Framing Started on House - November 29th

The framing on the house has started, pictures from today:

Thanksgiving Weekend - 2007

Today is Saturday, November 24th and everyone is working today except for me! However, I did spend about 2 hours outside cutting down some trees on the river side prior to the house framing starting. This way, I don't have to worry about which direction they fall and a few of them fell in the direction of the new house location. Spending a couple of hours on the chainsaw isn't like it used to be back many years ago when we cleared the lot for our house in Wisconsin Rapids....this is definitely hard work. I believe that for the most part, all the trees that Shelly would like down have been done. Now, I just have to cut them up into fireplace size logs for future use in the new house.

We've enjoyed having Aaron home over the holidays and I will take him back to Gustavus tomorrow afternoon. Here are some pictures of Aaron at home.

As you can see our animals are getting situated and comfortable with their new living quarters in the guest house/garage.

Here are a few pictures from this afternoon showing the completed foundation of the new house.

Foundation on west end - our bedroom area.

Foundation looking east along the southern side of the house.

Porch area and entry to the new house.

Foundation for the fireplace.

Foundation on the east side of house - screen porch location.

This will be the view from our living and dining area.


This will be the view from the kitchen area.



This will be the view from our bedroom area.

Frost Footings and Foundation Begins

It's been a busy week and I apologize for not posting sooner. First off, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Enjoy this time of the year with family and friends.

Here is what has taken place starting with last Friday - pictures of the frost footings prior to us going over to Wisconsin Rapids for the weekend to visit our friends the Pearls. We also have pictures of our time visiting with them as we enjoyed the weekend back in Wisconsin - it's hard to believe that we hadn't been back since July of 2006.

Looking east towards the barn.

Looking back towards the west over the site.

These foundations are at grade level and will be where the stairs go to the 2nd floor.

Looking back over the site to the south.

Weekend in Wisconsin Rapids with Jeff, AJ and Gretchen.

The pictures below are ones that Shelly took on Tuesday, November 20th upon arriving home with Aaron from Gustavus.

I will take some pictures over the course of the next few days and post later as they've completed the foundations, insulation, waterproofing, electrical, water and gas runs. The plan is to backfill on Monday or Tuesday, then start framing and it looks like next week will hold out with good weather in the 40's. So, by the end of next week, the basic framed structure of the house should be in place.

Excavation for New House - November 15th

The clean-up of the old house was completed and the excavators worked on laying out the new house area as can be seen by the photos. Plans are to test the compacted soil on Friday and if it passes, then they will pour concrete for the footings. Kevin provided a tentative "game plan" to me this evening as follows:

Next Week (11/19- 11/23):

1. Plumbing, electrical, low voltage, water piping to be layed down.


2. Masons to work on the foundation.


3. Install the metal roof on the guest house/garage.


4. Install the overhead door on the guest house/garage.


5. Finish trimming out the windows in the guest house/garage.
   

Following week (11/26-11/30):

1. Expects to backfill on either Tuesday or Wednesday



2. Begin framing the new house by Wednesday, 11/28 - at this point the project is about 1 week ahead of schedule.

Pray for good weather in the upcoming weeks so they can get the house framed before winter really decides to come on.