Framed-In
The building crew arrived and went right to work at eight o'clock. I left them vitamin water and cookies, and I came home to the result of their day's labors and took pictures. I'm very impressed. I can't believe how quickly it goes up and starts looking like a real house. My contractor says the roof trusses should arrive soon.



This side shows the pantry room door, and the picture window into the family room.



And this side shows the same picture window and the window into the office.

Click for interior shots of the rooms.



An interior shot of the pantry. I wanted plenty of windows for the sake of good natural daylight.



The pantry again, a slightly different angle showing the door.



The bathroom. I asked for ADA compliant doorways throughout and accessible interior fittings for the bathroom.



And this will be the office -- not too huge, but with plenty of light. Once the walls are finished, it will probably be 9 x 10 feet, big enough for my computer, a drawing table, and bookshelves. I'm told such a room nowadays is too small to be called "a bedroom" since it is smaller than 10 x 10 feet and lacks a built-in closet. On the other hand, nothing would prevent someone from using it as a bedroom. The semantics of modern construction.

The things you learn when working with contractors -- because I'm living in a World War II era house I'm permitted to put in windows of the same size as the original windows, they call it "grandfathered construction". Technically all modern construction should have windows that are even a size larger -- large enough to admit a fireman in full rescue gear. The windows certainly will be big enough to permit everyone to bail out if necessary. There are small homes in the neighborhood built in the same time period as my own with very small windows that probably would not allow an adult human to escape in the event of an emergency. I think if I was renovating one of them I would upgrade the windows for safety's sake.