The windows are in!

Chris helped Pete put in the last of the windows, the ones on the copula. Roofing is next.

Help with the windows

My father-in-law and mother-in-law come over to help Pete install the windows today. They are turning our to be a bear to fit correctly (lots of shimming and carving). Thanks Paul and Susanne!

Wrapping the house for Christmas

Pete and the kids "wrapped the house for Christmas" today. Actually they applied house wrap to the plywood. The house wrap protects and weatherproofs the sub wall before the siding goes up. By the way, this house wrap was a freebie, left over from a friend's job.

The Copula Revealed

Pete took down the scaffolding that was covering the copula. Wow! What a difference that made. The copula is beautiful, and very big. It lets a whole lot of light into the middle of house (which is great when you have a square house). I am so glad we chose to include one.

Failed Inspection!

Well, we failed our sheathing inspection, not enough dead wood between the wall studs. (Dead wood blocks are attached inside the house between the wall studs. They provide a surface to nail the outside siding.) It's not so bad, it's only the second one we have failed and Pete thinks he can fix it in a day.

The Grand Entrance

Pete has been busy digging up palm trees from our neighbors pasture and transplanting them to our soon to be new driveway. The boulders came from our Steinhatchee property.

The Windows

We finally picked out and ordered our windows. Whew! That was a lot of work. There are so many choices. We ended choosing Better Bilt windows available at Lowes. We choose windows that have LoE2 glass. Lo E is a film applied to the window that blocks some of the heat and ultraviolet effects of the sun. It does ever-so slightly tint the window, but the tint is not very noticeable. It is suppose to help you save oddles on your electric bill. The windows, all 34 of them, cost $4000! This was actually the cheapest bid we received and the windows look great. I can't wait to see them in. Pete finished cutting out the holes in the plywood for the windows and finished placing the dead wood pieces in between the studs in the wall. He called in for a sheathing inspection (sheathing is the plywood layer that goes under the siding).