ICF Home: March 15, 2007 Updates January/February

As of the end of February this is what our house looked like. Going back to January I'll update what's happened.

January was very cold and wet. Getting the roof shingled, rough in stairs, carport steel beams welded, and windows being installed, were the most significant work we had done that month. The windows, brand name Simonton Windows out of McAlester, arrived the first week of January. We have windows with grids on the front of the house and contractor grade windows, without grids, on the rest of the house. It was cheaper that way. Finally getting in the dry took the whole month only working a day or two here and there.
The roof is a composition roof with Atlas 35 year pinnacle shingles installed by Greg Bates Roofing. We had researched getting a metal roof or concrete tile roof, but we found out they were way too expensive for our budget. Most of the windows were installed by Jim, my brother. Also, during the month of January my brother built our front and back stairs. Because of the walkway on the second floor in the entryway being partly above the steps, Jim had to do some creative carpentry to make sure a tall person would have clearance under that walkway as they took the first few steps. Creative thinking comes naturally to Jim. I almost forgot to add that Jim , also, installed our side French doors and our back door, to help keep the cold out! Our front door we're special ordering and we won't have it until we've finished the inside of the house.
I'll insert some pictures here of our January accomplishments, then update on February.

Fred Potter, the welder, and his crew welded our carport structure together. They used steel beams the previous owner of our land had left behind. Needless to say, it's very sturdy!

Simonton windows delivered into our kitchen area.