What a day!
The foundation was poured today. I couldn’t see it because they had black tarps over it to keep the concrete from freezing, but I took pictures anyway. I also met Rick Lang, our construction supervisor. He seems like a really nice guy. He told me that there won’t be much action in the next week because the concrete has to cure, then they have to remove the forms, do the plumbing, and pour the basement floor. He said early next week they should have it finished, and start working up, up, up. 🙂 He said to be sure to stop in every day once they start working, because it will go really fast. Predictions were that the basement would take about a month…if they finish in the time he says they might, then they will be way ahead of schedule. That’s good because it will allow for some set-backs later on…
I’ve been watching a house being built 3 lots down from ours, and they were finishing up with the foundation when they broke ground on our house (12/6). They are already on the 2nd floor walls! I can’t believe they put these things together so quickly. I guess since they only have about 7 models to choose from, and they aren’t custom homes, that it’s pretty much the same thing over and over and they get good at it after awhile.
On to the better news!!
Our realtor Holly Nally called us tonight and said that someone made an offer on our house!!! She brought over the paperwork tonight, we signed away (the offer was more than we had hoped for!) and she said we’ll try to close before Jan 1 to avoid carrying anything from the house into 2006 (for tax purposes etc). Everyone cross your fingers that it goes smoothly and successfully!!!!
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The basement is now framed and ready for concrete. Unfortunatly my camera battery died before I could get pictures from all angles and looking down in, but check out what I got anyway…
Pictures
It’s so neat to see it finally coming together. I’m so excited!
My mom and I are going out tomorrow to check progress again. We’re also going to one of the model homes like ours, and measure all the windows so Paul and I can start buying blinds from Lowe’s. We are going to get nice ones for this house (not the plastic mini-blinds we had in our old house), and buy them over time so it won’t be such a financial burden.
We’re thinking about blinds like this.
-ec
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They haven’t worked on the basement since Tuesday. It’s been snowing and raining every day since then. I did take some pictures on Tuesday, (see here). I didn’t write a message about them since nothing has really happened.
They did level off the big dirt piles though, and I wonder how our yard will look when the house is finished. Does anyone knows the answer to this…?
It’s hard to explain, but bear with me. They only dug about 5 or 5.5 feet down below ground level for our basement so far, and it looks like they are finished digging. I know that they have about 3 feet of basement above ground level (the cement that shows on the side of the house), but that doesn’t add up to the height of our basement ceilings. I wonder (and I’m scared to think this) if they dig about 5-6 feet down, then mound the dirt up and build the house on the little hill/mound, then go 3 or so more feet up from the “new” ground level to make the whole basement height. I don’t know if I made that clear or not.
Basically, our lot was very level when we bought it, and we bought it for that reason (all other lots sloped downward towards the back). Now, after they have leveled the piles of dirt from digging out the basement, the yard slopes upwards in all directions toward the house, like they are going to build the house on a little hill, which would help make up depth for the basement. If so, our $1,500 extra that we paid for a level lot sure wasn’t worth it if our lot will end up sloped!!!
Anyone know if this is how things work? It may be WAY too early to tell…I’m just anxious/worried about it.
-ec
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It looks like they are finished digging. They were spreading gravel on the floor of the to-be basement today. There was a gravel truck with a conveyor on it, which was shooting gravel from the street, where the truck was parked, into the middle of the basement. Quite a sight to see. The workers were spreading the gravel around the floor of the basement, so I guess that means they’ll be preparing for concrete soon…
From the looks of it (I didn’t stay long because the men were giving me funny looks while I was walking around taking pictures) they didn’t dig any more than what was done the other day. The sales consultant, LJ, told us the basement takes about a month, so it should be finished around January 6, weather permitting.
(Pictures)
-ec
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Well, it doesn’t look like they’ve done that much on the basement since Tuesday. I went today after work and it looks like they have dug about 5-6 feet down. The bottom is flat and the sides are nice and smooth. I’m not sure how deep they dig before they start pouring the cement. They do have plastic down on the ground where they’ve dug. I’m not sure if that’s to keep the ground from freezing too much or if they put plastic before they pour cement. Anyone know?
We had a “major snow storm” yesterday (at least by Kentucky standards) so work on the basement may go slow the next day or so until the snow / ice clear a bit.
Pictures
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So Chris asked a really good question, and I thought I’d answer it in a new post.
I forgot that most people don’t know who our builder is, and where we are building so…
Our builder is Maple Street Homes . Their parent company is Fischer Homes. We are building in the Glenhurst subdivision, in Independence, KY. The house we are building is a Winchester (4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 2 car garage, corner lot, etc). Paul is really excited about the 2 car garage, but I’ve already told him that we’re going to put tape down the middle of it to divide my clean area from his car / motorcycle / car parts / tools / and bike area.
-ec
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So they broke ground a week and a half early (it was scheduled for 12/16/05). Hope everyone enjoys watching our house come together as much as we will! Keep checking in, I will try to stop by the lot/house and take pictures on a daily (or at least every other day) basis.
The first set of pictures are from Monday, 12/5/05. They spray painted the outline of our house onto the dirt. It was cool to be able to walk around what will be the rooms of our house!
The second set are from the next day, when they broke ground. I was actually going out to the lot with paper and pencil in hand so I could pace out our yard. We never have been able to get a good idea of how big it will be, so I thought, “wow, since the house is now marked out, I can tell exactly where our yard will be…” That idea quickly changed when I drove up and my whole yard was now covered in 10 foot piles of dirt. So much for pacing it off. Quess we’ll have to wait until the foundation is finished. I’m excited anyway 🙂
-ec
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