Measuring for windows

This afternoon, Mr. B, Joern, and I met with Mr. H, our window installer.  We are now into our next step on the house, the windows.  First, we signed a contract with Mr. H. The terms were fair and his price was good.  We feel confident too in working with Mr. H because Mr. B works with him, and well, we hold Mr. B in highest esteem.
Afterwards, Mr. B and Mr. H got to work measuring our windows.  Although they are measured on the plans, they needed to exactly measure the window openings for the windows. 

                                                 Obviously, in deep discussion here.

And  when they finished measuring each window opening, Mr. B made notations on our walls like this:

I learned a lot today.  The picture in the middle with all the crosses is the window itself.  It has a grid pattern because the window has window grills, and the "greater than," and "less than," signs show the direction of window opening.  This is actually more like a french door, so both sides of the window open in.  HTS stands for (cough, something,) that signifies that this window will be used as a door.  With this specification, there will be no "lip," at the bottom of the window that you need to walk over, the trim will be flush with the ground.
There was also a notation that looked like this:

 In this case, Fest does not mean "Fest," as in let's have a party, this is the window that goes above the kitchen sink, and does not open.
We walked through the whole house with Mr. B and Mr. H. We had to make a few decisions on the direction of the windows opening.  We are still deciding as to whether or not we will be using window grills in the cellar as well.
Mr. H will place the order for the windows tomorrow!  The estimated time for the windows is now between 3-6 weeks.  Once the windows are in, Mr. B also discussed with Mr. H putting in a builder's door and blocking off the rest of the entry points, so that the house is secured.  Wow!
Before Mr. B left, there was one more decision to be made. Mr. B brought with him two samples of roof tiles.  One was a dark, matte gray, and the other was a shiny black.  Funny how when trying to visualize the two roof tiles, we struggled to decide which of the two colors would look better with the house, but once we saw the tiles, there was no question.

We're going with the shiny black tiles (on the left.)  They look really classy in person! 
With this final decision of the day, Mr. B called the roofer and asked him to order the tiles.  As this week starts winding down, I am so excited to see what next week will bring with it!
 

A new phase- the interior (Innenausbau)

Carrying over the surprise factor from yesterday, today was really no different.  It was another day full of house surprises, and it was yet another huge day, as we began another phase in our house building story.  Today, the builders started the interior.
Before today, there are a few "house building facts" that I learned:
1. After the ceiling is poured, the house needs to sit for a few days, and nothing happens.
2. The interior walls are installed after the roof is installed.

I learned the first "fact," through our own personal experience, and the thought never occured to me that the house was sitting because the ceiling of one floor became the floor of the next.    The second "fact," came through watching the duplex next door to us being built.  The interior walls of the duplex were installed a few weeks after the roof was completed. 
Obviously today, my "facts" were proven completely wrong.  The builders were back today, and they started on the interior walls!

Joern emailed me today at work, and told me that they were working on the cellar stairs today.  Don't ask me why, but I thought that meant the stairs from the cellar up to the first floor.  I had no idea what I was in for when I came home:

These are the stairs from our foyer into the cellar.  Just three weeks ago, there was a wooden plank!

The builders also chalked out the interior walls in the cellar and first floors:

The walls of the mechanical room.  The future home of our heat pump, water tank, and air filtration. 
This is also the home of our rinse shower for our muddy shoes, muddy dogs, and muddy kids.

The block closest to the front of the picture is a wall in which Joern is planning a built-in cabinet!

Our PANTRY!

                                        Joern in our kitchen.  There is a little line perpendicular to the chalk line,
                                                          which marks the one wall in our kitchen. 

                                          The wall for the living room/ bedroom is marked out.

                                                                      Powder room

Joern clarified the cellar wall with a plumber today, to ensure that it the technical room was indeed large enough for the behemoth that will be residing in our technical room.  We also clarified my error in understanding.  The roof will not be started in two weeks.  Nope, the plan is that the roof will be COMPLETED in two weeks!  I really hope that the weather will be a little warmer than expected, but as long as the weather holds out, we're set to start our roof next week.
Oh yeah, next week is only in two more work days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This weekend's plan is to work on the Richtfest, which we have decided should take place after the windows have been installed.  According to Mr. B, the windows take 6-8 weeks once they are odered.  I am not exactly certain when or if the windows have been ordered, but hopefully, we're looking at our Richtfest in 8 weeks or so!  Thank goodness, because there is a lot of planning to do in preparation for such a gigantic event!