4-Letter Words

In the process of building a house, or at least the process of watching a house get built, you say a lot of them. Some in anger, some in amazement, some in joy, some in confusion.

We had one four letter word instance when someone took a [four letter word] on our site because the port-a-john was locked up except for workers. Joy!

Some people have asked us if our marriage is surviving this craziness. That it is such a strain on life in general that we can't possibly be getting on as usual. This has not really been the case. We still get along fine. We still talk to each other in sensible tones (or at least the same loud tones we would normally). We still say "I love you" and kiss each other. We still go out and pay bills and watch TV and all the usual stuff. For us it's more about counting down. Counting down to the day when we are out of the apartment and on to our next big adventure. As the pieces come together more, it's starting to look like something. Something familiar to us because we've already drawn it on paper. When the slab was in, we were looking forward to framing, when the framing was far along, we wanted insulation, when that went up, we want doors, and a roof, and plumbing, and appliances, and drywall. Is it impatience? Greed? A lack of happiness? Nope, just good old fashioned excitement!


Actually most of the 4-letter words we use now are DOOR, and FOAM, and WIRE, and PIPE. As you can see from the pictures, these are much more worthy of shouting out. You can do it at home while you browse.

Another word - WRAP (as in Tyvek)











Back of the house in mid-FOAM

BATH! (well, shower actually)



PIPE!









This was different 4-letter word

(Oops, I put a pipe in the wrong place in the concrete floor)

Good Friday

Is it right and proper to wish someone a Happy Good Friday? I'm not sure. It doesn't seem right to say happy since today is a day to remember a sad event. Jesus died today. But, since the story was not finished (even though Jesus did say "it is finished"). I think what he meant was "Act 1 is finished". We are now, like then, about to end Act 1 and head into intermission. Act 2 is coming up on Sunday morning. We anticipate Act 2 because that's when the miracle happens. Jesus rose again!

So I say Happy Good Friday! You are in for a real treat in Act 2, and even I don't know what's going to happen in Act 3, but I hear it's heavenly!!

So, anyway...here's this week's progress on the house.

Raising the Roof!

Floors and walls are nice, don't get me wrong, but what really gets you feeling like you have a roof over your head is to, well.... have a roof over your head. We finally started raising the roof or at least we stood by interested as others raised our roof into place. Lots more has happened since the last post. We now have all our second floor walls and all our roof trusses and even some roof deck. For the laymen (and women) out there, that's all that plywood they stack on top of the roof trusses before they cover it up with shingles. At least that's what MOST people do. We, on the other hand are roofing snobs and prefer a more lasting and sustainable roofing product like METAL! That is coming soon, as is plumbing, and doors, and windows, and electricity. Oh, it boggles the mind to think of such things. Lets just concentrate on what we have now though and not get too far ahead of ourselves. Enjoy the home stretch of the framing marathon.

Thank goodness for cranes.
A look up into the future bonus room.


Trusses as art.
Look, it's a house!











A look down the main hallway.












The whole back of our house is held up by this one stud.
O, Brave Lura!
(The real stud is actually taking the picture)

Stairway to Heaven

Yep, obviously we have some stairs now, so the second floor is now accessible to us. Framing is wildly underway and there has been a lot of progress since the last floor truss pictures. We can see the shapes and sizes of all the rooms and we are starting to understand the ramifications of what it is we do as architects. We draw lines and they become walls and we now we have to live with them. Although we are making a few changes as we go. Ryan Gleaves, our super, still thinks we are okay to work with (as architects go!). Speaking of Ryan, if you look down below, you'll see Ryan, Lura and Clyde Rector (our builder) standing in Lura's future office. Also pictured are Lura's brother Tom and his wife Ann. They didn't make it to the ground-breaking ceremonies, so we had a late birthday (Ann's and Lura's mom) celebration on the second floor of our house on Saturday. We had wine and snacks and looked out over the city and our neighborhood and enjoyed the lovely spring weather. Tomorrow we are expecting roof trusses! Now that will be excited!

Movin' On Up

...to the east side!! Actually we are kind of moving from the east side to the northwest side. Anyway. I know I should be posting more often. Especially since framing has started now and things are moving more quickly than they have been. Maybe that's why I have been slack, because things are moving too fast for me now. Well, that and the fact that I have been working like a fiend lately. Well, now I am ready to share some visions of lumber with you. Visions of trusses, and headers, and joists, and beams and columns. In case you don't understand these terms, I will show you these pictures, which are supposedly worth a thousand words. To us, they are worth about a million.














Never noticed how artistic floor trusses could be...

The Other Side

For every exciting moment which is happening on Stone Avenue, there are three or four more unimpressive, frustrating, and boring moments happening at the current Godfrey residence on Pelham Rd. Before framing starts tomorrow (!) on W. Stone, I thought I would give you a glimpse into our current living situation. The walls are starting to close in as we are hoarding building materials, among other things, in our little apartment. Have a look. Boy, a new house can't come quick enough.

Bamboo flooring (32 cases!), carpet tiles, and other assorted appliances, plumbing fixtures, lighting and ceiling fans - these are all part of the decor. At least the boxes are colorful (bright side, anyone?) Also below are pictures of our extra "bedrooms". How would you like to sleep here??

First Floor....Ladies Lingerie

Actually there is no ladies lingerie, at least not yet, but I got your attention! Well, the pourings (yep there were more than one) are over and the verdict is in, we really do have a slab now. It is really beautiful, for a hunk of concrete. Day one was all about the main floor slab and the side and back patios. Day two, they came back and filled in the garage slab. We were originally supposed to begin framing earlier in the week, but due to a couple of hangups, it won't be until Monday. I have been remiss in posting for the last few days, so I am going to overwhelm you with photos. Here's a quick rundown of what will forever be known as SLAB WEEK!

1) a quick view of some of the patio formwork
2) all the plastic's down
3) Workers! They install the perimiter slab insulation
4) More Workers! and a big concrete truck!
5) Smoothed out and drying
6) A little personal touch at the front entry
7) a look at the whole slab - basically dry
8) Lura standing at our future front door
9) Me posing on the slab not too long after the pour

Stay tuned for 2x4's and trusses. Monday! Monday! Monday!