Two Months To Go

Things are happening so super quick now, it's hard to keep up.   

Monday Jeff from Adair came out and did his moisture readings...

we were dry!!! 

Super quick!

We rented an industrial dehumidifier and a propane heater, it only took 4 days to dry out.

We went out yesterday and cleaned up the construction mess.  Took us about 5 hours, just Josh and I.

What else...

Front and back doors are in

Rough Plumbing and electrical is done

Power is hooked up to the house

The garage slab is done

The gutters are on

What's next?

The framers have a few corrections to make

Water and Septic will be hooked up today or tomorrow.

Josh will install the rain drains tomorrow.

( Because of the massive amount of water we've had behind the house, we've opted to install a curtain drain too.  Which will help prevent water from getting under the house.)

Insulation is supposed to start on Wednesday.

We can start caulking the exterior.

Phase II begins with the insulation.  Phase II takes about 50 days, which puts our finish date around August 6th!!

Super Duper WOWZER!!

Phase One Complete!

We got a call from Adair on Tuesday...

They will be ready for us to start drying out the house out today!

Josh is renting a dehumidifier, fans and a heater.

The foundation was poured on May 6.  They told it would take 33 days to complete the foundation, framing, rough plumbing, and rough electrical.  The plumbing and electrical will be done early next week, so we're right on track.

what's next?

We're in charge of:

• Site clean-up
• permanent hook up of water, power and septic to the house
• Drying out the house 
• Rain drains and back filling
• and, if the rain ever stops - painting and sealing the exterior.

Once the house is dry, they'll move on to Phase II - which starts with insulation and sheet rock. 

From the beginning of Phase II to Move In is between 45-50 days.  We're going to do our best to get our stuff done as quickly as possible!

It's all happening so quickly!

Week Four

It was certainly a busy week!  So much has happened!

We went out on Friday. 

Look!  a roof!

Our windows and doors had been delivered! 

They were working on the inside framing:

looking in from the front door.

dining room from the kitchen.

looking down the hallway

The main bath.

and the rafters.

When we went back out on Sunday:

The framing was finished, windows set in place and most of the wrap was done!

Wham, bam, thank you ma'am!

Super quick.

Week Three

Week Three Recap

I had hoped to recieve an update email or call from Adair at some point during the week, but no news is good news, right?

We were in the area on Wednesday and stopped by to see if there had been any progress.  Nothing had changed with the building, but we did see that our shower and tub had been delivered!

Which reminded us that we forgot to ask if the shower head is at a standard height, or if we could adjust it.  (Josh is 6'2")

Josh sent Les an email on Wednesday, but so far we haven't gotten a response.  (Today is Monday).

Sunday we took the family out to see if anything had happened. 

We have walls!  and floors!

Here's the back wall, with the kitchen window, utilty room door and the master bath window.

Here's Tess "in" her room.

The front wall.

and....

A progress shot.

so exciting!

Week Two

Week Two Recap!

The underfloor framing and underfloor plumbing are in, and passed inspection on Friday.

a view from under the framing.

See those little sticky-up bits?  that's all the plumbing stuff.

The garage gravel was delivered and packed. it looks nice.

More materials were delivered!  Floors, walls....

and a pile of scraps and garbage.

We took out a couple of trash cans.  We totally don't expect them to get used, but hey, if they're there they might toss garage in the garbage. It's our responsibility to clean up the job site, which is totally okay by us.

Yeah for week two!

Week One

Week One Recap -

Monday

The foundation forms were up and the inspector came out.  She noticed that we had added rock to the south eastern corner, and wanted a compaction test.

What?  a compaction test? 

all work had to stop.

Tuesday

We talked to our excavator, who said that in all his years of doing this, he'd never had anyone question his fill.  The county can require a compaction test when you add more than 12" of fill.  There is 15" of fill in that corner.

sigh.

Since the forms were up, they couldn't do the normal test (whatever that is)  instead they had to dig out a sample, dry it out overnight and magically test it. (I'm sure it's not actual magic...)

Wednesday

We got the verbal results.  The fill is fine.  We will have the official document at the site on Monday.  We should be back on track.

Thursday

Jeff installed our septic system and had it inspected and approved.

Friday

The foundation was poured!!

Josh called Les at Adair to find out if we are going to be charged for the delay. He didn't think so.

Saturday

The forms were removed.

Sunday

We went out and took a look!

I'm standing on our front door!

Plan for Week Two?

