Roughed In

Everything roughed in!

Gibson loves it up there

Eaves and Roof

Getting the roof sheating

Eaves

Trimming off the eaves to make a nice straight line for the trim to go against.

Lookouts

Today Scott put "lookouts" on, and finished with some bracing.

Trusses

We spent my birthday hefting trusses on top of the walls.  It was an exciting day!

 

And, to top off the day, Scott gave me my very own woman's toolbelt!

Yet more Framing

Started the day off with some bucket rides...

Later in the day after some sheating!

Framing

More framing - adding the top plate!

More Framing

Day 2 of framing walls:

Framing

Let the framing begin!

Day 1:

Concrete

The monolithic footing and the slab were poured today in one pour.  Nice to bring in a concrete crew to whip it out in one afternoon!  Now this truly IS exciting!!!

Power

As Dean would've said, "Power to the People!"

Who knew power could be so exciting.  It'll make the building process a lot easier to not have to use battery operated tools anymore.

Pex

Today was spent finishing up the rebar in the footing space.  Scott did this almost single handed-ly.  I was working on projects around the yard at my parents home prepping for the family reunion.

 Once the rebar was completed we were able to run the pex for radiant heat flooring.  It was dark by the time we finished, so I will need to snap a picture tomorrow, but here is the beginning phase:

This was after I washed my hands.  Twice.  Have you ever used bailing wire to tie rebar? 

 It is not a very fun job...

Inspection for footings / foundation scheduled for this coming Tuesday.

Garage Prep (still)

After the boys shoveled all that gravel, we were able to smooth it off.  

Actually, Scott smoothed it really well, I didn't help with that bit.  :) 

Today we added the layer of insulation:

Next went the weather barrier:

 Then the fun of laying rebar began:

(more rebar)  Layed in a 2' grid

Repairs and Wheelbarrow Fulls

Today was spent fixing the tractor...  No, I'm not a mechanic.  But the bucket lift stick controller thing broke.  Scott took the part off.  My dad went and had it welded back together.  I put it back on and reassembled it.  It was a group effort...

The boys shoveled a ton (literally) of gravel the last few days. 

They've worked so hard.  Hour after hour.  

Garage / Shop Foundation Walls

Scott excavated a few weeks ago.  He and the boys put up the forms for the slab and footings.  This is a little different, it's called a "turn down" footing.  So, the slab will be on grade, no cement walls coming up off the slab... all that support is under the slab.

We were able to use random wood from an old corral we tore down to make the forms.

Next up is getting all the gravel in, the rebar and in floor insulation and heating pipes and finally the concrete...

 The boys are really good at removing old nails from boards.  They've had a lot of practice.  :)

Appliances

I realize it's a little premature to be buying appliances and finishing items for the house, but when a deal like this comes up, you just do it...  Plus, we have a half empty storage unit rented, we can store it over there.  :)

I had been watching the ksl classifieds for random stuff.  A built-in ice maker came up for sale for really cheap, and a really great brand (subzero).  They guy had a crummy picture, the picture was upside down, didn't say a brand and said he wanted $100.  I was intrigued...I knew what brand it was and I knew it should cost a heck of a lot more than that!

I texted him, his dad is a contractor and was doing a remodel in Deer Valley, and the homeowners were getting rid of everything.  That's all I knew when I met him over at a storage unit.  Well, when he opened the storage unit I about had a heart attack.  He said, "If you're interested, I have most of the matching appliances, I just haven't listed them for sale yet."

So, I go a subzero fridge and separate freezer (60" width french door style) for $500.
I got a subzero built in ice maker for $100.
I got a subzero undercounter built in wine cooler for $275.  (I had to come up on that one as he had another buyer lined up...)
We also got a sink, and a new garbage disposal thrown in the deal.

Then at the back of his unit were these gorgeous solid wood, interior doors.  At first he said he wanted $50 a door.  Which, is a steal, but I wasn't sure if there would be enough, or if they would work.  When Scott came back with me a few hours later and saw them, my dad talked him down to $200 for all 12 doors.  They are beautiful.  I'm not sure exactly where we will work them into the house - perhaps put them on the main floor and do something different upstairs??  But, we'll figure it out.  The hardware alone on these doors would've cost way more than the $200!

