Back to work!

Instead of a traditional window well, we wanted something that looked good from the inside and outside, so this space is made for window boxes to sit down on the terraces.

Gearing up for construction. T's been at the homesite (new name) for the last 2 weeks with a great guy Tim. They've done a bunch of contouring for water control and got all the piping done for water, electric, phone. I haven't been there yet to see the progress, but I hope to get there tomorrow. The pictures tell the story.

This is the window well for the egress window from inside the basement.

Give me some water!

Tom left for the property this morning, the truck loaded with pipe for the water lines, the buried electric lines, and that sort of thing. He was meeting the contractor who is digging the trenches, and if we're super lucky and the weather cooperates, we may have water to the house by the weekend. For that matter, the conduit for the electric will also be in place, so we may actually have power one of these days too.

I wish I had a picture to post, but I haven't been up there for a few weeks, and besides, nothing new happened before today's trench digging, so  . . . nothing to report.

This is just the beginning, though. From here, we'll be busy right up to putting the last daub of paint on the bedrooms.

Okay, I just found a photo that is close to what we're doing with the basement window well in the back wall of the basement. We've got to have a big enough window for a fireman to fit out of, so it will need a substantial well on the outside. This is what we're thinking of. How about that? It won't be nearly that deep, but this is the idea. I love it!

Dreaming of Spring

It's been a long cold lonely winter here in Morgantown. We've been holed up waiting for the weather to get springy so we can get back to work on the house. Needless to say, I've been finding lots of ideas and have spent hours daydreaming decor and landscaping. Tom and I made it to Mae West a couple of Mondays ago, just to make sure that no one had stolen anything from the garage. Thank goodness all was well.

Here's an idea for a trellis kind of fence I found on pinterest. We bought a couple of these 4x8 lattice panels when we were building the deck, but once we finished the construction, they didn't fit with the plan. This idea will be fantastic, and Tom loves it too.

Getting things done

On Monday, November 21, Charlie and Tom convinced our contractor to pour the floor in the basement. It was a totally crappy day, misty and miserable. Adam was reluctant, but Tom ran off to Lowe's and bought a gigantic tarp to cover over the top of the foundation to make the interior dry(er). Success! The floor turned out beautifully, and the boys were able to install the sill plates on top of the foundation walls the next day.

They had horrible weather again on Tuesday, even worse, really. Raining sideways, and the ground was a big mud hole. But they persevered and got the plate on top of the walls finished. Good thing they had their new matching rain suits on to keep them dry and warm!

Thanksgiving weekend ended up being perfect weather, so Tom and Charlie got all the floor joists in place on Friday. 

Inside the basement. The ceiling is high, more than 8 feet.

They were able to fix that gap.

It was a hard day's work, but they got all the joists done on Friday so we could start laying the subfloor on Saturday. The guys were really happy. So was I.

With the help of friends and family, we got the first floor built on the house on  Saturday. We had a crew of about 8 of us to lay the subfloor. What an operation! It was really a lot of fun, even though we worked really hard.

Chuck securing the stairway landing . . . with Brian's valuable help!

This gigantic 30x50 foot tarp covers the entire floor. The angle of this photo makes the house look crooked, but it's not. You can see the pond down beyond the right corner.

Since we won't be doing any more building until spring, we have to keep that floor dry. That's Tom, Charlie, Rocky, Nadine, and Brian sitting on the edge.

Tom and Charlie conferring after the last subfloor board is nailed down.

Then on Sunday, the three of us went back up to the property and got this kind of waterproof membrane laid over the decking and put the tarp back down. The guys tacked 1x2 strips along the rim joists to hold the tarp in place. It's a huge thing, 30x50'. We weighed it down around the perimeter too with rocks and block and heavy stuff to, I hope, keep it from blowing and lifting. We bought the patio door and windows for the basement today, it's Wednesday now, so Tom and I will be installing those possibly over this weekend.

It looks so much bigger inside the basement now that the long, load-bearing wall is up, and of course, with the ceiling in place, it really looks like rooms. There is a living room, a bedroom, and the new laundry bar and overflow room on the other side of the steps. Once the windows and door are put in, it will be official shelter from the weather. Hooray!

Tom at his worker dude finest.

Charlie flew back to Denver today, which is not hooray :(  He doesn't plan to be back here until probably April. We've all got to be patient now for the winter. He'll be taking off for Phoenix in a week or so, I guess. We'll be here doing some things to our Morgantown house, getting it prepared to sell. I'm really looking forward to that!

Hoping for more dry weather

I took these pictures on Saturday November 12, 2011. The plumbing in the basement floor is in place. Now we're waiting for the inspection so the floor can be poured. This view is from the dock at the end of the big pond, also known as the Sea of No Cares.

After all the rain in September, we finally have had decent weather for most of the month of November. Wonderful, pleasant surprise.

 Catfish and bluegill come to the dock for treats. We've had four catfish at a time come right up to the edge to get bites of bread. I don't know if it's bad for them, but it sure is fun to watch.

This is Barry and Bushie. Spot and Scarface are down below.

And here's the dock. Feeding the fish is better than television.

This dock is the greatest. It's big enough to have the tent over it next summer.

This garden runs along the driveway. It's about 120 feet long and has all the nursery stuff that will go here and there eventually. We'll keep four witch hazels in there and some other things, but the bed was mostly made so we could get the plants in the ground before winter.

Gardeners live for the future.

The bed doesn't look very long from the end here. It doesn't look like there's much in it because all the plants are bare sticks.

I also wanted to show the house foundation in the background.

Good weather for a few days

The weather is still holding, low 60s again today, sunny, perfect. Tom got the I-joists ordered yesterday. And the contractor got the foundation walls poured. That's a huge accomplishment, one we've been stressing about for, oh, like two months.

Now we've got to get the plumbing guy going. It would be so fine if he could get that done while the weather is warm and dry. Tom's ready to dig the trenches himself if Mr. Plumber is tied up.

We plan to head up there tomorrow and mulch the gardens so they don't wash out. I'm curious if that means T will also be digging trenches. Will post more pictures tomorrow.