That Looks Like a House

When we left for vacation I knew that a lot would be happening over the next week.  But I had no idea the progress we'd see once we returned home.  Just as Jason had estimated in the period of just a week the house went from the basement being framed to the roof being put up.
We got back from Alabama on Monday, August 13 and met with Jason at the house to discuss how everything was going.  It was going great.  I, unfortunately, had to immediately leave town again for a conference. By the time I got back on Thursday the roof decking was almost complete.
At this point the framing is essentially complete.  Start to finish it took right at two weeks.  It's absolutely amazing to me that in just two weeks an entire house can be framed.
The shingles are in place on site for the roof to be put on and I'd guess that at this rate it'll be done by the end of the week.  We're also meeting with Jason and the electrician sometime this week to map out where lighting, outlets, and data connections will be going.  Fortunately, I've been working on that already so hopefully things will go smoothly.

All in a Days Work

We were told several times that the wait for this framer was worth it.  I am now a believer.  The framer started on Friday and in just one day got nearly the entire basement framed up.  We stopped by the house today and I could hardly believe it.  It would take me an entire week just to get up a single wall.

This trip Becca's parents joined us for the tour.  This was their first time out since we've started construction and were really excited to see it.  It was really fun getting to walk around through each room and start to see the plans that we've been working on for so long start to actually come into existence.

Now as great as it was to see this today it's a little bitter sweet because of some bad timing on our part.  Tomorrow night we leave for vacation in Orange Beach, AL and will be gone an entire week.  If this framer accomplished this much in a day imagine what's he's going to get done in a week.  Obviously I can't complain too much; I am heading to the beach.  But it is slightly disappointing we'll be missing so much progress.  Jason thinks that by the time we get back they'll be working on the ceiling joists for the top floor.  Pretty crazy.  

Windows & Doors

The last week and half hasn't been particularly exciting at the house.  The framer that we're using was tied up at another house so any real visual progress came to a halt. Jason has assured me that this guys is worth waiting for and he actually was supposed to start yesterday.  We'll be stopping by Sunday to see what it looks like with walls starting to go up!
Now while nothing real noticeable has been happening doesn't mean we've come to a stop.  All the utility work was finished, obviously a pretty important part.  We also got the remaining fill brought in for the garage.    But the thing that's been most apparent to Becca and I has been picking out windows and doors.  Thursday we met with Jason at Herrman Lumber to discuss what we wanted.  Who knew windows could be such a hard decision.  Single hung, double hung, casement or fixed, grille or no grille, all kinds of sizes and colors: there are a lot of choices.  Fortunately most of them were pretty easy it really just came down to a couple of windows that we had a hard time deciding on.
One was the window over our sink in the kitchen.  I've seen a lot of pictures of houses with big windows over their kitchen sinks and Becca and I both decided we really like the look.  It just seemed silly to put the standard little window if you had the room to let a little more light in.  It's at the sacrifice of some of our overhead cabinets but I think it's worth it.  Below is a picture of our ideal kitchen window.