We're going to follow the progress of a new home in Park City Utah. It's located at 9,000' altitude, which brings some unique challenges.
It all starts at the site. The site dicatates views, level, heights, access, solar orientation and much more. If you don't get the house positioned and oriented correctly,
the whole project will feel off.
Level by level the house gets designed in sketch form.
Once approved through a strenuous approval process, construction begins. We always check the orientation by having a surveyor locate the house corners - then comes the heavy equipment!
This is a photo of the footing and foundation forms being set and the exterior footings being poured.
Working around snow and cold is normal in a mountain environment. Snow removal is expensive, in some cases adding $50K to a project! If possible, getting the home "dried in" is preferred. This means starting your project in the early spring. Unfortunately, most people wait until it's time to build before starting the design process. Design should start in the fall in order to be ready for a spring start. Keep this in mind when starting a project. In the building process, Mother Nature is not your friend.
Any break in the weather is a chance to start framing! First goes the structural steel, then the wood framing. The winter was harsh on the concrete, but it turned out ok. This part of any project makes things feel like they're really moving quickly. Also - all your rooms will feel small when framed. Not to worry, things will look better the more you visit the site. They'll feel even better once drywall goes in.
Next it to get the home "dried-in". This simply means that materials are added to the exterior of the home to create a weather barrier. This barrier is permanent and will be covered with finish materials. It's important to get this done as quickly as possible to avoid any damage to wood framing. Once windows and doors are in, the home can also be heated, an essential step to start the interior finishes.