WOW!

Nice looking porch. Those closed up rafters will cut down on the wasp nests and other critter camping.

chippies have been busy today !

That is going to look mighty fine when all is daid and done!! 

Really happy with the progress and the look, without the help from this site I would not be where i am today with the project,

Starting with buying the basic plans- asking multiple questions, learning calcs and US building practises was both fun and rewarding

I hope I repay the help I recieved with documenting the build as well as I can for future referance

Snows falling again - so work will be slow this week.

The end of framing is in sight, then a slow down as we go to build as we go financially - HOA will be happy with the outside and look, meanwhile the inside will be a work in progress.

I think we'll be trailering at least another winter or 2 before its habitable all year round, we'll be concentrating on upstairs first to get it usable

then downstairs will be for summer "bring a hammer guests" till thats completed !

A little more progres - we got so much snow last week the ski resort re-opened just for the weekend - but melts fast in the high sun.

Think I'll have to choose a contrasting color for the upper faux barn thingy so it stands out a bit more- its really only there for a feature due to no windows in the front fasade.

I'm really happy with the look- probably paint that middle wall flashing the same bronce as the windows

I like the bronzed windows, when does the roof go on?
One thing that I just noticed is that you may want to place the ice breaks above the big deck to keep the big sheets of ice sliding down in big chunks on to the deck covering.  Often times it all comes sliding down at once in big sheets causing serious damage to everything below.  We have a little porch covering like yours on the long side of the building and the roof gets damaged there from the sliding ice.

Roof goes on shortly- I guess they are still waiting on materials- it will be bronze too- just to change it a little from others in the area

I think he has'nt shown me the  north side as they have'nt finished it yet...8-(

Yes to the snow dogs- I'll be adding them when I visit in the summer, being that thats the north side it stay in shadow most of the day and I should'nt get much run off - untill we get to live in it.

Budget is blown again, the changes we made added costs in both labor and materials, like the feature-i'd planned on doing that myself but would have made flashing it and installing it a huge pain

Plumber went up on monday to see what he needs to rough in the roof vents etc before the roof goes on-

Not sure on the fireplace chimney- before or after roofing ?
it will be just to one side of the ridge

I just visited a church not too far from you in Utah, the church is only 8 months old and the roof is all ripped up where the intersecting rooflines had a big sheet ice go sliding down and just made a huge mess of the roof. 

My GC has warned me of this - his spring work is pretty full of roof repairs from the gullies.

he wanted to do shingles - but I hate them after spending a winter repairing roofs in dade county after Andrew.

South side I think I'll be ok with as the snow melts pretty fast as I get sun on that side all day

The north I'll probably snow dog all the gullies to keep the snow in place

the roof is designed for full snow load, no drop for angle, exposure or materials.

being that it will be uninhabited for most of the winter we should be good for that period

I'm looking at good venting and lots of insulation

The main issues are snow melt due to heat and ice damming

if you keep the roof cold- you dont get that issue

others in my area used the heated roof matts- they had more issues than those without

others are up in the shadow of the mountain and they have some huge icy issues from the loss of heat from the house to the roof

Going with a bronze roof ups my melt factor too

I'll post some pics of the trailer- I have some icing concerns with that too - but its late and time for bed

This one was facing east as the ridgeline runs north-south.  We had the same issue to a much smaller degree on the north side of ours with an east-west ridgeline.

Its definitely an issue and concern anytime you have gullies in a snow area , my ridge is east west

This winter it stayed out with just technical felt and 2x4's

we had no movement of the snow ......but we also had no heat !

The 2x4's acted as snow dogs keeping things in place, so we did'nt get any sheets of snow and ice falling

Same day the two diferent sides of the house

North which will have the lower deck roof, showing full coverage of the roof


And the south side -showing the ammount of melt off just with sun -no building heat

Looks nice. What species of wood is the siding?

I bet the other side will look real nice with the porch

Its pine or fir, prestained on both sides, its all from up on Grand Mesa which is south up the mountain.

Its pretty dry in western CO so no rot but we do have a bunch of woodpeckers !

I expect the south side to bleach out and need re-applying in a while, but we'll see.

we were going to half log on the lower half but I love the sawn with the natural edge and it should be thick enough not to curl up- but we'll see !

Well the build has slowed to a halt until more funds can be saved up

We manged to get all the window's in and walls up on the interior including the loft for my daughter

When we hit town I'll be doing deck railings-lower deck floor etc etc.

I'm extremely pleased with the look, not sure on the lower bedroom window size as they are a bit dark from the pictures, not sure what time of day that was and at the end of the day they are only to sleep in and will at least be cosy !

Love the upper lounge area with the picture windows facing the sun down.

Plans going forward are roof on - should be next week- already budgeted for- in antique bronze

my friendly plummer will rough us in as he's slack right now.

Then we'll be wiring it while I'm over, planning the wiring now

Then insulate upstairs and get it roughly habitable

probably next year by the time we get those jobs done so another winter in the trailer will be needed.

