Gorgeous weather = House progress

We have had amazing weather all week here.  Nicholas and I even went to (as he calls it) the petting zoo on Wednesday and it was so nice outside in the upper 70s and breezy.  Thanks to this nice weather, there has been great progress on the house.  As of tonight, the majority of the roof is decked.  They delivered our windows and doors as well, so hopefully the house will be blacked in soon.  Here are a few recent pics...

As I had mentioned before, the framing crew made some WONDERFUL changes to the roof line, which included the area above the dining room and screen porch shown off the back of the house here.  Henry is my main man at this point!!  All the back part of the roof shown below was completed today.  I'm amazed by these workers just walking around like its nothing, while being WAY up in the air.   

Here was a beautiful skyline looking from our front yard the other night.  I love this time of year! 

Going thru the Big D and DO mean Dallas

We made the 10 hour drive to Dallas this weekend for the Cowboys Classic (AKA the Michigan/Alabama kickoff football game).  As a big Cowboys fan Gabe has always wanted to visit that stadium, so this was a no-brainer.  It is extremely impressive and should be considering the amount of money it cost to build. 

On a much smaller scale, our build is going well.  While we were in Dallas, more roof framing was done to really get a feel for what the house will look like. 

 Most of the roof is framed.  They still have to work on the area above the master bedroom and then over the dining room and screen porch. 

Happy guy - especially with the outcome of the game.  And man that is one MASSIVE jumbotron! 

Raise the roof!

Framing is progressing and as of tonight all the interior framing on the second floor is completed.  The main thing left is the exterior framing and of course the roof. 

I'm so excited about a recommendation that Henry (the guy in charge of framing) recommended.  It's hard to explain, but he recommended a change in the roof line that had bugged me from day one.  I was so excited to hear what they suggested that I wanted to hug him, but I refrained.  We are going to make a few other changes to the house plans, but they are minor.  We will need to decide if we want the "open concept" living/kitchen/dining spaces or a bit more closed off.  I'm thinking something in the middle will work best. 

We had our first inspection from Regions this week and according to them are about 19% finished.  A few more percentage points to go and we will actually be allowed to start using Regions money and thus begin the draw process.  Hopefully that will go smoothly, but of course only time will tell. 

If you are following the blog and on facebook, you've probably already seen these pictures, but these are for those not on (like Gigi) ;-)


The front of the house of course.  At some point that power pole will be gone, when the Windstream people can figure out who is in charge of moving the lines to the other poles set up.

Stairs leading up to the second floor.  There aren't any stairs from the basement to the main level, so we have been walking the plank (literally a 2x12) to get into the main level. 

This is looking at the bonus room on the second floor.  We are actually standing in Nicholas' future bedroom. 

Nicholas cheesing for the camera in his bedroom.  The entire time he is there with us, I am incredibly nervous and will be happy when everything is closed in. 

Looking like a house now

After a three week delay, framing began this week on Tuesday.  As of this evening, they have done the majority of the basement and most of the exterior framing for the main level.  We did have a few issues because we decided to make some changes to the basement layout, but unfortunately those changes didn't make it to the framing crew and they went off the original house plans.  Luckily there isn't anything major, but just a few small wall and window changes here and there. 

We still don't have temporary power set up from the APCO, which is very frustrating, but apparently it is in cue to get set up.  It seems like the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing there.  I'm just glad the builder is able to use generators for the power tools working on the framing. 

Tonight we both walked in the basement and (as you can see below) Gabe walked on the main floor as well.  It's so nice to have walls that make the rooms actually feel like rooms. 

Gabe was standing in our future living room and is looking towards the front of the house.  That big hole in the floor is for the basement steps.  

Looking at the back of the house.  On the main floor the lighter areas are where future windows and doors are located. 

 This is the front of the house. 

After several weeks of nothing we are EXTREMELY happy to see the progress on the framing.  This week the crews have started their days very early and don't stop until it's dark (usually 7pm or so).  Note to anyone who plans on building, keep in mind that changes to your plans can wreak havok - just expect the unexpected and (try to) go with the flow.  I'm lucky that Gabe keeps me grounded and calm.   

Screeching Halt

I'm sad to report that there is nothing to report.  Two weeks ago Monday they poured the slab and were planning on starting the framing this past Monday.  Well, thanks to the power company, there is absolutely no work being done.  We need a power pole to be moved as it sits directly in front of the house now and they won't set up the temporary power until the poles are moved.  We are unsure as to when they will get to us on their list, but they did cash our check to move the poles.  Praying for patience...

Walls are up

Over the past two weeks a lot has changed. It's amazing and exciting to see how quickly things are progressing. The debate remains whether or not the house will be finished by Christmas.  Just yesterday, they poured our basement walls and today they took the forms down.  They also started to run water lines to the house today. 

This is the retaining wall that will run along the back of the house

 This is the front of the house.  The doorway is to our "safe room" should we ever need it.  I will definitely feel safe in that fortress.

The west side of the house.  The level above where I'm standing will be our glorious walk in pantry (Oh happy day!!) You can also get an idea of how tall the walls actually are.  

The East side and part of the back of the house will be daylight (hence the retaining wall), so no poured walls there.  We have decided on a brick color - Henry Brick Ole Cahaba.  We were able to drive around a few weeks ago and see the color in person, which helps a ton compared to just trying to pick one online.  One decision down, about a million to go. 

This past weekend we were in Mobile visiting family that we haven't seen in a long time.  We had a great time.  My favorite part of the past few weeks has been Nicholas' improvement in potty training.  He has had very few accidents at all, so we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.   

Footings - AKA a maze for Nicholas

The footings were dug on Monday and finished up today, so of course we had to check this out.  Nicholas loved running around in that area as he thought it was a maze made just for him.  Several trees that needed to come down were knocked down and we are moving right along.  As I'm writing this post, concrete is being poured into the footings, so Nicholas will have to find something else to play with.

Tractor #2 for Nicholas to be in awe of

Which way will he go next?

Daddy standing on top of the huge dirt mound

I was so excited to see the quick progress that I wanted to do dirt angels in our good for building chert rock.  It's a good thing the property is right down the road as I have a feeling we will be back and forth much more than normal.