2/22/11 Brick-o-mania!

brick delivery

old mosstown

Briggs looking out of sunroom windows

breakfast room windows

front door and dining room window

so what do ya think?

kings of the mountain...Anna, Andrew, Jacely and Briggs

Good weather has finally returned to Georgia.  Yesterday, 10,000 bricks were delivered to the house (and that's only half of the order) and today the walls are going up.  It will take about three weeks to brick the entire house and that's IF the good (meaning dry) weather holds.  I LOVE the bricks we chose.  Good thing as I'll be looking at them for the rest of my life!  They're called "Old Mosstown" and they do look a bit "mossy."  Using a buff colored mortar so it's all very brown but the individual bricks have touches of white, cream, black and even green.  Now that they've finished the corner where the electric meter is going, we can get powered up and off extension cords.  The shop should be up and running by tomorrow.  Tommy is like a kid at Christmas, unpacking and arranging his shop.  So much more room than he ever had before.  And the shop's front room ( lovingly called the "man-cave" even though I intend to spend time there too) is almost finished. We're painting the ceiling now; will start on the walls next.  The ceiling is beadboard and the walls are textured T1-11 so it's all pretty rustic looking.  Not sure what we'll do with the floor yet...Brin wants to paint/stain the cement and leave it at that.  Maybe...  Meanwhile, in the house, things are moving along.  Todd has most of the wiring done - which is no small feat considering we put in more than 75 "can" ceiling lights - not to mention 6 ceiling fans! I'm gonna need a road map for all the switches!  He's also been working on the plumbing and some of the basics are in.  The kitchen cabinets are being built as we speak.  Decided on hickory, lightly glazed in chocolate.  Sounds good enough to eat!  Lots of people at the building site this week  - 4 in the brick crew, Todd, Tommy, the 3-man framing and multi-purpose crew and Briggs, who loves being away from the small apartment.  Yesterday, Jacely was playing with 2 cousins on the pile of dirt out back.  You can only imagine the dirt that went home with those kids.  All in all, we're getting a bad case of spring fever and will be sorely disappointed when the cold returns - which it surely will (this is still February, after all).  Good thing the house is becoming more of a "real" thing everyday.  Hoping it won't be more than eight weeks before we can move in.

2/2/11 Basking in mud

driveway - yuck!

more windows to come...and a door!

cathedral ceiling in Great Room

insulation in shop

While the rest of you are shivering in the latest blast of cold, snow and ice,...we're basking in a realative balmy 60-something today. But - we're mired in mud!  It seems like the entire month of January was one rainy day after another.  Good thing the house is dried in and we can work mostly indoors.  OK - I call it "dried in" but I'm not sure if that's official.  The good news is that the shop is zipping right along.  Wired, plumbed, heat and a/c in, and as of this week, insulated.  Today, the garage door went up and tomorrow, the door knobs and locks will be in.  So, as far as insurance is concerned, it's lockable.  We'll be able to store building supplies inside and feel like they are relatively secure.  After we put up plywood on the inside walls and ceiling, Tommy will be ready to set up his shop toys.  The front room of the shop is ready to finish too but will be a bit more sophisticated...textured 1-11 plywood walls (rough paneling) with wood plank ceiling and floor.  Still pretty rustic.  Can lights are in, and it's wired for ceiling fans.  The shop porch is ready for 3 lights and 2 fans.  Oh - and did I say that the shop is finished on the outside?  Vinyl siding (alas, bricks for the shop weren't in the budget) is up and trimmed out.

So - where does that leave the house?  Well, all the windows arrived this week and the first two are up.  Todd's been working on wiring this week, mostly putting up can lights.  Does it seem excessive that there will be about 75 cans in the house?  Nice to have an electrician in the family!  We met with the cabinet maker last week and are finalizing the kitchen layout.  Looks like the cabinets will be hickory wood - very pretty.  But that led to the need to order the appliances so we're sure everything fits.  Sears thanked us for buying french-door refrigerator, double oven stove, dishwasher, microwave/vent, upright freezer, and a secondary fridge for the shop.  Whew!  Doing all of those in stainless steel.  Ordered the vanity for the guest bath as well as a Mexican talavera vessel sink.  Lots and lots of decisions and choices yet to come, but all in all, it's coming along.  Hopefully the pictures will fill in where where my words don't.  Wish you all were here to see the progress!

