Shiny Happy Concrete....

Another day by the lot, and I've noticed they've taken the forms down and the concrete is nice and smooth with a lustrous shine. Builder Dad got a fax from Builder saying he's ready to take the first draw from the bank. This means higher loan payments (boo) but more construction (wee)!! Apparently, they couldn't have laid the slab on our soft costs alone, so our Builder really is doing this the nice way. He's got credit and is using it so we don't have to pay as much interest. Fabulous!

We hab slab

Yippee Yahoo!!! We have some slab!! I'm so happy, so very happy!! It might rain some this evening (which would be good to set the concrete) and then it's supposed to be pretty dry for the rest of the week! Yes!!!! It looks like the concrete truck may have gotten stuck in the mud, but maybe we'll plant some trees in the holes they left!! Also, we received a letter from our engineers today saying that they had inspected the lot on July 23rd and suggested a few things that needed to be changed/modified. They came back on the 25th and passed the inspection.

Thanks Dad!!

Photo by Jerome Hosken (thanks, Dad!)

Thanks Builder Grandpa for explaining to me that it's probably a good thing that we've gotten this kind of rain to saturate the ground and pack it down before we lay the foundation. Builder Dad and I had talked about it and wondered which was better... rain or drought. I think Builder Grandpa is right and his little phone convo with me this morning helped me out more than he'll ever know! Thanks dad!!

The Jitters of Building

I'm getting the worst jitters about this house. We think it will not be done by Christmas now, but rather by February of next year. Why, you ask? Well, look at the darn pictures! This flood has destroyed everything we've worked for. We need at least a good month of drought just to dry this site up! Ouch! At least the engineers found something on inspection and made our builder change it (the post holes for the carport weren't big/deep enough--- and now they're filled with God's great tears). Maybe it's not meant to be!! I've been feeling like this for the past 2 years and sure hope something changes soon!! We better start saving all of our pennies now for all of the fees and extra charges we will incur from our bank!! I'm sure they're LOVING this!

Soggy days ahead

So it's flooding again in Austin today. Should I just forget about it and buy rain coats and boots for the whole family? This is getting ridiculous! El Nino and the Warm Globe must have mated to create El Super Warming Nino with a vengeance!! I guess it could be so much worse (and I'm so glad we still have a roof over our heads). How do they do this in the Pacific North West? Oh- they don't have torrential rains there do they?

I've got GAS!!

I've got the good kind of gas! It looks like they've welded everything together, done some more plumbing, and taped it all up. The next step is NO RAIN!!!! It's predicted all this week. Next week should be dry (please God please!!). We need some concrete!! The second picture is a view of our daycare neighbors. I guess we have to look forward to them putting their kids' poopy blankets on our fence.... and we'll have a new fence too... maybe we can just supply them hooks on their side. Or a clothesline. Hmmmm... that might get kind of expensive though. String is high dollar these days.

Rebars are our friends

Not much to say... I just can't stop thinking about how many Goodfellas are buried in our slab. Hopefully less than 10.

More drawings of our baby

Because of popular demand (and I'm sorry I'm just now getting to read some comments) here are some more detailed drawings of our house. Not much more, but at least a better idea!! The first image shows our house without and then with the master bedroom attached to the back. We almost left it off, but decided we really needed the extra room with a 4 person family. There probably have been some changes since these drawings, but I don't always get included in all of them (or if I do, I'm not organized enough to keep track of them). I leave that up to Builder Dad.

Rebars being set

I had the Little Builders in the car with me so I couldn't stay and take great pictures, but I did notice that the rebar is being set in the ditches and it looks like they're trying to get it ready for concrete!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't rain on Wed. and Thurs. like the weather men and women predict!

More Sand, Deeper Ditches, Rebar

The ditches have been dug deeper (or rather there has been more sand added to make the level higher. The plumbing looks about the same, there are sand bags down to help keep the form (I'm assuming), and there is a pile of bricks, straight rebar, and C rebar laying in the front yard. Does that mean we are getting closer to having the foundation laid? Woo hoo!!

My Horrible Dream Last Night- Deconstruction

Okay, so I had this horrible dream last night and I thought I should put it into writing so it won't come true. It was the most realistic dream I've had in a long time. We got a letter in the mail stating that our lot/construction was being foreclosed on and that the bank had stopped financing our project as well as de-constructing it. When we dug into it to find out how this could have happened, we found out that the bank took a bribe from a major business to sell the lot to them and stop funding the project for us. It was such a nightmare!! I don't remember all the little details, but I remember there was a lot of me crying and Builder Dad cursing. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that nothing like this could happen!! I should mention that Builder Dad also had a house dream two nights ago--- his was much more pleasant--- with sides, a roof, plumbing for 3 aquariums in our living room, and furnishings that made it look like Masterpiece Theater. Now that dream I can handle!!

More poop shoots

When I drove by the lot today I saw some guys chopping away at the dirt. I'm assuming they're adding more poop shoots or probably getting the plumbing ready for the incoming water. Golly, it's hot out there today too! I hope we have no casualties during this construction!!

Is that PVC I see?

So it looks like the plumbing has started. We think maybe the PVC we see are just the drains for the water. They still have to install the incoming water, I believe. I'm happy to see this happened yesterday and I'm crossing my fingers that they're out there today doing some more good stuff. I'm assuming once this is done, we'll have to wait for a city inspector to come out. That's all good. The more to inspect, the better. I don't want my pipes blocking up anytime soon!

Rain rain go away!!!! Come again when we have a roof!

Okay, so Builder Dad talked to Actual Builder and found out that there will be no more building until this rain is O-V-E-R. Is that ever going to happen? Builder Dad got an email from Awesome Neighbor and got some good roofing and window information for residential houses. We also decided that we should probably do a semi-privacy fence between us and Awesome Neighbor just so we don't look like we live in a compound. I really like this fence pictured here (I stole it from a friend's blog). What do you think?

Did we ditch the project?

Okay- stupid title, but I guess I'm looking for some change every single day. This looks about the same as it did last Wednesday when I took pictures last. Guess it's hard to get weekend help.. and this week is the 4th of July week. Humph!