Hands Up…It’s a Hold Up!!!

What happened to this summer?!?!  Blink and it’s time for school to start…arghhh.  I have woefully neglected blogging because we have had NO TIME;-(  I’m going to try to do a few catch up posts…

After my last post, we started what we refer to as the “hold up.”  Our lumber package ended up coming in WAY over budget.  The end result wasn’t insane for our home and the engineering required of the plan…it was simply unexpected.  We had budgeted for overages but this was a bit more than the 25% we planned for.  So we had to review the budget and rethink some of the trades we had planned to sub out.

Front Right - July 2011

This is where having a MacGyver husband comes in super-handy!  Rusty immediately offered to take on electrical and plumbing.  When I asked what he felt more comfortable tackling, he jumped on electrical.  I made an executive decision to take plumbing off his plate and we are both glad about that one.  Rusty’s Dad volunteered to lend a hand with the electrical and his help has been a God send…

Electrical only has turned into electrical +porch truss modification + roof fixing + light framing + bath ventilation + concrete form work….so yes we are glad rough plumbing is complete;-)  Electrical is set to be complete this week…just in time for Rusty to go back to school next Monday;-(  Rusty has been spending every spare moment he can at the house but we still run a business and have three munchkins.  Our families have been amazing…beyond Rusty’s Dad coming down and helping whenever he’s available, my parents and mother-in-law have been pitching in a ton with the kids.  This house has truly been a family affair!

Front Left - July 2011

The pictures of the house are with roofing complete and all windows installed.  It has looked like this since mid- to late-June.  Everything that’s been happening has been on the inside…

HINDSIGHT IS 20/20:  “Satan called and he wants his weather back.”  This was a saying I read recently…thought it summed up our heat wave;-)

Sand, Water and Electricity

Okay, I wish the sand and water were at the beach but I’m equally as thrilled with them being at the lot;-)  Lots of progress last week…

Basement Plumbing Roughed In

The foundation was completed (kind of) on Wednesday.  We are still awaiting some final touches from Greenway Walls in that department but nothing that holds up progress elsewhere.  The water meter was installed by East Montgomery Utility Department after I was told earlier in the week that it had already been installed;-)  Thought that one was funny.  Our temporary electric was set up, inspected, and up and running in less than 24 hours thanks to a very prompt Dee Brinkley.  Dee said it might take up to a week after the pole was set to get service but we were open for business the day after he set the pole.  Plumbing for the basement was laid out on Thursday and roughed in on Friday.

Trench Next to Front Porch Pre Sand

Rusty and I completed our “drainage trench” on Saturday.  We had 20 tons of coarse sand delivered to the lot on Thursday.  After digging out the dirt that had fallen in on the landscape fabric from the hard rain last Monday, we proceeded to lay a 2-3 foot wide layer of sand that was ~4-6 inches deep around the perimeter of the house.  By the size of the sand pile, we moved ~12-14 tons of sand by hand (and wheelbarrow).  A front loader would have been nice but it wasn’t in the budget right now.  I considered it a great workout and great time with hubby BUT we were both very sore and Aleve happy yesterday;-)

Trench Next to Front Porch Post Sand

We are waiting on a soil test to get in the right hands before we move forward with an inspection.  Hopefully, we will be able to start concrete work mid-week and framing after that…a drenching rain today will most likely delay us this week but it is what it is;-)  There has been a few questions regarding our trusses so this will hopefully give us an extra day to get that hammered out…

HINDSIGHT IS 20/20:  Adidas tennis shoes with vented soles are inappropriate shoe wear when working with sand.

Vented Soles Good for Running...Not for Sand

$90 (landscaping fabric) + $310 (sand) + lots of elbow grease = $400 investment in a dry basement I’m willing to make.

Along the Front of the House