We have walls!

We like the brown color on the right for the wooden pillars.
Bob has installed the "cable rail" system after the GC put up the posts.

Staircase and loft before and after drywall install.
Ceiling of the greatroom with insulation installed.


After a few weeks of inactivity, things have returned to full tilt at the house site. The insulators showed up and sprayed foam up against the roof. The dry-wall team appeared last week and remain there this week putting up sheetrock, then the plaster to form the walls. We have selected some paint colors for the kitchen, master bath and laundry since the cabinets will be installed there in the next few weeks. When the walls are finished, Bob and I will begin painting.

The porch is coming along with some beautful Craftsman style stone pillars.

Snow delay

The framing is almost finished for the front porch; we've selected the decking color; you can see some of the exterior color options at the corner of the garage.

Connect the blue wire to the white wire, but don't touch the yellow wire, right?
Siding is on awaiting the paint.

We expected delays from rain, but not snow so early in the year. The mountains were hit hard last week with the blast of cold weather that hit all of the Pacific NW. We estimate about 8 inches of snow fell at the property; the roads were snow packed and dangerous until after Thanksgiving. The temps dipped into the teens and with EXPOSED PIPES for the plumbing and the sprinkler system we had visions of burst pipes and water spraying the inside of the house. Bob set up some space heaters in the basement and we managed to keep the temperature a few degrees warmer than outside. We think we dodged a bullet. The heating system should be operable in a few days and we won't have that worry again.

I've included some photos of the wiring maze that is blooming inside the house and the dusting of snow from a couple of weeks ago. I don't think it is visible, but the siding is on....lap siding on the bottom levels and shingle siding on the top. It is primed and ready for exterior paint. That may have to wait until the snows thaw.

All Talk, No Photos

This week I will update you with words only, no photos to share. It has been raining a LOT, and on the recent sunny day that we were there with our friend Kate, from Austin, it was too dark/too late to get a good shot.

Things are moving along, however. As Bob says, the inside is a maze of wires and pipes. The electricians have been working for more than 2 weeks to "rough" in the spots for electrical outlets and lights, as well as oven, vent fans, garbage disposals, etc. The heating specialists have pipes running around to connect the radiant floor heating on the two bottom floors with the radiator system on the top floor. The plumbers have their rough in work complete, and the preliminary connections for faucets, tub, shower, toilets are in place.

Because we live in the county at such a remote site, county code requires installation of a fire sprinkler system. Those pipes are also being run throughout the ceilings of each room. Certainly it is a system we hope we never have to "test" after the initial install tests are performed!

Bob has been very busy at the site daily: he installed a central vacuum and low voltage wiring for stereo speakers, cable, internet. His next project will be staining the wooden inside trim of the windows.

Our general contractor, Steve, says the next phase will be insulation installation, then the drywall. After that, interior painting (at least the kitchen ASAP to prep for cabinet installation). The tile setter has been on site, and orders have been placed for tile in the showers, entry way, master bath, guest bath.

We are still focused on March as a move in date, and realizing that is just around the corner!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Roofing and Siding

So, here is the weekly shot and I know it's been more than a week. The roof is completely on and the siding is going up quickly.
The siding is "primed" and once we settle on a color, will be painted. It will be a shade of green. Did you know there are about 74 shades of green? Amazing.
...the site contractor used a CAT to move boulders found during excavation to form retaining walls.
Inside the house, things are coming along, as well. Here is the box for the chimney chase and fireplace. It will be surrounded by tiles that we've selected in a beautiful design.

Somehow I got captions below the photos this week. The cold, rainy weather seems to have descended upon us this past week, and we are happy to have the roof on. Inside the house, the main floor has been poured, and the electricians are wiring for lights and outlets. The plumbers have done their preliminary work, and we have the ability to drain water out of the house via some pipes, not just bailing out via the windows and doors. About 95% of the windows and doors are in, as a matter of fact.

Bob has begun working in earnest at the site daily. He installed the central vacuum system and has stained the interior of the windows that are in the TOP of the great room (prior to installation) and they look great!

We have a ROOF!

Well, almost. Steve and team have put on the roof sheathing, tar paper and accepted delivery of the shingles. The roofing crew should begin installing the shingles tomorrow. The color of the shingles is Aged Bark, a fancy name for med to dark brown.

The plumbing crew was there today to put in drains for sinks, showers, toilets, etc...running pipes for the shower stalls. Bob was there today and took these last two photos of the work to date.

Looking good, huh??

The top two photos show just how far we've gone to "build our own house"....Angela drove the truck so Bob and Dave could load and unload the windows and doors. Successful mission, all in all, with the exception that the window company forgot to put the entire order in one spot for loading. They realized it after we'd turned in the rental truck. :(

A work in progress

Hello all, Here are some photos that Steve S. (our very patient General Contractor) has taken over the past few weeks. Also, if you want to look on Google Earth, you can find the site: address 9011 NE 312 Ave, Camas, WA. and see the progress as of 15 August.

