Exterior coating is going on

 The men who are placing the outer EIF (stucco-like material) have started their work.  They have already put down a grey base coat over much of the building and will follow this with a brick red (red clay) textured surface.  They also have carved out foam details for the window fenestrations.

 Michelle took this while standing on the roof.  She climbed up the scaffolding to get this shot.  She's very proud of this.

On an interesting note, a local construction blogger / sustainability expert published a post about our house.  His block is called "Art of Construction" and his post is from January 23rd.  It can be found here: http://riles-files.blogspot.com/2013/01/passive-house.html

January 18 progress

 Ralph checking out the roof

 Ella's bedroom

Jan 24

 Our future kitchen

electrical wiring all done by Feb 3

Over the last week the builders rented a crane and hoisted the roof panels onto the southern half of the roof.

In order to lift them safely, they drilled a hold through the middle of each panel and then fastened a chain through the middle of each panel.  Each one weighs over 500 pounds!

 Above is a picture of a panel being hoisted onto the roof.

Below is a picture of the roof in the main living area.  The electrical runs and wiring are already incorporated into the structural insulated panels by the manufacturer.

It was a learning experience for the crew since it was the first time they had installed SIP roofing.  The SIP manufacture, Enercept - based in South Dakota, sent their local consultant to assist with the process.

The SIPS have arrived!

The structural insulated panels (SIPS) arrived on 3 flatbed trucks today!
These pre-constructed foam and wood panels will be used for the second floor walls and the roof of the entire building.  It's cold and windy in St. Louis with rain and snow, so the crew won't start installing them until Wednesday.  They are sitting in the side yard right now.

Our hard working crew.

 Jeff

 Jimmy

view from our future second floor

Profiles in Building - Greg Swetz

Greg Swetz is directly overseeing the construction of the envelope of the house including the foundation, walls, windows, roof and landscaping.  He owns BRC Builders, LLC and is the main subcontractor on the project.

Greg was born in Wisconsin and moved to St. Louis over twenty years ago courtesy of his wife, Daniela, a resident of St. Charles county. Greg’s interest in construction began while he was working as an electrician after leaving the Air Force. Following the wedding, Greg pursued this interest by renovating their first home, a dated and dilapidated fixer-upper. After the couple’s third live-in renovation, Daniela refused to live with any more drywall dust, so Greg turned his construction experience to outside projects. Seeing opportunities where others only saw problems, he successfully renovated a dozen properties--everything from a former drug house to a burned out shell of a split-level. Greg enjoyed the challenges brought by each project, especially in determining how best to reuse existing materials in combination with re-purposed and new products. He quickly became a regular at Habitat for Humanity’s Re-Store.

Greg’s foray into new construction came after buying a lot and building a spec home from the ground up. Finding he enjoyed the process, Greg began taking on more construction projects, designing and building a new home for his in-laws, and even eventually acquiring ground and building The Villas at Seckman Glen subdivision in Jefferson county.

Greg has been interested in alternative energy since wind and solar power came to the forefront in the 70’s, and has followed the evolution of the industry ever since. While evaluating different green technologies, Greg determined that the most cost-effective energy solution was saving energy rather than generating it, which led him to Insulated Concrete Form construction. He began experimenting with this new means of construction by building one of the villas in his subdivision out of ICF, and has since completed four ICF projects over the last two years (including his in-laws’ home). Dan and Michelle’s home is his fifth ICF project.

Thanksgiving

They started framing out our bedrooms!

The SIPS will be here in about 2 weeks. Then it will really start to look like a house with a roof and a second floor. We are very excited.

Happy Thanksgiving