Framing Officially Complete

The framers have completed our job and moved on to their next. On Saturday, I was there and I had this sad feeling. They were gone. My framers had become my friends. They took care of us for the last eight weeks. Little JCrew and I both helped them at points during the process. Little JCrew looked up to them. The framing is the longest task during a build, so of course, you're going to spend the most time with them.
 

The framers finished the bird boxes and the last of the windows.They focused a lot on the outside their last week.

They created the eaves at the end of the roof line and built out around the front door.

The mason brought it to our attention that there was a ju-tout above the front door that we would have to match below for brick purposes. I was fine with that!!

Window tape was put around the wood-framed windows.

ICF windows use Mastic to seal to the styrofoam.

The eyebrow roof was framed over the back door.

The inside had little details to finish. The fireplace was framed. We had the wall, but the fireplace measurements were framed. The fireplace will be delivered on Tuesday.

 And the master shower got its window wall framed. The wall was there, but they framed where a piece of glass will be.

The last thing they did was install the temporary doors. The frames are good, so when the real door slabs come in, we'll switch them out.

With solid doors, the house feels different. It took away some of my views.

It makes me appreciate the decision to go with glass doors. It will open the space back up.

And on the very last day, they finished the detail on the stairs. I designed a curved ceiling above the stairs. I love to see the details used to create it.

The garage doors got their final framing.

And the walls with brick, got their brick ties.

Brick Ties

The plumber came out last week, and I'll create a separate post for his efforts when he completes his work tomorrow. The roofer has also come and did the flashing on the joints. 

We are waiting on the siding guy for his availability to open up before we can lay the shingles. We're trying to avoid messy footprints that will cost more time and money to repair shingles.

Our framers were originally going to install our siding, but their boss wants them moving on to the other projects he has on his list. I understand, but that leaves us in a bind. We had to find someone new to install our siding.

This week won't have too much action, as we're waiting on the siding guy. He is backed up, like most contractors, due to the snow, rain and ice we had in March. 

Windows Are In

That final stretch was long. It wasn't until yesterday that everything was in place as far as framing goes. Those little odds and ends added up.

The guys spent Wednesday getting the attic perfect. The temporary support was taken down as it would be used to build the porch.

And the porch was built and awesome!

It now gives the house a farmhouse feel.

The foyer cased opening is framed to be ten inches wide.

It was little things like that. Oh, and the wall where the antique window will go was finally framed!

And the walls where plumbing pipes stuck out, those walls were furred out.

And you can't just furr out part of it; the whole wall had to be.

On Thursday, the windows were delivered.

And they were installed.

You can tell the difference in sill depth for ICF vs wood framing.

The house started looking so different with windows.

I loved it.  We did have three things we have to fix regarding windows. One came with a broken top sash. I was notified upon delivery and they are replacing it. Then we had one set of windows come without the vertical grille on the bottom sashes. New sashes are on their way.

Doors were delivered too, but they are loaners. The framer says this is a good thing because the doors will get dinged up when doing brick and such. They will be installed and the frames will remain. When the door slabs come in, they'll be replaced.

On Friday, I had a hard decision to make. It was how I wanted my roof lines finished. The framer gave me three options. An angled birdbox, a flat birdbox or a hip birdbox. I liked them all for different reasons and the drawings didn't show that detail. I immediately said I liked the hip birdbox. I can use metal or shingles for them. Then I second-guessed myself. Until I saw the crew did two for me to judge. I liked them.

Wrapping was installed everywhere on Saturday. The crew tried to on Friday, but the wind was so bad, the guys were struggling. The inside of the house was priority on Saturday, because the plumber came on Monday! Tubs were delivered and installed and it's awesome!

The roofer was also scheduled to come yesterday, but our shingles are back ordered. We've had some storms come in and rip off the felt paper, so we need to fix that. But I'm hoping the shingles come soon!

This is now when the craziness picks up. I have so many contractors lined up ready to do their part. And walking through the house is awesome. The boys love to come visit.

They dare each other to go upstairs when they know Mom says, "No."

And Little JCrew already knows where everything is. We had strangers walk in when we were there and he was not bashful. He told them where everything was and asked them to follow him upstairs. They politely declined. He is just like his Poppa!

I'll leave off with a happy note. We spent Sunday and Monday getting all the water out of the house. It looked awesome all week. We finally could go in all the rooms with out rainboots on.

But the rain on Sunday brought in the water because of the missing felt and two missing windows. Our plumber was so kind to sweep it all out yesterday. I can't wait for no more worrying about the rain.

UPDATE 4-26-2015:
We bought Plygem brand windows. They are vinyl and clay in color. I went for price when selecting them. I almost selected a Southern Rose window that really impressed me, but the price was higher. I wasn't impressed with the Anderson brand. For what they cost, they felt like a Plygem. I wasn't willing to pay for Anderson. But now that we have had the windows installed and have had time to mess around with them, I am already regretting my decision to go with Plygem. One set of windows came with the bottom sashes missing the vertical grille I wanted. Then the replacement sashes sent, were poor quality. Another window sash had the vertical crooked! I have yet to receive the replacement sash for it. Another grille is slightly crooked and it is starting to get on my nerves. And another window, I just discovered, has the spring busted on one side! It feels like these windows were pushed out and no one checked them. It's something as simple as quality control. I know my work wouldn't take this lack of quality. Our products are judged upon delivery, and we don't get paid until we pass quality control. The experience is already putting a sour taste in my mouth about the brand.

UPDATE 3-18-2019:
I still dislike the windows. We are now on our 5th replacement window (thankfully under warranty). The seals between the double panes are leaking, causing the windows to go foggy. We've also had leaks in the windows, and noticed the common denominator is the windows that have siding are letting water get in. We are replacing the caulk on the windows next week in hopes of solving the leaks. One leak was caught before damage, but two leaks have only been noticed after the damage formed (mold under a swollen window sill and casing and drywall tape coming undone.) I'm really close to wanting to replace all the windows!!

Framing Home Strech

Another weekend with a lot of updates!

On Friday, we had some rainy weather, but the crew worked inside. They were busy getting the stairs ready.

They finished the hip roof over the kitchen, so I finally understood what they were doing.

It was originally, just a low sloped roof that would be metal, but for some reason, it needed to be changed. The plywood could then be applied to the back.

Felt was laid on the stair hip roof, and a little detail piece was added to the top of the gable.

Horizontal pieces of wood were put in-between studs.

Anything that could be done on the inside, was done.

And I see the reason for part of the master trey ceiling not being finished. They were using it for access while we had no stairs.

On Saturday, we saw the crew taking apart the garage. They had assumed it was the same the whole way across.

BEFORE

I was willing to tolerate it, but the crew realized their mistake when it came to where the garage and kitchen roof meet.

It is now SO MUCH better!

I am happy they corrected it. It gave a little more detail to the back porch by correcting it.

The lead framer was there checking progress, and he told us we could go upstairs!! Woohoo!

I had not yet seen upstairs, and I was so excited.

The boys will start off sharing Little JCrew's room.

But when they get older, they have the option to move into separate rooms.

There is also a spare bedroom for family and future kids.

On Monday, the crew finished up the decking and felt for the garage.

The crew also boarded up Mom's gable on Monday.

Her porch is so cute now that it has a roof on it. She will get a metal roof over her porch.

And they started boarding up the front of the house. I was told they wouldn't do the front until they started the front porch. The front porch is the last thing left to do.

Besides the porch, there is a couple odd-end things to finish that they left to do on a rainy day. Then the wrap will go on and we can get windows, door and shingles!