Electricians and Plumbers arrive on the scene

Rooney examines the new PCP pipes the plumber delivered yesterday.

Donna does her best Vanna White impression and presents
our new lightng fixtures.

Rooney loves the new pipes!

Initial walk-through with our electrician

Never having built a house before, the total number of decisions necessary to build a propper house is astounding to me.  Deciding where to place outlets, switches; what types of lights etc. is a bit overwhelming.

While not a large home at all, we spent over 2 hours in our initial walk-through...and we haven't even started the A/V requirements, which I believe are relatively minor.

Today we met with Craig and our Electrician, Mark Bowdler, who is a local resident with years of experience and is a very knowledgeable guy.  Here's his website:

Link to:  Bowdler Electric

Ben and his crew added the base frame of the front porch today. 

Note the tray ceiling effect. 

The siding continues....

Every day, it looks a little closer to being complete.

Electricians tomorrow.

Tomorrow we meet with Craig and Mark Bowdler, our electrician, for a walk-through for the placement of lights, switches, sconces, outlets.

It was winter again in Maine today and the crew closed up
the garage to keep the wind out.

The basement walls are almost completely framed.

The siding continues.

Exterior doors arrived today.

The exterior doors arrived this morning....

...and were installed by the end of the day.

The bedroom door onto our little balcony
was installed too.

Now we have easy basement access where
they've started roughing out the walls.

The door to the deck in the great room adds a nice touch. 

The large double-doors into the garden storage room
will be mostly hidden by the deck above.

It was a great week and more to come...

This week saw us get a basement floor, deck supports filled with cement, continuation of cement siding, windows and cedar shakes on the gables, a great meeting with Craig Cooper (our builder) solidifying interior finishes and details, an outside walk-around planning for lighting and fixtures and an escape route (stairs) for the side deck.

Next week should see bedroom, living room and garden room door installation, the framing of the basement walls, the completion of the gables with cedar and possibly the beginning of the front porch decking.

The windows and cedar shakes were added to the North and East Gables.

One reason we chose Craig is his attention to details.  Note the beveled edges of the cedar shingles he
adds to the  top making a nice finished edge

On a rainy Sunday morning

It looks better in Grey than green I think. 

The basement is now solid.  Next week, basement walls. 

This will be the "Away room" (AKA: Man Cave)

The window and cedar shingles are added to the East gable.

The siding continues but the rear bedroom is almost complete.

Houston, We have a basement

The pump truck showed up at 6:30 on Tuesday morning.  Thanks to Ed next door
for this great photo.

Here's an interesting shot with the wide-angle lens.

Inside, the crew pumps and spreads out the cement.

Later, the crew comes back and smoothes out the surface.  We'll be able to
walk on it on Wednesday.

The gables have been covered and the siding continues.

The basement floor gets poured tomorrow, but today, we had ducks on our little pond! (sorry, no photos)

The siding starts to take shape.

It's hard to tell from this photo, but the square in the center
of the photo is a cedar shake shingle that will be used
to cover the outside of the gables.

Working with cement goes slowly.

Most of this morning was spent raking out the basement, leveling
out the gravel in preparation of the cement being poured tomorrow.

Cement Siding? Yes, and it won't need painting for 30 years.

The siding begins as the window trimming is completed.

This color of the clapboards is pewter....

...but the gables will be done in cedar shakes in a light grey color.

Internal Walls

Interior walls are going up left and right, exhausting Joey.  Here's a shot from the dining room.

Here's Andrew's bedroom...

And here's Erin's bedroom. 

Tuesday, March 13 - Another beautiful summer day in Maine.

WINDOWS!

South Elevation.  Windows by Andersen...supplied by Hancock Lumber.
Hancock Lumber

East Elevation.  One window is yet to be added
in the ceter of the gable.

Even the "Garden Level" has good light.

The Dining Room 

Owner's Bedrooms.  There's a tray ceiling going in, but one of the
beams above will be trimmed back.