Our Honest Timeline (Dates Included)

Today-December 30, 2014

Well, we had hoped we'd be in by now.  We had pictured (and been told it was possible, but made very clear that there were no guarantees) ourselves spending Christmas and then New Year's Eve in our new house this year.  Looks like it'll be next year... we hope.  With Thanksgiving, Christmas, the new year, and some other setbacks, we are now hoping to be in the house early January, guess we'll wait and see.  The most recent tentative date we were given was Jan. 5, now it's Jan. 9...  Thank God we haven't had ANY snow, or that might have delayed us even more.  This timeline is based on no weather delays, only scheduling delays.  Subcontractors have stuff come up and get behind. 

Actual Timeline of Our Build   
(not too bad considering the three holidays and our field manager going on two week-long vacations!)

Original dig date was set for 8/28/14.  That morning on our way to the site it got called off.  The excavator had to go fix an emergency problem from his previous dig.  We were so bummed.  Fortunately, my substitute teacher hadn't arrived for the school day yet, so I didn't waste a personal day.
Dig Day got pushed back to 9/2/14.

Footers were poured on 9/4/14.

Our field manager realized that our elevation was not going to work the way it had originally been planned. There would be too much of a dip in the back that would collect water where our walk out basement door would be.   We'd need to raise the entire  house about four feet and fill in the front yard to the house with dirt to accommodate this change.  The field manager we were originally assigned (James Bailey) left Wayne Homes, so we were assigned Brant Brothers.  We're really happy he caught this, but we wish we had him working with us from the start.  This was an unexpected $3,500+ we had to shell out, and that's with Wayne Homes working with us to cover part of the extra costs to fill the garage with $5,000 worth of rock.

On a bright note, we did like that the land in front of the house was raised as it resulted in less of a dip in the driveway.  

Foundation went in on 9/15/14.

9/23/14 everything stopped when one of the Amish workers realized our footers were poured at the incorrect angle.  Amish noticed it, but it wasn't their mistake, it was the guy who poured the footers.  It was less than 10 degrees, so we figured it wasn't a major deal, and we didn't want to hold everything up, so we let it go, although Wayne Homes was willing to tear out the footers and re-pour.  This would have set us back a few weeks, maybe? 

30 Tri-axels of dirt had to be brought in.  $$$ Garage had to be filled with rock since it was now sitting about four feet higher than originally expected. 

Rough Grade of lot was 10/8/14. 

Framing went up 10/14/14.  We realized that they didn't catch on the CAD drawing that the window in our loft was entirely too big and would be too close to the built in bookshelf for the shelving to be usable.  We had to keep the window.  They keep moving it out of the way and now it's outside our house resting against the siding.  Anyone need a huge Anderson double window, double hung?  Never used!!  Our field manager, Brant, installed the new window himself to save us the $300 plus to pay the window installer to come back out and hang one window.  We still had to eat the cost of the the wasted window, plus the price of the new window.  Total cost out of pocket = about $350.

Roof installed 10/23/14.

Well was dug 10/29/14. 

Around this same time concrete was poured.  They hooked up two HUGE propane tanks to dry the concrete and keep the house warm, but it was unbearable to be in the house.  Our well guy could barely work the day he installed the pressure tank.  When we'd open the windows to walk around the house (truly it was unbearably hot) you could see the heat waves where the doors and windows were open.  Our metal posts in the basement were so hot, you'd literally burn your hands if you touched them.  We think the valve was broken because there was only one setting- SWELTERING.  Even with the gas turned down all the way it was still over 100 degrees inside the house.  Once the furnace was turned on, fortunately, the propane could be turned entirely off.  

Update:  We were luckier than a fellow home builder we know.  One gentleman visited us quite frequently during our build, and even brought us a bottle of champagne after we moved in.  He was also building a Wayne Home Jamestown model at the time, and he said the same thing happened with the heat in his basement, his was so hot that it melted some of his plastic plumbing, and it had to be replaced. 

Electric wired 11/3/14.

Electric inspection 11/5/14.

Drywall put up 11/15/14.  Not much else went on during this time.  It felt like about a month where nothing much happened except for drywall.  We heard from out field manager that the drywallers were a nightmare to work with- they were Mexicans who offered us food when we'd stop by.  We like the texture of the ceilings.

