Vestibule Floor

After spending 3 days in Kearney at the Nebraska Wine and Grape Growers Forum (including an unbelieveable banquet speech by noted wine writer Doug Frost) we came back to find our vestibule floor had been cemented in. Above we have some before and after shots of the pour. The cardboard  you see are void forms. The concrete was poured on top of the cardboard. It leaves a void so the freezing and thawing won't cause a problem.

Other pictures show the completed (by Rich and Erich) shingling on the kickout and the new garage door. The final shot is an inside shot of the can lights that have been installed.

Currently the HVAC company is busy installing the duct work and that will continue into this week. We have run into a scheduling snafu as the main beam for the vestibule will take a minimum of 4 weeks to get made. Hopefully that doesnt slow us down too much.

Other pics show

In the last 10 days the  roofing on the main building is completed and Erich and Rich begin roofing the kick out. A little father and son bonding time! The building is now weather tight, aside from a few missing windows and doors and is taking shape. The plumbers have completed the rough in plumbing and the electrician and HVAC crew are now getting their work going.  This week the front vestibule should start taking shape if the weather cooperates.

Windows & Pruning Begins

This past week some of the windows arrived and were installed. The framers finished up what they can do for now as we await some footings for the vestibule - maybe when the mud dries! The plumbers returned to compltete most of the rough in plumbing.

During the weekend the crew was here finishing up the soffits - it is beginning to look like a finished place. While this was going on Richard did some framing inside: adding ceilings to the bathrooms and food prep area. Amy took advantage of the beautiful 50 degree temps to begin pruning in the vineyard. Spring is coming!

Sheathing goes up

The sheathing has gone up and the building is taking shape. More photos to come soon.

The roof trusses go up

Today I come home and see the trusses went up on the winery. Wow what a change - both inside and outside! You can now see how the ceiling will look. Looking at the building now, if it doesn't work as a winery we can turn it into a church!

Closing in

The week started slow thanks to about 8" of snow. Monday was spent shoveling snow out of the building and Tuesday and Wednesday were just too cold to work as the crew was scared of freezing/damaging their equipment (air compressor and tools). But by the end of the week there was plenty of action. All of the main floor interior walls are now in - this includes the 2 bathrooms, very small kitchen prep area, and the enclosure around the stairs to the basement. Late Thursday and Friday saw the sheeting go up on the north and south walls. This really helps block the north wind from hitting our house. Friday also saw the short wall on the 25' x 20' "kick out" go up in preparation for the roof beams.

The crew came back on Saturday and started by framing in the windows on the west wall (the end wall, not yet covered over you see in the pic below. They also set the engineered roof beams on the kick out. You can see some action shots of the crew below. They first set a header type beam against the wall of the main building and attached the beams to that.

The last picture shows one of the septic laterals that has to be added. That crew worked on that until dark on Friday and will need to come back to cover it up hopefully early this coming week.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate this week, although right now it looks like a cold week ahead!

The Walls Go Up

A lot of construction action this past week. The floor sheathing was installed - so now we can actually walk on the main floor and envision our tasting room! By the end of the week the exterior walls were nearly complete and we got our first glimpse of the roof line.

While the framers were at work Karsten Ruff and crew from Ruff Excavating back filled the foundation and did moved some major dirt from the north side of the building to the west side. We now have a great flat area on the west side and can access our garage in the basement. The grading is better than we imagined.

Finally the septic system was partially installed on Friday. The State Dept of Environmental Quality is making us put in a holding tank that all of the basement trench drains will go to. This 2,000 gallon tank will get pumped out when it fills up.

So things are moving along. Hopefully the snow today and tomorrow wont set us back too far.