I'm amazed by what they can do

Our builder told us that once the framing started, the roofing stage would be quick to follow.

He wasn't kidding.

Trevor Markevich (Mannington Custom Homes) told us once the framers got rolling, we'd see interior walls and roof trusses in no time.

Well, it turned out to be about four days.

Here's how things came together over the past week:

• Friday: The main floor subfloor was in place, ready for framing to start. Also, the grade beams for the garage, front porch and rear screen porch were poured.
• Monday: Despite a colossal downpour, the exterior walls were in place.
• Tuesday: The interior walls were framed, the pressure-treated decks were in place in the front porch and rear screened porch. Also, the garage and the front porch overhang were framed.
• Wednesday: The screened porch was framed and all of the pre-engineered roof trusses were in place.

You can never prepare yourself for the moment where you're standing inside the skeleton of the home that you helped to design, and you can actually see how it all fits together.

One cool surprise discovered Wednesday -- the concern I had with the placement of the screened porch and adjacent BBQ deck proved to be unfounded.

Instead of obscuring the view from the living room, the porch and deck enhance the country cottage look of our backyard.

It actually has the feel of a separate cottage area, and it adds to the charm of the plan.

We also noticed that with the roof trusses in place, it's easier to get a sense of the room volumes. Because we went with nine-foot ceilings, there's an increased sense of space, especially in the living room.

NEIGHBOURLY EXCITEMENT

Some other random thoughts:

• It's cool to see our new neighbours joining in the excitement of the project. Although, their excitement is probably more of the, "that lot is finally getting developed, I hope the noise and mud goes away quickly" variety. Our across-the-street neighbour cheerily came out and snapped our photo in front of the freshly framed walls.
• We were able to quickly adjust the space left for the freezer, which I had incorrectly measured months ago when we were in the planning stages. I hastily called Trevor after discovering -- to my horror -- that I had mismeasured. He said it was no problem, and he had his framers make the adjustment within a couple of hours.

There's nothing more heart-warming than hearing those three special words from your builder, "Hey, no problem."

• There's that moment when we're approaching our house on the feeder street, that, for a split second, we're anxiously imagining what's been completed. It's kind of like that Christmas morning thing I mentioned in a recent column.

Interestingly, each time we've made the turn over the past couple of weeks, we've been pleasantly surprised. Trevor's team has almost always accomplished more than we'd imagined.

• Matt from Gateway Kitchen and Bath Centre went to the site and measured out all of our cabinets and marked their locations on the subfloor, to make sure there were no surprises.

Of course, Trev's framers are so accurate, I doubt there will be any wall weirdness. We measured some of the rooms Wednesday, and they were exactly as per the blueprints. Amazing.

I've said it once, and I'll say it a few more times -- I'll always leave the tricky stuff to the pros. And for me, it's all tricky stuff.