No Pictures...just an update!

Sorry we don't have any new and exciting pictures this week although there was a lot of work being done when it was not snowing! I spoke to Jim, the project superintendent about the progress. We are one step away from the plumbing inspection being complete. The electrical and HVAC inspections are Monday. Once we have those in place they are hoping to have the insulators in by the end of the week. Drywall will be delivered this week too and that should start the following week.

On the outside, our siding above the brick will be going up Monday and Tuesday. It will really look cool once that all goes up. The exterior will be near complete except for the front porch area.

We will have many pictures to share this week so keep looking!

The basement decision

So the big decision we have been dealing with the last few weeks is do we finish the basement now or do it ourselves later (like at our last house). Well as you can see in the video above, we have decided to move forward with framing out the basement and getting the rough in work done. Having the experts do it right away will save us time and probably money in the long run. The video starts at the base of the stairs showing the open area, works towards the bathroom then down the hall and to the right is the bedroom.

The plan is to have a open space, most likely for the kids toys, two storage areas, a bathroom with shower, and another bedroom. This will serve as the guest suite for our visitors until John gets sick of sharing a bathroom with his sister 10 years from now. Our original plan had us using a murphy bed in the study for our guests. We still love this idea and plan on adding one in the future but for the money, adding the square footage in the basement is a better idea.

Are you Sick of our Brick Yet?

Well, too bad if you are - we aren't!

More pictures for you to enjoy. The brickwork is now finished - at least until the stairs for the front porch are complete. Once the stairs are up, they can finish bricking the bottom of the porch.

Think warm thoughts!!!! Have a great day everyone.

Weather hasn't allowed for much else lately - but the electricians are staying busy, and I believe we're doing a good job of keeping Jason Stone (principal at Sage) pretty darned busy... Poor fella.

Anyway, enjoy this morning's pictures!

And on the inside...

We keep putting pictures of the master shower, showing the rough in work. It looks like all the valves have been installed on the second floor. What some of you may notice is the piping is mostly not traditional copper or PVC. The "green" alternative is PEX water supply pipes. If you are interested in many of the "green" aspects of PEX check out this link, http://jobsite.buildiq.com/articles/greener-building/pex-plumbing-green.aspx .

This may make my plumber father roll around in his grave but this is the way of the future. Besides the potential benefits listed in the article, it is quicker to install since the lines are flexible.

A couple of guys came while I was there to start sealing the building envelope with spray foam insulation around the windows, and caulk around exterior outlets and at the wall/floor joint. Doing this is one easy way to save energy in heating and cooling the home. I found some interesting studies on line (the scientist in me I guess). The Department of Energy states that up to 40% of heating and cooling costs are due to air infiltration in the building envelope. A recent NAHB study (1997) showed that a good caulk-and-seal (foam-and-seal) package reduces annual heating and cooling costs from $150 - $300, on average. Also check out this pdf from energy star, http://www.energystar.gov/ia/new_homes/features/AirSealing1-17-01.pdf .

Finally, the electricians are about done on the second floor running the wire and installing the recessed lighting. They are planning on doing the first floor next week.

Finished Brick Pics- at least the garage

Here are a couple of shots showing the finished brick on the back of the garage. The crew was hard at work on the North side of the house Friday. It looks like it will be about another week until they are done.

Brick, Plumbing, Garage...

Another hijacking by Amanda...

Thank goodness for space heaters, as they are allowing our brick crew to work diligently in warmth rather than the 32-degree elements. They are doing a fantastic job! We visited the site during lunch today and snapped these shots. As you can see, the back wall of the home is now completed - they just need to go back in with the grout. We're thrilled with the results - I'm no expert, but I can't tell the difference between regular-thickness brick and this thin-brick product. It looks beautiful, and I particularly love the detail around the windows. They will also add a cement sill under each window as well. Here's their set-up - you can see how they are staying warm!! Probably not the "greenest" aspect of our project...

"We" (and I use that term very loosely) are also making great progress on electrical and plumbing. Here, you'll see that they've plumbed for the tub in Teagan & John's Jack-n-Jill bath, and they've also plumbed for the pimp shower in the master bath. The shower is ridiculously huge, but it is being fitted with low-flow body jets and shower heads - so we're keepin' it green as much as possible. That's a bench where all the tools are...

I can't say enough about the crew - they all seem fantastic, professional, and like they are actually having fun. They actually care about the project and ask us things like - did we place the can light in the right spot? I didn't even know I could have an opinion on such things! Lovely to see. Kudos to Sage and to all the subs!!! Can you tell I'm excited?

And one last thing... the garage floor! Hooray!

The brick is going up!

Happy new year to everyone! We hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday season.

Have not posted in a while due to the holidays but that does not mean things around the green bungalow were not being done. Our brick is being put on this week. I went out today to see a small sample of what it was going to look like before they went crazy and set a ton of bricks. Above is a shot at the back corner of the garage.

This is a shot from straight on. We went with a older looking brick to try and fit in with the surrounding homes. What you may notice in the first picture is the brick is real thin. Let me assure you it is not a fake brick product. It is brick...just 1/3 the thickness. This makes it more green than standard brick for a couple of reasons. First, it does not take as much material (obviously) to make the brick as a standard brick. Second, since the brick is thinner it takes less energy to make (when they fire the brick to harden- I read somewhere that it takes 1000BTU to harden a thin brick vs. 4000BTU for a standard one) and less energy to transport because they weigh less. It goes on like cultured stone and has the same kind of mortar between bricks that a standard brick has.

Our fireplace was also set over the holidays. I can see Santa fitting in there next year!

Check back again soon for more pics of how the brick is looking!