The "Real" Beginning

We had to make some tough decisions on Friday to stay on budget.  Although we REALLY wanted a walk out basement, it just wasn't going to be cost effective to do so.  We thought we might end up with a utility entry in the basement, but it turns out that we will have a bulkhead with stairs to the basement instead.  Although it isn't what we originally envisioned, it will work!  Casey will need to make a minor revision to the plans, but not a huge deal for us to make this change.

It is a very exciting time as the foundation for our new home is laid.  On Monday Gendron Concrete will be back to put up the forms for the foundation walls.

As we looked into the hole that will be our future basement, admiring the newly created concrete footing, Casey exclaimed "I'm excited, this is the 'real' beginning!" 

This corner is where the mud room entry will be while looking at the driveway entrance.



From the future parking area (East)

Another shot from the East side

From the west we'll have a bulkhead with entry to the basement.

The boys checking out the new well, looking North from the parking area.

The view out my kitchen/dining room windows and sliding glass door. (south side with LOTS of windows).  I'm betting we'll see lots of wildlife.

Well, well, WELL

Manosh  dropped off their well drilling truck on Wednesday night.  They worked all day Thursday drilling for water.  At around 1pm the truck broke down and they were waiting for the repair person to come.  At that point they were at around 220' with no indication of how much further.  At around 5:45pm I went back up to discover that they were still working.  While I was there they hit water, and at 5 GMP (gallons per minute) at a depth of 282'.  They came back this morning to remove the drill, but not before getting the truck stuck.  That truck is really heavy!

The well drill in action



The finished casing, not yet capped off



Stuck truck!





Site Work Progress

The past week has been fairly uneventful, much of the time was spent hauling material for the driveway.  We got a call at the beginning of the week that it was time to move on to the main electric service (and well) so I spent some time ordering the materials and arranging delivery.  Casey dimensioned some lumber and got it ready for assembling the pedestal.  Everything is starting to come together in terms of site work.


09-25-13 We have a driveway!



This is where the house will sit. Excavation for the basement begins on Friday

Another view of where the house will be. I saw at least 5 different sets of deer tracks in the freshly exposed soil. The area was quite wooded and with a stone wall.

The boys are easily entertained on all the piles of dirt and rocks

Casey assembling the final product - pedestal for the meter pan

Yup, that's the width of our house - 24 feet

The well drilling truck is in place and will be looking for water first thing tomorrow morning!!

Casey did a fine job building the pedestal.  We left extra room for the solar meter (to be installed at a future date).  Once the pedestal is set, we will screw the meter pan to the backboard.



Oliver exploring our new neighborhood.

Blurry Progress

 Casey and I went up to check things out after work today.  We were pleasantly surprised to see the lower portion of the driveway progressing along.  I was shocked at how much clay there appears to be in the soil composition. 

The beginnings of our driveway 09-18-13

 

My intent was to take some photos of the staked out area for our house.  Apparently our camera needs service, none of the photos I took came out well.  I guess I'll need to come up with an alternative for photo taking while the camera is off to LeZot.  

 

This is roughly the staked area - too blurry to see :(

Day 1 - Orchestration

As Casey and I drove up the road to meet the excavation and well contractors this morning, we both talked about how exciting today is.  Handing over the first of the deposit checks made it feel even more realistic. 

Although I don't really have any super exciting news to report on, I can say things are started!  The driveway will be put in the next couple of days.  Once that is done, the well is next, then the foundation.  It's all a very finely orchestrated ensemble, making sure that things are done in the proper order, and that no one contractor is waiting on another to be able to do their work.  Louie from Hallstrom Excavating has control of the baton at this stage and is making sure we stay on target to get the foundation done by the end of the month. 

Stakes (not steaks) and peppers

All of our drawings to date have been done by my husband.  He went to school at RIT and studied design, fine art and color theory.  He is also a third generation carpenter.  The man has got some skills.  At any rate, we started our morning by heading up to the house site to take some measurements so Casey can draw the foundation plan.  We had previously staked the house site, but not the driveway.  We started to stake out where the parking area will be (of course, calculated at a specific degree, etc).   The boys and I helped for a while until it was time for Miles' soccer game, so we left Casey there to continue. Casey got the parking area complete and center line on the driveway staked.  Perfect timing, tomorrow the excavation contractor is starting work and will be bringing in materials for the driveway.

I even found some free time this afternoon for pickling peppers!

Heart

 I knew Casey was a keeper when we first started dating and I spotted his "Cooks Illustrated" collection.  His style is hearty, healthy, comfortable and perhaps classic. We both love to cook actually, but I'm more of a baker. I've been hooked ever since my experience with that Easy Bake Oven when I was like 5. I remember baking cookies and brownies at really young age. In college I worked in a bakery and really perfected my skills.  I've since learned to make vegan confections and I'm really good at it. Just ask my husband who missed out on baked goods much of his teen and adult years. (Casey is allergic to eggs and dairy - among other things).  My creations that include eggs and butter are even MORE fabulous, I'm sure I have many friends who will attest to that.

