House on Hillsboro

Framing Begins

 

Jd is gone again.  This time it is especially sad because during his time home he had to attend two different week long schools back to back.  Then he went and passed all his super hard tests with an A average, earned himself a promotion and a raise, proved himself to be extremely smart, and impressed the heck out of me.  We pick him up at the airport Friday night, he spends three day being extremely cute and sweet and funny and smart then he flies off to Australia of all places, leaving us here wanting more.  He could at least be mean to us on the last day.  At least.

 

Rain was predicted for Monday and Tuesday, and though it never actually did, the builders didn't show.  Then last night we had an awful storm but by morning the sun was shining but again - no builders.  Finally around 11:00am they came and it wasn't long before I could vaguely hear the sweet sound of power tools. 

 

Each room is now sectioned off with 2x4's so I can get a good idea of room size and flow without having to use so much imagination.  What they say is so true - it seems so small at this point!  Tomorrow, I think walls will raise.  WAAAAAAAAAALLLSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

 

Walk in shower.  Someday this summer, I will sit at my computer fresh from this shower, look back at this picture and smile.

Foundation, Finished

 

 

 

Gorgeous!

Foundation, Part Second to Last and a Half

No cement today.  Too cold - high of 39.  It will get into the teens tonight and be only slightly warmer tomorrow, so Thursday is out, too.

But Friday, it is supposed to be 70.

And on Friday JD comes home.

So cement and JD on Friday.  That'll do.

Foundation, Part Second to Last

  

The building crew has only been out a few days in the past couple of weeks because of rain. When working with dirt you not only miss the rainy day but the day after, too, because everything needs to dry out a bit. Just about the time I start to get antsy, my Dad calls and says to relax and let things fall as they may and like magic I feel instantly at ease again.  He is right.  I so don't want to rush this and I surely don't want the builders to rush! 

Here is what has went down since the last foundation update (that I know of):

• The plumber came.  I can't really tell you what he did exactly but it took him an entire day and left pipe sticking up anywhere water will be needed.  I hope I didn't confuse you with my techincal jargon.
• The two Great Room in floor outlets were installed along with some other electrical stuff.
• The site and foundation was treated for termites.
• The exposed areas of the house and garage was readied for CONCRETE with visqueen and rebar and mesh.

 

In this photo, you can see the floor outlets and fireplace pit.  Concrete will fill this space reinforcing the area for the super heavy fireplace to come.

 

Here you see the back porch that will end at the cinder blocks and breezeway and garage -with posts! 

So tomorrow...concrete.  CONCRETE!  We will finish the foundation!  The day I have been waiting for! 

To celebrate I made Pioneer Woman's Yogurt Marmalade cake but substituted the orange marmalade for Porter House's Lemon-Ginger Marmalade and settled in on the couch with a healthy piece just as Idol was starting and nearly died of happiness. 

BIG DAY TOMORROW!

Foundation, Still

Whew.

JD is gone again.  He was home for only one week this time because of training he has to attend.  He will have one week in Houston then fly directly to La Place, LA then come home for two days before heading back to work in Vietnam.  Ew.

We had braced ourselves for a busy week but--wow--it was really crazy, mostly in a good way.  We had company for five of the eight days, ran the water line 1000 feet from the well to the site, drove to Little Rock to look at stone (hard one! more on that later), continued to narrow down flooring choices (hardest of all), and are really close to finally wrapping up the foundation.  Here it was on Friday.

 

 

The blocks were finished and fill dirt was brought in (about 12 dump-truck loads!), dumped into the form, leveled, and packed with some sort of tamping machine which I am sure has a name, I just don't know it.  I can only ask so many questions before JD starts to call me Spongebob.  Apparently, my attempt to suppress my enthusiasm and curiosity occasionally fails.  I tell him I am only that way with HIM and that with the builders I am extremely serious and mature and reserved, and that I furrow my brow a lot.  IT'S HARD TO HIDE HAPPY. 

We Decided To Go With a Castle Instead

My daily routine has been to get home from picking Ava up from school, drive down to feed the horses, then walk across the pond and see what has happened so far that day.  Alvin will explain what is going on and let me know what is on the horizon.  I spent yesterday in Louisiana so I missed my briefing but today he caught me up.

 

This cinder block frame will be filled with dirt then topped with a concrete slab creating the foundation. 

The exposed blocks will later be covered in the same stone used for the exterior of the house (the front of the boxed out dining room and each side of the house is stone.)  So if you were to look under the porches, you would see a stone wall to the ground. 

 

Tomorrow the blocks will just sit as the mortar is slower to dry because of the cold weather.  Then Friday, dirt.  Delightful.

Cinder Blocks

 

 

 

This is what we came home to late Tuesday evening.  I couldn't really say for sure what is going on, but it looks good to me! 

Footings

The house will sit on raised slab foundation (my terminology) so that there will not be an actual crawlspace but the porches will be raised off the ground three to four steps.  The process is not totally clear in my mind but I can tell you that on day one (yesterday) footings are dug and rebar is driven into them.  On day two (today) concrete is poured to create the footing.

 

That's the dining room where Becca and I will serve grand meals that we co-cooked in my bigger than tiny kitchen!  The square in the middle is the freestanding fireplace.

 

Dining room to the right.  Kitchen and porch to the left. 

The second cement truck, despite having very specific instructions, pulled into the wrong drive and got very, horribly stuck.  His two passenger side wheels were off the ground.  A wrecker came and pulled him out and yes, JD, that is our water line you see sticking up.  (They come tomorrow to repair it.) I could have taken dramatic pictures of the whole fiasco but I didn't want to add insult to injury. 

 

Poor fellow.