Here it is the end of October and I have yet to do a post on our house under construction! It seems like the days just pass in a blur and I'm sad to say I've spent most of the past year looking forward to having the house complete so we can move in, instead of enjoying the whole building process. I realize now that building our home all by ourselves is a huge undertaking that really needs to be documented in a way besides just pictures! So, I'm going to do what my daughter has been telling me to do for a whole year now and I'm going to BLOG about it. Even if I am starting a year late!
I love this picture - it is my daughter and I the day that we "found" our farm!
A little history on our farm. We found it by accident when we came out to visit our daughter and her husband in 2005. We drove to the top of the hill, looked at the view that was around us in every direction and said, "this is it". It was ours 3 months later! We had to wait 5 years until we could retire and move to the South (you can read about where we moved from, here). Once we actually moved, we had months of work ahead of us in getting our water and power up the hill as well as excavating and installing a septic system. We decided early on that we would do all the work ourselves; from excavation for utilities to site prep to construction. So it is a long, slow process and even though we've had our stressful moments days, it has been a very enjoyable process.
Septic system excavation, August 2011
Septic tank in ground as well as leach lines, August 2011
Site prep, October 2011
Help from our son on getting the site perfectly level, October 2011
Placing plumbing and footer walls, October 2011
Concrete workers doing the pour on the house part of the foundation, November 2011
Final pour on the porch part of foundation, November 2011
Due to the fact that utilities took longer than we anticipated, and problems arose with the water pump (needed to get water up the hill), and building a pumphouse as well as a small shed for storage of tools, and also that we changed our mind on house plans a few times, we didn't complete this phase of construction until November 2011. Once this was complete we stopped construction until Spring 2012. It was a great winter working on the farm clearing dead trees in the woods, mowing, and working fence.
Our pretty drive through the beautiful woods
Post to be continued in The House on the Hilltop - Part Two
Septic system excavation, August 2011
Septic tank in ground as well as leach lines, August 2011
Site prep, October 2011
Help from our son on getting the site perfectly level, October 2011
Digging footers, October 2011
Placing plumbing and footer walls, October 2011
Concrete workers doing the pour on the house part of the foundation, November 2011
Final pour on the porch part of foundation, November 2011
Due to the fact that utilities took longer than we anticipated, and problems arose with the water pump (needed to get water up the hill), and building a pumphouse as well as a small shed for storage of tools, and also that we changed our mind on house plans a few times, we didn't complete this phase of construction until November 2011. Once this was complete we stopped construction until Spring 2012. It was a great winter working on the farm clearing dead trees in the woods, mowing, and working fence.
Post to be continued in The House on the Hilltop - Part Two
How fascinating. I can't wait to see where you live!
ReplyDeleteOkay Dori, don't wait to long before the next post. I cannot wait to see more!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you are blogging about your home building! This is a great post... and also has to be a huge encouragement for you to realize how much you actually have accomplished!
ReplyDelete