Drywall is well underway...

What a mess!

 So how do you know that sheet rock is being installed in your house?  Well, as evidenced by these pictures, you have piles of scap drywall, drywall dust, nails, and trash in every room.

Finishing is ready to start.

So thankful for everyone's help in carrying out the drywall pieces, and cleaning up in general.  I don't know when I (Pam) have swept up so many piles of dirt, dust and trash.   It is amazing though how quickly the finishing starts to transform the walls.  I would post pictures of the finished walls, but it probably wouldn't look very exciting.

Future kitchen

Posted by Pam

Not so exciting, but ever so necessary...

 Ok, so here are more pictures of the house construction.  To the right we have plumbing for the well under way.

 We are using closed cell spray foam insulation.  It was amazing how much could be covered in just one day.  We can't wait to see if it as good as the claims are about it!

Spray foam closed cell insulation - looks like upside down snow!

     It is somewhat a shame that the water drain pipes are covered up by the walls.  They almost seem like works of art!

     We have been in the plumbing and wiring stage for awhile now.  We have made lots of progress, but there is still quite a bit left to finish before we can start the sheet rock.  Everyone tells us it just takes time.    We believe them!


Posted by Pam


   

Random signs of progress...

 We are very excited about the new well being drilled.  The well from the old house works, but we have been unable to get it to pass the state test.  It keeps failing due to the presence of choloform.  So, for nearly the past 2 years we have been hauling in drinking water.  We are really looking forward to having a good well again!  Plus, we are having a geothermal system installed, and the new well will be big enough to supply both the house needs plus the geothermal system.

 This is the beginnings of the laundry room, bathroom, and mudroom in the garage.

I have been working on staining and varnishing the inside window trim.  This one is finished.

Duct work is being placed throughout the house...

Basement stairs are started

Painting the front porch posts.

Cordell and Ryan have been helping Walter measure and nail in the electrical switch and outlet boxes.  They have also been drilling holes in the 2x4's  for the wiring, and will start pulling wire soon.  They have also been helping Walter with various aspects of getting the drain pipes in for the plumbing.

All signs that progress is being made, slowly but surely!

Pouring the basement floor.

 Well, it was an exciting day for us to get our basement concrete floor poured.  This actually took place a month ago, but I am just now posting about it.  We had to wait for just the right timing when the backyard wasn't too muddy, and when our concrete crew could actually come from St. Louis to work on it.

Filling up the concrete buggy.

     Note:  I did not make up the name of concrete buggy.  I promise it is its real name!  First it had to be filled up with concrete.  Then a "road" of scrap plywood was built.   Then it is driven to where it is dumped.

Concrete Buggy 

It is coming along nicely.

shingles, trim and windows!

Front porch is on, and felt paper on roof.

The roofing crew was pretty quick.

White metal trim is installed.

Windows delivered - Quaker windows made in Freeburg, less than an hour away!

Amazing how windows start changing its look!

Guess what color the house will be?  Keep checking back in to find out!

Front porch trusses and garage floor...

 Just in case there is someone who might think that Walter hasn't been helping with the house, here is a picture to prove it.  The front porch trusses are being set into place, and Walter is helping to steady them.  Brad, our builder, said that if Walter does a good job, next time he will let him use a hammer!

 We are fortunate to have a friend from the House Springs church who is  experienced with flat concrete.  He came with his crew to put in our garage floor.  First they had to level out the gravel, then stamp it down.  Next came a sheet of black plastic moisture barrier followed by the rebar.

Spreading out the concrete.

 The power gizmos were especially interesting.  This was like a jiggling squeegee that flattened the concrete.

A power trowel that gave it a polished look.

The finished result!  The blue lines are for cutting grooves in it so that it will crack along the grooves instead of just anywhere.

Taking Shape!

 Now this was nice to come home to from our vacation in Tennessee!  While we were gone the trusses were set in place and the sheeting was done.  It is amazing how different it looks now with a roof line in place.

Right now  the house has a very barn like feel because of all the rafters and wood everywhere.  It also seems extra big when you can still see daylight right through the roof and walls!

Before we left we were helped by a friend who does flat concrete work.  He poured the front porch, and used stampers to create the rock slab appearance, and the brick border.   This is what it looked like after we sealed it.  BEAUTIFUL!

Back side of house has the roofing felt started.

We (or at least for me!) feel a special sense of accomplishment because we have made several major decisions recently in selecting our windows, doors, siding,shingles and front porch posts and railings.    Yeah!

Main Floor Walls Going Up!

Bay Windows

Starting on the garage.

Breakfast Area

Front of house with Max

Day 4 of framing...

Subfloor is nearly finished.

Inside the basement.

The basement has walls!

Framing!

1st load of lumber delivered

End of Day 1 of framing. 

It has been extremely hot and dry here.  Typically  the framing crew arrive about 5 am and stop around 1 pm to beat the heat.   I have noticed that the noise, doesn't bother me at all since it is directed at our house getting built!

End of Day 2, floor joists started.

The underneath stuff you don't see...

 Well, progress has been happening on our house.   The forms have been taken down, drain pipes have been laid down, and a mixture of creek gravel and dirt has been brought in to put around the concrete.  The water is supposed to drain through the creek gravel better.
   Here you can see some of the black sealant on the concrete, and the footings have been poured for the front porch.

 Load after load of the creek gravel/dirt has been brought in for the basement floor.  You can still see the concrete footings for the support pillars.

You can also see some of the drainage pipe along the left wall.

Dirt has been backfilled next to the retaining wall on the back side of the garage.

All in all, it is pretty exciting to see the progress being made.  Pretty soon it will be time to start adding the wood.

Posted by Pam

Basement Walls going up!

 Seeing our basement walls go up was pretty exciting.  Here the forms are ready and braced.  This is the front of the house.  Later it will be backfilled and it will get a front porch.

 Looking at the back view.

 

It was especially neat to see the concrete placement truck get set up.

 The guy in the orange shirt is spraying the insides of the forms with something to keep the concrete from sticking.

 Here comes the concrete!

First they poured concrete footings for the pillar supports.  These will be under the basement floor to help support the ceiling.

This guy had a really neat job.  He uses the remote control to guide the boom on the truck.  Looks like playing video games might actually have some real world applications!