After about six weeks with no progress we are back to work and we’re so happy!!
Lumber has been delivered and framing has begun.
These pictures were taken from a fork lift. I LOVE how you can see the lot from above and the panoramic view of the community is my favorite.
So much to grateful for!
We have a tentative date for when the trusses will be ready.
December 10!
We were a little shocked, but only a little, because when we first talked to the truss people they said November 13… So our contractor friend did a little digging to see if anyone could manufacture trusses sooner and the other companies told him February! February!!!
So, we decided they were happy with the December 10 date. LOL (as a sidenote we originally thought we’d be moving in before Thanksgiving, I understand this is very typical in construction.)
You need to start framing a home about a month before your trusses come so that you’ll be ready to pop the trusses on as soon as they get there. This means we are planning to start framing October 29!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Our contractor friend has told us many times that once the framing starts things will start moving very, very quickly.
Huzzah!
Thank you for reading.
I really enjoy making t-shirts!
Shirt number 1: some sort of eye from Zelda that my nephew asked for…… lol I really don’t know what it is.
Shirt number 2: a kitty face…my design.
 
 Can you see the glitter?
Inspiration is from this shirt:
My favorite photo is last.
Shirts 3&4: COOKIE BAKER & COOKIE TASTER
I LOVE THESE CUTIES! These girls make good cookies, too!
So…..things are on hold for one month. We can’t frame unless we know the trusses are on their way, we’ve ordered them, but they’re taking almost twice as long as usual so we’ll need to wait to start framing.
We’ve had the measurements taken for the trusses and the plans are currently being engineered. That should take about a week. Trusses MAY be ready around Thanksgiving, we can start framing about a month before the trusses arrive. So this means we have three to six weeks where nothing is happening on the lot.
In the meantime maybe I can build our own trusses…..
Nevermind.
So…..crickets.
Say goodbye to the dirt floor in the garage. We poured the concrete here first. But when I say “we” I mean someone else, someone we hired…..not us, we just write the checks. Lol.
In the basement you’ll see the layer on gravel on the dirt floor, then you can see how the concrete is poured and leveled one section at a time.
And no concrete post would be complete without a photo of our beloved star….the cement truck.
Thanks truck! You’re the best.
Our contractor friend has been telling us that we can move in in November. I really hope that’s true, but we’re prepared for December, even January. At this point many things have taken longer than projected. I think that’s VERY normal in construction.
Right now we’re experiencing a delay.
About ten days ago just before a holiday weekend, our people who were supposed to add the gravel to the basement informed us that they didn’t have the right equipment to finish the job they were supposed to finish that day! I don’t know why they didn’t mention their lack of equipment a week earlier when they started working on their part of the job.
So we’ve found someone who can spread the gravel, but it will happen almost 2 weeks later than it was supposed to. It might be frustrating to lose those two weeks, but we’re trying to keep the bigger picture in mind, which is we want a well built home! We’d rather be patient than take short cuts!
This isn’t our first delay either.
We bought our lot in November, our original plan was to break ground in January. Guess when we actually broke ground….July. I won’t go into all the details of the delays, but I will mention that you need to plan 3-5 weeks to get your construction loan approved if you are being your own builder like we are.
Be we are moving forward now. Gravel will get done this week AND the basement floor AND lumber should be delivered!
We’re close to starting framing and I have to say, that’s really exciting!!
Now that the window wells are in and the waterproofing is done we dig trenches to create a path to attach our plumbing to the plumbing the developer installed.
Do you see the pipes?
We had a minor hang up, we didn’t pass the city inspection for the plumbing at first because the developer had installed their pipe at the wrong angle…..we don’t know how it got that way for sure, but after many texts and phone calls we got it fixed and passed the inspection!
Now we back fill and add gravel to the window wells and basement floor.
I can’t believe the transformation in the garage!
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Some hooligan is testing out the new garage floor.
 We have power now, too. Now I can go dry my hair at the lot if I’m in a pinch.
And here is the gravel in the window wells…
And now for the gravel in the basement…..
Wait…..What!? You’re telling me there’s no gravel in the basement…you’re wondering where is the gravel for the basement?
I’m wondering that too…..but that is a story for another day.
Thanks for reading!
Still waiting to pass the Plumbing inspection, but we’re making progress.
Window wells (or the “animal shelters”) are all installed…..minus one. We “pulled” the whole house forward just enough to make it impossible to get that last window well in right now, but it’s under control. That window needs just a little bit more excavating and when our backfill person comes to do his job he’ll remove the extra dirt near that window well, get it installed, water proof it, and then backfill everywhere we need it.
Next up, waterproofing!
The first step is to fill all the small holes with tar. See below.
Once those are dry the exterior was covered with tar. We should stay nice and dry.
Do you see the window wells? They’re just big hunks of metal, but they’re OUR hunks of metal and we love them!
Have a WONDERFUL day!
I’m impressed.
I’ve already written “Rough Plumbing and HVAC” part one AND part two and if you’re actually reading part three that’s awesome! You deserve a prize. So here it is…….the final photos in the three-part series of “Rough Plumbing and HVAC.”
You’re welcome!
The small pipe is plumbing, and will be headed up to the kitchen in due time. The larger pipes are for HVAC and the black boxes will be future vents. 
Plumbing for half bath in basement.
Plumbing for full bath in basement.
Behind that you will see plumbing for the main level master bathroom, laundry room, and full hall bathroom.
Below is the floor plan for the basement to give you some context on how this will all fit together.
After we pass the inspections for the plumbing and HVAC we will move on to window wells, waterproofing, and backfill.
Thank you for reading!
Lots of duct work being put in place today. Garry and his crew are awesome. They did all of this in one day!
Did I mention that the vents will be in the floor in the basement? Heat rises. 🙂
The plumber still needs to run some pipe to the half bath in the basement and then I think we’re ready to fill with gravel then pour the concrete floor.
These black boxes will be the vents later.
And this picture is my future craft room ❤️ 💖 🌟 from the outside looking in.
At the end of the day we brought all the kids back to see the progress.
Here are some photo highlights. (Somehow the boys didn’t make it into these photos.)
Thank you for reading!
