Moving Along...

Well, I realize that I have been a big slacker when it comes to updating our progress, but a lot of progress has  indeed been made.  January saw the start of framing, and three days into framing, I began to call it a "house."  Framing was completed in about a week and a half, and since then most days something has been happening.  We are so excited whenever we see something new!  The exterior of the home is just about complete.  And the masonry crew did a GREAT job.  We absolutely love the brick choice that Duke made, which with the rest of the family agreed, and the little bit of stone makes the outside look so much better than I even imagined it would.  The interior, now complete with sheetrock, doors and some trimwork, defines our rooms. It really looks great! 

 

This week, interior and maybe exterior paint should be completed, and the cabinets are waiting to be installed.  We've got  some exciting stuff going on...

If you want to see more photos of the progress...

https://picasaweb.google.com/mduke29/GoingVertical#

Going Vertical

Duke and Jordan checking on the progress. Not bad for the first day...

Going Vertical

Walking though what will be her new bedroom...

Going Vertical

Standing in the doorway of the children's retreat...

Going Vertical

Lizza checking out the wall of her bathroom...

Update...

After the pad was finally built high enough, the form for the slab was put together rather quickly.  But as much of this process has gone, we ran into another snag. 

Initially, we were hoping to have our foundation poured around the Thanksgiving holiday, however, this was definitely not the case.  With permit slow-downs, we became delayed yet another month.  Duke received this fantastic news while the family was out enjoying dinner to celebrate the girls' grades.  The way the holiday fell, our project could not be scheduled to be approved for approximately another three weeks.  Our contractor was hoping, through some contacts, to have that date moved to the next week, but was unsuccessful.  So now into the third week of December, we had approval from the city and our county permits in place to move forward. 

The week of anticipating appoval of all of the necessary permits, the prep-work for the foundation pour was done.  Our biggest Christmas gift this year was the fact that we now have a foundation for our new home!  Of course when something new happens, we cannot wait for the next step!  Our contractor told us that they would begin framing about a week after the slab was poured, making framing begin just in time for Duke's birthday!  But as things go, instead it was raining three days ago, so, no framing...

Now, on New Year's Day, Duke's birthday, we are waiting for lumber to drop at the beginning of the next week so framing can begin.  Of course, we are not excited for the weekend to pass so we can get back to work and school, but we can't wait for Monday to begin our next phase!

Here We Go

   Okay, it's been a while since there has been any update on what is going on with the house.  Finally, it begins!  The last week of October, trees started coming down.  But the way things have been going for this process, one week into clearing, it began to rain.  I suppose it was bound to happen eventually.  The area needed it after all, since there was a "burn ban" and everything.

With the rain, the process continues to stall.  After the rain, it is too wet to use the equipment without getting stuck, so the ground has to dry out before they can get back to work.  Then after they get back to work, it rains again.  The pack ratio is good, and then it's not.  Now after meetings with engineers, our builder has a new plan to move forward with, and right now the weather is cooperating. 

So ending our fourth week after clearing started, they are working on building up the "pad" for the foundation. 

    

And we have the start of a pond.  Well, we have a BIG hole in the middle of our lot. 

The end of this phase looks closer everyday!