The back goes up!

     So things have been happening pretty fast for us lately! Levi built the back of the house in, um, a week! Thanks to our friend Darin helping out and Alonso and Bryant working hard, and of course Levi working like a mad man. I can't believe how fast it happened. First the oak ceiling joists went up. Then the upstairs walls. Then the roof. They got it all sheeted and protected from the weather. Then we went on vacation to Seattle (I know, right, ANOTHER vacation!). While we were gone Darin laid the oak floor for the upstairs. It's raw oak hardwood, lying with the good side down so you can see it from below. We are using this hardwood as our subfloor. I don't have a picture of it, yet.

In this picture you can see the joists, and two hardwood strips on the left.

This picture is looking down the length of our kitchen. The wood joists will be exposed. The brick will be exposed. You can see the window openings on the left and at the end where our factory windows will go. We will have countertops all the length of each side with a breakfast table at the end. Our gas range will fit under that arch on the right. The far right door leads into the library.  Behind me is a nook for a refrigerator and a walk in pantry. 

This is the upstairs future master bath. A stand alone bathtub will be centered under the large window on the right. Straight ahead will be a walk in shower on the left with a small window, and in the right corner a toilet. The sink vanity will be behind me. 

This is looking towards the other end of the upstairs. The door opening on the left will lead to a balcony. The far end of the addition will be the master closet. Between the door on the right and the door opening on the left will be a hallway. This way I can go down, get coffee, come back up and go into the bathroom and closet at 5 am without waking Levi up. He is very happy about this! 

Levi: I am very happy about this.

Darin and I were cutting and hanging these rafters into the darkness of night, with the help of a headlamp. Darin has been hit on the head at least three times while working at the house. I'm going to require he wear a helmet.

This is the door from out bedroom leading to the master bath. The brick will be left exposed. 

The outside, in all its (mostly) rainproof glory!

Levi: We started building during the Polar Vortex of 2013. It was about 0 degrees. With a nice 15mph breeze to make it spicy. I had so many layers on I felt like the little brother on 'A Christmas Story'.

We are planning on using open joint siding similar that pictured below on the addition. I think it will be a really cool modern contrast with the original brick. Levi is hard at work researching this stuff. Its very popular in the NW, great for rainy environments and I think it will work perfectly here. 

Levi: Rain Screens are very common in Europe and are required frequently in the Pacific Northwet and British Columbia. I'm going to do a whole nerd post on building envelope systems and modern cladding. I know you can't hardly wait!

Upon our return from Seattle, we were very excited to pick up our fancy schmancy powder coated steel windows. Here is the stack of them all shiny and new. Dave the powdercoater took them apart so the inner casements (that open) are gone in this picture.  He also custom welded one of them for us to remove the two columns on either side so we had one smaller window that will fit between the door and the side of the house in the kitchen. Next we will take the frames to our glass guy, Randy, so he can order some tempered glass (required by city) and hopefully glaze them for us 

Here is a before and after of the frame. Amazing!

I had picked up these beautiful heat registers from a salvage store in Nashville. I am kicking myself for not taking a before pic. They were rusty and had old white paint chipping off. Dave fixed 'em right up. They have engraved on the bottom Pat'd June 24, 1894. I wish I had asked where they came from. We have enough to use them in all the downstairs rooms. For the upstairs we'll just use regular ones in the ceiling. 

And here's Dave, the sandblaster, powdercoater, welder man from Joppa, IL. 

Levi: Dave is a master at metal working. He's one of a dying breed of hands on craftsman. We've had a number of discussions lamenting the dearth of skilled craftsman, and how young people seem less and less interested in working with their hands. It's something I think about frequently.

All that aside, more pics of the oak floor/ceiling to come! and Hvac should go in next week!