10/26/11 - Plywood siding complete (almost)

The whole south side of the house is now sided.  As we stated in an earlier post we used finish grade maple plywood treated with a natural oil.  The horizontal seams are defined with Z flashing that matches the roof color. 

There is one small area on the North side of the house that will also get plywood siding.  This should be completed over the weekend as long as the weather holds.  Next step is the ship lap board siding that will cover the rest of the house.

10/16/11 - My First Deer

I killed my first deer this Sunday in the lower part of our field with a bow.  It was the second day of bow season and the young spike buck yeilded about 25 lbs of meat.  I butchered and processed the deer myself and the boys helped with some of the grinding.  We ate the tender loins and the heart within the first few days and they were absolutely delicious.  I am hoping to harvest 1 more deer before bow season ends.

10/1/11 - Siding

I finished siding the entry-way bump out today.  We are using finish grade maple plywood treated with a weather resistant oil.  The horizontal joints have an exposed metal flashing strip that is the same color as the roof (see detail photo below).  Exposed screws are used to attached the panels.  This type of siding will continue around the south side of the house and stop at the screened in porch.  The rest of the house will be ship lap pine boards. 

9/1 - ZIP LINE!!!

Grandma B and Grandpa Jim bought the boys a 150 foot zip line.  We just installed it last week.  Its really fun!!

9/5 - Sofits and Facia

The past week I have been busy on the sofits (space under the eves) and facia (face of the eve).  The sofit material is 1/4 inch maple plywood attached with stainless steel screws.  The facia is locally milled pine.

8/27/11 - Siding work & drywall finish continues

Metal siding to cover exposed foundation is complete (pictures below).  We have also been slowly working on finishing the drywall and building the shower stall.



7/26 - Drywall hanging complete

I have finished hanging all the drywall.  Kristin's parents have finished the the drywall upstairs and some down.  Kristin is going to tackle the rest.  I am now moving to the outside of the house to work on siding.



Drywalled kitchen

I also built permanent stairs to the basement.  It is so much nicer then using the ladder that has been there for a year.

Super steep basement stairs.

The start of the siding.  The exposed basement will be covered with the same material we used for the roof.  The wall will get a mixture of finish grade plywood and pine siding.