We’re continuing our march toward the end of the first phase of construction in week 17 of the remodel: framing is nearly complete, and the plumber has been back on site to begin running water lines up to the second floor. Enzo has told us that he expects do be done with framing in about a week, so going forward, it may look as though progress has slowed dramatically based on what you can see from the outside, even as the pace of work inside the house increases.

The biggest changes this week were all about walls and roofing. The exterior walls of Joe’s room were mounted, so it feels a lot more like a room, rather than an open-air patio. The hallway and play room were walled in, as well, changing the feel of the space in a fundamental way. Even though the interior walls to Julia’s suite and the boys’ bathroom are still open, it’s very easy to imagine what it will look like once the stairs are installed and the room is finished.

More progress was made on the roof of the great room, as well. Although work remains to be done, both skylights have been framed, and the area is mostly covered. Julie and the kids are really looking forward to spending a lot of time in that room when the project is finally complete.

The completion of framing means that we’ll have a great many decisions to make as the focus shifts to installing and configuring components that Julie and I have selected. We touched on the windows last week, and that order has already been placed. Thanks to a minor communications snafu, we’re not getting precisely the configuration we had hoped for, but making a change at this point would cost us time and money. We’ve also ordered plumbing fixtures for the laundry room, kitchen, and upstairs bathrooms, which was both exciting and scary. Next on the list are the front door, roof, and gutters. We have no experience evaluating or purchasing any of those things, so this part of the process will be a bit of an adventure.

One item that we have been able to pick out—ahead of schedule, even—is a chandelier to hang over the stairs, which you can see here. This light will be visible from the street through the front windows, so we wanted something fun, bordering on striking, and I think this fits the bill.

Gallery: Week 17: Mostly Roofed