Basement Framing

The exterior walls for the basement have been framed and it gives a great look at the views that we can expect from the main floor. Take a look.

From the Bottom, Up

The sub floor is made of structural aluminum as shown in the picture. They did a great job on installation and luckily we were able to catch the plumbing mistake and move the toilet location before they put the sheeting over the top.

Barn Arrives in Parts

The barn arrived on a tractor trailor from Elma Washington and was unlaoded next to the building site. You can see some of the prefabricated parts as Ray moves the stair railing and the cupola top is sitting on the stack of lumber. As luck would have it I picked up the approved building permit from Douglas County the same day. Next step is to get the foundation in so we can have a barn raising as scheduled for October 19 and 20!!! Everyone is invited except those 7 brothers, the barn never seems to be in good shape when they are done.

Slow Going

Rock tells me I need to set my clock to construction time. It is a hard thing for me to do. The things that were supposed to be done on Friday were not. No one worked the weekend and then it rained on Monday. In the satellite business that is 3 lost days. In construction time that is the way it goes. I hope ray has the patience for putting up with me. Perhaps this is my own road to patience... or a heart attack.
After pushing week after week on getting barn plans completed we may have the plans into the county tomorrow and the barn parts delivered next week. Then it will be waiting for the permit. Great... more patience training.

A trenching we will go, high hoe and in ya go, a ...

IREA showed up on Friday to start the process of gettign us "on the grid". They are laying 1/0 aluminum underground cable in a 3 1/2 foot deep trench across the field. Dewey is checking out the depth. Rock came out early on Wednesday and mowed the grass down to make it easier and they have moved along rather quickly. They were half way across the meadow when these pictures were taken and about to hit a soggy spot. The crew got about 75% of the job done when the quitting bell rang for the weekend so they will be back on Monday and hopefully have us hooked up by noon. With all the other activity and the floor guys counting on power this one is coming down to the wire.

How Firm a Foundation

Well here it is. All that concrete in real walls. It looks extra deep since there will be a structural floor and not a poured slab of concrete in the bottom. The site is all preped to water-seal and put in the drains on Monday and the floor guys will be there to start putting in the beams as well if ... there is power. Hopefully it will be a busy week.

Barn Our Home Away from Home

Many of you may know that we are building a Barn on the property to house animals, teenagers, visitors, and maybe even us circumstances permiting. I've included the link to Uncle Howards website and the Gambrel barn design we are building. The barn raising is hopefully the last of this month but we will see what the county says with the permit. The barn site is just to the east of the house and will have a wooded setting with views of the south through the pines. The leveled site is shown in the picture. Mark Yocam and his boss (wife) Terry are in the picture.