Roofing Going On

Pabco Premier Professional, which is a step up from the basic Pabco everyone uses. This is a 40-year, 290lb product, vs. the basic 30-year 240lb. I like the idea of having a little heavier weight, and also like the additional shadowing the thicker shingles provide. Color is Antique Black. We obsessed a bit over the color, just because the roof is such a large surface of the house. In the end, though, it's hard to go wrong with dark. I think it will look sharp.

Progress Photos

Front Entry

Cathedral Ceiling

in Living/Dining/Kitchen

Rafters Going Up

Prow of the Ship

House on a Hill

Looks more like a church than a home at this point. Rafters should go up this week.

A neighbor came along (on horseback) and said what a pleasure it was to hear the sound of hammer & nails again.

...And Up She Goes

Shop, With Windows In

New Construction

Living room/chimney wall, ready to go up.

The chimney and column bases will be masoned with fieldstone gathered from the property.

Rear Elevation

A drop-dead gorgeous day, I might add.

Building Inspectors

House & Shop

Twas a pristine last day of January. Beautiful calm clear weather. Here are some current photos of the project.
April says the shop is "pointing" to the north. I see what she means.

House & Shop

Shop nearly framed, house foundation will be poured tomorrow.

Breaking Ground

We've broken ground on a new house & detached garage/shop on Lot 21. As you can see the shop is half framed already, and the foundation has been dug for the house (has a thermal blanket over it at the moment).

The house is 3,200 sq ft. It sits in the elbow of the vineyard with the great ridge-top view over the field below to the lake & mountains beyond.

I'm more excited about the shop. Now I gotta get a tractor.

Drilling a Well

Construction is beginning on a new custom home on Lot 21. The first step was drilling a well. Mitch Mathews did the drilling. He's been doing it for 32 years in Moses Lake and has a good reputation.

He started at 8 am and was done by 2:30 that afternoon. Drilled 175 feet and hit good water - roughly 85 gallons per minute, many times more than a household can use.

The cost for the well was $7,000, including tax. The pump will cost another $3,300 or so, installed.

Gov. Gregoire says BMW's Moses Lake factory may double in size, jobs

(Headline in Seattle Times this morning.)

SEATTLE —
A new carbon fiber plant being built in Moses Lake could become the largest facility of its kind in the world because of strong demand for the composites by German carmaker BMW AG, Gov. Chris Gregoire said Friday.

Check out the full story here.

The Governor is in Germany hobnobbing with BMW. They believe all vehicles will be made of carbon fiber in the near future.

When you read between the lines of the statements BMW has made about this project, you get the sense that:

- BMW sees carbon fiber as the material of the future,

- BMW is developing a core competency and infrastructure for carbon fiber, of which the Moses Lake plant will be a significant part, and

- BMW's vision may go beyond using this stuff just for its own vehicles; it may envision selling carbon fiber to other car makers and maybe even to other industries as well.

In other words, carbon fiber is the building material of the 21st century, and Moses Lake will be a carbon fiber capital of the world. Exciting!