BlueSky – January 24 – February 3, 2012 – Framing, Dry Roofing and house wrap

Snow from January 23

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It snowed January 23, 2012 a lot, it had snowed all night. We shoveled snow off of the roof, the snow was about 14 inches deep. Started framing the rest of the master bedroom walls and filling in the moment frames. Built the rest of the exterior walls in the master bedroom and started sheeting them. Cut out all the doors and windows in the arches and started framing the post drops on the porches. Roofer started Dry sheeting and finished, now we can keep the project dry! Framed the inside of the interior arches and entry door. Set all the thresholds for entry doors, the plates had to be planed down to the thickness of the marble floors. Had the sheer wall inspection and passed, started installing the house wrap. Finished building the stairs.

BlueSky – January 7-20, 2012 – Master Bedroom Roof System

Master Bedroom Truss Delivery

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Cove Mountain Electric was on site working on the rough electrical in the mechanical garage. Finished the roof over the great room and dining area. Worked a lot on the master bedroom; framed some of the toughest walls to work with, Received and set the trusses, finished sheeting the roof and started working on the overbuild. Also installed the steel posts on the master bedroom deck. A roof inspection will also take place next week and the roofer should start next week to dry the roof in. Fantastic week with beautiful weather!

BlueSky – January 2-6, 2012 – More Framing

Dining Windows

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Everyone was happy to be back at work after the holiday season, and jumped back into framing.  Through the week the following was completed on the framing of the home; the roof over the entry, dropped the ceilings in the guest bedroom closets, renailed all the shear sheeting, cut out 1/3 of the doors and windows, worked on the front arched windows, set floor trusses for the master suite, sheathed and painted the master suite floor and started building the difficult interior staircase. Dixieline Contracting finished the rough in of the solar system.  Authority Heating and Cooling finished the rough in of the ventilation system.   Fantastic week!

BlueSky – December 10-23, 2011 – More Framing, Solar Power Panel Trusses

Roof over Guest bedrooms

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Dixieline Contracting was on site working in the mechanical garage, placeing and bolting the trusses for the solar power panels.  Kimco installed the sprinkler system in the detached mechanical garage.  A lot was accomplished on the framing; framed and sheathed the roof over the guest bedrooms, framed the interior walls of the guest bedrooms, recieved and welded in place all moment frames, set one steel post in center of room, another steel post under the front porch and entrance, framed in the big living room window and set the steel beam brackets, set the first LVL rafters over the stairs and placed the post and beam that hold the 560 TJI trusses, started sheathing the master bedroom floor, set all the twist truss hold downs and strong ties in the guest bedroom walls, installed roof rafters over the main staircase, set the fascia and started to sheath the roof.  The water tank ran out and had to turn on the pump to fill the tank, it was fast!  Cleaned up the job to head home for the Holidays!

BlueSky – November 26 thru December 9, 2011 – Framing

Framing walls

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Started using the crane for framing and got a lot done, including walls for guest bedrooms, tall shear wall, joists for deck, electrical walls in mechanical room, master suite deck, sheathing on shear wall, interior walls on main level and drops in mechanical room.  All of the trusses were set except for those that rest on the steel moment frames.  Templates for the moment frames were built and sent to the welder.  The cold weather caused some problems with the generator and crane wanting to start, but got them both going without too much delay.  Justin Hill ran gas lines and heating lines in the mechanical garage.  DJ the electrician, started roughing in some wiring to the home.  George Udvary brought the first solar panel frames and started welding brackets to the sonatube footings.  The layout of the mechanical garage was determined between the HVAC contractor, plumber, electrician and solar power system.  Also, measured for the fire protection sprinkler system.  The project is really looking GREAT!

BlueSky – November 12-25, 2011 – Framing Exterior Walls, Finish Retaining


Wildlife spotted on site

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Ron Price and his guys completed the ditches behind the retaining wall, placing erosion mats and seeding the disturbed areas. They also graded the septic tank drain field and planted seed. The engineer approved the drainage behind the retaining. The cap stones arrived and Josh Buck’s guys installed them on the retaining wall to give it a finished look. DJ the electrician, was on site wiring the mechanical garage. Framing moved along too, with more exterior walls completed and painted the guest bedroom subfloor. The GeoSystems finished testing the Geothermal system and hooked up all the pipes.

BlueSky – October 29 thru November 11, 2011 – Start Framing, Still Retaining


Setting Joists

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The retaining is getting close to completion. Worked on the upper levels of retaining and Ron Price was on site backfilling behind the wall with gravel, sand, roadbase and dirt. The drain system of ditches behind the wall will help to divert water around the wall and the home. Framing started with the main floor joist system, followed by the plywood subfloor. Stairs to the crawlspace were put in. After the trusses for the detached mechanical garage were delivered and set, the plywood roof was put on. The detached mechanical garage passed framing inspection. The main sub floor was painted with KILZ in preparation for the back lit floor system. After squaring up the building exterior walls and the main level interior walls, started on the mechanical room walls. Making Great Progress!

BlueSky – October 15-28, 2011 – More Retaining, Solar Sonatubes, Concrete


Mechanical room in house

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All the sonatubes had to be set and steel tied before the concrete could be poured. Once they had cured, the cardboard forms were removed. The mechanical room in the house got 2″ insulation with steel tied at 24″ centers. Using one pump truck, the floor for the mechanical room in the house, the floor for the detached mechanical room and all the solar field sonatubes were poured. The solar panel area was graded with a weed barrier and then covered with gravel. The underground electrical pipes for the solar power were installed with the copper lighting cable and power junction box. The foundation had to be core drilled for the solar power wires. The plumber (Justin Hill) and electrician (Cove Mountain Electric, DJ) worked on the water tank floats. A lot of work was completed on the upper retaining walls. The first framing package was delivered and framing officially began!

BlueSky – October 1-14, 2011 – Retaining, Water Tanks, GeoThermal Holes


Lots of rain!

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There were a few days that dropped a bunch of rain at the project and helped to get rid of some dust. There was even snow one day. Much progress was still made on the job. Sonatube footings for the solar panels were started. More block was laid on the retaining wall and most of the first wall was finished. The footings for the upper retaining wall were started. The propane line from the five tanks to the mechanical garage was installed and half the tanks were filled. The power, water and propane trench from the mechanical garage to the well head was backfilled. The small water tank was set as well as all the water lines being installed. The big 16,000 gallon tank arrived and used everybody to get it up the mountain and set in place. Then it was filled with water in order to backfill it. The fire hydrant was also set. The GEO driller was on site and completed all eight holes. The thermo test ran over the weekend to make sure the proper footage to heat and cool the home is achieved with the holes we have. A very productive couple of weeks.

BlueSky – September 17-30, 2011 – Retaining, Septic


Getting started on Retaining wall

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Ron Price spent a week on finishing the septic lines and drain field. The water line pipe from the well to the mechanical garage was laid. Two 4″ power conduits from the mechanical garage to the solar field were installed. All the block that was on site was laid. The record for one day was 9 pallets of block. The retaining wall is about 300 ft long and is looking incredible!