We probably shouldn't title anything around here with 'snakes'. Our ranch neighbors next door just killed a five foot rattlesnake (Jerry raked it to death) this last week, and our ranch neighbors across the way, also building a new ranch house, have had a couple of 'visitors' as well. Typical for the time of year, and the fact that we are disturbing the ground.
What we were really referring to are the heating and air conditioning tubes 'snaking' their way through our rafters the last couple of days. The past installation methods were to form tubes out of sheet metal, duct (hence the word) tape them together, and hang them from the rafters. We all remember those. Well, Buckey, no more! The latest technology is a tube, wrapped in insulation, and covered with a foil-like material. Supposedly, this limits cool air becoming warmer, and vis versa, to no more than a three degree loss, and no more than 4% air loss. Not that we're going to get up in the rafters and measure it, but it sounds impressive. Who knew?
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| Little silver snakes |
Okay, enough about rafter snakes. The electricians also started today hanging 'cans' in the ceiling where the prints show overhead lighting. They will also locate light and plug switches on the walls as well. We are scheduled for a walkthrough on Monday with the electricians and our lighting consultant, from the lighting supplier, to make sure everything is properly located. (The older we get, the blinder we get, so if you are wondering when you visit why there are a gazilian lights in the ceiling, you'll know why.) After the walkthrough and everyone is happy with the locations, then the electricians start to pull wire through the walls.
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| Dejesus hanging patio cans (OSHA approved ladder position) |
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| Cans, HVAC ducts, water lines for HVAC (not finished) |
In the meantime, the framers have been busily finishing the soffits (previous blog post) and have moved on to hanging the corner corbels and cedar rafter stringers. These corbels are solid cedar and weigh about 25-30 pounds each, and there are 25 of them that these guys have to carry up the ladder and attach. We got tired and sweaty just watching them! The stone work will cover the green wood and reach up next to the corbels. (It will look better than it sounds.)
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| Corbels over the front doorway |
The rafter stringers in between the corbels will be trimmed and radiused (is that a word?) at the front of the soffit to match the corbels. In the end, all will get stained and sealed together. This completes the supposed 'Texas Tuscan' look according to the architect. Don't forget the arches!
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| Rafter stringers in between corbels |
In addition, the framers have started to 'tape' the house. The black tape that you see is a ZipTape that seals the gap seams between the sheathing, is supposed to completely weather-proof the house behind the stone exterior, and limit air loss (like we're hermetically sealed). Once this is completed, and the electricians, sound guys, and pest control guys are finished with their wiring pulls, they can start foaming (insulation) the interior of the walls.
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| ZipTaping the sheathing (more construction talk) |
Of course last, but not least by any stretch, is the fact that all of the windows and exterior doors have been hung (minus the front and wine room doors). This now gives us a good idea of the natural lighting levels we will see during the day with the lights off, and how the sun will affect room lighting. Good to know before you start nailing cans in permanently.
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| Kitchen table eating area |
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| Great Room exterior patio view |
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| Great Room interior view |
And, of course, every project has the occasional "oops". In our case, the plumbers located the toilet drain too close to where the framing ended up being built. The bad news is that they had to chip out almost 14 inches of concrete, but the good news is that there is 14 inches of concrete in the slab surface. They will relocate the drain forward, replace the rebar, and refill the hole with new concrete.
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| Oops! |
But Wait, There's More....
As we have said before, Jan has a virtual menagerie of deer that visit every morning. This is probably due to the fact that she feeds them corn almost every morning. But today, out of nowhere, we noticed three 3-point bucks, and one 4-point'er. Thankfully for them they were in her presence, otherwise there might have been venison in the freezer tonight.
That's all for now.
See ya later!
- John and Jan -
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