11/24/14 We called Wayne Homes to ask when we'd be receiving the gift card to put toward our appliances.  We were planning on doing some serious Black Friday shopping.  Greensburg manager, Scott Schnoover, was not returning our calls or emails.  Called our original salesgirl, Melissa, and found out that Scott was no longer with Wayne Homes-this has happened to us a lot.  Melissa did an amazing job at getting the gift card for us.  It arrived on Black Friday, and we used it the very same day!  

Siding installed week of 12/8/14.   One set of shutters was the wrong size, so we're still waiting on a few more shutters. 

Gas meter installed 12/9/14.

Cabinets, counter tops, and trim week of 12/15/14.  A few were stained poorly, so they're replacing them.  When we changed the layout of our house from one master closet to two, they removed the one closet and closet door, and added two closets, but forgot to add two doors.  We didn't notice this on the prints (our fault???) so instead of paying $400+ for Wayne Homes to install two bi-fold doors, Andor special ordered them and installed them himself- $100.  Only problem is we had to buy trim for around the closet doors, too, and Home Depot and Lowe's don't have the same exact that was used everywhere else in the house.  Fortunately, it's not too noticeable. 

Paint/stain week of 12/22/14.  Did not plan to paint whole house, but our painter gave us an offer we couldn't refuse, so we picked a neutral color we loved and paid him out of pocket- not part of Wayne Home allotment. 

12/23/14 Gas turned on.  Furnace turned on.  Finally the propane can be turned off!!!  

Stone on fireplace 12/23/14.  It looks like someone measured incorrectly.  Look at how the stone goes to the top of the mantle.  This is not like any of the pictures we've seen.  We're meeting with our field manager today to do a walk through and this is at the top of our list.  The mantle was also stained a different color than everything else.  Hope this doesn't set us back too far.  Andor says there is no way we'll be in by Jan. 9.

Soon we're hoping to have our excavator come out to do the final grade and spread the topsoil.  Unfortunately, part of building with Wayne Homes is that you get price quotes for anything outside of the actual building of the house.  Wayne Homes estimates costs for paint and plumbing and electric for you before you secure your loan.  It's hard to say what some things will cost, like well digging and installation and water treatment- who knows what depth of well and type of water you'll get, electrical upgrades, paint, and especially excavating.  We are thousands over on what we estimated our excavating costs would be.  So many trenches (well, electric, gas, sewage) **Hey!  At least Armstrong Cable takes care of their own ditch for the cable, internet, and telephone!  We'll take a freebie anywhere we can get it!!** and conduit for trenches and grading and DOT certified guy to install gas line in the trench, tree removal (after we removed about 10 trees ourselves, our excavator is getting rid of the stumps in addition to the 4 or so huge trees he tore out, trench with gravel where Wayne Homes had French drain run to, rain drains, topcoat of rock for the driveway since we won't be able to put in permanent driveway until spring, and, and, and....  They say to allow for overages, and they aren't kidding.  We planned to have all excavating come out of our loan, but we are now about to be paying out of pocket.

When building a Wayne Home we decided to pay out of pocket for appliances, garbage disposal, house numbers, mailbox, utility tub (install ourselves but have Wayne run the line), garage door opener (Liftmaster installs), laundry cabinets (install ourselves), garage shop cabinetry (install ourselves), garage bench and shelving to be used as mudroom (Andor will custom build and install himself), blinds (Home Depot will install), and in the spring a blacktop driveway/turn around area, concrete walkway to front door, grass, landscaping, deck, fence maybe if there's enough left???  None of this was included in our loan, but that was our choice.   

So what's still on the "to do" list before we can close?
* carpeting
* flooring
* gutters
* final touch up of paint and trim
* final grade, spread topsoil, run gutters  to back yard (we do all of this, well our excavator does)
* putting down more rock for the driveway since we won't be able to install real driveway until spring (our excavator does this)
* water treatment (we pay our well guy to do this, we might be over what we allowed for in our loan, so some might be out of pocket)
* install house numbers and mailbox (we do this)
* appliance delivery
* final electric (install plates and fixtures inside and outside)
* finish plumbing (install sinks and faucets and toilets and garbage disposal)
* Wayne Homes sends out a cleaning crew to make it spic and span
* fix fireplace, finish hanging shutters, fix problems with drywall, fix dents in front door, replace cabinetry that was stained incorrectly, sure we're missing a few things but those are the major ones...
* oh, and remove huge dumpster from front yard and port-o-potty.  Unless that's our housewarming gift, in which case we'll put it in the back yard, about an acre back, next to where we're planning on having our fire pit!  

