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.