So, today was like Christmas for me...
Now we just need the house for them to go in.  ;)

Lot Line

Lot line adjustment has been completed, and has been recorded with the county.
Exciting stuff!

Driveway - Rough Grade

Today we passed the inspection for the "rough grade" driveway.  This meant we met the specifications for the cobble, road base thickness, as well as the culvert.  Yay!

Next up is the excavation for the shop.

Driveway - the beginnings

In order to build the shop / garage, we needed to put our driveway in.  It's been good to be able to start work on all these little things for the house.  If we didn't have approval for the shop, we would need to wait until we have approval for the house before beginning our driveway.

Our really nice friend that's an excavator let us borrow his mini excavator for the trench and for the driveway.  Wow.  Saved us thousands of dollars.

First we had marked out where the driveway was to run.
Next Scott began removing the organic layer (which is the grass and little bit of the roots).
He then scooped out another 8" or so of topsoil.

Beck and Scott on the excavator

Scott woke up this morning early (5:30am) and finished excavating the driveway.

The loads of 6-8" cobble began arriving around noon.

We needed 6 truckloads (each truckload held approximately 13 tons).

Next up will be the road base and gravel.

Site Work - Utilities

We needed to bring all utilities into the lot.  This required us to run 550' of conduit.  

A 3" (schedule 40) pipe for electrical, 

and 12" apart from that we laid,

A 1.5" (schedule  40) pipe for internet.

The electrical pipe couldn't have more than 3 - 90 degree sweeps, so we had to be careful how we ran the pipe.  It also required a 36" cover of fill from the pipe to grade level.

As luck would have it, when we started digging the trench, the nearby farmers began flood irrigating.  The trench quickly filled with water, and we were left with floating pipe...

The first solution was for me to STAND IN THE DITCH, and put my body weight on the pipe to hold it down.  

Why is it Scott's always on the tractor and I'm the one in the ditch?

I was down stream from where Scott would back fill, I wasn't in danger of being buried alive, but it was very unpleasant.  After a few hours, I started seeing dead mice floating near me.  That was it.  No more for me.  I went above and beyond my duty as a wife and mother and woman helper.  I like to think of myself as being as tough as a pioneer, but nope.  Not going to stand in the ditch with floating dead rigor mortis mice bumping into my legs.  That's where I draw the line.

So, we bought a water pump and pumped all that water out of the ditch.  Problem solved.

Best $275 spent thus far.

We opted for this pump from amazon and it is awesome.  

Came with great quality hoses as well.

Gibson and I holding down some pipe (the day before we saw any floating mice)

Silt Fencing

Before you can start any construction, you're required to put up a sediment control.  We basically had the option of straw wattle, or silt fencing.  

The straw wattle is a simpler process as you simply pound stakes into the ground so there's no daylight beneath the straw roll.  The issue I discovered was - hello?!  It's SO expensive!

I got on our local classified ads (love the KSL classifieds) to see if anyone was selling the straw or the silt fencing.  Coincidentally enough, I found an ad for silt fencing: 

Brand new - 100' rolls for $10 - in the city 3 miles up the road.  

I texted the guy and we met at Ken's Kash the next morning.  Ha ha ha.  We both started laughing as we saw eachother - we go to church together.  :)  

(the straw wattle would've ended up costing us around $1200, instead we paid $50)

We used the trench digger on the tractor to dig down about 8".

We then pounded the silt stakes into the ground.

It was a lot of work, but thankfully it was pretty cool weather, and we didn't hit many river rocks.

A few days later the boys had the job of backfilling the silt fence.  I was out of town, but they were sure to send me a picture of how dirty they got doing that job.  :)

The county engineer came out and inspected the silt fencing and passed it, so on to the next project...

Permit for detached shop / garage

We "need" a secondary garage.  Scott and I are project people.  He does a lot of woodworking...it's time he had a place to accomplish all his projects.

In this county, you can get a permit to build a detached garage (under 720 square feet, with no living quarters) fairly easily.  It took some work, but we decided we would get started on this garage while the house is still being approved...

This garage/shop will be 24' x 30'.

Basically the size of a 2 car garage

I was so happy at the county office when they put this paper into that plastic sleeve.  It's taken effort to pull this permit.  :)