And this is just so we can close on the house.  We have another whole round of "stuff" to do once spring comes around. (driveway, grass, landscaping, walkway, deck, fence, patio...)

Let's hope the next post is before January 9th, 2014 stating that we're set to move in!  Andor is laughing at me as I type this.  Until then, Happy New Year from our temporary home with the in-laws!!! 

Drywall, Gas Meter, Permanent Electric, Siding, Shutters

It's been about a month since I've last posted.  There were a good two weeks when not much happened.  The drywallers and siding installers got held up, so we didn't really make much progress at the house.  As a result, our move in date got pushed back.  We're now looking at January 5th.  We were hoping to be in by Christmas, then New Year's, and now we're just looking forward to being in. Period.  At least if it gets pushed back another week, Wayne Homes will give us $500 for going past their 120 day promise.  Update: They did. 

So what's happened since my last post?  A lot last week and this week.  Here's a summary.  The drywallers came in and put up the drywall, taped it, finished the seams, and put a really cool stipple texture to our ceiling. 

Update: Drywallers were Mexicans.  They didn't do a great job- Brant, our field manager, was not pleased with their work.  They even drywalled over the only set of keys to the sliding glass door we had, and Wayne Homes had to get new ones cut for us.  One year after living here, we're seeing some issues with the drywall and nails popping.  We're waiting to have them addressed though, because Wayne Homes only comes out once in the first two years to fix all that.  We're waiting until the end of that two year period so if anything else happens before then, Wayne Homes will address it. 

Our electrician, Ray DiCarlo ran all of our electric.  He wired the WHOLE house in two days, and he even stuck around to finish the job when he had a family emergency.  We appreciate that and the fact that he didn't try to sell us on extras. 

Update: One year after moving in we do have some regrets as to where switches were placed, but I think that's to be expected.  Our upstairs hallway switch is located in the loft, so if we ever turn that into a fourth bedroom, we will have to move that switch to the wall of the stairs, where it should have gone to begin with.  Ray no longer works for Wayne Homes.  He did not have good things to say.  We're just bummed, because he was supposed to come out and do another switch for lighting above our cabinets, but we can't get a hold of him.  We were his last Wayne Home he worked on.  Noticed a trend with this...  Anyhow, we had to have  it done by someone else. 

A few of the cool ideas Ray had included outlets on the exterior of the home hidden in the soffit so we can easily hang Christmas decorations, and they can all be turned off and on with the flip of a single switch in our garage, outlet in the pantry closet, a hidden outlet in the mantle of the fireplace, an outlet for the foyer window in case we want to put decorations on a ledge there that require electricity, cool lighting ideas for the kitchen and master bath, special outlets in the garage for Andor's workshop, and sconces for the sun room.

We loved picking exactly where every single switch and outlet and fixture went.  We're happy that we'll have the option put our televisions in different locations in each room because we are wired to do so.  It's so hard to say now where things will go.  Not to mention, it'll be nice to have the option to easily move the televisions around down the road.  We're also excited about the canister lights that we added, especially the one above the fireplace, it's going to look so nice. 

The temporary electric was disconnected, and now we have permanent electric.  The gas meter was installed today!  Our well guy, Chuck Haeffner (love him!) is going to get our water pressure tank installed along with a constant pressure system.  He's a great guy to work with.  He is so good at what he does, and he is easy to talk to and work with, very flexible.  He gives us options, doesn't try to push us into what we don't need just to make extra money, and is an expert at what he does.

Utilities are moving along.  I'll be calling Armstrong once the siding is finished so they can trench for the cable, phone, and internet and hook it up.  Praise the Lord that is one of the few things that isn't costing extra.  They do that for free!  We are really happy we had budgeted for extras outside of our PPI's, it looks like we're going to be substantially over our estimate. 

Update: We were.  Fortunately, living with our parents saved us on this one, otherwise, it could have been a nightmare. 

