Mechanicals Next Week

On our way out to visit the site today, Builder Brian called to discuss our plans for next week. If all continues to go well and the weather holds, it looks like we'll be putting in some mechanicals next week. Now, if you're like me, you're thinking, "Gee, in the context of home-building, to what exactly does the term 'mechanicals' refer?". Builder Brian explained that it means we'll be getting our HVAC system and a water heater! I don't know about any of you, but this is music to my ears! They're adding some meat to those bones .

Speaking of meat, check out the Zip Board on the framing! This was a wonderful surprise! Although we didn't know if it would happen, we were hoping to "test drive" this system for our builder. After some research, we realized that the Zip System would be a real advantage to us; not only does it go up quickly, it is water-resistive - meaning that our house stayed dry inside, despite heavy and incessant rains. You can visit the website at www.zipsystem.com.

We drove out to the site today and Virginia Ann, James, and I arrived to find that we have the beginnings of a real roof - and stairs! We couldn't resist getting a close look, but I decided not to go up yet. Builder Brian advised us that some of the second story floor may not be completely stable, and I couldn't imagine trying to keep both kids safe up there by myself. James wants to walk and explore everything himself, while Virginia Ann has become our safety expert, pointing to every nail and potential eye-hazard (the sawdust all over the floor!). They balance one another, I suppose!

As this house comes together, I can't help but be overcome with gratitude for all that we've been given. One of our greatest blessings is that we are surrounded by a generous and loving family, without whom we would have never had this opportunity. I look forward to Thanksgiving 2010 when I'll have the chance to bring them all together in our new home to celebrate. Even in the midst of so much hardship in our nation and in the world, there is always something for which to be thankful. Happy Thanksgiving 2009 to all of you!

Onward and Upward!

Framers work their tails off! Check out what they've done in just a few days:

Our First Day of Framing

Our foundation was truly finished last week. The concrete has been tarred, and we have our garage slab. We also got power to our temporary power pole this week, which will allow our crew to plug in their power tools. Our septic tank was installed on Monday. Just look at the sun shining off of our brand new concrete slab!






Yesterday it rained. Not a torrential downpour, mind you, but a continuous light rain that aggravated the stew out of us. It succeeded in providing us with an additional inch and a half of thick, sucking mud. Today, however, was a perfect day . . . and we began the framing process! The kids loved watching the men build the walls on the ground, then simply raise them into place. I loved seeing how well it was coming together! When we left around 4:30 this afternoon, our crew was still working.

Pouring the Footings

Last Thursday we poured our footings. Well, actually, a big ol' concrete pumper poured our footings while these guys ran around trying to control the thing. Since then, we've had several days of rain, and that's not necessarily a bad thing for the concrete. It needs the humidity to cure correctly.






Granny & Big stopped by to see all the goings on, and they took some time to visit my busy little helper with his dump truck who was trying to run the entire show.

Rain, Rain, Go Away.

The last several weeks have been very frustrating for us, but disastrous for others. Our area has had a tremendous amount of rainfall over a couple of weeks. Many roads were flooded, homes were destroyed, and schools were damaged. Fortunately, our home site is still on the map.

Of course, the flooding has affected us in other ways. We've been reminded that we don't have to be in a flood plain to encounter serious problems with water. Although we were planning to build on a downward slope, no one - not even our builder - suspected that we would have such porous soil at rear of our house site. God works in the most amazing ways! We've been delayed more than three weeks by the rain, but have discovered this problem because of it.

It looks like we have two options: leave the house in the original location with wider footings (the more expensive and time-consuming option) or move it forward about twenty feet. We're weighing the benefits and drawbacks of each option . . .and weighing . . .and thinking . . .and talking some more. We might come to a decision by Thanksgiving!

Groundbreaking Day . . . Again?

After dropping my girl off at school, wee one and I drove out to check on our power pole and anything else that could have been vandalized overnight. We pulled into the cul-de-sac and saw movement in the trees! After a moment, I caught sight of the culprit: a bulldozer!

There was only the one machine, steadily bumping back and forth in the woods. The wee one could hardly contain his enthusiasm for the "chack-ur" (that's "tractor" for those of you who don't speak toddler-ese), so we got out to watch and were treated to the delicious scents of pine and fresh-turned earth.

By the end of the day, despite quite a bit of rain and some nasty lightening, we had a beautiful driveway that even has some gravel!

