Our New House Update #4

I can't believe it's been nearly a month since my last House Update!  Let's just say a lot has happened since then...we're just about finished with the second major milestone of the project: Framing!

We officially started framing on Wednesday 4/25...



4/25/12

 ...and by the time we got home from work on Thursday, the framing crew had finished the entire first floor!  It was amazing! 

4/26/12

We left the next day (Friday) for Kathryn's wedding...but our guys kept working...and when Nate got back to Ocean City on Sunday they were already up to the second floor!

4/29/12

I spent the entire next week in Yardley, PA watching Patrick, so I had to rely on Nate to send me picture updates of the house while I was gone...  Unfortunately, he didn't send one (!!!)

Buuttttttttttttt, this is what the house looked like when I got home to Ocean City the following weekend!!  I was so excited to get home to see it, and I couldn't believe how much got done while I was gone!

5/6/12

View from the 3rd floor...
5/6/12

Then we had some rain...and our framers lost some steam (aka didn't show up a few days...) as they began working on the 3rd floor and roof...  But Nate laid down the law and told those framers to be there, rain or shine!

5/10/12

Last week, the front of the house really began to take shape.  It's starting to look a lot more like the architectural plans, dont ya think?!

  

5/16/12

Our windows went in on Friday...

5/18/12

...as well as the first floor stairs (but not the second floor stairs...see below)!

5/19/12

And on Saturday, I got to play foreman in the morning and went with the framers to the lumberyard to buy some extra supplies to start our front decks! 

5/19/12

Of course Nate took over when he got home...that's him in the black t-shirt on top of that crane!  (So brave!)

5/19/12

And him again giving instructions to the head of the framing crew....

5/19/12

As I mentioned, the second floor stairs (that lead up to the top floor) have yet to be installed.  This wasn't a problem at first because we just used ladders.  But since they finished framing the roofs are ceilings, I haven't been able to get up to the third floor (and enjoy the amazing view)!

Yesterday, we really needed to finish laying out our master bedroom...and drop of some more materials.  So, guess who got her first ride up on the big yellow machine?!  ME!  I think this is a testament as to how much I trust my husband...and how much my husband trusts himself! 



Driver Nate!
5/20/12



He is yelling at me to hold on and stop taking pictures...
5/20/12



Made it safely to the 3rd floor
5/20/12


This is how Nate got upstairs...

5/20/12

For me, this has been the most exciting part of building so far as we have literally watched our lot transform from a pile of dirt with some pilings / concrete into the shape of an actual house!  I was really having a hard time visualizing the house (even with the architectural drawings) based off of the foundation only...  And it looked so small!!!  Even though Nate kept assuring me "houses look bigger and bigger as they are built", I didn't believe him until I saw the house all framed up for myself.

Our roof will be going on this week - pushed back from an initial time frame of last week...but such is construction!  And then the exterior - siding, decks, columns, stucco, etc. should be started next week!

Meanwhile, we're busy designing the kitchen (!!!) but having a hard time deciding compromising on the right cabinet!  Wish us luck!

xoxo