From top to bottom: The supports for the garage roof, the roof trusses being placed, the SIPS panels going up and the "shell" of the main floor.

Thanks, Steve for getting some action shots for the blog.

We need a ROOF!

Ok, it has been raining off and on for about a week. I don't like water standing IN the house. :( These photos taken today show the gray, drippy skies, but the nice thing visualized is the beginnings of a porch with a bedroom above. It will be the "choice" guest room with a view from three sides, nice!

The interior shot is in the kitchen, there will be a pocket door beside the oven/microwave leading to the hallway and garage.

Loft view

I'm planning to visit the house site tomorrow, and realized I'd never posted the photos from 10 days ago...The loft floor was in, one guest room (over the garage) was framed. One view you'll see is Angela standing in the loft looking at Bob and the dogs in the soon to be great room.

SIPS going UP

My goodness we have a house forming! Steve, Jonathan and crew are putting the pieces of the puzzle together quickly. We all hope to have the roof on before the fall rains begin, usually in early Oct.

We were happy to show our friends Linda and Ed as well as Kim and Tim the site when they visited us this weekend. Each couple picked out "their" room, so Bob and I suspect we may be on our path to a B&B career. The site is lovely and the house will be wonderful. We went to the Portland "Street of Dreams" (a Parade of Homes) and decided our finished house will be superior to those in all regards. We did get some ideas and a lot of photos for decorating and color ideas, but our design and structure was so far above what we looked at!

Here are the latest structure changes. The roof will be vaulted with all three floors of windows facing Mt Hood.

Hammer and nails

Hello all, it has been a while since my last post and I have many photos from which to choose. Steve and team have made HUGE progress since the last post. Bob and I visit at least weekly and we have been startled by how fast the house is coming together. As of yesterday, the septic tank and drain field have been "planted", the basement has been framed courtesy of Steve and son, the floor of the main level is just about complete.

Here are some photos showing the basement and the progress to date.
Our first "visitors" were James and Julian Hyatt, our cousins from Portland. The huge machine was squirting cement into place for the basement floor.
The 2x4s are framing the basement, and the "siting" for the placement of the house couldn't have been more perfect--check out that view!


The SIPs (structural insulated panels) should be delivered this week. That will make up the exterior walls of the house. To be continued.....

The Sun Keeps Shining

We are having (we are told) a typically beautiful summer in SW WA. A few days in the upper 90s, but most in the high 80s or low 90s. At night it cools to the upper 50s....really low humidity and nice breezes have made the month of July perfect! While we build the house, we are living at sea level; up at the house site (1400 ft elevation) it stays about 5 - 8 degrees cooler.

These photos are now about 5 days old; we'll get up there this weekend to see the latest.

I've done a bit of research on BLOG CREATION. It looks way more involved than I care to go to make this fancy and snazzy...so what you see is what you are gonna get! Thanks for your positive comments and interest. :)

The second photo is from the constant spot (note the well head to the left)....but some big machine DESTROYED the boulder that I've been standing on. :(

Sunny skies in WA

Bob points to the level of the basement floor on the left, and the weekly update photo is below.

We have been very lucky with the weather; other than a couple of days of rain last week, it has been dry and mostly sunny. Perfect, really, to put up the forms and pour the concrete. We checked out the progress last Saturday and took these photos. I'm shooting a photo each week from the same spot (on top of a boulder with the well head in the lower left corner of the photo) so we can watch it develop over time. Now, back to appliance shopping online. Thanks to all for your positive feedback! Does it seem we are excited? Yep, we are.

No concrete just yet...

Things are happening, and are we beginning to be able to visualize more of the house. One of the shots on this page shows the view from where the dining room table will be....can you see Mt Hood through the trees?

It appears the basement will be large enough to store a few bottles of wine. We've heard they have some good stuff in OR and WA. :) I haven't yet figured out how to label these photos. Bear with me as I learn to blog.

The rains have stopped and the digging has begun

Spring is the rainy season in this area, lasting well beyond average this year. We need to clear the house site on the property and have a huge bonfire, with a county provided "burn permit". Because the summers are dry, we can't burn after a given date in July...our window of availability is getting shorter. We both have been a bit nervous that the timing wasn't going to be right; but we were wrong.

So far, the property has been cleared, the burn has happened, and a great big CAT has arrived to do some digging. We've got it staked out. The excavator began last week! Concrete will be mixed and poured this week. Holy Cow.

Paperwork, paperwork

Bob and I are finally beginning to believe this is going to happen! On June 4, we signed the paperwork at the "closing" for the construction loan. It was so official, they had our name on the board of daily activities for the office. We felt important. The staff must have thought so, too, as they took our photo.


Only a couple of weeks prior to this, we FINALLY picked up the building permit. Bob has been dealing with the county permit office since Oct 09. Does he look happy?

During the planning phases, we came to believe the adage "one step forward, two steps back", and we are just beginning!