White Rock - Construction Page 2

Mid-February started cold and rainy and, although temperatures continued to plummet, the framing crew forged ahead. As shown in the photos to the left, by mid week, roof framing had progressed so that general roof outlines were clearly visible.

We had scheduled a meeting with Kemp Guthrie, the cabinet maker we met with about six months ago, for Tuesday morning, 17 Feb, to layout the kitchen cabinets. With rain most of that day, we rescheduled for the next day only to find that the second floor was a sheet of ice. We'll get together with him in his office next week.

We continued our pool investigations and it looks as if Martha will be getting a pool. We're looking at both fiberglass and vinyl pools. We might have afforded a gunnite fish pond. We liked a couple of installers and are leaning toward a rectangular, 18' x 36' x 5'6" (deep end) vinyl pool but will be looking at some fiberglass installations before we make a decision. In the first picture, Martha refines the placement and orientation with builder and general contractor, Archie Davis. The pool will be centered on the house and extend south toward the water between the two live oaks. As now envisioned, with the shallow end of the pool about 15' - 20' from the edge of the porch and the deep end of the pool about 50' - 60' from the high water line, we probably will have to request a CAMA variance for the placement and pay careful attention to the total impermeable area (pad, driveway, pool surround, etc) on the lot.

The first picture also shows the winter shading provided by the gallery. The sun shadow is just at the bottom of the windows. In the summer, the entire gallery will be shaded most of the day.

Snow, rain and cold continued through the end of the month radically cutting into the days worked. The framing crew started to sheath the roof and to cut out the window openings. The crew worked on Saturday, but it was very windy. By mid-morning, Monday, 2 March, they were erecting the ridge beam and the upper portions of the hip rafters. Windows should be arriving in early March with exterior doors perhaps two weeks later. It is beginning to look like a house.

We stopped by the job site late afternoon of 5 March, a nice sunny day with temperatures in the 60s. With the wind picking up and heavy ominous clouds moving in from the northwest, within minutes the temperature fell 10 degrees and continued to plummet. We were delighted with the progress on the framing and the roof sheathing. Most of the windows had arrived and were stacked inside.

Monday afternoon, 9 March, on the way back from Jacksonville, NC, we were delighted to find a full crew, mild weather, more OSB sheathing and paper on the roof and most of the builder's felt applied to the exterior walls. The Andersen doors had arrived and were stacked in the garage with the windows. Framing and sheathing the dormers and the rest of the roof is queued-up for tomorrow.

By Friday afternoon, 13 March (yes, one last month and now another), with an entire week of good weather, the framing crew had completed the main roof and dormers and were starting on the 3rd FL porch roof. Almost all of the house is now covered with builder's felt. We decided the dormer windows were too small, so we tested one of the dormer openings at 6 ft. which seemed too large. A 5 ft tall window will fit the proportions. We can't return those windows and replacements would cost about $370 each, so we will swap the three dormer windows with two 5 ft windows now in the garage and order one more 5 ft window. We'll have to cut another window opening on the ground floor next to the door on the water side. We'll also revise the framing on the front of the dormers to include soffits on the fronts just above the windows instead of along the pitch of the roof as shown in the photo. The builder has scheduled a preliminary visit by a roofer next week to get an estimate on the cost of a metal roof and will be scheduling electrical and plumbing rough-in work by the end of March or the first part of April.

Windows! Hurray! Monday, 16 March, we now have three windows in the kitchen. The next day it had increased to six windows on the front, two on the east side, four more on the water-side and a french door with transom light. The water-side porch on the the third floor was framed-out to the exterior wall with only the gallery framing remaining. The main roof framing is now complete. Mid-day on Tuesday we met with the roofing contractor who measured the roof and will provide an estimate for both a shingle and metal roof. Late on Tuesday we met with the plumber and have scheduled a meeting with the electrician for Monday. We also got an estimate for a dock which we'll add to those being evaluated.

By mid-day on Friday, 21 March, the plumber was at work with preliminary rough-in and Archie's crew had installed more windows, covered 3rd floor door and window openings to protect against overnight and morning showers and wind, while also framing a few changes (like the dormer openings shown in the photo) and much of the 3rd floor ceiling. The rest of the windows are expected to arrive next week. We opened discussions to commission a custom mahogany front door with sidelights and transom. We also scheduled delivery for Monday of all of the purchases we had stored separately with Acme Movers and Storage. These items will be needed during the construction process before we could accommodate the rest of our household effects. We're planning to meet an electrician at the job site on Monday.

Page 3 Construction Photos