First snow this season

Four fabulous views with season changes

Roof work is about done

Two shots of the great room, one with Cole

More view of the house

Above is a pretty good sunset!

The photo below looks at the house from the north east, toward the southwest. Weber canyon is just off the right hand side of the photo.

Framing continues

A new view, from the west looking east from the airport

Portch roof nears completion

The eves have 2X10's instead of the standard 2X4's which create a deeper soffit and allows for more ventalation in the attic.

Seismic brackets

You have too look carefully but there is a metal bracket that secures each truss with the wall header. The bottom part of the wall is attached to the concrete foundation with bolts as well as similar straps.

This is for seismic (earthquake) precautions. They use the same ones for hurricane protection in Florida. I wonder if they even use nails in New Orleans?

Progress continues

The roof trusses are almost complete.

The wood pile in front of the house is getting smaller. I expect to see a bill for the lumber any day now!!

Garage Framing nears completion

The Beams go up

A great view of the future hallway, framed by the huge beams.

Below the photo shows the horizontal beams and roof support

Close up of beams

The big beams arrive

The big beams arrived from Idaho. Specifically north of Driggs Idaho, on the western slope of the Grand Tetons. The beams came from trees that were killed in a forest fire in 1998, They are called dead standing trees because they are dead and they are still standing (go figure). The trees are cut down, taken to the mill and cut to our specifications. the key to the process is that they are already dry. The moisture content of the beams is 7-9 percent. Most new beams run about 40% moisture content, which means that when they dry (this takes a couple of years inside a house) they warp and crack. Our beams won't crack or warp because they won't dry out any more. Actually, since most houses in Utah have a moisture content of just below 20% these beams will absorb water instead of dry out. The beams are 12" by 12" and they are 20' long. Awesome!!!

More framing

Another view from the north, looking south

A new view from the east, looking west

The east side is a two car garage and a one car garage

Various views of the trusses

This phot and the one above show the west side of the house with the covered deck

Roof Tursses start going up

First rock retaining wall

This wall is adjacent to the covered portch and will give us the correct slope to build a set of stairs outside from the upper lever to the lower level.

Also, we no longer refer to the property as a lot. We now call it the house!!!

The roof trusses start going up on Monday.

Deck going in

The support structure apparently will hold half the universe. At the base of each column, which are 18" in diameter and 6 feet tall, is a four foot base of concrete and rebar .

View of the back of the house

You can finally see the house taking shape from afar. This picture is taken from a street about 1000' north of the house

Notice all the fresh dirt, partially graded

Front window well is complete

More dirt work

Work progresses

The backfill is almost complete. This is the basement garage door

The roof trusses have arrived