A House In A Field
The story of a house. In a field. And how it gets there.
View From The “Field” – July 3, 2013
Something different for this week’s “View From The Field.” A friend was kayaking off the point last weekend and took this shot of our site. If you squint, you can see the house.
Thanks, Mark!
“Black Steel In The Hour of Chaos” – Public Enemy
On one hand, the activity on Dash Landing has really picked up. We’ve got masons, plumbers and electricians all elbowing each other for space.
On the other, Kyle and the framing crew have been stuck waiting for the proverbial “truck.” The delivery estimate of a key piece of steel has been continuously and scientifically refined along the lines of “It’ll be there Thursday.” “It’ll be there Friday.” “Oh, yeah, Monday for sure.” And without that steel, work all but came to a halt on the walkway and the garage.
And sure, writing messages back & forth with the contractor and cleaning up a few interior walls is good clean fun for a while, but even that gets old — especially when the clock is ticking and window installation is on the horizon.
That clock stopped today. The delivery truck showed up last night and after a bit of prep this morning, the crane came back to hoist all 600 lb. of goodness up in place. And a few hours later, we already had the 2nd floor deck nailed down and ready to roll.
A welcome sight.
View from the back window
Nick and Pete locking the beam into place.
12x26x50. Not sure what the structural engineer thought we were keeping up on the second floor, but whatever it is — we’re ready for it.
Our furnace is white. And other revelations.
Between a late delivery on a steel beam and Maine’s monsoon season moving to June, it was a week of mixed progress. Not much construction on the garage/barn thingy, but a nice beginning on the HVAC system.
Including the arrival of our geothermal heat pump. Frankly — even after all our research over the winter — we’re still a little surprised that we’re installing a low-velocity forced air system in the new house. But none of that research prepared us for its appearance. Apparently Bosch change their colors over the winter and their units are now white. BRIGHT white. “Call me Ishmael” white. Oh-please-not-white-elephant white.
The crew also got started on the ductwork. Our contractor has a simple rule for the subs — big rigid pipes first, small flexible wires last. The HVAC guys get to go first, plumbers next, then the electricians and the security guys get left just trying to squeeze their wires anywhere they’ll fit. As a result, there are now giant ducts running through the house; all “…sized and built to ACCA “ Manual D” specifications, and ASHRAE air exchange standards. Ducts will be sealed and insulated per IECC 2009 code.”
Because we’ve got to have standards….
Our new Bosch geothermal heat pump. Yep — it’s white.
Prefabbed ducts in the basement waiting for installation.
Ducts heading up through the 1st floor
Inspection on the 2nd floor
Hottest day of the year and “no,” the irony is not lost on us.
Fireplace with the box just about halfway done.
View looking down from the second floor
Gagne & Sons — Right up the road in Auburn.
Just a big mess o’ photos from the week…
Looking out over the field from the kitchen window. That’s not a Cristo landscape piece — it’s a silt fence.
Pete working on the porch hip roof
Eddie in between cuts
Nick on the porch roof hip beam
Looking from the garage towards the main house. The beam will be for the walkway connecting the two structures.
CMP Customer Satisfaction Survey
We received a CMP Customer Satisfaction survey this week.
———-
A House In A Field 