vaproshield

due to the fact that our roofer might install roofing membrane following week, we installed top layer of vaproshield so he can overlap membrane over parapets. remaining vaproshield will be installed after all windows are in place.

vapro flashing

since we are using rainscreen system with a lot of open joints, the only choice for house wrap was vaproshield. it is waterproof, breatheable membrane that self seals arount staple penetrations, it is UV reistant and it comes in black. basically it is like wraping the whole house in gore-tex.
first step is to wrap around openings. to make it easier, vaproshield pre-cut flahing is available as well as 3d corners that make it really easy to flash around openings. rest of the membrane will be applied after windows are in place.
all rough framing is slowly geting finalized, ceiling framing was installed, there are still some minor things that need to be corrected. electrician started to place housing boxes where outlets and switches will be located.

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final rough framing

most of rough framing i complete, and we passed our sheathing inspection last friday.

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rough framing part 2

structure is beginning to show its final shape. rough framing goes pretty quick, i think overall rough framing time will be 4 days. we had to do some minor adjustements to interior wall locatins because of plumbing misplacement. very minor, only within 1".

also we start to see the real size of interior spaces, but we will get better idea when drywall is installed. i already like high ceiling in living/dining room.

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our framers, they walk on top plates like it is 5' wide sidewalk.

house framing part1

double 2x4 staggered wall construction.
lower house portion framing.

garage

rough garrage framing is complete. parapet is not framed yet, so roof slope is visible.
nice high ceiling, lots of stoage space

solar tube, kitchen hood

will have two solar tubes in hallway. there will be hardly any natural light during the day there . tubes should provide enough light so we wouldnt have to turn the lights on during the day.

we have always wanted to have hood that is little different design wise than conventional ones, all of them were just out of our price range. than we discovered this one online, 50% off. we ordered itright away. it has 3 speed fan and 3 led lights.

pour

coming to the site in the morning we saw this huge pump from distance of two blocks. the length of the arme is really impressive. there were some little things that needed attention before the pour.
at 7 am we were rady to begin. first trenches were filled and vibrated .
next, the slab was poured, and concrete was tamped with metal grate and roughly evened. purpose of tamping was to push the aggregate inside the concrete mass so the surface could be worked smooth.
while the concrete was setting, garrage was being prepared for pour.
three rounds of concrete smoothing were done. i found very interesting that different material of trowel does different job. while alloy trowel just roughly evens the surface, metal one makes the surface almost mirror smooth.
finished slab, with forms removed. to control cracking, control joints will be saw cut next day. concrete was hard enough within few hours for us to be able to walk on it withoud leaving traces. however it will take 30 days for slab to completly cure.
garrage monoslab with hand crafted control joints.

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garrage and rebar

garrage excavation is complete. rebar will be set the same day we will pour concrete.
#4 rebar in all its beauty
also rebar was set today and we had our rebar inspection. there were two minor comments, that will be tkaen care of tomorrow. on one side we didnt have minimum clearance between rebar and form, also couple bars were set higher then they were supposed to. after this is fixed and we are ready to pour.

sinks and dog door

double flap doggy door will be located in our mechanical room. it has a solid panel insert with spring latch, that can be used to completly close the door from inside.

vessel sinks for our bathrooms.

undermount kitchen sink is made out of heavy gauge stainless steel. its size can easily handle large baking pans and pots.

radiant tubing

vapor barrier, rigid insulation and radiant tubing were installed this week. our tubing will be connected to superstor ultra hot water maker and 95% efficient munchkin contender boiler combo with heat exchanger and priority control. same system will be used to head domestic water. heating has 3 zones, so we can regulate house heating more efectively.