Pretty dry walls

After a 2.5 week hiatus between work travel and a great week long vacation in Mexico, we were very excited to get back up the hill and see what kind of progress was being made on the house.  

On the outside, the biggest change is in the siding on the south side of the house as well as the corbels that have been installed.  The real changes are on the inside where :

- The drywall has all been hung, screw inspection is complete

- The walls have all been taped, textured and are ready for sanding & painting

- The beams have been installed across the main level and at the roof peak

This first picture shows the timber that's at the peak of the roof overlooking the foyer and great room

This next shot is taken from the end of the kitchen right about where the bar will be back into the kitchen / breakfast eating area.

There actually was some progress on the exterior siding, this picture shows the siding & cedar shakes on the back of the house around the dining room slider.

Here's another pic taken from roughly where the kitchen island will be out into the great room.

Finally, a picture in the master bedroom.  This place is really starting to look like a house.  Next, the drywall guys will finish the texturing, the tile guy will begin laying tile in the mudroom and the bathrooms and the doors and cabinets will be installed.  Stay tuned.

Baby it's cold outside

This Saturday, we made an attempt to get to Breckenridge only to be turned back at the Eisenhower Tunnel by the second huge traffic jam we ran into that morning.  It was a very windy day with wind gusts in excess of 100 MPH which seems to have really snarled things up.  We finally made the smart choice to head back down to Denver so it was very reassuring to show up today (Monday) at the cabin and see that it was still standing with all pieces in tact!

Not only was the building still standing but Greg and his team have made some serious progress since our last trip up the hill.  First, in the garage they have finished with the drywall installation and are awaiting the 'screw' inspection so that they can tape & texture the interior of the garage next week.

The other huge change is that the gas and electric meters are now installed as well as the pressure tank for the water system (see below).  The good news for the construction crew is that the heat is now on and the slab is heated up to maybe 60 degrees which is a long way from the freezing cold they've had up to now.

To help out with the radiant heat that's now running, the insulation is now also installed on all interior and exterior walls as well as the ceilings.  This, of course, gives the house a much tighter feel and although the girls are bummed that they can't walk through walls anymore it's nice to see the flow of the space as it will be when it's done.  In the picture below you can also see the bathtub for one of the upstairs bathrooms that's been delivered and should be set in the next week or so.

Here's another shot of the insulation in the ceiling above the dining room as well as the wall that separates the upstairs guest room from the great room.  It was an 'option' to add all the interior insulation but we felt it was important for better soundproofing along w/ the 5/8 inch drywall instead of the 1/2 inch drywall that you see in a lot of homes.

Also completed this week was the heat tubing for the upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms.  In the picture below you can see the heat tubing in the guest suite upstairs.  On Wednesday, Greg will pour gypcrete over this heat tubing to provide a slab for the heat tubing to warm for the upstairs heat.

There has been additional progress on the siding as well - this picture below shows the back of the garage which now has the siding complete on the lower section as well as the cedar shake shingles up top.