Building Updates: New Framing Taking Shape
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Construction update: walls are up!! It is so crazy and exciting to finally see rooms coming together. It seems like we planned, planned, planned for months and months, but then in a matter of weeks we went from foundation footings to framing! From here, things slow down again with rough electrical, plumbing and HVAC work, all necessary of course, but for now, we are soaking in the small victory of having walls. As we don’t have a very complicated house, the structure which the framers initially told us may take a week or two actually went up in about 3 days! This was both SO amazing and kind of stressful as we tried to rearrange our schedule to get over to the project as much as possible to ensure any onsite tweaks necessary could be thought through and made before the framers left. Certainly, there will be plenty of updates in the weeks to come, but having them make any initial changes is always helpful. While this post is perhaps a little less informative regarding the process as the past two posts, I thought it might be fun to catch up a bit on the updates, layout and pictures as new framing takes shape!
Exterior Framing
The exterior of our home is almost as simple as it gets when it comes to construction. In classic Colonial style (which you can read more about HERE!), our house features a 10:12 single gable roof, double chimneys, symmetrical windows and front portico highlighting our entry. Keeping the structure simple (especially with rooflines), helps to keep the cost lower with fewer complications while also staying true to the Colonial style. While these were very classic choices, we diverged a bit from traditional Colonial appearance by bumping out the dining room and choosing large slider windows to capitalize on views as opposed to the more typical smaller, single hung option. All in all, these decisions felt like the best choice when designing for our family while also keeping a more historic style and budget in mind.
Interior Framing Layout
While historical Colonial plans provide highly defined layouts, if you recall from the previous post discussion on designing our plan (you can catch up on that HERE if you missed it!), I really wanted a layout that was both defined and open. To accomplish this, when you enter the house, you will first enter a stair hall foyer. To the left and straight ahead are the more “public rooms” with the living room, sitting area in front of the fireplace and kitchen which join to a separate dining room through two cased openings flanking the fireplace.
Back in the entry, to the right are “private” rooms of a guest room, bathroom and master suite while straight ahead is the music library space which also joins the kitchen on the left, laundry mudroom in the center and the master suite on the right. Upstairs, the stairs open onto a landing to access a bathroom and two bedrooms (or a bedroom and bonus) as well as a plethora of storage space in the knee walls. While historical Colonial home layouts had all public spaces on the first floor and private spaces on the second floor, we wanted to include a master suite, laundry and guest room on the first floor to provide the ability to easily age in place.
Final Thoughts
If the footings and foundation made the house feel small, having the fully framed walls up made the house feel huge! That, and the 10 foot ceilings, really made a huge difference in the feel of the home, especially as you walk in as suddenly (unlike with the foundation) you can’t see the whole space at once. Next will be rough in electrical, plumbing, HVAC, windows and doors before our next inspection, so definitely a lot is upcoming on the agenda. Even still, this step has been amazing to see the plans come to life and it has us even more excited to see things come together! But I would love to know, what space are you most excited to see here?! It will definitely be a work in progress a little at a time, but I am thrilled to share the design inspirations of these rooms soon, and in the meantime, which area peaks your interest the most and/or do you hope to learn from the most? Also! If you have built (or majorly renovated!), what stage was your favorite where you saw the biggest transformation? Haha probably move in is a favorite stage, but new framing is definitely a transformative step in the right direction!
Happy framing!