I have to admit it's bee A LOT of work building this house.  I've learned a ton about the process, but I didn't anticipate the amount of time and number of phone calls, nor the minutes on hold this process would require.  We literally are responsible for paying for, picking who does it, and scheduling every single thing that's not the house itself.  That includes:

* applying for permits for all utilities
* getting all utilities installed when our field manager tells us it's time
* inspecting, trenching, and having conduit run for utilities (water, sewage, gas, electric, cable, internet, phone,)
* all excavation other than foundation, including removing topsoil, grading the land, spreading the topsoil, running the drains, French drains, construction driveway installation, permanent driveway- We ended up paying our excavator $25,000 for all the work he did, a chunk of that was for the 30 tri-axels of dirt. I think we got ripped off on excavating fees- our fault. 
* sidewalk/front walkway to front door- Update: we didn't even get around to this until a few months after we moved in- my husband built temporary steps for visitors to our front door.
* planting grass, landscaping Update: Still working on this a year after we moved in.
* any extras that come up like extra brick and dirt for when the elevation of the house has to change (we brought in over 30 tri-axels of dirt!!)  I feel like I'm still forgetting things.  Getting quotes alone for these different services took entire days worth of work.  It's been a HUGE time commitment, but on the bright side I really feel like we "built" this house, too.  We did a lot more than pick out colors and carpeting, I can assure you that!!   And, because I priced several different subcontractors for each job, I'm confident that I saved us some money but didn't sacrifice quality where it counted.  I'm happy we're on the home stretch.

This past week has been one of the most exciting because we're finally seeing COLORS!  Our exterior is almost complete.  We are in love with the siding, roofing, and shutters.  We are so, so happy with the choices we made.  We just hope we're this happy with all the interior color choices...

 Siding = Tuscan Clay       Shutters = Merlot       Shingles = Weathered Wood          Trim = White

On Black Friday we did all of our appliance shopping!  Wow, did we get some good deals!  Honestly, I think that might be the best week to shop.  We love that Lowe's will price match all competitors.  We took advantage of that, big time!  We went with all Samsung, except for the dishwasher.  Consumer Reports gave the Samsung models poor ratings, so we went with Kitchenaid for our dishwasher, but you won't be able to tell, they're all stainless, so they all match.  I can't wait for our fridge!

The cabinets were dropped off this week.  We had to open a box and take a peek.  We upgraded our cabinets and can't wait to see them installed.  We added crown molding, too, but we're going to pick out our own drawer pulls once we're in, and Andor is going to install them himself.  Wayne homes wanted too much money for them.  We can do it cheaper ourselves.  Plus there is a nicer selection at Lowe's than at the Wayne Homes showroom.  Here is a sneak peek. 

Finally, we went to Sherwin Williams this week to choose a paint color.  Our painter, Andre, from Galaxy Painting, is going to do an awesome job, we can tell.  He's so nice!  He's so reasonably priced!  We can't believe we can have our whole house painted, two coats, any color(s) we want, for under $1,000!  We weren't expecting to be able to do this, but since it's so affordable, we're going for it.  Unfortunately, we have all of our "colors" tucked away in boxes, so picking colors to match our bedspread, shower curtain, living room wall art, kitchen theme, sun room furniture, etc. would have been really difficult, so we decided to go with a warm neutral throughout the entire house.  That way we don't have plain, boring white walls to look at for the next year, and we have something that'll match whatever decor we have or go with down the road.  What I love about Sherwin Williams is that they have pre-selected paint families to make decision making easier, which is amazing considering my decision making skills closely resemble that of a squirrel when crossing the street , so if you pick a color in that family, you can also pick any other color in that family and know that it'll compliment the other colors in your house.  If down the road we decide to change the color of a room or two, all we have to do is pick a color from the family.  I figure if experts put these colors together, and they fit the colors I use to decorate, I trust them.  Anyhow, we decided to go with.
CANVAS TAN!!

Next week they're supposed to paint and install the cabinets and trim.  I'm hoping it won't be quite as long between posts next time.  To be continued...




 

Electric, Insulation, Well, Concrete

It's been hectic, and I feel bad I haven't posted in a while.  Since my last post, a lot of progress has been made.  We got our garage door, we met with the electrician and decided where all of our outlets/light switches/tvs/canister lights/etc. will go, he wired the house for everything, they ran the duct work, they put in insulation, we added extra insulation to the parts of the garage that Wayne Homes doesn't insulate so that Andor can have a nice, warm workshop.

