On the Floor

The Amish came today. And despite the record heat, kicked some serious butt ... or floor.

When I first rounded the corner, I was a little bummed not to see any first floor walls yet. But when we explored, I realized the amazing amount of work that went into getting all our support beams up and flooring for the entire first floor done. So awesome!

View from the future front porch. 

Husband takes a lap.

Entire front yard is covered with wood.

Checking out the support posts (one is crooked, but sure they will fix it).

Windows on the back wall. 

This beam is getting some serious support.

Insert stairs here.

Insert HVAC ducts here.

If you look closely you can see the glue.

It's "this" big.

Gas line. 

Husband addresses our future fireplace. "Hello fireplace!"

Basement panoramic. 

Frame it

It really has begun! They've just got the basement framed so far but we are so psyched!

Pics:

Had to get a shadow shot ;)

It's a wall!

Backyard and basement. 

Sunshine on our support beams always makes me smile.

Far right, service door to the husband's future workshop. Center windows. Now, to put a TV or the bar right there?

Piles of wood.

Ready for flooring.

No, white capris are not normally construction site wear, but I was on my way to dinner. 

The husband checking out his future workshop.

So it begins!

From the Husband:  


Sorry for the lack of pictures but framing has begun!  An early am trip by the wife was met with disappointment that changed into excitement when around 11:00 am the PM called me from the site to confirm that the framers have shown up and were hard at work.  I jumped into my truck and drove over to see the action and they were already framing in the basement back wall.  Those Amish guys don't mess around.  They were measuring, cutting and throwing lumber to someone to nail it in place quicker than I've ever seen.


Due to the upcoming holiday they are framing like mad to try to finish by the 3rd.  Fingers crossed!  Also to note, we're suppose to have concrete arrive next Thursday for the basement floor and the garage.  

Planning on sneaking over later tonight for pictures of the progress.

Quick update

Got a call from the PM today. Framers have been delayed by another job (not in our development -- I blame you people in Cobblestone <shakes fist in the air>). PM apologized for the delay and says they should be starting tomorrow. Husband's observation: You know those Amish; not very hard workers. ;) 

And we wait

I think Charissa said it best in her comment to my last blog post:

"I hope it doesn't sit long. I think this is the hardest part to wait out."

Unfortunately nothing much has happened this week. At least to this untrained eye. They put some rocks in our basement and garage. Everything else is just like it was over the weekend.

So, I'm trying to be patient. Hoping for an update from the PM tomorrow. And hoping that pretty soon I come around the corner and see some framing.

Until then I'm living vicariously through you all, so keep those pics coming.

Wood, windows and other W words

All 3 shipments of wood have now arrived! It's so amazing to me how they come as a kit - you can see the steps and the walls already put together. Each truckload had our lot number spray-painted on it. For a moment I got very excited that it also had "Wendy" written all over it (WJ=Wendy+Joshua). How thoughtful of RH to personalize it for me! The husband pointed out that it actually said "Waverly." Well, yeah, I guess that makes more sense.

Seeing windows and doors is super exciting too. I counted more than 36 windows. Not counting the eyebrow above the front door. Can't wait to have them all in! (Can wait a little more on the cleaning of them.)

Today's pics:

Husband stitched together a panoramic for me!

Two loads -- walls and steps

Doors, windows, floors and roofing

They've pushed the dirt back up to the foundation, and filled in the garage.

There are all those windows! (Plus a few doors)

Morning wood

(Sorry for the title I'm a 12-year-old boy trapped in a 36-year-old mom's body.)

Husband stopped by the lot on the way to a morning meeting and found this:

Wood bundle #1

Front door

French doors for basement

They've delivered 2 of 3 giant bundles of framing. Third expected tomorrow, although they are running out of places to put it.

PM just emailed his weekly update. Foundation backfill to continue through Monday. Framing to start Wednesday or Thursday next week.

Loving this process!

Quick update

Been on the road this week for work, and husband has been visiting our lot checking on progress while I've been out. Plus, he's been making friends with the excavator (great great guy!). Picked up the kids tonight when I got back to town and went straight to the new house. They've been busy bees!

Since Friday: Removed wall forms, did waterproofing, been working on running gas, water and sewer lines. Our favorite excavator says lumber is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow!

Yellow is the gas line. 

Waterproofing for the little bit below-grade. The above-grade part will be bricked.

Future basement.

Garage

Front

Don't ask me what these are ... I mean, besides "pipes"

Movin' fast!

When we last saw you all, it was late Wednesday night and our footings had just been poured. 

Thursday morning the PM called with a quick update. Namely, engineer thought the site looked good, footings were poured, forms for the foundation walls would go in Friday, and we'd probably get those poured Monday. 

Around 8:30 this morning, the husband dropped by and found this: 

Forms mostly in!

We swung back by the house at 4:30 p.m. and the cement guy was just washing down his truck. Our walls were poured!

Garage

Front porch far left, garage right

More garage excitement.

Walk-out rear of the basement (also lots of crazy extra forms in there).

Looking in from the future backyard.

There will be a set of French doors right here.

Sort of fascinated by the forms.

Been trying for weeks to get a good front-of-the-house shot, but there's always equipment
parked there. This is as close as I've gotten.

And in other news:

-- We're getting FLAT CEILINGS! It's not a cheap upgrade (no surprise), but for us, worth it. Can't say how happy with are with RH for working with us on it. 

-- That house across the street - it's a Yorkshire. The husband was right all along. (And now I have gone on record admitting it.)