Ten of the last 11 windows get framed.

The builders were supposed to put on the metal roof today. In fact, on Thursday they even warned me that they might come as early as 6 AM to get started.

But the weather didn’t cooperate. The usual work crew arrived without the roofing guys. It was just too damn windy. No one wants to be standing 30 feet above the ground holding a sheet metal sail.

So Angel and his crew went to work on framing the windows and doors to the deck for the second floor living area. With the floor in place, it was easy.

I was out most of the day. With the construction of the building shell nearing completion, it was time for me to get to work on the interior. The first step was the HVAC. I met with four contractors to talk about options and got promises for bids by Wednesday. I made some other stops, too, including a very nice lunch at a farm stand up the road from East Wenatchee.

When I got back, most of the windows had been framed. I watched them work on a few while doing some odd jobs around my property. They would have finished them all, but they ran out of lumber.

Later, after the builders had gone, I used the man-lift to go upstairs. (My friend Bob, who had come for dinner the night before, had shown me how to get the darn thing started and that was all I needed to make it my personal elevator.) I wandered around my future home, checking out the views from my future windows. I liked what I saw.

Here’s the view from the doorway of my future bedroom. There will be two 4×5 windows and a glass door leading out to a long deck.

In this shot, I’m standing right about where my stove/breakfast bar island will be in my future kitchen looking out across my future great room. This room will have eight 4×5 windows and a glass door leading out to the front deck.

Still later, as the sun was getting ready to set, I wandered out by where my helicopter was parked to take a photo from a different point of view. I realized that my home was really starting to look like a home.

Home is where the helicopter is.

Here’s the time-lapse video for the day:

A huge amount of work done.

I was out for a good portion of the work day, with a hair appointment in the morning and a meeting with the concierge at Cave B Estate Winery at lunchtime. While I was gone, the three-man work crew buzzed through piles of lumber, fitting them like puzzle pieces into the frame of my future home.

In looking at the time-lapse (below), I could clearly see the order in which the work was accomplished. First, they laid in the remaining beams for the second story floor. Then two men added girts to the front and back of the building while the third finished framing out the floor. They took a break for lunch and then the two continued adding girts, this time to the garage side of the building while the third man framed out the garage doors.

The “well-oiled machine” was working in peak form on Wednesday, framing floors, garage doors, and exterior walls.

They were almost done for the day when Tanya drove up. She wanted to review the window placement with me and Angel, the lead worker. We talked about it first, then walked around the building with Angel, who made notes in pencil right on the girts. It wasn’t until then that I realized my building would have 20 windows — not including the ones in the garage doors.

The next step will be framing the windows and getting the plywood on the second story floor. Once the windows are framed, they can be installed. Once the floor is finished, the stairs can be built. After the windows comes the metal roof and skin of the building — the metal was scheduled to be delivered the next day. The additional windows for the shop area would arrive Friday. Somewhere along the way, they’d add the poles for my front deck and put in the concrete pad. The garage doors would be last.

That’s my understanding of how the job would finish up. At this point, I’d say they’re more than halfway finished.

In 11 days.

Here’s the time-lapse for the day. I think this is one of the most interesting ones in a while. So much going on that its difficult to keep track of it all!

The roof is now fully framed.

On this tenth day of construction the crew of three guys mostly worked on the framing for the roof over the north-facing deck which will be just six feet wide but run the entire depth of the building — 48 feet. The final building will have decks on two sides, but the east-facing deck, which will be 10 x 24, won’t have a roof over it.

They framed out the roof over the north-facing deck. At this point, their roof framing work should be done.

The day started out nice enough, but soon got windy as thunderstorms rolled by on a northwest to southeast path, never quite going over us. I did hear loud thunder once, but never really saw the storm that it was advertising — it was south of me, beyond the cliffs.

I was out for a while, running errands in town, and when I got back a big truck was partially backed into my driveway. He’d just dropped off a load of roof insulation for the RV garage/shop side of the building. (The living space will have more substantial insulation.) Since he blocked my way in, I parked on the road. I chatted with him for a while about how great it is to live in the country — he lives in Cle Elum — before he got a phone call and then headed out for his next delivery an hour away.

One of the bonuses of this construction project is the scrap wood being left behind. The beams supporting the second floor, for example, are glulams (glued laminated timber), created by gluing together standard pieces of lumber. A few of them are made from 12 2x6s. The builder ordered them slightly longer than necessary and the workers trim them as they use them. When they trimmed for the second floor support, they left me with two nearly perfectly square blocks of wood suitable for making small “butcher block” tables. I’ve already researched ways to seal the wood to make it safe for use with food; I’ve got a woodworking friend who’ll put legs on them for me. This creative use of scrap wood has been a lot of fun for me; I’m really looking forward to setting up my tools in my shop to hone my skills and do projects like this on my own.

The builders made progress on the building, but it seems to be going more slowly now. I think it’s because the novelty of this construction project out my back window has worn off. Seeing the second story floor start to go in yesterday really energized me, but they did very little work on that today. I think it’s interesting to note that they moved their lunch area into the building’s footprint; I think it’s because they’re looking forward to the shade they’ll get when they put the floor in.

The front of the building, shot from the southeast corner.

There’s a good possibility that metal for the roof and sides will be delivered this Wednesday or Friday. With the insulation handy, once the roof metal comes there’s no reason why they can’t put on the roof. Got my fingers crossed!

Here’s the time-lapse for Day 10:

Interior is starting to come together.

My building will have a second floor over a four-car garage. This 24 x 48 foot space will be my home.

The builders who have been working on my place for the past two and a half weeks are providing a shell — an enclosed but otherwise empty space. The only things they’re doing for the upstairs living space are providing an unfinished (plywood) floor and stairs. They’ll also be installing the windows and doors, and providing the basic framing (but not the floor) for my deck space.

Once the floor is in place, I can begin getting bids from contractors to do the interior framing — in other words, build the interior structure of that living space. The framing needs to be done before I can move in and install the plumbing and electrical systems. So the completion of the second floor’s floor and stairs are a key milestone for moving forward with my living space.

Yesterday, they began work on the second story floor by installing two very thick laminated beams and then hanging the framing between them.

The second floor will be supported by a series of laminated beams like this one.

The laminated beams come from the lumber supplier a bit too long for the job. The workers had to trim them to size. The scrap piece from one of them is a serious block of wood that, with a little work, would make a nice butcher-block table. I’m thinking of fixing it up for just that purpose, perhaps for the east deck where I plan to put my BBQ grills.

Framing between the two big beams really gives the second floor some structure. I found myself getting really excited, knowing that before the end of the week, I’d be able to walk inside the upstairs space I’d soon be living in.

Angel, the lead worker, told me that Tanya from the office would be by on Tuesday or Wednesday to finalize the locations of each window. Throughout the planning process, windows have been a huge deal and I’m happy that they’re as serious as I am about getting them just right.

The crew also prepped some other beams with hangers, getting a head start on the work they’d do the next day.

Here’s the time-lapse video: