Keller Residence: March 2007

March 2, 2007 -- The chimney liner is now at its final height. The taller room on the right is the master suite.

March 2, 2007 -- The front stairs have been roughed in. A temporary front porch and steps have been built. The Brays room chimney and its temporary bracing is visible on the right.

March 2, 2007 -- A view of the Brays room from the side stairway. To the right side of the Brays room will be a balcony and columns.

March 2, 2007 -- Willis carefully inspects the work several times daily to insure everything is going well. He is looking at the front stairwell.

March 2, 2007 -- The second floor walls on the north end still need to be completed. This will be done today.

March 2, 2007 -- When is wood not wood? When it is engineered wood. This is a photo of a PSL (Parallel Strand Lumber). It is highly processed wood that is much stronger than equal sized dimensional lumber. PSLs are one of several types of engineered wood used in this house. Engineered wood is used in areas where extra strength is needed.

March 2, 2007 -- This is a view from the driveway. Notice both chimneys liners are in place. They are some 36 feet above the floor of the house. Plywood is being nailed on walls.

March 2, 2007 -- This is the Brays room chimney liner. The ledges are for brick. At the lower ledge brick will be added to three sides. The fourth side will be added at the upper ledge. When the chimney comes through the room it will have bricks on all four sides.

March 2, 2007 -- A view of the roughed in front stairs. Notice the PSLs on either side of the stairwell. The TJI (engineered joists) visible outside will be the floor structure for the attic.

March 2, 2007 -- The house from the far side of the garage. Notice the height of the house compared to the red 8 foot ladder.

March 2, 2007 -- A view of the Brays chimney from the far north side of the second floor.

March 2, 2007 -- This is the rear stairwell. Stairs to the attic will also be built here. The garage is in the distance.

March 2, 2007 -- A view of the house from the road. The garage is in the foreground. The chimney liners are full height. Plywood sheathing on the walls is proceeding.

March 5, 2007 -- The upstair walls are finished. You can see the porch on the rear (left) of the house. The garage slab is in the foreground.

March 6, 2007 -- The second floor trusses are in place. Plywood will be installed on them today.

March 6, 2007 -- A view of the Brays room with ceiling trusses in place. The bracing in the center is temporary to insure everything is nice and square.

March 6, 2007 -- A view of the Brays room from the balcony. The large openings on the left are for French doors that will lead out to a patio.

March 6, 2007 -- A beautiful view over the marshes from the balcony through openings that will soon be windows. The newly installed ceiling joists are visible at the top of the photo. The thin gap between windows (visible just right of center) will soon hold a steel rod down to the foundation to help protect the home in the event of high winds.

March 6, 2007 -- The attic (3rd floor) flooring is being installed.

March , 2007 -- Plywood sheathing is being installed. Windows will be cut soon.

March 7, 2007 -- Windows are being cut. The rest of the sheathing should be done today.

March 8, 2007 -- This will be a connecting covered walkway between the house and garage/apartment. The public porch is visible in the background.

March 8, 2007 -- The third floor (attic) has been sheathed. This is a view from the third floor across the marshes.

March 8, 2007 -- A view of the balcony from the Brays room. The bracing is temporary.

March 8, 2007 -- A view of the connecting walkway showing the relative positions of the house and garage/apartment. The marshes are in the background.

March 8, 2007 -- This will be the public porch. Notice the fireplace. You can also see the side door and connecting walkway at the extreme right of the photo.

March 8, 2007 -- This is the outside wall of the Brays Room. It will have four pairs of windows on the top and four pairs of French doors on the bottom.

March 9, 2007 -- South gable wall is framed and standing.

March 9, 2007 -- Northeast section of gable wall is being stood up in photo. The large opening below workers is for windows to the lounge.

March 9, 2007 -- The north end gable is built. The short knee wall to the right makes the roofs come out as the plans show. You can see the opening for the attic stairwell by the chimney.

March 9, 2007 -- This is a telephoto view of the marina through the trees from the attic. The attic would be a perfect place for a study.

March 9, 2007 -- Here is the stair well. The stairs from the first floor start on the left. They turn and come to the bottom of the photo. The attic stairs go up on the right to a landing at the top and then come towards the bottom of the photo.

March 9, 2007 -- Both end gables are erected. Much of blocking (not shown) has been installed. Most of the plywood wall sheathing is installed.

March 13, 2007 -- Willis Ponds inspects the steps near the side door.

March 13, 2007 -- A view of what will be the connecting sidewalk from the side door. Later today, the walls should be filled with dirt and concrete poured.

March 13, 2007 -- This is a view of the side stairs from the second floor. The stairs on the left go down to the first floor. The stairs on the right go to the attic.

March 13, 2007 -- A view of the attic from the stair landing. Short walls will surround the stairwell.

March 13, 2007 -- The stairs are roughed in. The landing (on the right side of the photo) has a temporary piece of plywood on it.

March 14, 2007 -- The rafters are on the main part of the house.

March 14, 2007 -- Most of the braces have now been removed from the Brays room.

March 14, 2007 -- The connector walkway gets fill packed in it. It will also have a drain pipe installed under it.

March 14, 2007 -- The master bedroom is next to receive rafters.

March 14, 2007 -- The walkway was poured this afternoon. It will be bricked in the next few days.

March 14, 2007 -- By quitting time, the master bedroom has rafters and a small awning roof extension.

March 14, 2007 -- A view of the house from the Southwestern corner. You can clearly see the main roof rafters, gable end and master bedroom rafters.

March 14, 2007 -- A view from the road showing the set back roof on the north end.

March 15, 2007 -- The "awning" is installed along the house over the front door. The overhang has been installed on the master bed room (on the right end of the house).

March 15, 2007 -- The attic is huge. A lot of temporary bracing is still in place.

March 19, 2007 -- The brickwork is now along the connecting walkway and garage.

March 19, 2007 -- Cornices (extensions of the roof) are being installed.

March 21, 2007 -- The master bedroom (on the right) roof has plywood and paper on the front half. The main house also has plywood on the front half. By the end of the day, most of the roof should be sheeted with plywood.

March 21, 2007 -- This view shows the relative locations of the garage (lower left) walkway, porch and house. The chimney will be brick to match the house curtain walls. Work on the garage will start in the next day or two.

March 21, 2007 -- The garage framing has begun. The front of the house roof has plywood and water and ice shield. The water and ice shield is much better than felt paper which is normally installed under shingles.

March 21, 2007 -- This is the back side of the house. The chimney is for the Brays Room fireplace. The inset near the bottom left of the photo (see the bricks) will be for a private porch off the master bedroom. The large opening on the left side will be a door to the master bedroom.

March 22, 2007 -- The garage framing is shaping up. The house is visible on the right side of the photo. Both garage door openings are visible.

March 22, 2007 -- This is the garage from the house side door. The garage will be two stories next week.

March 22, 2007 -- Framing for the private deck (the one off the master bedroom) was built today. The offset pieces on the joists are special clips for the ipe decking.

March 23, 2007 -- This is a view looking south. The garage has been started. It will be two stories. The house will have a porch to the left of the chimney. The chimney will be bricked soon.

March 27, 2007 -- The first floor framing and blocking is completed. Plywood sheeting will be installed today as will the second floor trusses if all goes well.

March 28, 2007 -- This is a close up of the fastening system for ipe flooring. A stainless steel screw is screwed into the bottom of the decking. No fasteners are visible from the top.

March 28, 2007 -- We use 1/2 inch steel rods from the foundation to the top plate in our homes. This makes the homes very solid and wind resistant. This is a rod near the chimney liner on the north wall.

March 28, 2007 -- The garage has been sheeted in plywood. A very strong beam has been installed to support the stairs. Today the trusses will go on the first floor plates.

March 29, 2007 -- The Brays Room has plywood on the outside wall. The windows have to be cut open on the left. Plywood still has to be put on the far wall.

March 29, 2007 -- Trusses are on the garage. Plywood should be put on the floor soon.

March 29, 2007 -- This is the north end of the house. The three windows are in the lounge. The opening below them will be the public porch. It gets a small gable roof. The door by the walkway has to be cut open.

March 29, 2007 -- This is a view of the garage from the lounge. The trusses are not on the close end of the garage yet because the stairwell has not been finished yet. It will be in today.

March 29, 2007 -- This is a view looking north of the front of the house showing the relative location of the house and garage. The rightmost window is in the master bedroom.

March 29, 2007 -- Most of the second floor of the garage has plywood. Stairs will be installed in much of the open space.

March 29, 2007 -- This is a view of the house showing the locations of the house and garage.