Rained Out....With No Rain

This morning began well; not only did our power pole survive the night, we also discovered a backhoe sitting at the edge of our property! With a 50/50 chance of rain all week, there is some concern about creating an enormous mud puddle, so Builder Brian explained that he would let us know if we would actually break ground. Mostly an optimist, I stayed nearby with the wee one until early afternoon, just in case we got the phone call.

It is sometimes hard for me to admit that I'm a control freak but, on days like today, I have to come to terms with this part of my personality, recognizing that my job is to defer to the experts. Unfortunately, we had our hearts all set for breaking ground today. We'd planned a picnic with the family and everything! We ended up eating picnic food around the dinner table instead. Therefore it was absolutely necessary to take an excursion to Bruster's for some soul-nourishing ice cream.

Our Own Fern Gully

We spent this afternoon carefully marking the trees that we don't want cut down when the bulldozers arrive on Monday. We also heeled in about 12 pretty ferns well away from the house site. When we stepped back, the view was quite lovely - our own little fern gully.

As we worked around the property, it became clear that the vandals have been back in the woods around our homesite, so we're going to need to take extra precautions to protect our home as it is built. We don't want to leave tools or supplies unsecured.

Despite all of this, we're still excited about Monday!

Vandalism

The frustrations of permitting just don't compare to having your property trashed and vandalized.

My grandparents discovered the mess on their afternoon walk. Beer cans and trash everywhere. Our trespassing signs were removed, and the metal posts twisted and thrown. The vandals urinated in about 10 different places, not even bothering to go into the trees...the stench was nauseating. Worse was the discovery of our temporary power pole; they removed its supports and shoved it out of the ground. Those things aren't free, and who knows how this will affect our progress?

From what he saw tonight, the sheriff expects we'll have more problems. I hope he's wrong.

Bulldozers on Monday!

This morning was spent in Buckhead's rush hour traffic. Never want to do that again....but it did get me a shiny new red stamp on our soils survey. Thanks, Andrew!!!

Off we went to the Environmental Health Department in search of our septic permit, which took all of five minutes. I moved two chairs over to the Building Department in high spirits, fully expecting (what was I thinking?!) to have my building permit in a similar fashion. No such luck.

I spent over five hours trying to rectify all the issues standing between that permit and me. Despite the hassle and frustration, we finally have our building permit! And at this point, let me just say that not many builders would happily entertain your toddler while you beg for a permit....but Brian the Builder is that man! Thank you, Brian!

Monday morning we'll be watching the bulldozers cut our driveway and grade for our foundation. Maybe they'll take some of that poison ivy down while they're at it...

This, of course, means that we'll be spending our weekend marking trees (with tape, I'll have you know!) to save, moving moss, and heeling in ferns.

Let the bulldozers roll!

This is the stage that just won't end...Yes, it goes on and on my friend!

They told me it would be like this. Yes. Yes, they did.

Each day revolves around permitting. If a permit is ready - or not, for that matter - I drop everything (except the toddler) and run for the county offices. Last week I obsessed over obtaining power and water. At this moment I'm obsessing over our septic permit, which is now the only one standing between us and our building permit.

Another day of craziness. After dropping my eldest off at Kindergarten (lucky girl!), I made a mad dash for hubby's place of employ that he might sign paperwork we were both too exhausted to remember to look at last night.

My handsome, normally sweet-natured boy was disappointed with our choice of entertainment today. I had decided that nothing would come between us and playgroup this morning; alas, it was cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control, so we took the opportunity to travel to our new EMC, which happens to be more than a few exits up the highway. There we signed a single sheet of paper promising not to impede their employees from working on our property. He got a lollipop out of the deal, and that may be the only reason he didn't yell at me more than he did.

Called the Department of Environmental Health to check on my beloved septic permit, then realized that I'd missed a call from the builder! So....we're approved! BUT, I can't have it until the county gets an original copy with a RED stamp, not a blue one. That means talking to our good friend the Soils Surveyor again, which I've been attempting to do all afternoon. And, bless his heart, he just called me at 10 pm. Did I mention that I love my soils surveyor?

That building permit is close, really close.

Here's a view of part of our future driveway. Just love that poison ivy.

Check out the temporary power pole!

Welcome to the Briar Patch!

We're building our forever home on our land in North Georgia. The permits are almost complete. It shouldn't be long before we break ground, and the whole family is ready to begin...especially my two wee ones, who are looking forward to having a new home and the chance to explore and play in the woods.