Our New House Construction
Country Roads
06/14/10 - TODAY is the DAY!! John and Gary met at the property at 7:00 am to go over all of the measurements and lines that were placed on the ground yesterday. When both were happy that everything was correct, Gary left to bring his big bulldozer back to the property. It didn't take long before he was diggin' in the dirt. Not too much later you could actually see the footprint of the house starting to materialize and become recognizable. Well, recognizable to us after looking at the plans on an almost daily basis for the last 8 months. Lorrie, Dad and I went to the property in the later part of the morning so we didn't get to see that 'first' scoop of ground being moved. We got there as Gary was gtting down to the 2' level. He will dig down to 9'8" for the basement and 4'8" for the crawlspace. He thinks this will take another two days of work. When he is finished his work Kimmel Construction will come in and pour the footers and foundation. Today is bright, sunny and hot at 88 degrees.
06/13/10 This afternoon Lorrie and I met John Weimer at the property so we could layout the house. A couple of weeks ago we laid out a rectangle from which we will layout the house. Today, after mowing the grass the other day, we wanted to make sure that the rectangle was still where we put it and still square. After getting that task done, we helped John get the measurements of the foundation from the blueprints to the ground. THAT, is a lot easier said than done. Since our house is not just a rectangle but bump-outs here and there and a partial basement and partial crawlspace it took a while. When all was said and done we were out there at just four hours. With the lines on the ground we are ready for Gary to come and start digging. Today is bright sunny and hot at 85 degrees.
Lorrie and John are reviewing the plans, adding up measurements as they prepare to put paint lines on the ground to outline the foundation so Gary will know where to dig. Never knew that moving lines from paper to the ground was so much work. We were there for the better part of 4 hours.
06/15/10 - Well, there isn't much to say other than Gary is still digging. He is almost finished the crawlspace which is down 4'8". Next is the basement which is down 9'8" and then a little on the garage. So far, the digging has been pretty easy. He has only hit one seam of shale which is right along the line where the wall will be between the basement and the crawlspace. We had a little rain off and on today but not enough to stop his work. Today is overcast with intermittant showers and comfortably cool at 72 degrees.
06/17/10 - We didn't get to the property yesterday as we spent the entire day in Winchester paying our respects to various doctors. We all had appointments stretching from
9:15 am straight thru till 2:00 pm. All just routine stuff. But, that's not why you're here. This morning David, Lorrie's brother who is already living on the property in the yellow farm house, called to advise he was under siege by the Allegheny Army. Allegheny Power Co. sent a couple of crews and 5 trucks to install a new pole and pull power lines to our temporary service. So, now we have power on the property! Day 4 and the digging continues. The basement is taking shape to the point that when the bull dozer is in the basement you can not see the top of it. We have several new 'mountains' on the property and lots of stone. The excavation work should be done today. Theoretically, the foundation crew should arrive tomorrow. Gary told me they planned to be here tomorrow so we'll see. Today is bright and sunny, breezey, low humidity with temperatures in the high 70's.
This is the main transformer that will service our house
He is hooking up the temporary power meter socket
Gary is still digging...
These guys are working on the pull station. This is a box between the new pole and our transformer. It is where the primary feed line makes a 90 degree turn. The line is cut and made into two plugs; one for line coming from the pole and the other going off to the transformer.
They are preparing to set the new pole on David's
property.
This was taken from atop 'Mt. Dirtmore'
Gary is STILL digging...
Well, these are just some of the pictures I took today. Next time you stop by hopefully we will have started the foundation and from there things should move a little faster. Gary had a big hole to dig and that took him 4 days to do. When the house is completed the basement area will be our recreation room and theatre. Please come by and help us enjoy it!
06/18/10 - Well, like I said earlier,Theoretically, the foundation crew would arrive to day. Nothing theoretical anymore - they won't be here today or Monday. It looks like they won't get here until Tuesday at the earliest. So I probably won't be posting anything again until Tuesday. So, have a good week-end. We're going to an auction on Saturday so no telling what we'll come home with.
Today is another day just like yesterday. Too bad they couldn't have worked today.
06/21/10 - Kimmel Construction Co. is pouring our footers and foundation. They just confirmed that they will be here on Thursday June 24th and hope to have everything completed before July 4th. Right now they have more work than they can handle. David Kimmel told me he has more work on the board now than all of last year. So, maybe we're seeing a little upturn in the economy; the calm before the storm... Today is clear, bright and 83 degrees.
