I have moved the blog to...

I have moved the blog to www.oakridgehomestead.com

Check out the new look and catch up on the house progress! :)

Rooflines and rough electrical marked out!

June 3^rd

The framers were able to finish most of the first floor sheer paneling and have finished 80% of the rafters that make up the main attic area. It is really cool seeing the roof line start to take shape!

Front entry door and eventual porch.

 Looking back at the front door while standing next to the island area. 

 Here you can see on the left side of the large beam was were the window was originally and we decided to move it to the right side and make it smaller. The following pictures are all taken as I turned to my right and tried to get a sense of what the kitchen, dining and living space will look like.

Two 8ftx8ft sliders will frame the view from the kitchen.

Living area on the left and pantry on the right.

Bedroom #2

Bedroom #1

1st Bathroom view

Master Bedroom slider

Master Bedroom again  :)

The big opening in the middle is the fireplace. they haven't started on it yet. I love the open attic area!

That first step is a doosy! The driveway will require a little fill to finish it. :)

I was able to mark all the electrical boxes and switches this afternoon. It was really nice doing something other than research or paperwork that actually moved my portion of the build forward. I am thinking that we may not be using the sub-panel idea because it will most likely involve some paperwork for the county because the approved plans do not show a sub-panel and I am sure they will at least want to see a “as built” addendum. It will be easier to just run the wires from the main panel.

I am really hoping we will have inspections before Thursday next week. Paul the inspector that came through for the foundation said that he works every other Friday. He was very friendly and I would like to stick with one inspector for the whole process.

We decided on the style of the stairs and what type of newel posts we will be using. The newel posts will be 4x4 or 4x6 posts with a very simple top cap. The stair tread will open on the side with the balusters. We are going with a simple, possibly non-conventional stair rail we saw a blog that used 2x6 for the hand rail, just like you see on outdoor deck railings. It was painted white and looked really nice. It would be very sturdy and relatively inexpensive.

Next week is finals week and I will be out of school after 11:30. So I am planning on heading up to the house to start placing boxes. Hopefully the inspector will be there while I am doing this and I can pick his brain on what I need to change and how best to run the wires from the main breaker over the garage and into the rest of the house.

Pigtails and Volunteers!

May 31^st.

I met Ron Dinicola my brother’s Father-in-law at the house because he is a licensed electrical contractor and was willing to walk us through how to wire our house. As we walked through the house and talked about what needed to be done and what was involved with completing the electrical it became more and more obvious that I had underestimated what was involved. Ron was helpful and pointed out some changes we will be incorporating (including a sub-panel in the laundry) that will reduce the materials and hopefully the time needed to install them. He showed me how to use the “pigtail” technique to connect wires and devices inside a box. Thanks Ron for the help!

 I will be heading out to the house on Tuesday to mark out the switches, boxes and lights, with the hope that on Saturday I can go out again and start drilling the holes to run the wires. On Sunday I had two friends (coincidentally both named Dave) offer to help for a couple of days! So thankful for friends like these (not just because they are working on the house but because they are willing to take time out of their week for us)! I can't thank them enough!

Below are some pics from Friday the 30^th. Friday the framers were able to get the main beam up and in place above the main floor! We should be framing the roof and the upstairs above the garage this week and calling for inspections middle of next week! Moving quickly!!

We are ordering doors and windows from ETO Doors in LA. We can drive there and pick them which will save us about $900 dollars! We are also going to be Installing our own HVAC and will be getting the duct design done through ACDuctDesign.com. They will give us a detailed layout and we can take that to KarnAir in Hemet who will help us put together a parts list. 

We are going to hire Michael Mark to install our standing seam metal roof because he is our framer and has a very competitive bid (mostly because he is already here).

The Septic system will be ordered this week and should be installed next week sometime along with the utility line and all the plumbing! It is coming together quickly now!!!

:)

This is the main beam that will be moving up 18 feet above the surface of the concrete. They were able to do without a crane. I didn't see it but it must have been a sight!

Walls, Walls, Walls!

May 22^nd

Yesterday I went out to the lot to check on the progress and there were walls! Lots of walls! It was so surreal walking through the halls we had seen on paper for the last 9 months. My first impression is that I had no idea how big our “small” 3 foot by 6 foot window would be let alone the rest of the windows. The amount of light that will be coming in will be incredible! I am so glad we stuck with big windows!

We are already seeing that we want to make some minor changes. The window placement in the master bath and 2^nd bath and the pocket doors in master bath are not the right width.The windows are too close to each other. The master bath pocket doors were built to accommodate a 30 inch wide door and the plans call for a 36 inch wide door. The header heights for the pocket doors are not high enough either. We are still early in the progress and these changes will be easy to make.

K and I are frantically working to decide what doors to order when, and what windows to order and what tubs to order. I feel like we will be playing catch up for the next couple of weeks. J

 My first look as I walked up on Wednesday.

 Future location of entry porch.

These three windows are in our master bath and second bath.

Future stair well and garage wall.

Looking back at the entry room and laundry room.

 Living room

 Living room again.

  Looking down the hall with the pantry on the left.

The front door wall going up!

 This is the plumbing fail. Those pipes are supposed to be within the cutout in the plate (the plate is the 2x4 on the bottom of wall). Did you catch that?...I used a technical term IN context even!! ;) The concrete will have to be cut more to than it already is to accommodate the necessary changes.

 Second bath. The window is too close to the wall the toilet is on. No one wants to be totally exposed in front of a window while on a toilet. :)

 Master bath and closet.

Master bath curbless shower.

Outside the master bedroom.

Lumber delivered and concrete cut?!

May 20^th

I met with Michael Mark yesterday at the lot to discuss the lay out of the walls and the window and door placement. It was very obvious that the laundry room was not plumbed correctly. The drain and water supply for the clothes washer were not properly placed; they are in the middle of the hallway floor! So Michael will be cutting into the concrete and moving the pipes back to the proper position. They finished placing the wall plates yesterday and measuring out the location of the windows and doors! Which means today there will be walls up! We listed our house yesterday and will be out of town for Memorial Day weekend. Hopefully there will be some interest and a couple of showings while we are gone. Getting the house ready for showings has been more stressful than the house build. We have so much stuff! K has been hard at work putting together some beautiful wall hangings and décor! She is amazing! J

Foundation Finished!!!

May 18th

La Duke Brothers Concrete finished the concrete Thursday and it looks great! Mimi and Papa and the rest of us went up to the lot on Saturday for a morning tour. Mimi and Papa brought the three bigger kids hard hats and construction supplies (they were a birthday gift for N from my whole side of the family) so they were busy hammering rocks and looking official! The concrete is looking good and Michael Mark is going to begin framing on Monday! J

The Birthday Boy is looking good! :)

Thanks E and K and V and J!

 The three pictures that follow are of "knoll" where I pulled out a huge amount of poison oak. it looks sooo much better and wont make you itch! :)

 The above picture is taken standing in the middle of our dinning room looking through what will be one of our sliding glass doors. Wow! Can't believe that we will be eating meals with that as the backdrop (minus the orange tractor)!