Rough-In and Exterior

It’s been a hectic several weeks for us, and we’ve fallen behind here. But construction has still been (mostly) happening.

The week after our last post, the Seattle area had one of the largest snowstorms in a few years. We were stuck at home most of the week, and not a lot was accomplished on the house, either.

Since then, things have been progressing nicely. Plumbing rough-in is finished, besides any later fix-ups or changes we or the inspectors need. This picture shows the laundry room: copper pipes for water in, washer/dryer on left and sink on the right, and the black pipes for waste water. Right behind it, you can see a bit of the master shower; and the back wall will support the master sinks.

Laundry

Outside, the roofing was installed as soon as the snow cleared. It is a gray membrane called VersiWeld TPO, and covers the main roof, the mid-level eyebrow, and the rooftop deck. On the deck, it will be later covered by decking and the green roofing modules.

Roofing membrane

After that, work on the rest of the exterior house started. The first step was to wrap it in a vapor shield to protect the interior from moisture. You can see the white wood around the windows on top of the shield. This allows the windows to be securely mounted — they can’t be mounted on the foam that will come next.

Wrapped stair tower

More concrete was added. The slab at the very bottom of our stairs was poured, along with a short retaining wall extending from the north-east corner of the garage, and the foundation for our entry stairs. The wall on the left of the picture is level because it will support the flat landing from the garage, while the main stairs step down to the entry.

Entry stairs from above

Changes captured by the camera slowed down in the middle of January, but you can see a nice bit of framing going up at the beginning of the month, and the orange vapor shield going on at the end.

We’ve been working on a lot of design stuff that we should discuss. The big things are electrical/lighting/data plans, and mechanical (HVAC) systems, both of which are up next for rough-in work. The exterior will continue to progress, with the windows on schedule to be delivered next week!