Slab

July 31, 2012

Concrete trucks lined up along Cheviot Hills Lane this morning ready to pour concrete for our house!  They started very early - so I made three visits to the site today.  Early morning, mid-day, and evening.  All went well and there was no rain.

If you look closely, you can see three trucks but there were five trucks earlier.  The guys slog around in the concrete with boots on spreading as it is dumped out.

 

I was fascinated by the long handled tool used to smooth the concrete.

Cleaning the truck off.

This picture was taken around 11:30 a.m. - Nelson is smoothing out the garage floor and the main house floor is being "swirled."

Nelson

Taken this evening - a completed and drying slab.  Tomorrow the property will be "graded" and gravel will be dumped in the driveway area.  Wood will be delivered Thursday and walls will start going up on Friday.

Thank you for checking in!

Back to Work

Monday, July 30, 2012

Many small steps were taken today getting ready for a BIG step tomorrow....the slab!  The last few loads of gravel were delivered and spread.  A fine red line was pulled along the garage to mark the slab line which will be lower than the level of the home and gravel was spread in the garage as well.  The gaping hole in the ground outside my sewing room window was filled in. 

This picture was taken mid-morning.

The truck shoots in the gravel but it still has to be spread.  Here are Nelson and James - the protruding pipes are the plumbing.

This picture was taken this evening and shows the water main covered and visqueen covering the gravel......ready for the slab!

This is the garage.

Here is a view of the house from the street.  This shot will be interesting to take daily so that's what I'll do! 

Tomorrow I should be able to take pictures of the slab being poured - then the walls will start to go up!  So exciting.

Underground Plumbing

Friday, July 27, 2012

Today was another great day!  The house plumbing was tied into the main water source, inspected, passed inspection, and then the remainder of the rough plumbing was completed.  I'm sure that many of the terms I'm using are incorrect - but doing the best I can. 

Here's the pipe coming into the house from the underground water source.  It comes in under my future sewing room.

Working on the master bath plumbing.

Underground work

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Today the excavators came and dug down below the foundation to tie into the water main.  The foundation is there nice and straight but the water is way below that line.  The plumbers came to start laying the underground water lines.  I was there early this morning to see the back hoe digging and then returned this evening to take a few more pictures.  We had more thunderstorms today so the ground is very muddy. 

Digging outside the house frame.

Digging inside the house frame.

Digging under the foundation to tie water from the water main.

Beginning of plumbing.

Gravel

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Today the foundation was completed, the insulation was put in place, and gravel was "shot" into the foundation area. 

Here's the truck backed in and ready to shoot in the gravel.  I did not stay to watch but returned this evening to take some more pictures.

Looks good except for one slight mishap.

This is our front porch.  Amazing progress.

Thunderstorms

July 24, 2012

This morning brought thunder and lightning.  Regardless, the crew was able to complete some work between the storms.  A layer of gravel was "shot" into the floor area and some of the styrofoam sheets were put in place around the foundation. 

Looking across the home from the northwest corner.  The white is the styrofoam insulation.  There is a stack of insulation left with a concrete block on it presumably to keep it from blowing away.

Here is the breakfast nook at the back of the house....and our patio.

This view is looking across the garage from the southwest corner.

Thank you for checking in.  :)

Finishing the Foundation

Monday, July 23, 2012

Today Lamont and his crew finished the foundation.  We gave Bill Willoughby our Exterior Selections - brick, siding, trim, garage door, and windows.  Bill and I visited the site together and Lamont gave me a lesson in masonry.  He is a very patient teacher. 

Spreading cement which is very heavy.

Block placement is critical.

Bill Willoughby on the left.

Cement mixer.

This styrofoam will be used to insulate the foundation.

Thank you for following - please leave comments!

Working on Saturday

July 21, 2012

I drove by our property this afternoon and was surprised to see the foundation almost complete.  I'm just sorry I didn't get there in time to see Lamont and the guys again.  They really made a lot of progress.  What a great end for our first week.

This is the back of the house - the part not done is the breakfast nook which will extend out and is three sided.

This view is looking south - the back of the house - the unfinished nook.

This is the garage.

Fred working in the garage.

Here's a view of the entire house looking toward the northeast.

Foundation

July 20, 2012

Although we had rain again this morning, the brick masons were able to put in a full day.  They finished most of the corners.   Here's Lamont and his crew at work this morning.

This picture was taken this evening.

No that is not my car. 

Delivery

July 19, 2012

Today all the cinder blocks and sand were delivered and "pins" were driven into the footers.  It rained today but that's ok - Ohio really needs the rain.

That's concrete in the trenches, not water.

Here's Fred checking out the progress.

Look closely - those are the "pins."

Now all the really hard choices begin. 

Closing and Ground Breaking July 18, 2012

Our closing was yesterday, July 17, 2012, and the title company we worked with made sure all the necessary documents were recorded the same day.  Awesome - because that allowed our builder to start TODAY!  They dug the "footer" and poured concrete.  The pictures were taken early this morning as the digging was happening.  The inspection happened at 1 PM and the concrete was poured. 
We're definitely on our way.

Digging the parched Ohio earth

Keeping a straight line

Measuring the depth

Thank yous go out to all the fabulous people who "got the job done" yesterday and today - most especially our builder, Bill Willoughby.

More tomorrow!

Appraisal

Although this is our first post, this is definitely not the first step taken in building our new home.  We've met and remet, telephoned and retelephoned our builder (Bill Willoughby), we've met and telephoned our loan officer, asked trillions of questions.  Blueprints have been studied, created, altered, and finalized (for now).  Numerous other small steps have taken us to this exciting day.  The appraisal is the last big check off item needed before we close.  Once we close, it's off to the races! 

Here's where our house will soon be.

This is looking toward the back.

This is looking toward the street.