Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Rain, Rain, Go away.......

Andy & Kim's house is gonna float away!! Well, you guessed it, one more day of drought and this project would be well underway. It didn't work out that way though and here we are, walls up and that's where things are stuck. It's too wet to get a concrete truck anywhere near the construction site right now. They are calling for dry days this coming Thursday and Friday, but Andy said it's looking doubtful that it will be dry enough to pour concrete by then. I'm bummed, Andy's bummed, contractor and foreman's bummed, we're all bummed. Even so, everyone is still hard at work, planning for future projects. We picked a front door, sidelites and transom, picked out the windows, working on exploring different options for other entry doors as well. Making some finishing touches on the plans as we go. Lots of things going on, except construction!! Oh well, whatcha gonna do??? I guess the good Lord thought we needed rain more than we needed concrete! We'll keep waiting and wishing, and if anyone out there is doing rain dances...................YOU CAN STOP NOW!!!

posted by Kim & Andy @ 12:05 AM 1 comments

Monday, November 14, 2005

Super Fast Superior Walls

Well, here's how it all starts! This crane is HUGE, extends over 3 stories high. As you saw in the last blog, they brought the walls in on a flatbed truck. Then the crane lifted them off, one by one. Andy said the walls were spinning the whole time the crane operator was lowering them. Then, just as he had the walls lowered close to where he wanted to drop them, still spinning, he would just drop it. On the dime, right where it was supposed to be. Pretty cool huh? Maybe I'm so impressed because I can't even parallel park??



Oh course, we have to have a one more picture of this monster crane. COWBOY UP??? Where have I seen that before?? The other cool thing was that when they were finished and loading up, Andy said the crane picked up the flatbeds and stacked them one on top of the other with the truck driving them all out!



So here it is, walls spinning, and down they go! Even more amazing than the whole drop it on the spot concept, was the fact that the whole basement was installed in about 4 hours! Can you believe that? Andy said an hour of that time was justing setting up, dropping and securing the walls took only 3 hours. It took me that long to get back and forth to work that day!! By the way, I was working and missed the whole process. Bummer!
Now talk about holding your breath, this is the last wall going in. All those skeptics were wondering if was going to really come together, square like it's supposed to. Well, you can breathe now, it fits!! Like a glove, and I'm not talking about an O.J. fit!
The last pictures are views of the basement from different angles of the house. Of course, this is the almost finished view from the master bedroom side of the house.
And this view is the front of the house. The area sticking out in the front of the house is where the porch will be. Can you see me now, rocking away, admiring the sunset while my wonderful husband has brought me lemonade to enjoy while he massages my feet?? Okay, whose dream was that anyway? The rocking chair part might work out though!!
And this is what you would see as you turn into the garage from the driveway. The two really big holes are garage doors, and the smaller hole is an entry door into the garage. This side of the house will be stone veneered to match the stone work on the front of the house and the chimney. There will also be some kind of retaining wall here as the slope goes down from the front. The retaining wall remains in the planning phase and the negotiations continue!
So here's the view that Apache and Jordan will have from the back of the house. Keep in mind all that you see here will be under the deck on the main level of the house. This is basement. The two big doors will be sliders. The door on your far right an entry door, and the hole on your far left, a window. The hole in the middle is a dog door...just kidding!! It's the hole to the chimney for Andy's future woodburning stove that we hope to install in the basement at a later date.

Surely you didn't think, we could spend a day on the Kreem Farm without just one view of the pond. This is on the back shoreline, opposite from the house. Squint really hard and you can see the Cowboy Up Machine up there. Andy has made TREMENDOUS progress thinning out the woods behind the house. We have a little more to go, but not much more. We plan of leaving some trees for a nice shaded natural area. By the way, from this view, about 20ft behind you will be the future picnic/party area. Now that's what I'm talking about! Stay posted, we hope to have basement plumbing installed and concrete flooring poured by the end of the week.

Just want to take a little time to thank our builder James Hill, site foreman James, and office manager Katie, for all their hard work, time and patience in making this house our home!! Thanks So Much Folks!!

posted by Kim & Andy @ 11:21 PM 2 comments

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Tomorrow Is The Big Day!

Well folks, we're finally there!!!The first truckload of basement walls were delivered today, and the rest should be delivered and erected with a crane tomorrow. James, the site foreman met us at the site today and told us that they should be doing plumbing on Monday, and Tuesday or the next day they will be pouring the concrete flooring in the basement. After that cures, they will be ready for framing.
As much as everyone is looking for some rain, we're hoping for another couple weeks of drought till we get this thing dried in. Hey, we've been without rain this long, what's another couple weeks of dirty cars?


This is what the big hole is looking like now. They fill it with gravel and it works as a bed for the walls. Well, it's alot more technical than that, but you get the drift!











And it's my understanding that this sign holds ALL THE POWER!!! You must obey it and it will grant all your building dreams to come true!
And I'm soooo proud to give you a glimpse of the ground level toilet facilities! We're moving right along.........
So Andy and I will be working all weekend even though all this fun is going on, but we'll keep you posted as to tomorrow's progress with pictures he gets in the morning. Cross your fingers for smooth landings with the walls!

posted by Kim & Andy @ 11:46 PM 2 comments

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

The Walls Going Up As The Sun Goes Down.....

It's been a bit since the last update. While visually, things look like they might be going kind of slow, they really are moving right along. Most of the things going on right now aren't things we can catch on picture though. You know, permits, surveys, electrical, not so fun but necessary stuff. Not to keep you in suspense, we do have a couple things to share..... the basement walls are officially on order and should be completed in 7 - 10 days. They will be going into the "hole" you see above. Then they bring in a crane, and evidently it only takes a day to put it all together. Viola, instant basement! (sans the concrete flooring) Way cool, huh? For all you guys who want to get into the technical part of it, you can check out the website at: http://www.superiorwalls.com/. It's a really neat, efficient, structurally sound, and DRY concept for a basement.
 Now, saving the best for last! Here's a glimpse at the sunset as we will be seeing from the front of our house. What's even sweeter, is that this sunset is pretty much what the sunset looks like everyday. The sky is radiant with glowing shades of bright pink, purple, orange and red as far as the eye can see. You know, it's pretty hard to capture such a colorful sky on a digital camera, unless you're a professional. (Disclaimer!) This picture doesn't really do justice to how vivid the colors are as the sun dips below the horizon. It is so dang amazing, and just one more thing we look forward to enjoying and sharing with family and friends in the days to come!
Next time you visit, we should be putting those walls together and things will finally start to fall into place! Y'all come back now, ya hear?!?

posted by Kim & Andy @ 12:34 PM 1 comments