Today, the Marion County inspector stopped in & went over everything. We got our first approval and the crew poured footings all afternoon. It was cold, windy, and wet. There was some snow mixed with the rain, but the guys kept at it and got the job done.

Snow

Yesterday, Sunday morning, it was just starting to snow at 6:00 AM. It snowed all morning & we received around 5 inches. The dogs romped around & Peaches got excited everytime we went out. We had hoped to get an inspection of the footing forms Monday morning with the rest of the day for any corrections, then pour concrete Tuesday. There is so much snow on everything, I don't know what can be inspected but we will find out.

More Forms

Yesterday John & Ron finished framing the footing forms. They had to do some hand digging in several places where the excavation hadn't left enough room for the forms. The weather has been good with no rain and highs of 42F, but very cold in the mornings, 17F at 8 AM yesterday. Today it was 19F at 7:30 AM & such cold makes things take a bit more time. Today the guys are using a laser to level up the forms. They are out there early every day & just get right down to work. Soon we should see some concrete. :)

Footing Forms

1/19/08 Yesterday, John & Ron got started on the footing forms. The excavation for the daylight basement looks good but we need about 2 feet more cut out of the South end to allow room for building & removing the footings & stemwall that goes there. Logan will probably take care of that on Monday. Its good to finally see daily progress. Lynna & I went up this morning & walked around trying to visualize the finished house. It will be easier for Lynna when the framing is done. The picture of Lynna in front of the tractor shows the home we are renting from a neighbor. We couldn't have a better situation, living adjacent to our building site & next door to the contractor doing the foundation & framing.

More Excavation

1/17/08 John & Ron helped me unload the French door set & I stacked all the doors in the corner by the flooring. They're going to look great and I can still fit the Pacifica in the garage!

Excavation, Day 2

1/17/08 Logan worked until dark yesterday. I took a few more pictures when he let his dogs out late in the afternoon. He came back today & dug out the area where the daylight basement will be. We drove down to Tangent & picked up the doors from Lumbermen's. Took a few more pictures when we got back. I walked through the excavation with John & Ron, we agree that Logan needs to go down another 6 inches tomorrow so I will have my 8 foot ceiling in the basement.

John plans to begin setting the footing forms tomorrow morning.

Excavation

1/16/08 We finally got the city to issue our permits by agreeing to install the fire hydrant or add a sprinkler fire suppression system to our home. We had to post an $8,000 bond (the amount it would cost the city to do the job at prevailing wage) although we have a bids of 5,000-$6,000.

Today Logan started the excavation for our foundation. It was pretty cold, 26F-30F all day, and the warmer ground steamed as it was exposed. The weather gal says we are set for 7-10 days of good weather with only a chance of showers on Saturday 1/19/08. Hopefully, this dry window will let us get past the foundation pour & into framing before it gets wet again.

The port-a-potty we ordered will be delivered tomorrow morning & our neighbor, John is set to start on the footings & foundation Thursday or Friday.

Yesterday, we found a Jotul gas stove for the master bedroom. It was a used, trade in but in new condition so the 1/2 price was a good deal.

Monday, we drove to Albany where Lynna met with a kitchen designer to plan our kitchen, meanwhile, I wandered around the store & saw a large stack of 4 panel, interior doors. They were solid fir and nicely finished but had been returned from a custom home build. The only flaw I found was a latch cut-out that was routed slightly off center(about 1/16 inch). I chatted them up & the doors were offered at $40 each if I bought several.

Tuesday we came back and I found 20 that would fit in our home. My big score was finding 3 heavy, exterior doors they let me have at the same $40 bargain price.

For an additional $250.00, I also got a set of French doors complete with all the Brass hardware & sliding screen door. They were flawless save for a removable grid that had been broken. We wanted full glass French doors without a grid, so it works for us. I could only post a 3" video of the beginning of excavation & stay within the 1.1 megabyte limit.