Let it Snow - Windows and Doors are In

We began this week by locating all the plumbing vents and extending them through the roof in preparation for dry-in and shingles. The most difficult part here is making sure the holes are located exactly in the center of a wall that hasn't been built yet. That may not seem like such a big deal but when the location is directly above an existing wall on the first floor a steady hand and a plumb bob are a necessity.

Here you see the main vent stack for the master bathroom and laundry room (in the background) and the down stairs half bath (in the foreground)

Viewed from the outside you can see why these vents need to be installed prior to blacking in and shingling the roof.

The vent for the kitchen is located in the bonus room roof. Here the vent will snake up through an outside (2x6 wall) to the rafter section of the bonus room and then through the roof. Plumbing a log home requires a little extra planning since it’s extremely difficult to run water lines, waste lines or vents in the log walls. We will explain more later as we get officially started on the plumbing rough in in a couple weeks.

It wasn't long after we finished locating the plumbing vents that our crew (both of them) got busy blacking in the roof. We have just about 6000 square feet of roof area including porches and it took the majority of one day to complete this job. The roof is now weather tight.

It's nice to see the tar paper go down. Even though it’s not shingled yet it gives the roof more of a finished look. Shingles will come right after Christmas.

Here's a shot of the front blacked in. We'll be able to get rid of the military storage container soon. Once our garage doors are installed and we can lock the house it will no longer be needed and I’m sure our neighbors will appreciate not having to look at that thing any longer.

We also took the time this week to complete the installation of the rest of the windows. Here is one of the small windows in the front of the garage being installed. Windows aren’t difficult to install but care must be taken in making sure they are plumb. Otherwise they won’t work correctly.

The one window that somehow was overlooked and wasn’t shipped was delivered Friday. This was perfect timing and we wasted no time getting this last window installed.

While we were busy installing windows the "Boss" started sanding the first floor ceiling beams.

UV from the Arizona sun will do a number on fresh wood and it doesn’t take very long in the sun for fresh wood to turn very yellow. Here you can see the difference between the original color and the yellowing caused by the sun. Getting the yellow off is easy but sanding the grain that has been raised due to rain is another story. This job takes a little time but it’s worth the effort. At her current rate she'll have them all done by the end of next week.

While the "Boss" was sanding we completed the installation of the remaining three doors. The first was the exterior door in the shop. Nothing special about that one but this door, the door that leads to the garage from the kitchen area, and the one between the shop and the garage area are fire doors. These doors are a whole different animal. They’re metal and have a multi piece metal jam which, if you've never installed one before, can be a bit of a hassle to figure out. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get this door installed and plumbed.

Here is the fire door between the garage and shop. After figuring out and installing the kitchen door this one went much quicker. A little less than an hour and it was working perfectly. While we were installing these doors we installed their hardware so the wind wouldn't blow them around. The rest of the doors in the house are temporarily nailed shut and will have their hardware installed early next week.

That wraps up another week. Next week we'll be installing the garage doors and all the rest of the door hardware. The "Boss" will continue her sanding and we'll be installing the fire code sheet rock on the walls between the garage and the house. This is required by local code and it will basically close in the house. We can then start using some propane and kerosene heaters which will allow us to work inside in relative comfort.

Check back soon.