range hood blower install. not fun for one.

once all the framing was complete it was (finally) time to start installing some of the more exciting mechanical aspects of the house. its pretty much impossible for me to say that i didn't got a bit, perhaps a lot, overboard on the kitchen, but... i do like to cook and it's one aspect of the house that i just couldn't cut any corners on.  so, i got a 42" stainless steel hood that needed some specific blocking in order to be hung properly and an 1100 CFM in-line blower that needed to be mounted in the attic before the drywall and insulation were started.  you can see it pictured above hanging from the roof rafters.  its hanging so that it won't vibrate the ceiling and cause unnecessary noise in the kitchen/great room.

here you can see it looking up from the soon to be kitchen area.  like i said, it was not fun for me to hang this thing....but it will be worth it someday.

no more scary stairs

just as a reminder, this is what the stairs used to look like... at least once i did a bit of tear out. 

the stairs were pretty much the last bit of tough framing that needed to be done before i could have the rough inspection done.  i, with my very limited knowledge about stair building (or construction in general), called in Blain (whose real good at this stuff) to do the work.  i must admit that i didn't really do much but cut the temporary treads, clean up, and hold stuff.  now the stairs are pretty sweet and look a whole lot better. (as you call can certainly see)

now my house looks like this.

needless to say, this is pretty much how my house is going to look from the exterior.  the siding is called harbor grey and is 4" wide.  the siding actually went on pretty fast since all the house was all tyveked and ready to go.  i have to admit i didn't do the work due to this thing called a broken ankle but the guys from Buchanan did a pretty sweet job i must say.  be sure to notice the new landscaping underneath the two horizontal windows on the left.  thanks to my father for those.