Windows and Doors and Roofs, oh my!

It's been a while since I've thought to update our progress (again). If you want to get an update as soon as I post something, make sure to "follow" this blog using the settings provided.

We are actually farther along than shown here but Sarah didn't want to come and take photos today. I'll try and get a few more pictures up shortly so you can see what it looks like with a roof! We're almost ready for our framing inspection (I hope). I have to talk to the inspector on Monday to book an appointment and see what exactly he expects us to have done. We're rolling into the next phase soon so I've been talking with electricians and plumbers - time to get services!

We have all of the windows and doors in now, except for the basement and the man-door in the garage. We have to wait until the cement layer pours the basement and garage floors. Bit too cold to do that right now - we would just end up with settling or frost heaves. The top photo shows the great room and triple door at the rear of the house. There is more glass than anything back there! It's pretty amazing but it's too bad it faces north since it would give us a lot of light. Instead it'll probably be a great way to lose heat. It looks pretty amazing though. All the windows look pretty good but there are definitely some flaws that Durabuilt finds acceptable, which I simply do not. I would not recommend this supplier, although they were one of the cheapest. You get what you pay for. We spent $11,600 on windows and doors and, as far as service is concerned, the only thing they were in a hurry to do was get our money. Still, I'm glad that we have everything locked up because that means we don't have to haul our tools home every night.

This is the view from the hill above the house. Not to shabby. We run up there all the time to check how the roof is looking - straight eaves and all (and maybe to go to the bathroom since I had the porta-pottie taken away). It helps a lot to be able to sight along the roof to make sure everything looks right. We had our friend, Jeff, come and help us with the windows and erecting the roof trusses. It made it a lot easier to have three sets of hands for a few days. I doubt we would have been able to get the windows in otherwise.

You can finally see what the shape of the house will be. Well, almost... There is a big gable on the far west (left) side that isn't shown in this photo. The next set - you'll see trusses and most of the sheeting done. I'm pretty sure we're going to hire roofers to do the shingles in the next few weeks. Andrew and I have the will but not the tools and know-how to do a good job of it. The thought of being up there on a ladder or scaffold all day isn't so appealing. We've done really well so far but it's time to call in some trades.

All of that means we have to start deciding on exterior finishes! The siding can come later but we have to order the shingles, drip edge, fascias and soffits asap... like... Monday. We haven't decided 100% what we'll do but I have a few ideas. I'd like to go with real wood on the corner boards but we'll see about that. I'm a bit concerned about weathering. Still, it would be nice to match the big timbers. The metal fascias will just have to be a dark colour, like grey, brown or black, if that's the case. White would look a little to pasty and "contractor special". The gable ends will probably have some sort of wooden shake in them. Something that I can paint. We might even consider a different colour of siding above and below. So many choices if you start to mix finishes!

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