Siding Complete

As seems to be the case in many aspects of home construction, the siding work seems done in short order. I dropped by on Friday and the painters were out preparing parts of the house for a coat of primer.

The siding work looks excellent. I had a chance to chat with them a bit one day and found out they are mostly family originally from Brazil. The crew was very proud of their work and were eager to point out the other homes they had worked on in the neighborhood. I was pleased to get a chance to talk to the guys who are putting in such hard work to make sure the house is solid. It's always encouraging to hear how proud someone is of the work they do.
You can see that they have also started the railing for the porch. The guy on the roof of the porch actually provides a great scale for the size of the house.

Oak Terrace Preserve in the news - Again.

Yet another article on Oak Terrace Preserve. Last month, the Charleston Regional Business Journal reported on the sales success of the earth-friendly homes in Oak Terrace Preserve. The article highlights the neighborhood's proximity to North Charleston's "historic downtown" and the ongoing developments at the Navy Yard.

Home sales in Oak Terrace have been going well and I can say there have been a lot of new foundations going in this month. There is a lot of construction going on.

Read the full article from the Charleston Regional Business Journal.

Siding Activity

I stopped by the house this afternoon and the siding guys were there working away on the house. They had already made good progress for the short amount of time they have been working. I suspect they'll be done before next week.

So what's so "green" about this part of the house? The material is Hardiplank fiber cement siding. The fiber cement composite material is made from wood pulp, a by product of other wood industry production, sand and water. This particular stack of siding was produced from the Hardiplank manufacturing plan in Summerville, SC (right up the road). The cement provides significant durability advantages over vinyl and pure wood. With its resistance to expansion and shrinkage, it means less paint problems. All of these pieces help add up to less resources being used, less miles hauled for the materials and longer durability for the home. With this choice, it's pretty easy to be green.

Duct Work

The duct work contractors have been busy in the house. There are tubes like the ones in the picture hanging all around the house. The way they are tied up in the attic space is glorious for those of us who appreciate the extra time and effort it takes to do something like that well. I'm sorry there's no picture of the attic ties but the system is very nice. All of the duct work is lifted and attached to the inside of the roof so if you are in the attic, you aren't trying to step over them. I can appreciate the quality job. The electrician is next, I believe.

On the outside, we've noted that several other nearby lots are staked off. That's usually a sign that foundations will soon follow. It looks like Centex homes, one of the other neighborhood builders, is getting ready to start a lot of new foundations. From the looks of it, the lot immediately behind us and the empty on next to it will soon have construction crews.