There’s been plenty of freezing rain over the last few days and for some reason, I thought it would be a bright idea to climb up on the roof to take the photo above. I saw the truck (and more importantly, the stark contrast between it and the operator’s orange jacket) and thought to myself “So what if you can’t feel you hands, you’ll still be able to climb that ladder. Get up there and take that photo.” So up I went, camera in hand.

It was a little snowy and icy up there, but all in all not too bad. For the most part the roofing is complete, however there are still a few things that need to be completed. The sides of the clerestory are going to be wrapped in Vapor Shield (thanks to everyone who suggested it) to further protect it and the windows need to be installed (which will hopefully happen next week), but everything else is pretty much done. While I was up there, I figured I might as well snap a few shots of the drains with their strainers installed so you can get a better sense of how they’ll look/work. Pretty exciting stuff, I know.

You’ll also notice the 2 built-up boxes on the roof—these are for the sun tunnels we’ll have in the en-suite bathroom and walk-in (walk-through?) closet. We decided to use Velux Low Profile sun tunnels, both of which should paint their respective rooms with plenty of natural light. The instructions state that they’re intended for pitched roofs only (between 15° and 60°), but we contacted the manufacturer and they said we’d be fine if we simply raised them up and away from possible snow buildup. I don’t know the exact measurement, but I think they stand somewhere around 12” off the roof.

After exhausting my photographic options on the roof, I made my way back down to safety and proceeded into the basement. Well, not actually into the basement, but I did uncover the opening for the stairway so I could lean in and take some shots. That’s close enough, right? Of course, none of them turned out because it was kinda’ dark down there, so you’ll have to take my word that the next few paragraphs are legit. Picture this…

I hadn’t originally intended on putting insulation under the slab, but after a few persuasive arguments (thanks Scott!) I was convinced otherwise. Once the drains were run, we tamped the gravel down and covered everything with vapor barrier. All of the seams were tuck taped and then 1” of rigid foam insulation was laid. 2” would have been ideal, but I just couldn’t justify the added costs. Hell, I really couldn’t justify the cost of 1”, but what are you gonna’ to do? We’ll at least see some gains from the thermal break between the slab and the ground, which is better than nothing I suppose. Regardless, all of those seams were Tuck Taped as well and everything was covered up with concrete.

Now, concrete doesn’t like the cold particularly much, so we needed to block all of the openings and run a heater down there. Of course, this just made everything foggy, but at least it looked warm and toasty. I’m not too sure how long the heater will be running down there, but it’s currently sitting on a temporary shelf that’s suspended from the ceiling. I suppose you would typically rent these things, but apparently it only cost a little more to purchase it outright and I’m now the proud owner of a 70,000 BTU/Hr. Kerosene Forced Air Heater with built-in thermostat. I guess I’ll sell it on Craigslist when we’re done (or maybe I can convince Steve that he needs a snazzy heater for his next project?!)