Back Yard Dump

With all the work....the back yard looks like a dump! We long for the day we have a place to sit and rest in the back yard. A new fence will be installed in a few weeks.

Plumbing Begins!

Yes...the correct spelling is plumbing not pluming. However, we've been doing quite a bit of "pluming", too!
plume - noun, verb, plumed, plum·ing.
–noun
1. a feather.
2. a large, long, or conspicuous feather: the brilliant plume of a peacock.
3. a soft, fluffy feather: the plume of an egret.
4. any plumose part or formation.
5. a feather, a tuft of feathers, or some substitute, worn as an ornament, as on a hat, helmet, etc.
6. a feather or featherlike token of honor or distinction, esp. one worn on a helmet.
7. plumage.
8. a vertically or longitudinally moving, rising, or expanding fluid body, as of smoke or water.
9. a visible pattern of smoke resulting from emissions from a stack, flue, or chimney.
10. Also called mantle plume. Geology. a deep-seated upwelling of magma within the earth's mantle. Compare diapir.
–verb (used with object) 11. to furnish, cover, or adorn with plumes or feathers.
12. (of a bird) to preen (itself or its feathers).
13. to feel complacent satisfaction with (oneself); pride (oneself) (often fol. by on or upon): Richard sat before the mirror, pluming himself upon his beauty.


Tom has been working hard planning and installing drain and vent pipes. Of course, none of the bathrooms line up with each other from floor to floor – therefore, it’s a lot more complicated to run all the necessary pipes.

We plan on moving into the 1st floor by this summer. In order to finish off the 1st floor, we have to complete many of the tasks that will impact the 2nd and 3rd floors – such as pluming, wiring, venting, etc. Once the ceiling goes up on the 1st floor – comments such as “…Whoops, we need to open up the ceiling we just installed because we forgot to put a drain in for the 2nd floor bathtub..” will NOT be permitted!!!!

Siding on the House

Wow – it’s starting to look like a “real” house!!!
Jerry (our framer/carpenter) and his crew are doing a fantastic job. We appreciate the patience of our neighbors with all of this construction, the noise (starting so early in the morning!!!), the ever present dumpster as well as the “5 Js” port-a-potty prominently placed in the front of our home. We’ll know that we’ve really made some progress when we can return the “5Js”!

The Chimney Progresses

The chimney is almost completed. All that is left to do is to install the lightening rod and insert the decorative piece of slate in the center of the chimney. This slate is the same slate that will be used for the bottom of the hearth abutting the wood floor.

Siding on the Garage

Siding first went up on the garage; still a bit more to do. Here's Frank, one of the carpenters cutting the siding before it's installed. We’re also waiting for the garage doors to be delivered and installed.

Roofing is Completed

The bundles of tiles first lifted by a crane and placed on the roof. A crew installed the roof on the house and garage in a few days…..after much “banging”!

The “Copper Man”

The incredible work done by “Copper Man” is really an art: building the slopped roof over the dining room bay and installing copper flashing around the soffit returns.