Framing has started

OK even I can figure this one out! We have walls! You can see that Rory is so happy that he is doing a little disco dance to the music in his head! Our niece Marilou is trying to figure out where her room is going to be.

I'm standing at the front door, and no it is not a freakishly tall door. The concrete slab and flooring are not in yet so I am standing a few feet below the floor level.

Here is the house from the back yard. The unframed section requires some mega studs (no not me) to support this section of the house as the wall runs all the way to the roof. The builders call it the "tall wall" (I think with some annoyance).




                                              



This was left at the site when we got there. I guess the boys were having a meeting at the local pub (Paddy's). Not sure who Jose is and I dared not look in the cooler!

Back Filled

The excavator showed up again. Unfortunately Rory and I are in Calgary so he wasn't there to see it. I'm sure Erin played on it when no one was looking.

You can see that they put some styrofoam around the perimeter of the living area, and then ran some pipes through from the outside. I assume the pipes are for water, electricity, etc. but I don't really know.

Then the excavator went to work back filling inside and around the outside of the house area. That's a lot of dirt!! From here they will begin framing. Eventually I assume they will pour the concrete slab (either that or we will have a dirt floor).

Concrete Swamp

How are we supposed to build a house if it keeps raining??!!

After a torrential rainstorm, the wooden forms were removed. At this point, it looks like we're building some kind of apocalyptic wasteland! Actually this is the frost wall which gets back filled with a ridiculous amount of earth and gravel. Our main floor will more or less begin at the top of this concrete wall.

Next week they begin framing!

Nothing Much to Report

The concrete forms are finished and the concrete has been poured. As if on cue, it began to rain - and rain! The good news is that since we basically have a concrete wall around the perimeter of the house, there is nowhere for the water to go. So we now have a pool where we used to have a moat!

Now I get it

Looks like they did a lot of work on Friday building up these wooden forms for more concrete. It's hard to imagine now, but the floor of our house will actually be at the top of those boards. Below Erin is standing around (actually under) where the front door will be.

This is approximately where the kitchen will be. Looks like Erin has got an early start on sweeping!



Wonder what Rory is up to?

Nature calls...

I guess he decided to hold it!

Pieces of Wood!!

After the wooden forms were removed from the footings, we were left with a nice concrete racetrack. Hopefully running on it was OK (don't tell Nick, our builder). If the house eventually falls down, we'll know who to blame.

A big pile of wood magically appeared the next day. Nick tried to explain the point of this to me but I didn't really understand (Erin says I didn't really listen). It has something to do with more concrete being poured so Rory may have an even higher racetrack to run on in a couple of days.


I found what looked to be a bar and decided to order a beer while I surveyed the day's work. Service was slow, but I'm hoping it will pick up soon. Now I want a bar in the house! Erin not so much.

Footings and Plumbing!

OK so the plumbing is actually a portable crapper!! You have to start somewhere. The wooden tripod thing next to the toilet is for the temporary power hook-up. Let's hope those two things stay separated.

After a week of rain where we watched our trench fill with water and then slowly (VERY SLOWLY) burn off, we got the footings poured. It's getting harder and harder to go back now!

Erin assures me that she can envision the house from this point but all I see is something resembling a prison (for very small people).

Of course Rory couldn't wait to touch the concrete to see if it was still wet! Good thing it wasn't or his tooth-fairy money would be going to pour new footings! By the way, Rory and I just got back from a soccer practice when these pictures were taken - we don't always dress this way!

BROKEN GROUND!

We officially broke ground on June 17th. This required a lot of initial clearing away of heavy scrub, trees, roots, some rusty old pipes, and a shed that must have been used for selling drugs or something! We still haven't managed to rid ourselves of the old swing set that has imbedded itself in some heavy growth over the past 20 years or so! The stakes you see in the picture have something to do with the location of the house but, to be honest, we can't figure it out.

Rory had a great time jumping all over the big excavator - actually so did Erin! Good thing they didn't leave the keys in it. After the land was cleared, they dug a big trench around the perimeter of the house where the footings would be poured. Then it rained for a week so the big trench turned into kind of a canal system - not in the plans!

It Begins!!

After two years of planning, 6 different house designs (we once had a yoga room?), hundreds of hours of comparing faucets, sinks, and doorknobs, and countless arguments, the house at 107 Skyway Dr. in Wolfville has begun!

Throughout the whole process, Erin has been her normal, laid-back, "I'm sure it will all work out" self. Oh wait, that's me - and Erin wants to kill me for it! The two of us together make one sane but very efficient person! Our friends have encouraged us to post this blog to track the progress of the construction. Keep checking back for updates and pictures.

Jeff