Basement

We are traveling and won't be home until tomorrow afternoon. They are busy building the forms for the foundation walls. My Dad doesn't have a camera because Mom took it to Montrose with her and I forgot to leave mine for him, but we'll get pictures on Thursday. They will pour the concrete on Monday, January 5.

Hole!

They finished digging the hole for the basement today. They were out getting ready to pour the footings. The concrete truck will be there at 2:30 tomorrow.

I feel bad that they are working on Christmas eve, so I am making a bunch of goodies and will take out some hot coffee and cookies for them.

Big Diggers

They actually started digging today. It wasn't as warm as Wayne had hoped, but they had 2 machines out there digging the hole. One front end loader and a trackhoe. This process dictated that they have 2 machines and 2 people, rather than the first attempt which would have been just one person and one machine. I feel good that Wayne wants to get it right, even though this is a more expensive option.

Tomorrow they will finish digging and then pour the footings. Wednesday they plan to start the foundation. Wow, this is fun.


Here's the progress:

The Current Schedule

Wayne really wanted to get started again today, but the weather for the weekend is looking really cold again. They didn't want the hole to sit for over the weekend, so have decided on the following schedule:

Monday, December 22: Digging for basement
Wednesday, December 24: Pour footings
Give the long Christmas weekend for the footings to dry
Monday, December 29: Start putting in forms for the foundation walls

We won't be here when they start doing the forms, we are leaving December 26 for North Dakota, so Bumpa and Grammie will have specific instructions on where to take the pictures during the week we are gone.

We are not closing on the construction loan tomorrow (Friday) because there are a few last things the bank needs. We have been approved, I guess they're just finishing their files. I don't know when we will close, perhaps Monday, but I'll need to call them. It's ok, because we have another form of funds we are using until we can use the construction account.

Tomorrow we are going to the Builders Appliance Center to check out appliances. I am pretty sure I want to go with the GE Monogram stuff. We get a good discount direct from GE at work. Wayne wants to go with Viking stove, but I do want everything to match, so I'm still leaning to the GE stuff. The only concern I have is that the refrigerator with the configuration that I want (french door refrigerator and 2 drawer bottom freezer) I think is too small. Only 20.7 cu. ft. I have no concept of how big that is, so I just have to go see it. I love the GE Monogram 6 burner stove with the griddle. It has 2 ovens side by side, a large one and a small one. I think we'll do this instead of the two 4.4 cubic feet stackable ovens.

I've also spent quite a bit of time thinking about the kitchen. I think I know how I want it designed. We are meeting with 2 cabinets places on Monday since we have the day off. We received a preliminary layout from one of the places today and it is horrible - not even close to what we want. Since I now have a better idea we will show them our concept when we meet with them on Monday and then we'll have a better idea about what it will look like. We will also need to go back to the original place we went to in order to give them an opportunity to provide pricing on the same design.

So far I am having fun, but the kitchen is a big deal!! I want to make sure we get it right. Update on appliances probably tomorrow since there will be no construction progress.

Or Today Either

Weather has put us in a situation where we really can't get started. The temps were better today and supposed to be better tomorrow, but by the weekend, we're supposed to get another cold snap. Wayne really wants to get moving, but wants to ensure that everything goes right and he thinks it is just too cold to get the concrete in. The ground is better off if it is still covered and not exposed by a big hole. He even mentioned that some of the concrete quarries were closed because of the cold.

So, we are just watching the long range weather forecast to see if we can get started soon. Then Christmas is only a week away. I hate to say this, but it may be the week we're gone in ND to see Miles' family. That would be a bummer, but I'll leave my camera with Grammie and Bumpa and they can take the daily pictures. Sort of anti-climactic at this point.

We DID get our building permit, though, so everything is official and ready to go from the city's perspective. We also met with our bank and have locked on a 5% permanent mortgage for the house when it is complete - wow! We will also close on our construction loan probably on Friday.

We also met with Jamie K., our interior decorator/designer, and she had some really good suggestions on the house. Some minor changes to doors and materials, etc. and some suggestions on what to focus on first; 1) exterior, 2) kitchen design, cabinets, appliances and 3) windows, roof, stone and stucco colors.

Not Today

I talked with Wayne this morning and it is still too cold to start digging again. It is supposed to get up to around 20 today, but it was still below zero last night. Tomorrow is supposed to be slightly warmer, so they are planning to begin again tomorrow.

He will be picking up the building permit today from the city and will let me know tomorrow if/when they get the track hoe out there to start.

We're meeting with the bank this afternoon to talk about permanent loan options - looks like rates may fall here in the near future. And also finalize the construction loan.

Baby It's Cold Outside

I had an early meeting this morning, got up at 5AM and it was -17 outside! I doubt they'll be digging today. I think it's supposed to get warmer by Wednesday, so not sure if they will delay that long, but we'll see. I'll be out to take pictures as soon as there's progress.

They did cover the garage dig in blankets on Friday to keep the ground warm for the concrete. I really don't know how warm that can keep the ground when it's this cold, but I'm sure it helps.

We're Getting a Hole Today

The front-end loader came out to start digging the hole for the basement. They got the garage done and then realized the machine was too heavy. They need to bring in a track hoe (sp??) and it is not available until Monday. They may bring it out this afternoon, but they won't finish the hole until Monday.

It was also a good thing Wayne had the engineers re-calculate the depth. He found they were off 21 inches. Took him 3 hours to resolve it yesterday and even had the architect out to help him figure it out.

I think Wayne will be picking up the building permit today.

On Again, Off Again

Wayne was concerned about the calculations that the engineer did for the foundation, so they've decided to wrap those up today and actually start digging tomorrow.

Scraping

Here's the picture chronology view after scraping. (As you can see, the snow is already melting. A beautiful day in Colorado).

Day 1

We are supposed to be getting our building permit tomorrow, but they went ahead and scraped off the top layer of good soil to save for landscaping and staked the house today. It is amazing that this is actually happening!!

Getting Set Up

We don't have our building permit yet, but Wayne said it would be in the next few days. He's scheduled to have the house staked by a professional surveyor on Monday. Right now he plans to start excavating on Wednesday.

We got about 5 inches of snow just in time to start the house. It shouldn't slow things down, though. It's supposed to be pretty nice through next week.