1/10/11 Snow in the South

Ice on the mailbox... trees down in the driveway...not much happening at the Dublin house today.

12/30/10 end of year wrap-up

from across the back field

electric hook-up

well/pump

back of house

across the field, again

from the front

Our best worker!

Well, the house survived its first snow.  Hopefully this will be the only time it snows inside the house! We missed a white Christmas by one day as big fat snowflakes fluttered down early on 12/26.  The entire event lasted about 3 hours - just long enough for Jacely to make and throw a few snowballs.  Since the roof isn't on the house yet it did indeed snow inside.  Actually, this has been a slow week for the Dublin house...time off for the holidays, followed by Tommy's killer head cold (that put him out of construction commission for 5 days), and the loss (hopefully only temporarily) of our framing crew...made it a slow go.  Todd tries to do it all but it's hard when he's alone.  On the up side, we do have all the roof rafters in place and you can really see what the house is going to look like.  This week they've been working on getting the outside walls up and it's going well.  The pump has been connected to the reservoir tank in the garage; the attic stairs in the garage are up; the guest bathroom bathtub unit is inside; we're plugging along.  Can't post this without a word about Christmas..we celebrated at Brin's house, our house, and Tommy's sister's house.  Jamie was in town for 3 days - hurray!  Jacely's first reaction to Santa's visit at her house was,  "Santa left a big mess!" But it didn't take her long to jump into all the presents...yes, she got her "man" (which was part of a truck, trailer, horse toy).  Sweet baby JD enjoyed playing with the wrapping paper most of all.  On Christmas day, Jacely called baby Jesus on her iphone (play) and spoke with Mary and Jof-set.  She wished Him a happy birthday.  A good day was had by all!  Todd told me today that he's hoping for a March completion date on the house.  I was sort of aiming for June so anything before that will be a bonus.  I'm not counting days just yet...

12/19/10 December doings

going up!

overview of site before garage

breakfast room walls

back of house with view of shop

My apologies for not updating sooner.  Let's see, I never really got over the "crud" I had at Thanksgiving and now have a whopper of a head cold.  Also spent a week in Denver.  So now I have a lot to tell you.  Things are really moving along.  The shop is up and roofed and the outside walls are wrapped.  Progress has slowed on the shop and we've turned our attention to the house.  After the trenches were dug around the perimeter (allowing the house to be built on a crawl space), cement was poured and cinder blocks laid for the foundation.  Next came the floor joists and floor.  I'm beginning to get a sense of the space... Outside walls went up next which meant we had to make some decisions about windows and doors.  After all, they have to be built into the walls. Tried to standardize the windows at either 3 ft X 4 ft. or 3 ft X 5 ft. and  all the outside doors are 3 ft wide to accommodate a wheelchair, if necessary. Other things come into play too - like the minimum size window for a bedroom.  It must be of a size that, when open, will accommodate a fireman in full gear (i.e. 5.7 sq. ft.).  Plus, I wanted the windows placed where they will not interfere with the furniture in the room.  Have to think ahead about bed placement. etc.  That accomplished, we tackled two large beams that support the span across the open living/dining/kitchen area and cathedral ceiling.  Very heavy.  We've been lucky to have the help of a framing crew (3 guys) who are experts at all of this.  Cement truck returned to pour the front porch and garage, then the outside walls went up on the garage. The inside walls of the house were framed up next and then the ceiling joists.  Last Fri. a boom truck came to lift the massive beam that spans the garage - meaning no support poles inside the 28' X 26'  garage. Rafters have been started on the garage area - but then the rains came.  The last two days (Sat. and Sun) have been pretty much non-productive.  In a way, it's good to have a chance to catch our breath.  Tommy's muscles are sore!  He's over at the work site every day by 8am and stays until dark.  Todd is a hard worker too putting in more hours than Tommy.  On Fridays, Tommy gets to be the paymaster and claims to be the boss. Every other day he's just one of the workers.  One guy out there is 67 years old and has been building houses for 35 years.  He knows his stuff!  I check in every day or two to keep everything  smooth (yeah - more like riled up!)  I try not to second-guess our decisions and make changes...but poor Todd has had to move the master bedroom toilet 3 times already.  I think I'm finally happy with the arrangement but now wavering about the guest bath tub/shower.  Todd will have to remove part of a wall to get the pre-formed acrylic tub into the room.  I should have made that decisions sooner.  He says I need to go on vacation again so they can make decisions and move ahead without me changing my mind!  Oh yeah, on Fri. we also drilled a well.  Technically, "we" didn't, the pros did but they found water at 195 ft - which was 100 ft less than they expected.  So that's good news - hopefully, lack of water will never be an issue for us.  We've picked out the windows, outside doors, bricks, vinyl siding and roof tile.  But it's only just begun.  It seems like we've made huge progress but everyone assures me that once we get to the inside (plumbing, wiring, etc.) visible progress will slow down.  I'm not living by any schedule and know it will be many months yet before another moving day.  My goal this week is to get Christmas up and running (and over with), including a visit from Jamie.  The tree is a little cramped in the apartment but it's up and Jacely is pleased.

