Framing Almost Complete

Wow, it's been almost a month since my last post! Framing started on Feb. 28 (the same day as the New Orleans Home & Garden Show). They put up the two longest side walls in two days. I went on a cruise the next week (March 3-8). Before I left, I managed to order my windows. I went with vinyl windows by Showcase.

While on the cruise, I missed a lot of the framing of the walls. When I came back, I was swept up in a whirlwind. I've researched exterior doors, looked at shingles, hunted for a roofer, and talked with the framer about a few minor changes. I also drove all over the place looking at brick on houses. I was trying to figure out why a brick called Cedar Bayou looked different from one house to another. I liked one version of it, but not the other. It turns out that the makers of that brick changed how they make it. I happen to like the old version, and it's not available anymore. I wish someone would have told me that before I drove around for two days!

So I went back to a showroom to see what else was available. I found that Magnolia Blend was very similar to Cedar Bayou. Of course, it's more expensive and it's only found on 3 houses across the entire area. One is over an hour away, one is in a bad neighborhood, and the other is in English Turn (an exclusive neighborhood on the other side of creation). So one afternoon was devoted to driving out there. It does look very similar to Cedar Bayou. Here's a comparison:

Magnolia Blend is a bit more brown, but overall it's a mix of similar colors. Cedar Bayou was a bit more gray. I like the trim on the Magnolia Blend house. It has tan overhangs with chocolate colored gutters. My windows and garage doors will be tan as well.

I upgraded from regular Tyvek housewrap to something called Tyvek Thermawrap. It's their radiant barrier version, which means that the outside has a foil layer. This should add one or two points of R value to the foam I'll have in the walls. It was more expensive ($635 instead of $480), but I think it'll be worth it.

So here's the house as of Friday afternoon. You can see all the walls are finished. They've completed the ceiling joists and about half the roof rafters. As soon as they finish the rafters and put the plywood and felt up there, I can start bringing in my subs to do the rough ins for HVAC, plumbing and electrical: