If These Walls Could Talk…

The home that we are building is on the site where a house stood for over 50 years.  That house was home to my husband’s parents, and my husband’s grandparents before them.  And now we build our dream home.  It was a bitter goodbye to my husband’s mother, and while we miss her and think of her often, we wanted to be sure to feel her blessing on our new home.  And I’m sure she will give it.

Strong Foundation

So, today, on a glorious, sunny day, we had the rock laid and concrete walls poured on the hew home.  We arrived just in time to see the last load of white rock be poured.  The slab for the basement and the backfilled dirt around the concrete walls will be poured on top of this rock, which will apparently allow for good drainage.  The forms were already up to hold the concrete for the walls and the cement trucks were lined up on the street.  They waited to offload the cement into a small hopper, which fed to an upward sloped conveyor belt, onto a flat conveyor belt, and into a large rubber sleeve that a worker directed into the correct spot.  It was quite the process!  Once the concrete was between the forms, workers used hoes and small shovels to get out air bubbles and smooth the concrete.  One lucky guy got to “climb in” between the forms to make sure there was enough concrete under the window wells.  We almost thought he was going to come as a bonus with the walls!

In-ground Pool

So we’ve been experiencing a lot of rain lately.  So much rain, in fact, that a whole month has passed and we have seen no measurable progress.  We continue to be the lot on the block with the largest lawn ornament (the digger) and the largest in-ground pool.  I’m sure the neighbors are not jealous.  Our “pool” is about 15 feet wide and 10 feet across, with a guesstimated depth of 2-3 feet (not that anyone wanted to go in and measure).

With the strong storms we’ve had lately, it appears as though the neighborhood might have been without power when we visited yesterday.  And it’s a good thing we had the tree in the backyard trimmed way back because I don’t think it would have weathered the storm as well in it’s previously overgrown-bush-like state.

Next week is supposed to have one day of potentially heavy rain and four days of clear, sunny skies.  Hopefully that is enough dry time to get the digger in the backyard, excavate the swimming pool, and pour the foundation for the new home.  Fingers crossed.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Well, it has been one month (today) since the old house came down.  And other than the cement basement being dug out the day after house demolition, nothing new has happened.  Except rain.  Buckets and buckets of rain.  So, instead of a new foundation, I think we have an inground pool.

We are hoping that the rain isn’t too heavy this week (though we know we can’t avoid it entirely) and that next week is sunny as predicted so we can get going on this whole house project!

A house without a pool, I’m okay with.  But a pool without a house is not my favorite idea.