There was a reason I took pictures of the walls before sheetrocking.

We decided a few weeks ago that a stove would be a good add to the lower level family room. We haven't really used the area, but plan on putting in a big screen sometime in the future. We also noticed that with the open layout of the house that cooler air will sink into the lower level making it noticeably cooler.


Another deciding factor was the power out situation from last winter, when we heated the upper level with the fireplace for a number of hours. This should take care of the lower level.



So off to Energy Alternatives we went to look at stoves. We used AE for the fireplace and vacuum system when we built the house last year.



We decided on a gas vs. a pellet stove for convenience and went with a Vermont Castings Brown enameled quasi old fashion model. It will be installed 10/5.



Last year when building the house we had anticipated this move and had Johnny's run a gas line to that area in the family room. Scott also ran power to the area so that the fan system on the stove could be hooked up. The stove will have a wireless thermostat/remote for control.


At the urging of David our framer, I photographed all of the walls before the sheet rockers closed them up. This was great advice as I have referred to them twice; once when the garage doors were installed and now for the placement of the direct vent for the stove. As you can see there is one bay for the stove piping to go through the wall between the gas line and the electrical run.


This library of photos is pretty extensive on the hard drive of the home computer and it can take sometime to figure out what you are looking at, but it is sure interesting to look at and remember how far we have come.



Fall has arrived in the our part of the Rockies as evident by the needle turn on the Ponderosa's. The needles that turn brown will fall off and become fire fuel on the forest floor until they decompose, which will take quite a while. Next summer following the example of the folks whose house survived the Tahoe fires this year we will clear the ground of fuel materials within 50' feet of the house. Taking some advice from Tim Longsdon the excavating contractor we will have a hole dug and deposit the slash and organics in it to be buried vs. burning.





While in Minnesota in August I scarfed up some railroad spikes from Bill Karsten. We had been looking for a towel rack for the area around the hot tub and when I saw them laying in his barn an idea struck me.

This is novel so I try never to overlook the occasion.

Anyway this is what I did with them. The wood still needs another coat of sealer so that the color matches the balcony/deck, but it has a nice rustic feel.

The patio is blotchie becuase now that it is a year old, I power washed and sealed it. The sealer will take a couple od days to dry.


Well, back to finishing up outside items before the snow flies. This weekend I am going to re-trim the garage doors (see 9/21/06 post). Last year when installing the doors we had a slight/un-sightly mix - up, which resulted in a rough cut along the door edge. I am going to trim over it with Hardi-Trim then paint the doors and trim green. once done I can really say the trim painting is done! Wait there is the back of the house. This is like a recurring nightmare.