The Myers’ Home team has made it to the top layer of finishes. Almost every material and layer they apply at this point is completely visible and the finish surface in the home. So they’re watching their step with the mud and taking some extra care in details.

Painting the Day Away

After sheetrock is complete, the team and their helpers scrub up the drywall mud and prepare to begin painting. While the home’s core, outer walls, and to-be-built flex walls are designed using different materials, they’ll all be painted white to reduce noise. It also provides a clean surface, should the homeowner want to paint it to personal preference.

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The sheetrock is the cleanest surface on the outer edges of the home. It contains most electrical for the possible rooms and is more workable for openings like windows and doors. The board surface on the home’s core—the kitchen, bath, and stair—is a durable tongue-and-groove board. These surfaces are interacted with more often and need added durability. The flex walls that partition bed and living space will be plywood, and primed white. These walls will be anchored in only a few points should the home configuration need to change years down the road.

Just a Trim, Please

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Once the walls have their first coat, trim can be installed around the whole house. As materials change, so does trim design strategy. The baseboards run along sheetrock surfaces, and where board material begins, the trim moves to the top edge of the ceiling. Windows are trimmed out on their edges.

Last Call on Windows

Speaking of windows, all of the custom window units are installed and Riley is adding the last few components post-install. Each of the operable and fixed windows get their own trim box, also constructed of cypress. These are taped off and kept natural as the last coat of paint is applied to the surrounding wall.

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Steel-Clad Sensibility

Meanwhile, the exterior of the house is getting the full treatment. Siding is starting to be installed on the two gable ends and back of the house. The lower twelve feet of front face will be clad after construction of the porch slab. This prevents siding from being dinged and damaged during concrete pours and metalwork. The porch structure will then be used as a platform to finish the top few feet of siding.

However, the installation process is straightforward for the other three sides. Panels are pre-drilled with screw holes, openings for windows and vents are cut, if necessary. Then the panels are moved into place, overlap length checked, and screwed in from overlap edge over. This prevents most bubbling in the panel as the lines of screws progress over.

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The Thermal Mass & Buoyancy Ventilation team has also kindly lent their rental boom lift. The Myers’ Home team is using this lift to install siding high on the gable ends. It’s certainly a much smoother route than multi-story scaffolding! They also used it to install the last few pieces of flashing around windows. The flashing details on this house are in the same family as those used on the roof. To maintain the tight shell, window openings are designed to be sharp and clean.

On Deck

The team is now on their last big push for the interior. They’re building flex walls, preparing for stair treads, painting cabinets, and making the rounds on finish electrical and plumbing. Soon, all lights will be on and water will be flowing!

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On the outside, these folks are on standby for porch plans. Imminently, they’re headed up the road to Birmingham for some porch fabrication. This means steel cutting, drilling, and welding! Before that they’ll be boots in the mud again digging for the footings and pavers of the porch. More on that soon, thanks for keeping up!

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