End of Week 2

Well this week a lot of work was accomplished in very quick time.  On Monday, Jacob and his concrete crew arrived and set all the forms for our foundation.  Unlike in St. Louis where basements are common, due to our very shallow water table, most houses in this area can not have one.  We usually call the attic our "Texas basement."  (they should really call it a sweat-shop basement)

We are going with a stamped concrete look on the back porch that should be very similar to our Quiet Peace home. 

 

 

 

On Tuesday, the plumbers showed up and ran all the drain lines and vents for the islands in the kitchen.  I was surprised at how quickly they worked.  They had about 10 tape measures draped all over the place to make sure our toilet doesn't end up in the hallway!  I was surprised the lines only slope 1/8" per foot, it doesn't seem like much, but I guess as long as it goes downhill!

 

 

Also, on Tuesday, our Septic contractor showed up and dug some test samples of our soil.  He said we would be able to have a conventional septic system vs. the aerobic septic system which is so common here in this area.  By having this system, we will save money over the life of the system with lower maintenance and no electricity costs.

 

 

Entergy, our electric provider, finally came out and said we would need to add one telephone pole and a transformer.  The good news is that they will cover the costs due the fact they will collect enough profit from us over the life of the home.  So this is good news.

 

 

We are still waiting on approval from the state of Texas for the culvert.  On Monday, Jason, our builder, received a notice from D.O.T. advising us that we can't just dump clay in the culvert.  Really?  After calling DOT, they were ok with this as long as our application is pending.

 

 

Rachel and I have been cleaning up the property slowly.  We are trying to trim around each tree removing the sapplings, bushes, debris from around them that the tractor can't get into.  This should help the big oak trees thrive we hope.  The reason why we like this spot for the home is due to all the trees around the home, so hopefully they will make it.  There are a few more that probably need some trimming or be taken down, but we will see after the home is done.  Rachel today was on the tractor getting used to all the levers and knobs on it.  Driving the tractor is a lot of fun, though it is a bit bouncy after a while.

 

Tomorrow, the concrete guys should be back to cut out the beams for the slab.  The slab is about 4" thick throughout, but along the edges and every 10 or so feet there is a trench dug that is 1 foot wide by 2 foot deep with lots of rebar placed in it and tied all together.  This should keep our slab from moving along with the red clay that was compacted every 6 inches when they unloaded their 135 truck loads of clay last week.  Then they will place the forms for the brick ledge, the drop from the house to the porch areas, the shower drops (so that their is no step into the shower).  And then the electrician will come out a run electricity for a few floor outlets and power to the islands in the kitchen.

 

Next monday, if the weather holds, we will pour about 180 yards of concrete!  Houston is so busy with building, that it took 3 weeks to get onto the schedule for the concrete.

 

Then our concrete designer will come in and cut out our tile floor before any framing takes place.  This should happen on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.