Update: On 2/27/16, one year after we moved in, Andor was installing cabinets in the garage, and he had to remove some drywall.  Behind it we found black colored mold, and NO INSULATION!!!  We're frustrated because we paid hundreds of dollars to insulate the parts of the garage that Brant told us would not be insulated, we wanted a warm garage.  Now we find that Wayne did not insulate the garage where Brant told us they would, making the hundreds we spent on insulating our garage ourselves a waste.  Our garage is freezing- we thought it was because we went with the cheap door, but now we know it's also because it's only partially insulated.  And now we're calling customer care about that mold.  Makes me nervous. 

We had the concrete poured this week.  We brought in a dehumidifier to help get the moisture out of the house.  They brought huge propane tanks in for heating the home during the winter.  Oh, and we chopped down another ten trees.  We had so much wood and brush that we had to rent a wood chipper and tow it to the property.  We spent two entire days chopping the trees into smaller pieces that will eventually be used for bonfires and feeding the huge leftover branches into the wood chipper.  It is amazing how that machine can turn an enormous limb into a pile of mulch!  I wish I had taken pictures.  I was too busy trying to make sure I didn't lose a limb or get poison ivy.  Lost that battle... with the poison ivy, that is.  


Here is a view of our sunroom.  We are going to put our Christmas tree in the center of those two windows.  (Probably not this year, though- we're hoping to be in before Dec.31, but no guarantee)

Andor is so handy!  Here he is installing the insulation in the garage.

Side view

This isn't even all of it!  Andor's brother hauled a HUGE truckload off before this was taken!  I can't wait for bonfires and s'mores!!!

Concrete has been poured!  It looks so nice!  I had to take a picture from outside since it was still wet.

Oh, and our well was drilled!  It's a cable tool well, so it took a little longer, but we were really happy with the results.  Thank you Haefner Well Drilling!  Check out that machine!!  They had to go 180 feet, but they got excellent water.  We might not even have to use any filter/treatment they said, but we're used to city water, so we'll have to see how it tastes... 

Update: Our water has iron.  We spent quite a bit of money on a treatment system, and it takes up quite a bit of space in our basement, but with that being said, our water is officially better than city water.  It has no taste whatsoever, has not changed the texture of my hair or affected the moisture in my skin- and we've lived here a whole year now.  I love our well water!

Front Door and Windows

We have a front door and windows!!!  (and stairs down to the basement, and a roof, and it looks like they cleaned up inside the house)

Scripture Versus

"As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."  Joshua 24:15

Since before we had even decided to build a house we knew, if we ever had a chance, we wanted to write scripture verses on the door frames, walls, and foundation of our home.  Today, October 19, 2014, we did just that.  We picked out some of our favorite verses. Ones that meant a lot to us or that we had been praying over our house. Ones for those just stopping by, and ones for our future kiddos. We ended up with a list of a dozen or so passages and/or versus of scripture. They were all written within the walls of our home. Although they will be hidden, and most people will never know they are there, we pray that they will bless anyone who enters our home and those who will live in it after us.  We tried to place each one in a specific spot that it was related to. For instance the one in the picture below is above our entryway. 

Here is a list of some of the passages/versus we included and where we wrote them:

ABOVE FIREPLACE

Jeremiah 29:11

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

DOORFRAMES

Deuteronomy 11:18-21

¹⁸ Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, ²¹ so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.

ENTRYWAYS

Deuteronomy 28:3-9

³ You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
⁴ The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
⁵ Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
⁶ You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
⁷ The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

⁸ The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

⁹ The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him.

Joshua 24:15

¹⁵ But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Hebrews 13:2

² Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

Psalm 121

¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
⁸ the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Numbers 6:24-26

²⁴ “The Lord bless you
and keep you;
²⁵ the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”

KITCHEN & DINING ROOM

Proverbs 30:8-9

⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

1 Corinthians 6:19

¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

Proverbs 15:15

¹⁵ The cheerful heart has a continual feast.

OFFICE

Colossians 3:23

²³ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

FAMILY ROOM/LOFT/GAMEROOM

Psalm 133:1

¹ How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!

Psalm 34:3

³ Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.

Proverbs 24:3-4

³ By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
⁴ through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures.

FOUNDATION/BEAMS THAT SUPPORT THE WEIGHT OF THE HOME

Psalm 127:1

¹ Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain.

Psalm 122:7

⁷ May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels.”