Cost to date for everything you see-has been just under 150K the labor on framing and exterior finishes put the cost up from what we thought

But I think the finished article will be worthy what we have invested in it !

Kitchen will be on the left- with the MB bathroom behaind my Daughters little loft above and the master bed

Looking good!  Will the bunk/loft area be left open?  That may be some good storage area or just the kid's favorite place to sleep.  My friend's cabin had a similar spot and we loved it as kids. 
Are you set on that color of roof?  Clearly, you don't care about my opinion as I will never see it, but I have seen one cabin in our association with that color and one in the next association over and each time I see them I have to wonder what they were thinking when they chose it???  Have you seen other cabins with that color?  It just makes it stand out like a big bare butt at a convention, just so out of place IMHO.  If you have not seen one with it it may be helpful.  I sure have a hard time choosing colors from a tiny swatch.  Thanks for sharing. 

yes loft area will be for my daughter to sleep and play, probably try and find a library ladder or similar for it

It will be open with a little fence and gate openning inwards.

Color wise almost every house in the area has green, I think the antique Bronze will look fine

Its too late anyway to change as the materials arrive tommorow !

D4 upper RHS

http://www.metalsales.us.com/files/colors-finishes/26Ga-Western-Colors(1).pdf

On the job in Colorado- finishing the deck- about to mod the master bathroom wall- then onto wiring the upstairs from a sub panel

pics soon - but must get back to my Malbec and the campfire !

Well we got to spend 3 lovely weeks up on the hill

I had plans before we went and a pile of HD gift cards from my credit card points.

Work I completed while we were there was.

Downstairs deck lined with EPDM membrane -laid treated 2x4's and then the decking all screwed down and finish trimed

deck is 36ft x 10 ft wide

Hung the hammocks we brought from Colombia - they make a dull deck bright !

Modified the kitchen rear wall to make room for a shower position change the window was too low to make it a shower cubicle so the master bed throne now has a valley view !

Positioned and built the kicthen bar framing and one by the stairs

Laid out and started wiring a sub panel for all the upstairs circuits
but did not get finished on this trip- wife needs to choose lighting and then I can finish the lighting runs.

Mounted the sub panel and brought in all the feeds - surprising how they add up....in comparison to a UK 240V system in a looped configuration.

We came up with a plan to make the front entrance wall more interesting as with the plan changes we could'nt fit the original planned windows.

So we will build two rustic sets of shutters where the orginal windows were going to be

and under the upper "barn roof cover" we'll be getting a rusty steel family crest built..

something along the lines of this one- without the flowers !



Water jet cut- then rusted with salt water and then sealed- maybe even back light it to make it stand out ..

Plumbing- had a good friend start roughing in the system - paid in beer and gas money

The vents were the main issue and trying to hide everything with the open ceilings it made things interesting.

We put the decks to good usage- so the wiring did not get finished !

Air furnace heating was priced up by one chap- but am awaiting two more quotes- we are going with air- for the instant heat and no water to freeze while the house is empty.

The down pipe will be inside a cupboard- toilet -sink and shower all tied in



lower deck hangout


upper deck sun bathing


marmot has moved into the woodpile


sub panel installed over 2" of foam- idea with this is to be able to split the house -maybe down the road for rental and save on running so many wires down to the lower section of the house


kitchen bar framing and electrical

Your place has come along nicely, wish that ours was at this stage but know it will all be worth it in the end to do it right the first time.  Our foundation was delayed due to a few unforeseen events, but the pour has been completed and we are excited about starting to see some real progress over the next few weeks before I end up back at work again.  It is great to see what you have been able to accomplish so far, and is an inspiration.  Keep it up

Thanks for the nice comments !

foundation wise I'm certainly happy- nothing moved this spring- so thats a good sign

Its the part of the house that really needs the most thought and do it right first time yet as its the unseen part

I think for most we tend to first think go cheap and easy- I certainly did.

Yep it set my budget back and the time- but we are happy so far with the investment

Well things have been slow this summer, the GC has been busy with two other houses and so we've been busy saving

Finally after 3 bad doors have been sent back we actually have a working front door !

Some log work was added to the kitchen - using some left over logs, so we can have some hanging lights over the kitchen bar

Way diferent views in the summer with the foiliage bright green and bushy.

We leave for Colorado on Friday with a list of things to accomplish - electric-heating-fireplaces to confirm and organise

heres some photograhic evidence of the small summers progress ..

The secret hideaway in the summer...


rigged for party time and lazy hammock afternoons


Kitchen logwork


The door finally !

Well we're a week in- do sticky threads die ?


I feel lonely 

I'm still messing with the electric- the meter was mounted so the back exits hit the bottom plate
so I had to "stretch" the 200 amp input wiring so I could move the panel up

Installed phone / network / 3 way switching /exterior lights

Progress is slow - its a vacation after all- I get easily led astray

The camper is is sufficient for all our needs - so there is no pressure

maybe I should of stuck with the 21 ft one and then the wife would have been forcing me to work - rather than openning the bar at 3 when the sun hits the trailer deck !