Sorry I have not updated the blog recently. My motivation evaporated when my wife got sick in July then died in Octoter of an agressive form of ovarian cancer.

The outside stairs to the balcony were done according to the plan. Unfortunately they will not pass code due to low headroom from the landing to the eave. An alternate (an expensive) option is to install a spiral staircase. I opt to remove them and have no stairs to the balcony.

The grass is planted and gutters installed.

Garage doors installed. This was my first garage door project. the instructions said it should take about 10 hours. The first door took 30 hours but the second took 10. The kit included everything but the hardware for the back hangars. I chose too light of angle iron material and it bent so had to be replaced.

Finish grade has a swale to direct runoff from the septic mound around to the front of the house.

Staining. Four 5 gallon buckets of stain/preservative were estimated by the supplier. One and one half buckets were used. I will be able to apply a second coat next year but bought $500 too much.

Applying window and door trim. Blocks fill the void made by the chinking groove and calk is applied to seal each groove. An angle is cut on each horizontal piece to allow rain to run off.

Inside framing is done. This is the upstairs bedroom closet.

I bought a generator because the electric company said it may be a month before construction power would be installed. In fact power was installed a week later. A few months later the generator was stolen.

This was my first attempt at building stairs. I bought an Excel application to calculate the layout. A skilled carpenter can build a staircase in 1 day. It took me 2 weeks but I am pleased with the results.

Septic installation is almost done. Mound is bigger than expected and closer to the house than expected.

Karen's sister Shar, her husband Gary, and Karen's Aunt and uncle, Charlotte and Roger, spent a few days and brought a present a 1 hp well pump.

Roger has some experience installing wells so I rounded up the materials and we installed it. Produces 16GPM for several hours.

Framing for the upstairs bathroom is complicated by many angles.

The basement stair door finally arrived so we don't need to worry about coons and bears moving in.

Annette and John my sister and brother-in-law spent several days of their vacation helping.

The top of the log wall is horizontal and the cieling meets it at one point. This space must be caulked insulated and covered. We cut 100 pieces with an angle at the top and the right height to cover the space between the top of the log wall and the ceiling.

Here is the space before calking is done. Light can be seen through the crack.

This is the stair landing. There will be 3 steps up to the landing. You can see the stair nose on the left side of the landing. The stair will then turn to the right and have 11 more steps to the loft.

We measured carfully for the stairs and discovered that the loft that makes the top step is not level by about 1/4 inch over 3 feet. We will need to adjust the stairs to bring them off level in several steps

The roof is finally complete. The weather broke it is 55 degrees. I hope it got warm enough to seal the shingles.

There is a sea of mud around the house about 6 inches thick. Under that the soil is frozen. Since the finish grading is not done yet water is channeled into the outside stairs to the basement. The basement now contains the electrical box so flooding would be a setback. I need to power on and a sump pump running.

Across the street is a vacation home of a Russian/American family from Staten Island, Micheal and Fieana. They are very frendly and welcoming to the neighborhood. The other neighbor is Kim an employee of the Home owners Association (HOA). She is the HOA Nazi. She calls security if my contractors are onsite at 5:01PM. According to the rules they must be gone by 5:00. When I win the lottery I will buy her house and stage an impressive building implosion.

The electrical service has passed inspection. Now we need to get the power company to set the meter and run their wires in the undergound conduit to the transformer then we will have constuction power. However, there is a load restriction of 20,000 lb on the privtate roads of the subdivision till Apr 15. the power company says it does not apply to them. They want to come within a week. The HOA says $1000 fine for violation of this rule.

A wire needed to be run from the outlet box near the front door to where the ceiling fan will be on the ridge beam. I drilled a hole in the ridge then pushed a wire through. I pulled it along the ridge and down through the front gable which is frame and log siding. Below the gable the logs were drilled for the wire.

Here is the view from the front balcony above the front door.

Roof sheathing is complete but shingles are not yet installed. Underground electric service was installed. The box in the basement has 1 breaker for 2 outlets for construction power. I will be able to run the rough electric myself.

To get power to the loft outlets I routed a groove in a beam above the first floor bedroom to a groove in the log wall where the loft floor will insert.

A tunnel between the loft and the future bedroom over the garage and a dormer that will contain the upstairs bathroom.

Two windows above the garage, 2 skylights are not yet installed but onsite. A small window in the downstairs bedroom is still on order and will not be delivered for 2 weeks.

The garage is partially framed. The rafters are cut but not yet erected. The carpenter hoped to get the roof on but the window of good weather was too short. He took the tarps off then put them back.

Here is the skylight which will be in the upstairs bedroom. The window unit was back ordered. Not on site yet.

The only roof is Tounge and groove 1X8. This will be what you see from inside. on top of that will be foam insulation and the sheathing and shingles.

Sheathing is on the gable end. Next will be log siding then the windows can go in. These windows face Northwest and let in a lot of snow.

The missing pieces are still missing but the builder cut down a spare beam to make the missing peices and continue with the cieling 1X8's which go above the perlins. The cieling is 90% complete but the forcast is for sleet and freezing rain tomorrow. We bought some tarps to cover the cieling and open area where the tunnel to the space above the garage will be. The builder did not think tarping was necessary and left at 3:30 to beat the storm home.

The well was started and finished today. They hit water at 150ft but continued to 240ft. While I was watching the drill advanced about 1ft per minute.

Superior Wall also came to change the garage door openings in the foundation. The ground was frozen so a trench could not be dug to allow them to make the horizontal cuts. The vertical cuts were made which will allow the builder to put up the wall with the doors. Later when the ground thaws the horizontal cuts can be made and reinforcements replacing the once cut out will be poured.

We tarped the roof which is only the 1X8 boards that will be the cieling. This will avoid staining an warping of the cieling boards. Above the cieling will be sip foam boards, osb sheathing and shingles. If the weatherman is correct we will have a major ice storm and the builder will not return tomorrow.

Some timbers are missing for the "tunnel". This is the opening between the loft and the space above the garage. The contractor will pick up the missing material Tuesday. 1/6/09. Because the log siding is 1.5" thick the gable walls are offset from the logs to allow the siding to match the outside log surface. This will leave a 2" offset inside between the drywall and the inside of the log surface. The contractor recommends bolting a timber to the inside at the loft level and framing outward with 2X material.

The landing for the loft is in place.

The trusses are in place and the gable stud walls are done. There are several timbers above the trusses that fill the gap between the perlins (beams that go from front to back). After that the inner surface of the cathederal ceiling will go on the perlins. Then foam insulation. Then roof sheathing and shingles.