Week 6

With the help of John Freer and Riverworks Inc., The MMHG house took structural form in just under a week. “It’s starting to look like a real house again” exclaimed Griz receiver Dan Beaudin. This is the first time in several weeks the home has had more than 3 walls. Delaying the framers on several occasions, the film crew called, “quiet on the set,” as they worked efficiently to capture their shots. I’ve never quite witnessed the effort and fluidity that went into this framing project. The home is indeed on a special path. The project is actually now slightly ahead of schedule thanks to Riverworks. Out sponsors know how to bring you the latest in beautiful, efficient homes! Riverworks is our featured sponsor this week. Riverworks is a unique homebuilding company, striving to provide the best possible home for each and every customer. They use education, experience, commitment to quality, efficiency in process, and energy and resource efficiency to create the homebuilding experience you’ve always dreamed of.

the Film crew catches glimpses of the framing

It sure was an exciting week with the film crew and all the commotion around the job site. Tuesday the framers from Riverworks Inc. came over and put a serious dent in the project. After only 3 days of controlled chaos, the 10-man crew had transformed the 3-wall structure into a nearly finished structure. Between the MMHG crew and Riverworks, the walls just seemed to climb their way to the top of the house. The kitchen, the bathrooms, living room, bedrooms and all the other rooms have jumped off our set of blueprints into our old rundown 1925 home that is finally getting the attention it desperately needed for some time.

The new kitchen looking into the future garden area

MMHG reused as much of the wood from the old house as we could and than proceeded to use as much wood from Home Resource as possible. Home Resource has an amazing program called the “Good Wood” program. This is a program that guarantees the lumber is sustainably harvested. Sustainably harvested lumber basically means the timber was harvested using methods that least negatively affect our forests. The wood is typically a hemlock/fir/larch mix that is milled at local Tricon mill in Superior and Pyramid mill in Seeley Lake. (For an extensive explanation of sustainably harvested logging click here). Other than the studs and plate material, the engineered portion of the framing package came from locally owned and operated Boyce Lumber. Boyce has been serving Missoula for 70 years as our distinguished local lumber supplier. Boyce Lumber supports green building throughout the community. Be sure to visit their brand new state of the art design center to complete your Montana dream home.

The crane lifts all the trusses for the awaiting framers

Thursday was truss and crane day. The film crew even made their way from Bozeman to catch footage of the crane. The MMHG crew filmed a truss setting time lapse that will likely be on our NBC commercial coming out in a couple of weeks The crane showed up at 2:30 sharp and preceded to hand each individual truss up to the crew. “Notch the tails over the bumpouts,” yelled crew boss Gary. The crowd of neighbors continued to grow until the crane had fulfilled its duty. It took a total of about an hour and the roof was framed and the crane was gone.

646 Longstaff after Riverworks framed the home

All in all MMHG has had another fantastic week. It was always enjoyable and rewarding to watch as the home comes to life and will continue to do so. The MMHG crew looks forward to the plumbing, electrical and duct work installs for the upcoming week as we finish off the decks, garage and pickup framing. Next week look for green plumbing by Marc Hauger of MDH Plumbing. Eric Shields and Stacey Wilson of Shields Electric will be working their way through an efficient electrical system. They will implement a lighting array designed by Jason Decunzo of Riverhaus.We are still in the process of determining who will install our Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) system for clean air and breath ability.

Until next time, have a great week!