Psalm 91:9-16

⁹ If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

CHILDREN'S BEDROOMS (for if we are blessed with kids…)

1 Timothy 4:12

¹² Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

CLOSETS

Colossians 3:14

¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

BATHROOMS

Psalm 51:7

⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

OUR BEDROOM

Philippians 4:6-8

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Matthew 11:28

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

1Corinthians 13:13

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

We also added the passages of scripture from our wedding day on the framing behind where our bed will be. 1 Corinthians13:1-13 and Genesis 2:18-24

LAUNDRY ROOM

Philippians 2:14

¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or arguing,

Framing and Rough Grade

We had a little setback when we had to make some changes to our grading to accommodate our walkout basement.  We didn't want our walkout to be in a low bowl shaped area that would collect water, and we also would have had a steep "u" shape to our driveway in order to allow for water to run away from the house.  Brant, our field manager, suggested we raise the house, fill in front yard with dirt, fill the garage with rock, and bring in more dirt to make a slope for water to drain away from the house.  We weren't happy with how much it all cost, but we were happy Brant caught the problem.  We will be much happier with things the way they are now.  Update: What was most frustrating about this was that our original field manager did not notice this problem when he measured and brought out his laser to "survey" how the house would sit.  Then he quit, we were assigned a new field manager, he noticed that our walk out would be sitting way low, forming a bowl for water to collect, not what you want for your only basement exit, and now we had to pay a LOT more money to get EXACTLY what we thought we'd be getting all along.   

Over 130 tons of dirt later, about 30 tri-axels worth, and thousands of unanticipated dollars of rock fill for the garage, we were finally ready to frame the house.  It's amazing how quickly things are moving now.  The guys started framing on Monday morning, and they were finished by Friday 10/17/14!  It looks like a house!  Check it out!

T

Ta-Da!!!

Footers then Foundation

We've made some progress since my last post, so I figured it's time to post some new pictures.  The footers were poured two weeks ago, and this morning they started on our foundation.  It's starting to look like something, maybe not quite a house, but something.  Take a look!

Update: Our field manager Brant called us with some disappointing news.  I guess the angle of our house is a few degrees off.  One of he Amish men noticed this before they began the framing.  The Amish did not pour the footers.  We had the choice to have them start all over, but that could take a very long time and set us way back.  Ultimately we gave Wayne Homes the greenlight to continue with build.  We aren't too bothered that our house faces slightly crooked, but it would have been nice if Wayne Homes had compensated us for their mistake. 

Dig Day Success!!

Dig day was a success!  I'm including lots of pictures of the progress.  I know, I know, basically I took a dozen pictures of a big ditch, but it's OUR DITCH!!!  We're so excited!!!  With a little imagination you can see where our driveway is going to be, our living room, kitchen, walk out basement, sun room...  It's the most beautiful hole in the ground I've ever laid eyes upon.

Dig Day Eve

We've been busy since our last post.  We sold our townhouse, rented a moving van, packed everything we own into storage, and moved in with our parents.  Since then we've been back and forth between both of our families.  Fun!  Fun!  Fun!!!

We closed on our land on August 7th.  Here are a few pictures.

 We were so excited when we closed on the land that we contemplated camping out and pitching a tent on the site of our future home, but then it dawned on us that the only running water, or "facilities" was the stream in the back, so we nixed that idea.  Instead, we spent an afternoon mowing and weed-wacking over an acre and using our shiny new chainsaw to chop down about a dozen trees.  After getting the chainsaw stuck in the trunk of one tree, almost downing an electric line, and getting covered in poison ivy, we decided that our day as lumberjacks was over and that we shouldn't quit our day jobs.

I had to include the sold sign.  We made it ourselves.  For sale by owner signs aren't quite as exciting as the fancy realtor ones, and we were just so excited, we had to do something.  It's simple, but I think it gets the point across.     

We've been busy at the lot clearing trees, putting in the construction driveway, removing the topsoil, and setting up the temporary electric.  We applied for all of our permits, and got everything done pretty quickly.  We were really pleased when Wayne Homes told us they were bumping up our dig date to August 29th!!!  We might be in our new home by the end of the year!  Here are some of the most recent pictures of our lot.  you can see where the house and driveway will be.

 Our temporary electric should be up and running within the week. 

 And here is a big ol' mound of topsoil.  (They had to put all that dirt somewhere.) 

Tomorrow morning we're headed to our lot bright and early because it's our DIG DAY!!!!!  I'll be sure to take some pictures and post them over the long Labor Day weekend.