It has been a busy 10 days.  On the weekend, we had +13 one day and +10 the other, and lots of sun.  The snow is gone and winter is fading fast.  Having released my contractor 3 weeks ago, things are going smoothly, quickly and with much more fun.

We decided on colours for the house, decided on siding (mostly stucco, some hardie plank), and decided on trim (charcoal soffit, fascia and gutters, and white window trim). We selected our soffit/fascia/gutter guy, and painted 250 ft of fascia. We selected our stucco guy, and he agreed to throw in the parging. We decided on an insulation company, and they did some pre-insulation. We got 4 pocket door frames and will install in a few weeks.  Also talked to a drywall boarder about putting up 14,000 sq ft of drywall about 3 weeks from now.  Mechanical rough in was completed on Friday.  Back framing was completed today, and the electrical rough in should be done by tomorrow (lots and lots of decision made on location of lights, plugs and switches.

Once the plumbing rough-in is done, we can get another inspection and proceed to insulation and drywall.  Inspector coming tomorrow to ok the garage/shop.  Rough in for chimney for wood stove in shop also planned for tomorrow.  Need to finish central vac rough-in and flashing for foundation.

Shop floor is now level, at the correct height, and compacted. Will put poly down tomorrow and get 50 20′ pieces of rebar with my neighbour’s van, and then hopefully pour the following week.

Framers worked on Saturday and Sunday to sheath the floor, put up the remaining walls, and drop the ceilings where necessary. They work hard, hustle, and do a good job.

This is the man-cave-to-be. Lots of space, good view.  Debating whether to drywall ceiling or use tongue and groove pine, fir or cedar.

view of the ducting in the basement – a bit larger than anticipated, but the airflow, quiet and efficiency should be very good.

It has been rather quiet on the site these past 3 weeks.  We are all waiting for the mechanical guys to come back and finish their work.  Once they are done, the framers can finish the back framing, the plumber can finish the rough in, and the electrician can wire the house.  Hopefully, the ducting will be done this week.  We had another big snowfall yesterday, and it is snowing again today (we have already exceeded the monthly average snowfall for February in the first 2 days!).  I believe this is now the snowiest winter on record here in Kelowna.  It looks beautiful, but it really slows things done.  I have done a few things at the house – building stairs to the top floor, insulating, poly and plywood in the mechanical room, beginning to rough in the central vac, installing the skylights in the shop, and figuring out were I want the 220 and 110 in the shop.

As we wait for contractors, we have been finalizing the plumbing choices – taps, showers, bath, sinks – and should be able to order them this week.  We met 2 weeks ago with a lighting specialist and will be meeting her on site later this week to go over the plan and be ready for the electrician.  I have been interviewing contractors for soffits, fascia and gutters, as well as insulators and the bids are coming in.

We have also been going back and forth on whether to go with stucco or with 4′ x 10′ cement fibre panels and on colours for the outside.  We are leaning towards more colour than less – I believe life is too short for beige or taupe.  Some photos are below which indicate what we are considering.

So, over the next 3 weeks I hope to have the mechanical done, the back-framing, and the rough in plumbing.  I hope also to decide on the soffits, fascia and gutters and get them installed this month.  Once we decide on either stucco or CFB, we can either paper and wire or wrap the house in tyvek.  When this is done, and after we get the framing, plumbing and electrical inspection, we can insulate (will need to get a bit of pre-insulation done before the back framing so will need to decide on an insulator sooner rather than later).

Lots of fun, lots of work.