Generator

The generator was delivered last week, but Mike forgot to take a picture of it. It's not doing much right now, but the electrician will wire it in when they pull the electrical in the next week or two.

Windows installation

The windows have arrived, and were installed today. This mostly seals up the dome (with the exception of the front door, which is installed separately) and gives us the finished weather-tight exterior, needing only paint. Just in time too -- yet another rainstorm is coming tonight.


The kitchen will be light & bright with a large sliding glass door leading out onto the deck. The plans originally called for a regular old door here, but we substituted the slider, and I'm glad we did. It opens up the kitchen a lot & has a lovely view.

Some slow progress

Not much happened on the dome this week, between Mike missing a day or two with his oral surgery (he's fine, less one impacted wisdom tooth, but he was pretty groggy all day Tuesday) and a couple small thunderstorms that rolled through & soaked the ground again, precluding any outdoor work.

The second-floor dormers have been framed to accept the windows, which should arrive next week. We ended up ordering a traditional double-hung style instead of casements, which a) was quite a bit less expensive and b) worked a lot better in the entry area. Hunter is actually in the guest room here, which is over the kitchen looking to the west.

The gigantic bath/shower stall has been moved upstairs & is framed into place in the 2nd floor bathroom. We got an email from some relatives (Hi Bud & Pat!) who are reading the blog & were under the impression that there was only going to be one bathroom in the whole place. Not true & I apologize for giving the wrong impression. The plan calls for 3 1/2 baths -- powder & master on the 1st floor, a full bath on the 2nd floor, and a toilet & shower in the basement. I oughta scan the floor plan & post it here, I just realized I still haven't done that.

Digging

Yesterday and today the septic tank was put in. Turns out we are sitting on a limestone shelf, more or less, and excavating the hole to drop in the tank was a matter of pulling out stones, rocks, slabs, and some mucking big boulders. (Mike is happy because now he has lots of rock for landscaping. He has plans for a firepit and a stone circle on the lower half.) Anyway, the pit was eventually dug & the tank went in just below the driveway; it's a thousand-gallon system, which should be plenty for a family of four, we're told. Leach field below that. Should be a nice green grassy field there ;-)


Meanwhile, the second-floor flooring is going in... rooms are starting to take shape. They'll frame next week.

Second Floor, Going Up

Second floor is going in. It is basically four identical wedge-shaped bedrooms arranged around a bathroom at the hub. Here's the joists for the bathroom & the furthest-back bedroom. The other bedroom joists will radiate out at different angles, but that's dome geometry for you.