Thursday, November 20, 2008

bye-bye beams.....


As "promised" the house is being closed in this week. Watching this timber frame go up has been quite interesting, because nothing seems to go "together" the way I have seen other buildings done. The timbers went into place, and then the ceilings were put up. Now, the sheet rock is placed on the outside of the timbers, and then the outer insulated panels go into place. Ken likes this method, because with the sheet rock behind the timbers, there wont' be any gaps between the two.




Timber framed homes will, over time, shrink a little as the wood ages and dries out. If the sheet rock was placed between the timbers, when it does this, there would be small gaps, which not only wouldn't look nice, but would allow small spaces for air to leak thru. This house is designed to be extremely energy efficient, and with fuel prices as high as they have been, I know we will appreciate that in the years to come. Here's a shot of what will be the dining room....







These are the panels that are going on the outside, there will still be another layer on them, which will be the outside trim of the house. Ken keeps telling us what an easy house this will be to keep warm. And since we are dealing with a good cold snap right now....... today it only got into the high 20's.... warm is what I'm going to be wanting!!!!




The stair case is in as well. When you walk thru the front door, you will see the stairs. (typical colonial style design) I did manage to climb up them yesterday, course, with no walls on the second floor, I didn't "feel any safer" up there, but got to have a look around. Nice view of the field and the horses from "the bedroom" area. Getting down was another matter, fortunately Ed was there... wish I wasn't so afraid of heights!!! I am such a "woos" ....












Moe and "the digger" started making their way to the barn. This water and lights thing is coming in the nick of time..... we are already dealing with frozen buckets, and bringing the horse in early in the day, so we have some light to work by. But thinking that a year ago, we didn't even have a barn... there's been alot done in short amount of time.