Framing begins

 

 

These guys were in the hot sun, working hard to get the barn framed out.

 

 

 

 

This will the view mom and dad get when they park the RV, overlooking our neighbor's pond.

 

 

 

 The framing material for the house got dropped off today as well, this should begin tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

Barn Poles and Decorative Concrete

The Barn is on its way!  The posts were set over the weekend, and this week they should have it all framed.  We are going to have some plumbing for a 1/2 bath, sink, and RV hookups.  Rachel and I will finish it out inside - I can't wait to have a place for my tools again.  The barn is 48x30, and will have metal sides and roof in the classic Red and White Barn colors.  The actual entrance is on the side with a 10ft roll-up door, however on front, I am going to make a fake barn looking door and hay loft door to make it appear more farm like.

I know it doesn't look like much right now, but below is a picture of our decorative concrete.  Jason says the guy is an "artist" with his stained concrete.  Eventually these lines will turn into a beautiful tiled looking floor (for a lot less $$$).  David (the "artist") comes in the day after the pour to cut the grout lines because the concrete is not as hard then.  After we are all framed and closed in with the roof, just before drywall, he comes back and stains the concrete.  Finally, after the home is almost finished he comes back a seals, waxes, and buffs the floor to provide a very durable a beautiful floor.  As you can see, we went with a 3ftx3ft tile look on the diagonal on the 1st floor, except in the bedrooms, which will have carpet.

The big pour!!!

Uriah got up early to be at the Ranch by the time the concrete guys began to pour.  I didn't think that watching concrete dry was that exciting so I decided to sleep in.  But at 0700 I got a call from Uriah who said that I should get out there and see this.  Turned out, it was pretty impressive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And beer for the horses...

Wednesday we went out to the Ranch to do more tree trimming and landscape clean up and clearing but when we arrived, we noticed the horses were drinking from a nearly dry pond.  We were shocked to see how quickly the pond emptied.  Not wanting the horsed to be thirsty, we decided to walk the "back forty" to see what the other water sources held.  Turned out the creek was bone dry too.  Katie, the neighbor, showed up and told us, "No worries".  Apparently there is a large pond on her property which has plenty water in it from which all the cattle and horses can drink.  You will all be glad to hear that Baby is looking much better and seems happier playing with the other horse.  By the time we walked all over the property and chatted with the neighbor, it was crazy hot so we decided to pack it up, head home and avoid a heat stroke.

Electric Steel

Steel rebar bended, molded and strapped together is the key to a great foundation.

Tuesday brought us POWER!!!

 

This is the first time I've ever seen a meter read 0000.

 

Beginning of week three

For those of you who haven't been to Texas in a while, it is one of the fastest growing cities in the country.  As a result, you have to put your order in for concrete weeks in advance and stay flexible.  So we were not shocked when our builder told us the foundation pour got pushed back to Thursday.  It has been crazy hot with heat index into 110'F range.  So the workers are either coming out early in the morning or late in the evening.  Monday had them using the trencher and spade to form the foundation supports. These trenches are 2 feet deep by one foot wide and placed every 10-12 feet.  This helps to lock the foundation in place.  They say here in Southern Texas, it's not a matter of if but when you will have foundation issues, but not us.  Our 100 or so trucks of packed red clay and well built foundation, should do the job well.

 

Later in the day they laid down the vapor barrier and taped it.

 

The other new addition to our property....

A big black dumpster!!!!

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.