Racing the rain

Since the last post I have insulated the walls and added sheathing to the bottom exterior of the house. I also finalized my utilities by purchased an air exchanger, instant hot water heater, and heater as well as finalizing the design for the utility closet. It's going to have a neat little trick that I will explain later. I took a bit of  a break on the build and traveled to Bali and then a week later to Charlseton, SC.

The time has come for the big move. There will be longer moves in the future but this is the first and most crucial. It is time to head outside. Topless. After a brief travel hiatus it's back to work on the house and the next step is a roof. Mother nature blessed us with a week of dry weather to allow the house to get moved out of the barn, the upper wall sections added and roof to be attached. To prepare I pre-built the walls to be lifted onto the existing structure and bolted in place, pre-cut rafters, and primed the exterior sheathing that it had already. The trailer towed out of the barn surprisingly well, it's nimble and light and the Yukon handled it without breaking a sweat. The following week was a whirlwind of rough construction. It went outside on a Wednesday and we had dry weather predicted until the following Tuesday. With the help of my Dad, buddy Adam, and Mom, we were able to get the upper walls attached, rafters on, roof sheathing, and upper exterior sheathing attached before the tiny sprinkle of rain came on Tuesday. 

At this point I was able to take a short breath, but I was not ease with it out in the elements. I needed to finish the waterproofing of the exterior walls and get a roof on it ASAP. After the sheathing went up I primed the rest of the walls, painting over my windows for the time being made it easier to paint quickly and make the walls waterproof. The windows will be cut out soon when i'm ready to put them in, the focus this week was strictly waterproofing. Another major house decision jumped up on me after priming the walls. Color! I knew I wanted a grey walls and black trim to accompany the black windows that I have but what grey. Not a big deal until you realize how many shades of grey are possible. I had been pondering a few color samples on my dresser for a while so I grabbed my favorites and bought the paint. A bit intimidating but one of the easiest decisions to change down the road. I decide on a flat grey that I hoped would emulate soft touch plastic (one of my favorite texture/color combos), some black for the trim, and a burnt orange for the front door, which I can use inside the house for some color as well. 

I was very happy with how the grey turned out, using a thicker nap roller on the last coat gave it a nice soft texture while also hiding 90 or so percent of the wood grain. I like the idea of the interior and exterior wall coverings being a mystery. I decided on a grey TPO membrane roof with custom bent TPO coated sheet metal for the edges. The edging should be ready after Memorial day weekend and the roof membrane will go on shortly after.