October Update

Made it up to the house yesterday to check on the progress and do a little final demo and removal of the old, worn out, water damaged, smelly or otherwise useless junk. Here are some photos of the progress. Still looks like a cube of butter with a roof doesn't it?

Sorry for the blurry pic, all i had was my camera and sorry Google, but the camera on the G1 is pretty lousy. Ironically this remote spot is one of the few places that i get good reception in WY which is great for me.

West side addition, windows to be cut out soon. This is a new master bathroom addition which will have some great views from the tub and shower.

Front view, it was kind of a muddy mess up there.

Another master bath add on view. The windows in this room were unfortunately framed incorrectly and will have to be re-done. Glad I checked it out before ordering windows.

East end addition which is making a much better layout possible on this end of the home. Doubles the side of the guest bath and creates a 4th room out of some dead space.

Another view of the east end, getting closed in that day.

Old fireplace and aweful hearth removed. Looks like the original builder had some combustible material a little too close there... glad i tore this open and lucky for the old owner his house didn't burn down.

Kitchen completely dismantled and hauled away. I think that soffit will have to go as well.

My accomplice for the day, resting after loading the trailer full of stuff.

Windows - Aluminum Clad Wood or Vinyl

I've built several homes over the years and have always used vinyl windows for two main reasons - they are cheaper than wood, and they cost less. And when it comes down to it, you can see out both windows just the same.

Recently while planning the remodel of the Wyoming House I have been surprised at the cost of vinyl windows. I must have gotten some great deals on windows when I was in the business or prices have gone up quite a bit. I got a quote from several places this last week and just for fun had Weathershield price out some aluminum clad windows for me as well. I was surprised at the cost comparison.

Why would I even consider the aluminum clad for this home? Well I plan to put in some nice big sliding doors to maximize the view. I don't want to go with vinyl sliding doors because I just don't love the look and most that I have seen are not great quality. I want a dark color frame on the doors and the only way to get that was to go with aluminum clad. Since Weathershield has a showroom and manufacturing facility right here in town I decided to swing by and check out the doors that they had available. I really liked their wood/aluminum sliders so I think that is what I am going to get. But, of course I think it would look nicer to have the windows match the doors since they will be on the same wall plane - so, I priced out the aluminum as well.

After comparing prices, the middle range vinyl is pretty close to aluminum clad, so I'm leaning towards the clad. I need to swing by the showroom and check them out again.