XHouse1 First Build - front steps forming up

Formwork for casting the concrete steps and landing at the front door of the XHouse1 is going together now. Within a few days the concrete should be poured.

Remember you can also follow the progress of the construction of this house in the dedicated Flickr album. Its never possible for us to publish every photo here on the blog. Our thanks go out to our customers for sharing their house builds!

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XHouse1 First Build - there is light!

Light bulbs arrive - LED light bulbs. Yes, its seems its finally arrived, we can outfit our homes with LED light bulbs. They are still more expensive that the CFL equals, but worth it. The use even less power and last even longer.

The house is really starting to come together now, and soon we will turn that corner from looking like a construction site to looking like a home.

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XHouse1 First Build - HVAC happens

One day its just a shell, the next its a living breathing thing, a home.

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XHouse1 First Build - interior painting has begun

Interior painting has begun inside. This is the first step before other finish activities get under way.

The open living/ dining/ kitchen space is getting a coat of white. Note how bright the space is even without any light fixtures on.

The kitchen cabinets are going to be from Ikea, value stalwart for the modern homeowner!. The Owner has built one up to see what they look like, and this is the result. Pretty sweet - Ikea delivers the modern cred. This is why we see many smart developers using Ikea boxes for the kitchen fitouts.

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PA Plat House - now well underway

The new Plat House project in Pennsylvania has begun rough framing. Progress comes fast with the simple framing of this house, and the framing should be complete very soon.

Here the exterior wall framing is pretty far along. They've just started on the clerestory window, high on the bay window side of the house. And the sloping side walls are not yet framed up to the full height of the house.

And here you see the clerestory window wall framing is complete, and the sloping side walls are also finished. The walls are all in place ready for the framing of the roof to begin.

More photos are posted on the Flickr album for this new project. As always our thanks go out to our customers for sharing their builds with us.

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XHouse1 First Build - more picture

The site has been tidied a bit in anticipation of the work moving indoors for the remainder of the project.

Note hay has been thrown around the perimeter, and the grade has been leveled and the remnants of foundation excavation have been smoothed out. Maybe not final grading, but cleaned up grading.

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XHouse1 First Build - inside moving too

The interior sheet rock joints have been finished and the interior is ready for painting.

While additional coats of paint go on outside, the interior will continue with floor finishes, cabinetry, the hanging of doors and installation of hardware and fixtures.

This XHouse1 is the first example of this design to be built, and its available in our catalog here. Its also the first house from our XHouse collection to be built, which is a family of designs with fresh contemporary theme, and our first designs to feature our energy efficient USA New Wall assemblies.

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XHouse1 First Build - more paint

Painting progress at the XHouse1

This XHouse1 is the first example of this design to be built, and its available in our catalog here. Its also the first house from our XHouse collection to be built, which is a family of designs with fresh contemporary theme, and our first designs to feature our energy efficient USA New Wall assemblies.

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XHouse1 First Build - painting outside

While the finishing inside is going strong, the painters have shown up to paint the outside. The light tan color we've seen on the house is just the primer, and the owner is looking at a rich warm carbon grey tone for the outside. Here is the first coat on the kitchen end wall.

The color is a little bit streaked for that first coat, it does not have 100% coverage over the primer yet, but you can see the color clearly enough.

Things are happening quickly all over the house now, and it will quickly go from looking like a construction site to looking like a home. Stay tuned for the final transformation of this exciting home.

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XHouse1 First Build - drywall happening right now

The work has entered the next phase. The exterior is mostly done and weather tight, the systems inside are installed, and the house fully insulated. Its time to finish the interior.

Remember to check out the images on the catalog page for this house, so you can see how its turning out so close to the visualization presented there. There is even a drawing of the master bedroom!

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PA Plat House - new Plat House build coming this summer

I am very happy to see that we will have a new Plat House build to follow this summer. A customer in Pennsylvania is building the very first Plat House in the Quaker State, and I know I am looking forward to watching this one get built. I may even have the opportunity to visit this one - a rare pleasure.

What you see here are a pre-cast concrete foundation wall product called Superior Walls. They prep the house footprint with a stone bed, and the pre-cast wall sections are brought in and placed without a conventional footing. Very fast, very tight, pre-insulated. Not inexpensive, but a great product.

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XHouse1 First Build - siding complete, insulation as well

Pleased to share that the siding work is complete - the cladding is installed on all 4 sides. And the stone wool insulation inside is also complete.

The tan color is the factory paint primer, but the house looks remarkably like the illustrations from the catalog page.

The stone wool insulation is almost complete in this photo. The 2x6 walls are insulated with R23 stone wool batts by Roxul. The ceiling/roof has two layers of R30 - this is possible because the dense stone wool is only 7.25" thick for R30, makes it easier to have enough room for two layers. The internal partitions are sound insulated with an additional stone wool batt. This will be wrapped around the interior with a smart vapor control membrane that blocks moisture vapor when dry, breathes if wet, and contributes to the airtightness of the house.

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XHouse1 First Build - more siding, more views

Great to see progress views of the other two sides of the house.

Here the siding on the back side of the house is almost done. The standing seam galvalume cladding on the bay window is done, and the rest of the lap siding panels should follow soon.

This is the end of the house where the living room, and master bedroom above face out to the yard. The lap siding panels are done here, and the standing seam metal at the master bedroom window wall remains to be finished. You can look at the metal siding above the kitchen window on the opposite end of the house to get a feel for how this side will finish.

Or have a look at the illustrations on the catalog page.

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XHouse 1 First Build - front siding done

I love that its looking more and more like the catalog illustrations!

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XHouse1 First Build - siding now

Its very exciting to see the cladding going on the house now. It really begins to take on a familiar character as this texture appears on the surfaces of the house. If you've not looked back at the catalog page recently to see the drawings of the house, now would be a great time to compare.

Here siding is being installed on the end wall, at the kitchen windows.

And here, somewhat later, the work has moved around to the front of the house.

More photos of course are available in the Flickr album.

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