Monday the garage fill will be brought out, Tuesday materials will arrive, and Wednesday framing begins!!!!

progress shot

Construction Outline

At our meeting, Les explained the construction process in more detail, which was very helpful.  Basically Adair breaks it into 3 parts.

Phase 1 includes the foundation, framing, rough plumbing, roofing, and rough electrical.  He explained that this usually takes about 33 days.

next - there's the middle part - which includes drying out the house, inspections and utility connections.  Because these tasks are part of the home owner's responsibility, the time this takes is up to us and can vary substantially.

Finally - Phase 2 - which includes insulation, Sheetrock, painting, and finishing.  This takes about 45-55 days.

It was great to have him break it down like this.  I know that they aren't hard numbers, but it's nice to have a guess about when things will happen.

I'm totally ready to get going!

It has begun!

My grandparents are up visiting from California so we drove out to show them the property.

I was SUPER surprised to find people out there, on a Saturday, setting up the forms for the foundation. 

YEAH!!!

They said they plan to pour the foundation on Monday.

Here we go!!

Progress Shot

Busy 10 days

A lot has happened in the last ten days.

Our electrician came out and installed the permanent meter base.  Two days later, the state inspected it.  We passed.  :)

Josh and I went out and built the pump house.

We got most of it complete.

We left the roof off so the water tank and pump could be installed.

A few days later EPUD (our power company) hooked up power to the base.

So, now we've got power!

The electricians came back and hooked up the well and construction power.

It has been POURING for the last month, with only a few small breaks in the rain.   Our pad had puddles and the trenches are full of water. 

 

We had 4 days of minimal rain, and everything sort of dried out.    Still water and mud everywhere, but no puddles on the gravel.

We met with Les from Adair at the site this morning, to make sure the site was ready and to talk about the construction process in more detail.

We're all good on the site, except there's a bit that's not quite level, so Josh and I will go out tomorrow morning and rake it level-er. (otherwise we might get a bill for extra concrete needed in the foundation)

We're getting close!!!

Les said they'd start within the week!

Thursday at the earliest, Monday at the latest!!!

It's actually happening!

WHOO HOO!!!!

Meter Base and Pump House

This last weekend Josh and I poured the 6x6' pad for the pump house.  Have you ever poured concrete? 

It was HARD work.

We rented a mixer and used 18 - 90 lb bags of concrete.

Josh wheeled it over and dumped it, I spread it.

The kids had fun playing in the dirt while we worked.

We talked to the electricians and the meter base has been installed and will be inspected by the state on Thursday.

As soon as the base has been inspected we can call the utility company and get them out to put in power!

Amazingly quick - the pad is ready!

Josh went out this afternoon to install the meter base.

He found that Jeff had finished cutting the pad, graveled it and the driveway, trenched power to the well, and installed the septic tank.

WOW!

The forecast for tonight is a chance of snow - I think he wanted to get as much done as he could.

We just need power and then the "construction" can begin!

yipee!!

View from the beginning of the driveway.

Septic tank

Our van parked in front of the garage.

The permanent meter base - it used to be a "climbing wall" on our kids' play structure.  (recycling!) :)

View from the front door.

pretty isn't it?

from the north-east corner

progress shot!

all the piles of dirt will be used to back fill around the house once the foundation is poured.

Electrical Trenching Approved

Josh went out Monday and laid the conduit for the electrical line and the phone line.  He was able to call the utility company and have someone come out and inspect it on the same day.

The line was approved! 

Then, the same day, they back filled the trenches.

Jeff started on the pad!

When we went out yesterday, they had made a lot of progress.

Here's the view of the new driveway, with the turnout for the big trucks.

Since our lot is sloped, they are doing a bit of reshaping, so that rain water won't run towards the house. 

Josh met the electrician and talked through the next steps.

We need to put up an "H" frame for the permanent meter, then the electrician will install the meter.

After dinner, Josh started to build the frame.  He's hoping to get it out and set today.

I took this picture right before we left.

It is truly amazing how quickly the site is progressing.

Oh, and our building permit was approved!   Yeah!!

Trenches, Rocks and Permits oh my!

So much has happened so quickly!

First, our sanitation permit (septic system) was approved on 3/16.

We were assigned an address - 4/1  who knew it took so long to create an address!

We finally had a small break in the rain, it was long enough for Jeff, our excavator, to start on the driveway and the trenching for electrical and phone.

We went out on Saturday.

It was so exciting to see SOMETHING happening!

This is the view from where the garage will be. 

Now, a couple of shots of the trenches

This shot gives you a sense of scale - that's me peering into the water-filled hole.

And here's the progress shot:

Yeah! things are a-happening!