The Subs

Number 1 Subcontractor

Gary has been working furiously to finish the electrical work before we head back to NC for Christmas.  The electrical inspection is scheduled for Wednesday and he is making up the last panel. Everything else is complete, except for the outside lights on the porches.  Before we insulate, the electrical work must be approved.  Montana is a funny state, no building permit required, no inspections on the building, but we must have the electrical work inspected.  The wild west has always been about upholding individual rights, with minimal governmental interference.

The plumbing and heating contractors have also been busy.  They should both be done prior to the insulation on Friday of this week.

Porches

The final grade will be about 3' higher

Hans and Trapp have been working on the porch this week, creating a place to enjoy the view of the Elk Rearing Range.  The surface is made of a composite material that should stand up to the intense sun on the west side of the house.  They needed to get this completed so that they can build the enclosure for the fireplace.  And the fireplace must be completed so that we can insulate the walls.  It's

FIreplace

all connected and it has to be completed in the proper  order.

Inside Work

Gary  is doing the electrical work, which is slow going when you don't have anyone at the end of the wire pushing it through.  This weekend, he had help, but they were pretty inexperienced and worth about what he was paying them.

While we were away, there was a lot of activity at the house, mostly inside the house.  Plumbing, heating, and insulation contractors all made good progress.  Also while  we were away,  we got our well drilled and the gas line run to the house.  It is wonderful that we can soon have water and gas inside the house, but not quite how we had hoped.  From the time we completed our application for gas, it took the gas company 2 months to trench in the line.  Unfortunately in that time, the ground froze.  Consequently  they needed to defrost the earth, which is not a cheap proposition.  Picture huge electric blankets with insulation covering an area 20 feet by 150 feet. 

The well was equally expensive, they drilled 410 feet and only got 3 gallons per minute.  The driller witched the lot and thought he found the best spot, but his magical powers must have been weak that day.   We will have enough for household use, but not for a garden.  Our choices are either to bury a cistern or dig another shallow well for irrigation.  We can wait on that decision till next summer.

Shut Down for Snow and COLD Temps

The Snow arrived on Sunday night, earlier than predicted and dumped about 10 inches in town.  The winds up at Mountainbrook  blew the snow around, so who knows the actual amount.  We did have several inches inside the house, even after we boarded up the west facing windows.

The day after the snow came the cold, today's high was 4 degrees and the low was -13.  Because of the cold temps, nobody can work outside this week and it was even cold in my office in town.

These shots were all taken inside the house.  Before it gets above freezing, we will need to shovel the drifts inside the house.

A major priority is to get the gas line put in before the ground freezes.  Without gas, we will be shut down for the winter, since the crews won't be able to work without heat inside the building. The sheetrock can't be hung and finished in cold temps.  Gary can't twist the wire with gloves on.  The gas was supposed to be trenched last week and we now have promises for next week.  We also have promises that the insulation will be blown in on Nov. 26.  Before that happens, Gary has to finish the electrical rough in, the windows and doors need to be in and the shingles finished.  Temps in the 20s and 30s for the next two weeks is all we need.

Shingles and Cans

Progress on the house isn't as obvious this week.  Since we are not putting up any more walls, exterior photos look pretty much the same as last week.  But we are making progress, this week Hans started putting shingles on the roof.  One night he was working by headlamp, trying to get ahead of the snow storm scheduled for next week.




Gary started the electrical work by hanging cans for recessed lights and placing receptacles.














Because the soffits are installed, the evergreen on the roof rafters had to come down.  It's still watching over the house

Beating the Weather

The weather this fall has been absolutely glorious, except for a snow in early September.  The rest of September and October have been warm and sunny, which translates into great weather for housebuilding.  The above photo is Gary at the house the last week of October.  Who would believe it would be shirt sleeve weather in Red Lodge in late October.  All of our friends have been hoping for good weather for us, but they have begun to now hope for bad weather.  Red Lodge Mountain is scheduled to open in three weeks for skiing and there is no snow on the mountain at all.  There have been a few early snows, but the warm weather has melted the little snow that fell. The Mountain started making snow Sunday night, but the temperature forecast needs to stay below freezing at night for the snow makers to even attempt making the white stuff.

Big Bertha Trusses

The big trusses were set last week and it took the whole crew to maneuver them into place.  The two timber frame trusses were built on site and then cabled up to the roof using a crane rented just for this purpose.  These are pretty heavy since they are made of 6 x 8 timbers, 1/4" sheet metal braces and some serious bolts.

Once the timber frames were up, the center ceiling timber could be placed in the notches.  This is a task you don't want to try on a windy day

Some of the crew were on ladders, some on scaffolding, and some on the lift with plywood sheathing making a good standing platform.

Roof Trusses

The stack of roof trusses were delivered last week and the crew got to work very quickly getting them up.

It required a pretty big crane to get the second floor roof trusses up.  One of the other requirements for installing trusses is that there can't be any wind.  You don't want the truss swaying around with guys on either plate trying to get it in the right spot.

All hands on the roof.

"It's Looking Like a House" Party

  We have been planning to host a gathering at the new house since we started construction in August and finally we have walls and floors enough to make that happen.  With weather forecasts of colder weather, we couldn't delay any longer.  Trapper and Hans joined us for a beer, but not for the group photo.

It was also time to carry out a few traditions for new construction.  The first is placing an evergreen in the rafters for good luck.  This must be an eastern tradition, because of the ten people at the gathering, only Gary and I were familiar with this practice.

The other tradition that we were encouraged to follow was breaking a champagne bottle against the house to launch the house.  Of course, we had to drink the champagne before we could break the bottle.

And Merv found the pink lining in the clouds.

Fall Aerial View of the West Fork

 Merv Coleman flew over Red Lodge last week to catch the fall colors and got a shot of the house under construction.  If you biggify the photo, you can see the plywood just to the left of the label.  Thanks, Merv.

The Crew

Joe

Joe, Trapper and Hans

Trapper and Joe

Joe, John, Kurt and Trapper

View from the windows

Bathroom view of the Palisades to the northwest

Western view from the bedroom

Sunrise from the kitchen window

Framing, Part III

Telescoping Sky fork lifting the walls to the second floor

Placing the biggest wall, 23' tall on the south side.