1. Majority of Rough electrical finished- As you can see the electrical on the exterior ICF walls has to be well thought out ahead of time, since it is more difficult to make additions or corrections to electrical later compared to a traditional stick built house. Also the wiring is secured within the ICF foam since there is no empty space within the exterior walls.
2. Majority of rough plumbing finished- All of the Pex tubing running from the manifold in the mechanical room (where all shut offs are) has dedicated lines from the manifold to each and every faucet. There are no T's or junctions in the house. This allows more control over any future changes made like installing a cistern system. It also reduces the chance for leaks since every junction is a potential leak.
3. Dry-Wall and priming- This is very similar to traditional stick built homes, except the drywall on the exterior walls is attached to the ICF foam block's internal structure. Also plywood and sheet metal is used in specific locations on the exterior walls to provide an anchor location for mounting heavy objects such as cabinets and other fixtures of any significant weight. At this time, all the drywall and priming is done except the window "buck outs"; We want to do a blower door test to look for any leaks around the windows and do extra insulating/sealing and reinforcement for cellular solar shades before dry-walling around the windows.
4. Standing Seam Metal Roofing - This is installed the same as on any home. The benefit of a this type of roof is that it is maintenance free, it doesn't shed asphalt pieces into cistern water, and the light color we chose reduces the heat absorbed from the sun and therefore also reduces heat radiated back into the environment.
5. Exterior Cultured Stone Installation - In progress. This will be installed only part way up. The remainder will be concrete fiber board. The enclosure you see in one of the pictures is a shelter so that this can be installed during the winter.
