To Grid or Not to Grid

I want to apologize for my lack of posts this last week. Lots going on, but mostly lots of decisions. I had a friend recently tell me thatone of the worst things about building is the continuous decision making happening on a daily basis. Already so early in the process, I have to agree! (She had to fire a sub contractor so that would have to be the worst though.) I pray we do not find ourselves in that position.

I mentioned in our last post, that framing would resume on Tuesday after the holiday. Surprisingly though, our framer and his crew showed up on Monday to work. There had been some complications on Friday he needed to discuss with us that would be better explained in person. Fridays are typically bad busy days for us, so we were not home the entire day! He explained the choices regarding the roof lines-the front living room ceiling was not flush with the rest of the house as shown on the plans. One choice was to rebuild the living room walls increasing their heights or to leave as is and adjust as necessary. The Chef made the "command" decision to proceed instead of losing more time in framing. A decision I was glad he made and one I am content with!

Later that week, our lumber guy (don't know his official job title!, but I am certain it is much more important sounding than that! ) showed up to measure windows. That is where the to grid or not to grid comes in. There are SOOOOOOOO many choices, easier if you choose not to grid at all! If you do grid, how do you want to grid? All of the windows or only some of them and then which ones? Top quarter or half the window or all of the window? Then once that is decided do you want 3, 6 or 9 grids???? Oh, and don't forget the perimeter grids! THEN I found out, I had to decide about exterior doors too! Both our front and back doors are double and have transoms. Should they have grids or just glass or perhaps decorative glass? THEN which door do you want to be the primary door or to have the inswing? Oh, and what color hinges? Oh, did you know that solid wood is NOT a viable option for the northwest? Certainly you can go with wood, but it requires more care and only has a one year warranty and everyone knows in this climate, that wood will only split, crack and warp. And since I am such a visual person, I really wanted to see the fiberglass door with the fir grain that you can stain to look like wood, but really doesn't. It looks like a wannabe wood door. So, I had to spend a couple hours driving around looking at doors and window grids, trying to decide what look I liked etc etc. I knocked on a few doors too so I could get a better look. THEN even after I thought I had decided I kept vacillating about the grids, the doors, the hinges......

THEN in the midst of these decisions, we started discussing our outside entryway. Did we want glulam posts or pressure treated 4x4's with wrap on them, tongue and groove on the ceiling or car decking? Did we want to stick with the trex porch or do cement? The rock look would work better with the latter. Did I want the glulam ends cut in a 45 degree angle or in a corble (sp?) or something else? So, our framer took some time, taking into consideration my visual learning style, to show me some other entries he had done. I saw what I liked and was able to decide rather quickly except I liked the glulam posts instead of the pressure treated. Bill wisely thought going with the latter would allow us more time to make the other decisions. So, THAT is what we are doing! :)

So I had the weekend to decide about doors and as of this morning, they are ordered as are the windows too. What a relief! I felt at peace about my decision too. Unfortunately, I don't get to enjoy that for very long. Did I mention plumbing is coming up? Did you know you have to know your fixtures BEFORE the rough in? Did you know on a sink you can have three holes, two holes or one for the faucets? Do you know how many colors they come in, the sinks and the faucets? Do you know how much more brushed nickel is over chrome? Do you know any good on line sites for discounted hardware? Did you know my lovely bargain tub takes special higher priced hardware that I have to search for on line and order up? Did you just get dizzy reading that? I did!

I also get a bit dizzy standing upstairs amidst all these rafters and trying to figure it all out!

But here are a few pictures of the chaos. This bottom one is looking at Farmer Girl's room and the extra room off of it. There are some very complicated things going on in this corner with what I believe is called an inverted hip?? This other is looking at The Scribbler's room. Do you see the pitched roof and rafters? Well, our plans actually call for a ceiling to be placed at about 8 feet. However, we loved the open-ness of this look. Our designer made a special trip out to discuss some changes with us and we have "decided" to leave it up like this. We may add a small ceiling but higher up to allow us to keep the slopes. Of course, this means more sheetrock, possibly insulation that is more dense (and more expensive) as well as a bigger, wider ridge vent across the top...... Decisions, decisions, never ending.

I didn't take many pictures this week, but things do look a bit more finished than this. Today they did mostly finish work like adding holders and scabs and cutting notches. A team of framing roofers are coming tomorrow and Wednesday to sheath and put up the fascia too. We spent some time on Saturday painting the fachsia cause it is so much more fun painting it while standing on the ground than way up in the air on a ladder! Just ask The Scribbler. (I promise more updated photos this upcoming week.)