FRAME!!

Our framing crew (all two members!) assembled on Saturday to get started. Yes, that's right, they were so excited to get framing that they couldn't wait until Monday! At the end of the day yesterday they had completed the exterior walls of the walk-out basement. It's starting to take shape! The only thing slowing the progress is the abundance of black flies that hatched out. They are HUNGRY!


Clint busy at work!


In case anyone was afraid that we would miss all of our rocks and rock walls in Goffstown, there are plenty in Concord too!




View from the front - doesn't look like much...

Our super-deluxe, super-LARGE, electric meter. We need to have an upgraded meter to accomodate the 400 amp entrance needed for the geothermal system. This way our lights won't flicker when the heat pump kicks on and the system will run more efficiently. The only part that is permanent is the big box on the left. We'll still need strategic landscaping to hide it though.

Looking over the front wall you can see all the progress!

Ry in his glory!

The boring side of the basement that we're not quite sure what to do with yet.

View from the back.

The football/soccor field I mentioned in the last post!

Bird's eye view. If I'm this excited about the basement being framed I can't even wait to see how exciting the first floor is!

Quick (or not-so-quick) update

No new photos today. The site doesn't look much different in photos so I'll give a quick narrative update. The well company did the drawdown test yesterday and in 4 hours of pumping the water level in the well only dropped 2 feet. So even though the gpm's were only 10, there is plenty of water flowing into the well and we were given the green light that it definitely has a good enough yield for the geothermal heat system. Whew!

We did learn late in the day yesterday that we should have a "bleed line" to a dry well for the heat pump to discharge to on really cold days. This keeps the system running more efficiently by avoiding sending cold water back into the well when the temps are below freezing. Of course we didn't learn this until the well crew had already brought their concrete drills and pipes home. So Ryan and I rented a drill this morning and bought some plastic pipe to run through the existing trench, and some filter fabric to make a dry well. Just our luck...when we got to the lot, the site guy, Brian, was just finishing backfilling the trench we had planned to run the pipe through. Brian was willing to re-dig the trench so Ryan went to get his tools and realized that he had left all of his hand tools at home to make room for a generator that we borrowed last night. Long story short, after we borrowed an extension cord from the neighbor, Ry and I MacGiver'd the bleed line with a bolt, a pen, and a swiss army knife...as crazy as that sounds, I'm actually completely serious!

So the bleed line and dry well are installed and the trench is filled back in. Big "high five" for me and Ry! The entire house has been backfilled, and the site work is done with the exception of spreading out the loam, but apparently that doesn't happen until the frame is up and it has been roofed and sided. We had Brian place a couple more monster boulders for us before they take the excavator away that we will landscape around later.

We were looking around after the stress of the morning settled down and we realized that everything looks AWESOME and we are SO happy with how it's laying out. The grading worked out so well and we're going to have a great side yard for Brody to play in - we're talking serious soccer and football games! And around the other side of the house is a great hill for sledding.

Before we left the first of the lumber was delivered for the frame. Ry's eyes lit up at the sight of it and he asked me if he could work tomorrow - tomorrow being Saturday! How could I say no? So it looks like the frame will get started tomorrow!

So we're getting there. It's still a long road ahead, but we've moved from the dirt and concrete stage to the wood stage - It's so exciting!

Not-quite construction...

I'm really trying to keep this blog just about the house construction, but these pictures of the cousins playing together are just too cute not to post. Brody reminds me of Elton John in his sunglasses! Wilder was pretending to be a pirate. They had SO much fun! It's moments like these that make the stress of building a house and having our belongings scattered between storage units and family basements more bearable. How can you not feel happy looking at the full-on belly laugh coming out of Brody? His hair was full of static from climbing on the plastic playhouse.

water woes

We're still chugging along. The foundation has been mostly backfilled and the driveway has been roughed in. The well has been drilled and even though we went down to 700 feet, we only have 10gpm, which is a little disappointing. As long as the well recharges quickly when they do the drawdown test, we should still have enough water to do the geothermal heat system. The site guys placed some huge rocks for us to terrace the slope going toward the backyard...and Ryan is still itching to get on the frame. Unitil came out and set the pole and the trench and conduit was burried from the pole to the house to carry the electrical and other wires underground.

