Category: universal design on the gunpowder

Framing is complete, plumbings lines have been run, electrical has been wired, ducts have been installed, and we are moving ahead at full throttle!
In the past few weeks Hayes Construction has put up drywall in all the rooms, installed flooring, given the tile guys the go-ahead, and is in the process of painting the rooms with the colors we chose last week. And the cabinets are in!

The rooms are light-filled and spacious. The family room has a beautiful view of the the water, and a canopy view of the trees, which makes for excellent birdwatching from the windowseat.
The dining room is filled with light and has beautiful patio doors that will open onto back deck. And even the basement has a beautiful concrete floor and plenty of light.

The mason did a superb job on the chimney, capturing Carri’s vision to blend the stone into the brick like a french country villa.

Hayes has been wonderful to work with thus far and communication has been great. Anytime they hit a snag we talk about it at our weekly meetings  to come to a solution, which makes the process much smoother.

That’s all for now folks, until next time!

Upon the arrival of the Roxul mineral wool insulation for sub slab, the contractor relaid the Stego vapor barrier (taped to edges at perimeter).  This delay actually may have been a good thing, as the mineral wool was protected from the elements and heavy foot traffic and slab was able to be immediately poured. 
The framing of the second floor and roof are nearing completion.  We are using 2×6 structural walls with 3/4″ plywood sheathing, all edges and corners taped and sealed.  The headers above each opening are two TJIs with Roxul mineral wool sandwiched between them – we have insulated headers!  The lead carpenter did not find it to be time consuming or of any issue, but rather thought it was pretty cool and a no-brainer.
The fireplace is a Rumford fireplace, the most efficient design in providing warmth to a space.

The construction for the addition and renovation to our Gunpowder project is moving along quickly. Because the under slab Roxul mineral wool was a little difficult to source and had a longer lead time, our contractor got creative and “pre-installed” the StegoWrap vapor barrier to wrap under the sill plate.  We will go back and cut out the barrier to install slab insulation, tape back in the vapor barrier and pour the slab.

Framing is 2×6 walls with 3/4″ plywood sheathing, fully taped to provide our primary air barrier.  We are then installing 1-1/2″ of Roxul mineral wool, Tyvek and then furring strips.  This has been a terrific learning experience as we work with the contractor and project lead to find economical, smart ways to create a foam-free, well-sealed healthy envelope.

 

We are so excited to be breaking ground on this project.  It has been a long time in the making and through perseverance and the dedication of the owner, we are moving forward!  We have really enjoyed working on this project and look forward to seeing it through construction.  Hayes Construction is the contractor and will be working closely with us to create this custom addition and renovation. We are so excited that this will be our second FOAM-FREE project!