Vicki and Eric's House Build

[eric]

Painters arrived.... we contracted with a recommended supplier to come in and do the stain on the porch as well as our mahogany doors.

We could have tried to do this ourselves, but having some professionals come in and do it over a two day period was simply too hard to pass up. They had the right tools and the expertise to get it done fast and correctly.

[eric]

Metal crews arrived on the 8th, and were done with the roof and siding by the 9th. It looks like a real house.... because it -is- a real house now.

[eric]

Framing crews are now done...

Materials arrived on the 24th, and crews arrived early on the 25th.

On the first day, almost all of our walls were up, with the exception of the fourth bedroom. Apparently they were short some lumber that they had to go pick up to complete that room.

By the end of the second day, all of the roof trusses were in place.

On the third day, all of the windows were in place, and by the fourth day, the exterior doors were hung.

With the roof open, it's still hard to gauge the final size, but having the stud walls in place does set some expectations a little better.

And the porches... The front porch isn't bad either, but we're going to live on the back porch with its added size and the view of the woods.

[eric]

Normally, I would be a little bit upset with a 0445 wake up call. But its Slump Day.

Concrete pumper truck woke us up, and about an hour later, four trucks came to be unloaded and put into the slab.

This feels more real than just looking at the form work. Also really glad that the septic field got finished the day before.

[eric]

Our septic tank was set on September 12th, made much easier to do with the drain pipes from the house being set in place.

Today, the field itself was dug out and set up. Went quicker than I imagined. Hopefully we remember where all those plastic chambers are set...

[eric]

Plumbers showed up today to lay out all the under-slab piping and drains. The electrician was here two days earlier to lay out the in-floor electric outlet for the living room and the chase between the kitchen wall and the island. Still hard to tell this will be a house in a few months...

[eric]

While we wait for the plumber and rebar to be set sometime next week, Vicki and I marked out the approximate wall locations for our main open area for a combined kitchen, dining and living area.

Its smaller than what we had in our new builds in TX and AZ for a combined kitchen and great room (both had formal dining rooms), but the 44 x 12 covered back porch certainly makes up the difference. We will use that far more than we used either dining room.

Meanwhile, the rain and wind this week brought down a 70+ foot pine tree, which took out a bunch of large branches and another tree... always something to do.

[eric]

And we're off. The footers were dug out today, and 40 tons of rock spread out.

To make the day even better, our Kubota tractor was delivered.

[eric]

We love our plan, and the way it's coming together.

Every build has its ups and downs.

Keeping track of them.. that's what this page is for.