11/29/10 shop walls

trenches for the house foundation (top) and shop walls (bottom)

view from the road

rafters going up

inside the shop

Lots of progress last week on the shop.  Concrete was poured on Wed. for the slab floor.  Thurs. we gave thanks (Thanksgiving) and took a break from building.  Fri. the concrete form came down and Todd began working on the house foundation.  Since the house will be on a crawl space, he's digging a trench around the perimeter of the house for concrete and concrete blocks.  Got about half way around before dark.  On Sat., we had an extra hand with Kyle (Todd's brother-in-law) joining Tommy and Todd  with wall building for the shop.  Got all four walls built and up and only forgot one door.  Failed to provide access to the bathroom!  Minor glitch...got that fixed.  The shop is shaping up and looking like a building  now.  Weather has turned cooler and rain has made the site muddy.  Just try telling Jacely she can't play in the dirt!  Yesterday, her mom dressed her in 3 layers and rain boots and sent her down to help Dad and Poppy (Todd and Tommy).  She has her own tool box with plastic hammers, pliers, screwdrivers, etc. and even a pink shovel.  She says she's a "worker girl."  In spite of her help, the guys got the roof joists finished.  Todd spent the day balancing on the beams while Tommy player go-fer and propped up from below.  Time to make some decisions.  Need to order the siding and windows for the shop, which in itself isn't a big deal.  But the choice affects the house too as we want to tie the two buildings together visually and colorwise.  I think we've decided on a very light gray/green with white windows and trim.  Going to pick out the shingles today (for both buildings).  Also, thinking about the house front door...to side-light or not?  Need lead time so have to get that ordered soon.  Also, bricks.  Lots to think about.

11/22/10 Movin' dirt

digging the foundation for the shop

plumbing for the shop

Need to do a little catching up here - and get some pictures loaded.  I spent all of last week sick with the crud so I had little energy for the house.  After 2 doctors' visits, 2 x-rays, and 5 prescriptions...  I'm finally feeling better. We (well, actually, Todd) have been moving dirt around getting the site ready.  Todd is a wizard on the bulldozer. We have more or less finalized the house plans.  Thank goodness, Shawn (the builder and expert) and his dad came by to help us "visualize" and stake out the house.  Funny how it looks big on paper and small on the land.  I'm sure it will be plenty for us.  We decided on a 3 bedroom/2 bath ranch with a very open floor plan.  But of course, the shop is going up first.  Tommy has convinced me that he and Todd need that space up and running in order to work on the house.  So today, they are working on the framing for the concrete foundation.  The shop will be 24' X 40' with a concrete slab.  In addition to a shop, the space includes a 12' X 24' room along one end for a sort of "man cave" space.  I'm not crazy about that name for it - but what else can you call a place that will house a small bar, pinball machine, jukebox, barber's chair...recliner (of course) and TV.  Tommy sees it as very rustic and sort of his space.  Fine by me.

The weather continues to be just beautiful.  Today should hit 75 degrees.  Once we break ground on the house itself I'm sure it will be rainy and cold.  Still finding my way around Dublin.  Found out the population here in "greater" Dublin is just about 20,000 so getting from one side of town to the other is pretty easy.  There are some beautiful old homes in town...lots of character.