Construction Update November 12 to 19, 2011

This morning we awoke to a skiff of snow on the ground!

I guess because we are about 600 feet above sea level, we get some snow that would not stay even a hundred or two feet lower.  Our temps rose to over 8 degrees C. this afternoon... so a lot of the snow melted.

The early morning sunshine and snow on the pampas grass.

"A day without sunshine is like, you know, night." -Steve Martin

It is good to see so much of the roofing getting done.  This shot taken out of the side dormer window looking back to the peak.

Out of the same dormer window this shows the loft roof done... and the old shake roof on the living room and bedroom.  This is the last shot before it got torn off and replaced with new standing seam metal panels.

While Lance and his boys tore off those old shingles....

Brendan and I set up our longest ladder and Lance's long extension ladder to install the facia boards on this most difficult side of the house.  Monday was Brendan's last day working here so I tried to get everything done where I needed his help.

This is what this side looks like with the facia boards on.  I still have a narrow top board to do on the top of the dormer facia... but I will do that tomorrow if the roof is dry enough to walk on it.

Looking back from Deck Three the new dormer plywood exterior stands out.  Once the windows are in and they are trimmed with white boards it will blend in with the rest of the place.

This is likely the last photo of this part of the roof before the shakes got torn off.

Brant is flashing around our new skylights that will be over our master bedroom.  This wonderful idea provides beautiful daylight in our formerly dark bedroom.

On Friday afternoon I removed the insulation inside the skylight curb and cut thru the drywall.  Shirley was on ladder in the bedroom to catch the 22" x 46" piece of drywall so it didn't fall on the floor or the bed.

We will finish these off with drywall and paint them when we do our new closet... hopefully we can fast track this so we get it done before Christmas.  Our new mid-term goal is to get the pantry and the closet finished ahead of the studio... so we can get our house back to normal as soon as possible.

Lance was a little reluctant about tearing off this side of the roof on Friday... the clouds around were dark and unpredictable.  But once they decided to do it I was amazed at how quickly this crew tore off the old shakes and had it cleaned up ready for the Titanium underlay and metal panels.

I was on the phone when I looked out the window Friday afternoon and saw these huge snowflakes falling out of the sky.  By the time I could finish the phone call and went out to take this picture all the guys were off the roof... and the roof was papered.  

The snowstorm only lasted 20-30 minutes and soon after the guys were back up there putting metal panels of roofing in place... they got a good start on this section.

Coming in after shooting some snow photos the morning sun was on this yellow hibiscus.  Sad the blossom only lasts a day.

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." -Dr. Seuss