Topping-out

Yesterday we celebrated a major milestone for our construction project: the topping out ceremony(Germany: “Richtfest”, Austria: “Gleichenfeier”). While this event is typically only celebrated for commercial buildings in the US, we thought it would be nice to bring this European tradition to our house at the entrance of Marblehead, too.

Topping out is celebrated when the last beam of a steel building is hoisted into place or when the roof on a traditional building is finished. A flag and pine tree are placed on top of the highest point of the building and the occasion is celebrated with food and drink. The event gives the building owner an opportunity to thank the entire construction crew and the architects for their work. It is also one of the few opportunities to step out on the actual finished roof:

To celebrate the occasion we had burgers, hot dogs, plenty of beer, and our architect, Thad Siemasko, brought a bottle of vodka. It was an all-around enjoyable fest and the celebrations lasted all afternoon. Here is a group photo of the entire construction crew and the architects with the family:

As sunset approached we took another look out the new south-west facing dormer and were treated with a spectacular view.