Framing Progress - December 5th Update

The crew is moving along pretty good considering the 12" of snow that have fallen since last Saturday, December 1st. Attached are pictures of the progress since the last posting following the framing on the 1st level just a week ago. Even with the snow, they've framed the 2nd floor and have the majority of the roof trusses completed. The plans are to lay plywood for the roof on Thursday with intentions of getting the furnace fired up in the house early next week to start warming things to continue. We'll just sit back and watch the gas bill - not a typical December, but of course this is how Minnesota winters used to be 20+ years ago. Enjoy the pictures...we even have some candid photos of the crew along with Stephen getting his truck and new trailer stuck on Tuesday.


This first set of pictures is following the first snow of the season on Saturday. In addition a couple pictures of the garage/guest house following the metal roof installation and glass door installation earlier in the week.

Pictures taken on Tuesday, December 4th - as you can the 2nd floor is coming along. This is the south side of the house below.

Back side of the house - river side (north)

Below is the 2nd floor looking to the east or the west side of the house.

Our bedroom area, bathroom, mechanical room area and entry from garage.

The crew of Todd, Kevin and Stephen.

Pictures of Stephen getting stuck on Tuesday and finally getting pulled out:

Roof trusses started on Wednesday, December 5th:

Looking out to the east and south of the main living area of the house.

Framing Started on House - November 29th

The framing on the house has started, pictures from today:

Thanksgiving Weekend - 2007

Today is Saturday, November 24th and everyone is working today except for me! However, I did spend about 2 hours outside cutting down some trees on the river side prior to the house framing starting. This way, I don't have to worry about which direction they fall and a few of them fell in the direction of the new house location. Spending a couple of hours on the chainsaw isn't like it used to be back many years ago when we cleared the lot for our house in Wisconsin Rapids....this is definitely hard work. I believe that for the most part, all the trees that Shelly would like down have been done. Now, I just have to cut them up into fireplace size logs for future use in the new house.

We've enjoyed having Aaron home over the holidays and I will take him back to Gustavus tomorrow afternoon. Here are some pictures of Aaron at home.

As you can see our animals are getting situated and comfortable with their new living quarters in the guest house/garage.

Here are a few pictures from this afternoon showing the completed foundation of the new house.

Foundation on west end - our bedroom area.

Foundation looking east along the southern side of the house.

Porch area and entry to the new house.

Foundation for the fireplace.

Foundation on the east side of house - screen porch location.

This will be the view from our living and dining area.


This will be the view from the kitchen area.



This will be the view from our bedroom area.

Frost Footings and Foundation Begins

It's been a busy week and I apologize for not posting sooner. First off, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Enjoy this time of the year with family and friends.

Here is what has taken place starting with last Friday - pictures of the frost footings prior to us going over to Wisconsin Rapids for the weekend to visit our friends the Pearls. We also have pictures of our time visiting with them as we enjoyed the weekend back in Wisconsin - it's hard to believe that we hadn't been back since July of 2006.

Looking east towards the barn.

Looking back towards the west over the site.

These foundations are at grade level and will be where the stairs go to the 2nd floor.

Looking back over the site to the south.

Weekend in Wisconsin Rapids with Jeff, AJ and Gretchen.

The pictures below are ones that Shelly took on Tuesday, November 20th upon arriving home with Aaron from Gustavus.

I will take some pictures over the course of the next few days and post later as they've completed the foundations, insulation, waterproofing, electrical, water and gas runs. The plan is to backfill on Monday or Tuesday, then start framing and it looks like next week will hold out with good weather in the 40's. So, by the end of next week, the basic framed structure of the house should be in place.