We brough Brody out to the site on Saturday. The "tractors" were a big hit!

They re-graded the front yard to maximize the view, but also to take the extra material to use as fill around the house so we didn't need to buy as much.

The well guys thought they'd be done in 2 days...three days later they were still drilling!

The back yard is going to end up being bigger and flatter than we originally thought. We're really excited about this! Perfect for a swing set!

View of the "house" from the back yard. Lots of walk-out basement so Ryan can easily carry wood and tools in and out of his workshop.

Ry helped to set the rocks for the terraced walls - if only we had this machine to do the heavy lifting in G-town we would have saved our backs!

These two rocks came out of the ground as one rock, but when Tim, the excavator operator, set it on the ground it cracked right down the middle. So the flat faces of these actually fit together...if you could ever move them again - they're HUGE!

Lots of action on the site when I stopped by during lunch. Ryan and I could hardly hear each other over the noise of the equipment and the well rig. The little person there is me, taking it all in!

Ryan took this shot from on top of one of the giant loam piles of the end of our driveway and the little bit of silt fence that I made him install!

More Progress

There was more progress this morning. The panels were taken off of the foundation walls yesterday and the outside of the walls were waterproofed yesterday afternoon. The site crew was back out to put in the foundation drains and do some grading in the front yard! The foundation inspection is around noontime today, the well is getting started tomorrow - pray for a lot of water. We need a lot in order to do the geothermal heat system...and then I think we're onto the frame. Ryan is itching to get his framing pouches back on and get to work!

This is the inside of the basement. You can see the lines on the wall from the different pours.



The back of the house with the black waterproofing.


Lookout Ry!


Covering the foundation drains with crushed stone.


Filter fabric over the stone.

And we have a basement!

So we have a basement...but before we get into that, here's a photo of Bro at his first easter egg hunt!


All the concrete trucks getting ready for the pour on Monday morning!


Pouring...


The septic tank and leach bed are in...


On Tuesday morning they were ready to remove the forms. This is looking from the backyard into the basement. The back will be walk-out so the foundation walls are tall in the front and low in the back.


Taking off the panels. There was a distinct smell of concrete in the air that I thought was a bit offensive, but Ryan LOVED. I guess the smell of fresh concrete in the morning triggers happy framing thoughts for him!

This is the back yard and the view of Oak Hill (I think) from the back yard. I think we're going to need a riding lawn mower for all of the yard we're going to have!

Day 4? I've lost track already! Pouring the footings

So the concrete truck was there to pour the footings for the foundation this morning. You can really see the footprint of the house now! They'll be back to put the forms up for the foundation walls on tomorrow (Friday) and will pour on Monday. So Tuesday, we'll have a basement!

They dug the foundation hole the day before.

A very happy Ryan! What you can't see is an even happier Jillian behind the camera!

The main house. The jog in the front is my kitchen!!!

Ryan couldn't stand to just watch other people work on his house - surprise surprise! He had to grab a shovel and join in!

A big beautiful rock that was uncovered - it's a little more than waist height on me! I guess it's strange to get excited about rocks...

The view this morning. It was pretty clear and you can see Pat's Peak in the distance. Looks like there is still snow on the top of the trails.

Day 2 - Trouble already?

So they were about to dig the foundation hole when they realized the elevations on the septic plan weren't right. Good thing Ry's a smart guy! I think the problem has been solved - still feeling powerful!

Day 1 - April 6, 2009

We finally sold our house and are ready to start digging! The crew came with the excavators and went to town. By the end of the day the lot was re-graded and there was a 20+ foot high mound of topsoil. Of course there was also a driving rainstorm at the end of the day, but thankfully the site was well contained and there was no erosion. I don't quite know how I would have explained that to my co-workers at DES!

So I walked around feeling very powerful today. It isn't often that the parents of a nearly 2-year old boy feel that they have control of their lives, but today I felt like we had control and that we were actually beginning to accomplish what we set out to do! I'll embrace that feeling...I'm sure it will be crushed all too soon!