With a Little (Lot of) Help From My Friends

Building is tough. Doing it alone is even tougher. Although I’ve worked on many phases of this project by myself, I’m very lucky to have had great friends and family who have provided not only moral support every step of the way, but who have generously offered up their time, energy, and physical assistance during construction to get this house standing the way it is today. I couldn’t be more fortunate.

So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, here’s a look at the house at various phases of completion that wouldn’t have been possible without a lot of help from my friends and family. You can also check out the gallery to see many more photos with some of the latest progress on the house. Enjoy!

Wife Becca working on the weekend waterproofing the precast foundation.

Novice home builder and expert Hype Man, Andreas, helping to raise the first floor trusses onto the foundation. Every challenging project needs a hype man.

Laying the subfloor with itinerant carpenter and constant brainstormer, Kishen. A huge help at all phases of construction and highly generous loaner of tools.

Dad and brother, Benjamin, on site just after we lifted the 26 foot, 750 pound glue-lam beam into place with a cordless drill! These were the helpers I needed for that project.

Subflooring partner for the day, Jane. Also a great help in walking 12 foot LVLs up a ladder!

Jack of all trades and highly intuitive friend, John, helped me carry thousands of pounds of building materials into and around the house, as well as build walls, install doors, and more.

Diligent father-in-law Mark helping me lay down the final roof sheathing over a couple layers of polyiso insulation. A few months prior to this, the two of us raised the roof joists directly below.