progress!!!!

After what seemed like forever of watching the rain and more rain and concrete dry, we made some great progress this week...... Monday we were still watching the concrete dry.......

Tuesday brought us a passel of contractors, and tools. They started to put in the drainage system around the foundation and insulate the inside.

Wed. brought us a backhoe and driver.....and 16 truckloads of dirt to fill the foundation. They dumped and pushed dirt around, and dumped MORE dirt until the whole thing was just about full to to top.

On thursday, they dug the holes for the dry well and cistern. (which yogi promptly fell into AND jumped back out of - that doggie can JUMP)

Friday, we met John the digging plumber. He came and dug out the trenches for the drains. It's pretty cool because now we can start to see where the bathrooms and the kitchen island go.

This week, we also got the light fixture for the office, and spent some time looking for other light fixtures as well. Next week, they'll put abs drain pipe in the trenches and Steve the electrician will be here to put in the in-floor conduit for the outlets and island, then it's on to the radiant heat. We're expecting to have walls in about 3 weeks. Oh, and by the way, the plumber dropped a little bombshell today. The contractor is hoping to get the house on the master builder tour of homes in August. Better get going!

progress (sort of)

At the beginning of the week, we had some footings and a foundation frame. Then we had to wait for the inspector, and wait......and wait........Finally, on wed., everything shook loose. The inspector showed up, as well as the full foundation crew. The forms were inspected and finished, and, about 3pm or so, a giant concrete truck and pumper drove up.

They poured all the forms FULL, and then left for it to dry.

Thursday, everyone came back to remove the forms. (we set a record for rain that day. YUCK), and we were left with the foundation walls. We're a little unsure here, because the foundation is so TALL. We keep telling ourselves that they know what they're doing and it'll all work out, but......it'll be interesting to see HOW it all works out.

The next step will be to backfill the foundation, and then the plumber and electrician will come in to do the infrastructure work that goes under the slab, then they'll fill that with sand, and the floor heat will go in, THEN, another pour and we're off and running. This phase is expected to take about 3 weeks and hopefully will start on monday. (fingers crossed!) We also took the time yesterday to finalize some details. We met with the door guy and upgraded the interior doors to single panel shaker wood doors. The original ones had been very "apartment complex", and well, just weren't very nice. We also took him the template for the doggie door and made a few minor changes here and there. A square lockset for the entry door to match the windows, a flat panel on the doggie door...... After that meeting we went shopping for lighting. We found an awesome, huge fixture for the entry that was priced very reasonably. No pics, just a giant box. My tile samples came too....I'm still working this one out. What do you think? For the kitchen backsplash.......

progress

but, man, is it slow...... So this week, we started out with a concrete pour! They came on monday and poured the footings. Then they had to dry a day before they came back and took off the forms.

After that, there was NO activity (AGAIN) until friday, when they came back and started building forms for the foundation. Those are all done now and they'll probably pour again sometime in the middle of the week. Now we're waiting for the inspector.

It's SO frustrating to see some progress and then NOTHING for 2-3 days, because, I'm assuming, the contractors are on another job. I'm not sure exactly when our job becomes the "other job" that they leave their current job to go finish. FRUSTRATING! After this next pour, there will be a bit of time with seemingly not much progress, but this will be a critical step as they will be putting in the infrastructure of plumbing, electrical conduits, and heating system that will go under the slab. It's anticipated that step will take about 3 weeks. (at the rate we're going, 6), and then we're off and running with the SIP walls. Our acquisitions this week included the sun door. I'm going to love waking up to this amazing bedroom door every week! I also spent a bit of time filling out forms for the local gas and electric entity. I have to tell you they don't play well with others and have too many chiefs and their very own strict rules about everything, some necessary, some not. Next week, another concrete pour (keep your fingers crossed), and they'll start filling in the inside of the foundation in preparation for all the other stuff. They'll also dig the holes for the cistern and dry well and possibly start smoothing out the rest of the dirt around the house. Wish us luck!

A whole lotta hurry up and wait

Building a house is really about waiting.....for the money to be approved, for the permits to be approved, for the bulldozer guy to come (and finish), for the foundation framers, and, most importantly, for the inspector. This week, the footings were framed, in the pouring rain. Honestly, I though we'd have a swimming pool before we were done. The (poor, bedraggled) framing guys hung in there though, and the beginning of a house was built.

We passed that inspection, too, our first one, so they'll probably be doing the first concrete pour on monday. I also met with the kitchen designer to finalize the plan before a large price increase on May 1, and we got the kitchen faucet, instant hot, and a couple of nice wall mount soap baskets for the showers. The electrician stopped by too to find out what kind/color of outlets and switches we want and where plus a million other little electrical details. It was a whole lot of thinking, and, I'm sure, a whole lot of money! Next week, more foundation, I'm sure. Oh, and we got this: It's officially a job site now!

progress!

from this..... .

to this:

in really, one short week. See that stick with the pink? the one right in the middle? That's about where the front door will be. This week the rest of the faucets and the instant hot were ordered as well as a very cool custom glass door for the bedroom. Wednesday they'll start building the foundation and digging the footings, with the idea that the outside foundation will hopefully poured by the end of the week. I'll also meet with the cabinet designer on friday to finalize the kitchen cabinet plan so that they can be ordered before a large price increase on may 1. Things are happening now! When this guy goes away, I'll be estatic! Think if we leave the keys in it, someone will steal it?

a dose of reality!!!!!

So, on tuesday I posted about the bulldozer. Well, yesterday things really cut loose. The guys brought in 2 very large pieces of equipment and the chips began to fly. It's really amazing how much they can do in one day, and the property is nearly cleared. There's just a few more trees and a bunch of digging to do. (their big-boy toy broke down, so they had to quit). Here's the before:

and a couple of during. (after to come later)

We are well on the road, and feeling the reality of it all. Next week, we'll be meeting with the contractor to have our say on the radiant heat floors and SIP's, and hopefully get a bit of a tentative schedule of the process. The excavators will continue their work by removing all the brush, digging the trenches for the utilities and also starting on the foundation. They'll also dig out my rock pile and root out the car. (YEAH!!!!!!! after nearly 20 years, the car will be gone!) This week on the shopping list was some really cool rain chains, (sense a theme starting here?), and security cameras. Next on the shopping list, kitchen faucets and interior doors. Sound like fun?

It's bulldozer day!!!!!

We're SO excited to finally see some movement on the house. Things will FLY now. The city was even out yesterday to check out the water lines that go under the road to the main. Looks like we're in good shape. Pics to come.