one side for a seating area and the other side for a dining space.  

You may also notice the front door is gone.  We didn't love the old front door, and when our contractor was repairing some old termite damaged areas around the front door and the front window, it became clear that a replacement was the best option.  We still haven't picked a new front door.  So there is plywood over it now. Hopefully we can agree on one soon. Ideally one that is in our budget!  

By the end of the day Friday the upstairs windows were in place.  

The upstairs bathtubs are also in place for the kids' bathrooms.  

And a lot of the rough in electrical was completed in the kitchen and living room.  But I didn't get a picture of that.  

The plumber and electrician will be busy in the house next week.  

We are trying to select a lot of the design features.  This door is currently on the old milkhouse.  Mike had the idea to clean this up a little bit and use it as the pocket door for the pantry in our farmhouse style kitchen.  I think it will be very cool. What do you think?  

Stairs and Stonework

It's been a while since I last posted.  A lot has happened, but it is the type of stuff that doesn't really make a statement in a photo. All of the framing is complete.

Here are some sneak peaks of the recent progress.

We have construction stairs to get to the second story.  They are in the location of the permanent stairs, but are just 2x4s for now.

The chimney has been raised to accommodate a 2 story structure.

The new kitchen windows had to be raised to be above the counter top.  These used to be bedroom windows.  The stonemason did a great job!  You can barely tell they have been adjusted from the exterior.  

And the posts for the deck have been set.  The deck should be in place next week.  

I met with our contractor, Matt Allen from Allen Construction, this week to discuss electrical and plumbing specifications.  Those should be starting in the next week or two.

 

Framing almost complete

The framing is planned to be completed this week.  I was out on Tuesday night to snap some pictures.  Here is the exterior.

 

The old front patio slab was removed last week.  We will be adding a deck style front porch along the front of the house.

Here is a picture from the entryway looking up towards the ceiling.   

  I am excited this step is almost completed!

Framing update

It's been a while since I updated, and there have been a lot of changes.  Here are some photos of the exterior.

A great deal of the second story is framed in.  Upstairs we have planned 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.  Here are some highlights of the rooms.

The first is the smallest bedroom located towards the rear of the house.

This is another upstairs room with a dormer window up front and access to the bonus room.  

The third bedroom upstairs is the largest and has an en-suite bath.  

The second story will be open to the main floor over the center dormer.  Hey, there is my dog!

And the second story also has this HUGE hall closet.

This is the bonus room over garage.  It will remain unfinished for now, but maybe some day...after the basement gets finished, we install a deck, etc.  Ok, maybe never.  

It finally looks enough like a house to feel real.  Hopefully within another week, the framing will be completed!  

UPSTAIRS

We have an upstairs! This was what it looked like yesterday.

And this is what I witnessed today!  

I can't wait to see this week's transformation!

First floor framing

Holiday weekends are great.  Extra time off work, extra family time, extra processed meats... We spent our holiday weekend at the HWCV working on little projects around the farm.  

This weekend we got to see the progress on the house and all of the first floor framing is done.  The subfloor for the second floor is in place, too, which provided a ceiling for the first floor and gave us a better sense of how the spaces will feel.  Here are some highlights!

The front of the house looks a bit better.  Above the front door will be open to the ceiling of the second floor and there will be a dormer window that will allow light in that space.  Props to my dad for that suggestion.  

Pantry is framed in.  I am excited about a big pantry with a window and a pocket door that will rarely get closed.  The framing has horizontal boards to accomodate the pocket door.  Per my friend Teresa's suggestion, I think I will put a little counter as a "mom's workspace" below that window to place my laptop and mail.  

The master bath is framed in - here is the massive walk-in shower.  The whole family fits...but we won't take family showers.  We are weird, but we aren't that type of weird.

Mike and the three oldest kids climbed onto the second floor where their bedrooms will be located. He is standing in the future bonus room space above the garage.  The chimney on the far end will have to be raised to code (the fireplace is in the basement.)  

Hopefully the next post will show second story framing!

  

Walls!

I've never been so excited about walls.  It means the house we have dreamed about for years is finally coming together!

The new subfloor is in place and the center wall has been set.

Our laundry room is framed.

And the half bath.

Lumber = Excitement