Walls

Yesterday they poured the footings. Today they poured the walls. Both days we've gone out after work and looked and missed all the action. When school is done, we should get a chance to see some people working. It's raining tonight. House seems higher up off the st. than I expected. I was also disappointed to see that the walls will be fake brick. CK had told me he thought they would be smooth concrete, but I guess it just depended on which company he could get to do the work. Sigh.

Still, very exciting that it is happening. Met some of our neighbors tonight. I talked with the man across the st. and a bunch of kids stopped by. And my kids were trying to find out if there were any kids their ages.

I still can't upload photos to here or to yahoogroups. I can do it from another computer, so if any of you have an idea why it once worked and now it doesn't, let me know. L has been taking a bunch of photos, so some day I'll post them.

M.F.H.

Photos

I've tried twice now to upload photos of the hole in the ground and it doesn't want to work. It looks like a square hole dug in clay; not as deep as I expected, but then they will backfill the big piles of clay back around it.

Today I make my first of 5 payments on the house.

M.F.H.

Hole

Very exciting to have things actually starting. We stopped out before school to see the lot staked out and the claw or whatever the digger is called there, ready to go. Came back after work to see the hole completed. I guess I should have run out over lunch time, but we missed seeing any of the work done.

Now I need to buy the insurance tomorrow and make the first construction payment. Ah, yes, spend money. Also got to see a few of our neighbors tonight. The family to the west side of us is Asian. The neighbors were all checking us out too. L said the people across the st. came out to water their flowers.

Our new address will be 3315.

It will likely be next week before the pour concrete, but possibly the end of this week.

M.F.H.

They Start Digging Tomorrow

The lot is staked out today. We may run by and take a look. They are supposed to start digging tomorrow, but not sure when basement will be poured. Appartently, basement co. has let someone in the line ahead of us; they took on a new customer before they did the work of their long term customer - my contractor. So today he let them know how unhappy he is and it may get done this week.

M.F.H.

Floor plans: upstairs

Floor plans: main

If anyone wants me to email them my original jpegs, just let me know. Maybe you can enlarge them on your computer.

M.F.H.

Floor plans: basement

I'm afraid these floor plans aren't going to be very viewable. Don't strain your eyes too much. I should have scanned them before I folded them. I made these smaller copies to mail to the developer to make sure the house is acceptable under the
covenants. I'm sure it is, but I don't want any complaints.

The basement is going to be unfinished. The window in the NE corner will be 3? x 6. Still not sure where all utilities will enter the house. I'm satisfied with where the future bathroom/bedroom could go.

M.F.H.

Kitchen - Take 2

I think the kitchen transom is a good idea. All the range hood vents I've seen that are freestanding are at least $500. And putting a window on just one side of the stove just doesn't look right.

Kitchen cabinets- I don't know that I'm going to have any pull out lower shelves. We also just throw dry trash in the cabinet wastebasket. All garbage goes in a bowl and out to the compost. And I recycle glass, metal and plastic, so a lot of thing get washed up rather than thrown away. The pantry to the side of the refrig is supposed to have 5 pull out shelves and I think I will keep those.

D, the kitchen guy, is going to price me 3 different arrangements in the kitchen. He's going to do a cheaper line - the same one he suggested for the bathroom - Aristokraft with upgraded drawers. He says they sell a lot of it and it's what he's putting in his new house. Also Decora using York which is a door style with a simple frame around the door. The style I picked out which is plain - costs more because the door is one slab of glued together wood rather than a pieced door.

I'm still going with the glass upper doors and the island and a tile backsplash. I can live without the solid countertop, but not the other things. I should get those next Wed.

M.F.H.

Balanced windows

Yes, I do think the kitchen transom balances the windows on that side of the house. Kind of reminds me of a yearbook page layout - cantilevered. I think all 4 sides of the house look pretty good. The windows could line up slightly better, but I don't know how to do it, so this is good enough.

M.F.H.

Transoms

Whew, I was worried how you'd react to the transoms. The one in the master bedroom will open like an awning and I thought that was a good solution to getting some western light and still leaving plenty of choses as to where the bed could go.

The transom in the master bath is 8" acrylic block. It will be above the bath/shower. There will also be a row of acrylic block in the wall between the bath and bedroom. That's CK's concession to you wanting a glass wall between the bedroom and bath. CK is trying to talk me into a solid bathroom door - he says it will be open almost all the time, but I do want glass. I think I saw the same Home Depot glass door that you did. I tried to look it up on line at their site, but they must not be selling them on line or in the local store. I'll have to take the ad in with me.

He is also going to put pocket doors between the kitchen and front room but he wants them to be solid. Again, says they'll be open all the time, but I still want glass. I'll have to see what glass doors I can find and the price.

I also think it would be nice to have a glass door between the 2 halves of the girls' bathroom. Again, he wants solid. We'll see.

I signed the contract on Thurs., but he says all things are changeable - as long as I tell him my decision before it's been ordered or installed.

M.F.H.

Elevations

Here are the elevations of the house. I wish I could get them laid on the scanner straight. They're a bit crooked.

Joe, I'm sure you are not going to like the 'transoms,' but I like them. Things are still be changed! I had CK make the changes to the upstairs bathroom and hallway and the first thing L said when she looked at it was - 'now I have to walk all around the stairs in my towel to get to my room.'

M.F.H.

Surveying

I got to hold the surveying stick while we looked at the lay of the lot. Always wanted to do that. Amazing how many things have to be decided. Where to site the house, how steep the driveway, how much to raise the level of the backyard. Lots of pros and
cons if the house should go towards the east or west side of the lot. So right now, it's going to be 8 ft from the west edge and
(66-44+8) 14 ft. from the east side. The lot is 66 x 120. My backyard will be a bit bigger than what I have now, but not hugely bigger. I still think I can use a walking mower. With the garage 8 ft from the west edge, that still leaves the family room behind the garage 16 ft from the west edge. The yard slopes to the rear, but doesn't drop off like the 2 lots to the east. I don't think anyone will be building to the west of me for awhile. The lot really narrows in the rear.

M.F.H.

Contract and siting

Signed the contract yesterday and the foundation work is to begin on or before May 15, with a finishing date of Nov. 15. CK says it usually takes 4 months to build a house, so I'd like to think it would be done before Nov., but it should definitely be
done by then. I'm supposed to go with him to the lot today and decide where to place the house. I'm thinking that I will put it on the west side of the lot (the garage side) which will leave 18 ft. on the east side. I could plant a row of trees. Though, I suppose the trees would be better on the west side of the house. Hmmmmm. I'm headed out to the lot now.

M.F.H.