My point is that we utilize our kitchen a lot.  I dare say the kitchen is the heart  of our home.

Today I reviewed the door and counter top samples that we've selected for our new kitchen. Casey has been designing kitchen and baths for at least 8 years. He is very good at what he does, and I think his love for a functional and well thought out kitchen shows in every design job.

I am excited about our kitchen. The pantry cabinets on the north wall (hickory - to match the base cabinets) will be very convenient for storage and the bar opens up to the dinning room/south patio. The upper cabinets have an ivory paint with a wheat glaze.  It's going to be lovely. The range hood vents directly outside on the west wall.

 

 

 

 I've been eyeing this beautiful range that is for sale in the kitchen showroom for at least a year.  Today we finally put the deposit on it to secure it.  It is so beautiful and I am really looking forward to using it in the spring! So happy that it will be ours.

 

Isn't this range a beauty?  I'm in love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Friday the 13th

I'm really excited and wanting to celebrate with my family, so I'm making this short. 

It's official.  We now have a construction loan.  Things are on track and moving along.  Tomorrow we are going to stake the driveway.  Monday the excavation company starts bringing in material to make the driveway, and I have a meeting with the well company to discuss location. We hope to have a foundation by the end of the month.  It's all good!

Enjoy the weekend!

29 Hours & Counting - more waiting

The short term goal is the closing.  I've waited for nearly two months to get to this point.  Once our loan application was approved, we had to submit the construction documents, estimates, exterior elevations, etc.  That made it through underwriting, and then we waited for the appraisal.  Then we waited for the results of the appraisal.  Then we waited for one final run through underwriting, but finally, we got our final approval yesterday afternoon.  Our closing is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.  (!!!!!!!!!)

Waiting.  It seems that is a common theme in this adventure.  I'm not a patient person.  I make lists, I get stuff done, and cross it off.  I sometimes push for things to get done. I live with a calendar as a guide. I'm a "get it done" kind of girl. The things I've had to wait for in this process were not things I could push a long.  Everything was totally (mostly) out of my control.  For a control freak (yes, I said it) that is a difficult thing to accept.  THIS IS NOT IN MY CONTROL.  Ugh. 

Fortunately for me, my energy will now be focused on new things.  Unfortunately for me, most of these things are things that are out of my control.  There is a theme here.  Maybe this experience will teach me a big life lesson about letting go?  I'm going to try to go with it.

On a lighter note, last night we celebrated Casey's birthday.  As we sat around the dinner table enjoying homemade vegan cupcakes, we rejoiced knowing that this would be the last birthday of his that we would celebrate under this roof.  We look forward to celebrating all of the upcoming holidays one more time, in the house we currently call home.  Next year things will be different.  We'll have the space we created to call home.  Until then, more waiting - but also lots of "doing things" to get there.  It's happening!!!!

And we wait.......

We have been waiting for nearly 6 days to learn when our closing will be.  We've been told that our loan will be approved, but that they have a lot going on at the bank, people are out on vacation, etc. and it is delaying our file review.  We have a tentative closing date of Friday.  The excavation contractor is ready to go.  Will we still be able to start digging on Monday?  Time will tell.  But until then, my patience is tested....and we wait.

For now, I'll just keep dreaming of the southern exposure and the lovely views of our wooded back yard.  This is what the south side of our house will look like.  It is designed for passive solar, and we will also incorporate practices that enable us to earn a Energy Star rating. 

The Beginning

This is our land prior to improvements by us. (photos were taken from the original listing sheet in MLS as I neglected to take my own photos prior to excavation)


Panoramic view of our lot right after clearing

The time is NOW.  (It's also time for me to play catch up on this blog!)

Exactly one year ago we fell in love with a piece of property in our little town.  We were ready to take the plunge and after a few weeks of negotiating, went under contract and shortly thereafter closed on our new piece of land. 

In May 2013 I said to Casey - "I wonder what kind of shape we are in financially.  Are we loan worthy?  When can we build?"  These questions led to loan applications and a very pleasant discovery that we WERE in fact ready and the time to get the wheels turning had come.  It had come much faster than we anticipated.

Over the summer we thought about the design of our future home.  We scoured the internet for floor plans that suited us.  We came up with at least 10 that we really liked.  We ended up taking a floor plan, editing it and reworking it.  The end result is a floor plan that we were both very happy with, and it has evolved into a final product.

We met with several builders and explored construction techniques.  Some builders were eliminated faster than they were considered.  In the end it came down to two very qualified contractors. 
We are excited to collaborate with Jacob Rogen of ROGEN DESIGN/BUILD  in Montpelier, VT.  Jacob has some super ideas and we really fell in love with his style. We look forward to working with him on this project.

Our loan has been approved and we await closing (possibly Friday?!?).  Excavation is set to start on Monday.  Things are coming together quickly which is why I decided to start this blog.  I want to document the journey from this point forward.  I have certainly missed a lot of details in our process to this point, so I really hope to include as much as I can from this point forward.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!