Week of 1/26/12

Building continues to roll along with the Bauer residence in Hickory Hills.  We had some rain this week to slow things up a bit, but the rafters are up on both ends of the house, and the roof trusses are being delivered tomorrow for the center section of the home.  Late last week we poured the retaining wall for the right side garage, so as soon as the ground dries up we will start the backfill in that area.  Tidwell concrete poured the lower patio on Monday, and saw cut it Tuesday to look like large tile squares.  We used a salt-finish on the concrete that gives it the appearance of slate tiles with small pits throughout,  and next week we will stain and seal the concrete to give it a finished appearance.  Now that the patio is complete, we can start building up to the upper deck/patio.  We also started bringing our large antique 12x12 beams to the jobsite to be prepped for installation - what a difference a wire brush and power sander make on these!!!  Things should really start to shape up next week as the center roof of the house goes up, the right side garage will be built, and we will start bringing up framing for the back patio.  This weekend is the Springfield HBA Home Show at the downtown expo center, we are planning on attending all 3 days with some current clients and perspective clients, should be lots of fun, and there is some great information and ideas there every year.

Week of 1/17/12

Framing continues on the Bauer residence in Hickory Hills.  Main floor walls are complete, and the floor joists are on for the storage room over the garage.  The framers have started building the roof and even have several of the dormers in!!!  While the main floor system and first floor walls went in quickly, now things seem to slow down while the rafters go up.  The loop field for the geothermal heating and cooling system is now completed and the lines have been run to the house - there is no evidence outside that there are 10 200ft deep wells in the front yard.  We lost a few days last week with the snow, ice and blustery weather, but things are looking up this week - 40's and 50's all week long.  We received a semi-truck load of antique 12x12 beams last week to be used in the roof system, front porch area and port-e-cochere.  These are very nice, very rustic-looking beams - now it is time to cut them to size, then the sanding and beautification to bring them back to their original glory.

Week of 1/6/12

Framing is continuing on the Bauer residence in Hickory Hills - floor trusses and subfloor are completed and main floor walls are being built and stood right now.   In this past week we hauled in lots of fill dirt to bring the back yard up to grade, installed approximately 25 large Arkansas sandstone boulders on the hillside on the back of the home, and drilled 10 200' deep wells at the front of the home for the geothermal heating and cooling system.  This week we will complete the HVAC contractors are completing the loop field for the geo-thermal system and the framers will continue to build main floor walls then start to construct the roof system.  Things are moving along well, fortunately we have had some exceptional weather for January, and although it is looking like we are going to be getting some colder weather, there is no snow in sight for the near future.