The hearth is the heart of the home.

I met Corey on site and while there, the cement truck arrived to pour the hearth of our home. Exciting stuff.

The hearth is ready to be poured.

The first drops of cement off the truck.

It is game on!A tedious process.Making it look nice.3rd floor will have to be carried by buckets.

The garage doors are built.

PGE has put in the power underground.

Taping and mudding is starting, but all the sheetrock wasn't yet in.

Another week of progress...

Although it seems slow at times, there is always a lot of things happening. Some small, some big. Here is the latest:

Sheetrock out in the garage.

And the training room.

And the house itself.

More siding going up all the time. It is a very large box, but a nice looking one.

Starting to look like a house.

Well, after being out of town for over a week, I always assume there will be BIG changes. After my last out of town, it was nothing too visible, so I even forgot to post it. Granted, I was only home for less than a week before leaving again, so today I went over, and WOW! It looked like a house. Or a finished house. I had some reservations on the siding color after a decision was made while I was out of town via pictures, but it looks great. Check it out...

I think Scott likes it too and I think both Corey and Scott are glad I like it.

The color is pretty yummy. I like it a lot.The first floor ceiling will be the same color.

But the question remains if we should stick with the original plan and do the third floor ceiling too or leave it light. Very mixed reviews on this one. Any one else want to voice an opinion???The temporary platform has been moved and the double heighted ceiling really shows.I still marvel at the windows.Temporary stairs are now relocated so the final ones can be worked on. Pretty cool.This will eventually take you to the roof top deck.

Visible Changes...

Although it would seem progress has been slow, a lot has been done. It just isn't as visible. But we will start seeing a lot of changes fast once again. Our move in date is definitely no longer in the sunny, dry late summer/early fall months. We are told to maybe plan on Turkey in the new house. Ouch. Right in the middle of cyclocross season.

The foam insulation was blown in. This place is air tight.

My younger sister Cathy was out for a visit and a tour last week.

The front pivot door is amazing. It was supposed to be opaque, but I think I will leave it clear. I got to see how it was going to work today.

The rear accordion door is AMAZING!!!

The skylight has also been installed. Check out the blue sky today!!!

Not much to report...

The progress is still moving along, but it is just not as visible. All the stuff is being put in the walls before insulation, the fireplaces are in place, they put in a few more windows. The big thing happening right now is the floors are being polished. We are having exposed cement floors on the main floor and they are taking off the top layer to expose the rock in it and make it really smooth. This kind of gives you the idea:

The chainring idea in the garage is proving a bit challenging. But it is just a garage, right?

Fireplaces are in place.

Lot's of activity and lots of decisions...

It is crazy how fast things seem to be moving now. They told me this would happen and it is true! Lots of decisions to make and things change daily. A delay in decisions could mean a delay in completion. Working on security system stuff, audio/video, lighting decisions, tile, etc. WHEW! This IS a full time job! It is lucky I am home for a bit so I can get stuff done and watch the rapid progress!

Windows going in every day.

From the north on 29th.

From the south.

Plumbing, electric, etc. all going in at once. Flurry of activity.

Green roof is not yet 'green'. Looking down on the garage/work out area.

When you see things like this it makes it all seem so real. Guest bathroom tub.

It's hard to capture how high the ceilings look. It is a massive space.

Tim is still in awe of his views. This is only from the second floor. Massive slider for a window.

The basement is a mess of wires, pipes, etc. Good thing we have a basement to hide all of this stuff.

After three weeks of being gone...

One of the first things I do is go check out the house. It was fun to see so much progress. Granted, it doesn't show so much on the outside, but they have been busy!

The windows happen to arrive right when I got there. They were late, but this is only the first 30% or so of them. We have LOTS of windows.

Everything is roughed in, so walking through I could see all the spaces a bit better. View from the rear.

Rough stairs to basement.

Lot's of electrical and plumbing is in.

As well as the radiant heat piping.

The main floor cement is poured, but covered by wood to keep 'clean'.

Holy house! I am always a bit overwhelmed after being there.

Evidence of plumbing.

You can see the structure for the fireplace. And wires everywhere in the walls.