Pages

Hebrews 3:4

"For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything."

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Higher Ground



All the walls are poured... house, mudroom and garage! More mismeasurements to deal with though. The house and garage are sitting higher than planned (plenty of blame to go around, but again what good does that do). We'll move the driveway entrance to deal with it and bring in more fill when the time comes.

Pouring the Walls




Another exciting day for Shine and I, as the big crane is coming to pour the foundation walls. Lucky for us, the timing coincided with his day off from school. It was something to see! We'll make a trip back again tonight with Daddy and Shimmer to show them the walls.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Mis-measurement




Back tonight to look things over... garage and attached shed footers are poured and awaiting ICFs. As for the mudroom, apparently the foundation crew mis-read the plans and thankfully our GC caught the error. Correction made to the footer and they'll need to reframe before pouring the walls later this week.

Garage Footers





Spent the day on a field trip with Shimmer today. Being in school all day she often misses the trips Shine and I are able to make to the lot. Today when we stopped over she got to see the cement truck. The crew was just finishing up the garage footers and she was able to see the extra cement get poured into one of the walls. They both had fun picking more flowers and Shine even spotted a grasshopper. If you know about his first show and tell at preschool last fall, then you'll appreciate that... we'll stop back later tonight with Daddy to see what is going on with the mudroom.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Two Steps Forward... One Step Back




A weekend trip to check on the progress, finds several more courses of ICFs added. However, we were also surprised to find the mudroom portion that had been framed a few days ago torn out now... hmmmm???? I guess we'll find out tomorrow morning what the problem is.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Styrofoam... Not Just for Packing Peanuts!




The foundation crew started setting our ICF's (insulated concrete forms) today. These styrofoam forms are produced from recycled materials, making them an environmentally friendly product, and are designed to make our home more energy efficient, quiet and comfortable. Shine was excited to see things taking shape!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Pouring the Footers





Beginning of a new week... the excavating for the mudroom addition is complete, and form-a-drain is all in place. Shine and I stopped over after school and found out that a cement truck was on its way to pour the footers for our new home today! We ran home to grab the camera and told Daddy about the excitement (he was home for lunch).

We made it back to the lot in plenty of time. The cement truck was running late. Saw the crew lower the wall system into the hole and then with camera in hand watched the first cement delivery and pour take place. In moments like this, I'm especially grateful not to be tied to a desk...

On the way out, we spied a red-winged blackbird.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Forming the Footers


Dry enough today for our foundation crew to get started. Stone is in the hole and form-a-drain is being set up for the footers.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Rainy Days and Wednesdays...


Rainy weather has put a damper on the groundbreaking and is slowing progress at the site. Frustrations are mounting amongst the subs; but, you can't control Mother Nature. You can only control your own attitude...

I was able to enjoy some time with Shine today in his preschool class while they had a volcano eruption party. Their own lesson in the power of Mother Nature... the little scientists were so adorable!

It was late tonight before we drove over to the site. Not much work happening due to the weather, but the foundation wall system has been delivered.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The Big Dig




Clouds and rain moving in at the end of the second day of digging. Daddy drove over before dinner. More dirt on top of the ground than in it... means the foundation under the house itself is dug (mudroom and garage areas still to be done). Looks like some gravel for drainage was delivered today, too. We're gonna need it by the sounds of the rain as I write this tonite.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Breaking Ground





More rain in the forecast, so more debating about whether to break ground or not today. The crews left the decision up to our general contractor. After checking the weather forecast again. He decided... DIG!

Couldn't wait to pick up Shine and get out to the lot to share the excitement with him. We met another one of the crew. Got to see him trek into and out of the hole, measuring depth. Excavator says he must be a mountain goat to be able to do it without a ladder! The digger hit a big, stubborn rock right before we left. Couldn't pry it out without tipping the whole tractor (and making me nervous), or pound it out. Fortunately, I don't think they needed to go much deeper. The wise man built his house upon the rock anyway, right?

In the evening, Daddy took Shimmer (and Shine) over, so they could see the official start of our new home for themselves and check on the progress at day's end.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

A Boy's Life


Some rain came this weekend, not as much as predicted, but enough to make the lot pretty "mucky". Shimmer stayed in the car while we checked out the placement of the house. Not Shine though... he has loved this land since the day we first walked it. Lots of logs and sticks and things to find. Today he enjoyed getting his crocs nice and muddy and then tossing some stones in a puddle :)

Location, Location, Location


Saturday brought very high winds into town. Branches down everywhere and even some trees. We took a drive over to the lot so I could see how the house was staked out and make sure I was happy with it before digging starts. I value the opinions of our crew and with the garage yet to be added on the left side and a screen porch off the right side, I think the lot is made for it to be right where they have it. The house will sit perfectly through the opening of trees left standing out front. Glad to see they are still standing, too! If they survived today's wind, they can handle a lot.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Meeting of the Minds





Word has it ground may be broken today! Met Daddy at the lot after dropping Shimmer and Shine off at school. He surprised me with a "Mc"Mocha... enjoyed that while our general contractor, excavating and foundation crews walked the site, measuring transits, for drop and drainage, and all those things that are important, but beyond me. Apparently the forecast for the weekend predicts rain of over 1-1/2 inches, so the group decided to hold off on breaking ground until Monday. Spent quite awhile at the site anyway, discussing foundation, utilities and bilco locations. They staked out some corners before I had to leave for a Mother's Day Luau in Shine's class. Spotted another pretty wildflower on my way out...

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Light at the End of the Tunnel



Clean-up from clearing our lot is finally nearing the end... still a few more stumps and some brush to remove, but our excavator has pushed those piles out of the way and he has also done some grading in preparation to stake out the site our our new home. Amazing what a difference that makes (as I breathe a heavy sigh of relief)! He was even kind enough to haul away the remaining scorched trees that hadn't completely burned up. I stopped out with Shimmer and Shine this evening as the sun was dropping in the sky to take a few photos. Listening to the sounds of nature around us, this really is a beautiful setting.