Category: Home Life

The gas flex and furance base was installed. The gas flex runs between where the stove and fireplace will go back to the furnace base. This will be the termination and distribution point for the gas line coming into the house, which will penetrate the east side of the garage from the meter (not installed…

After that rain delay, I was sure things would be stalled for a bit. Boy, was I wrong! Up went the vapor barrier and first floor post and beam in 1 day! It’s unbelievable how fast these guys work. The first floor air ducts, waste lines and water lines went in. Rumor is that sewer…

It rained last night, making the lot muddy. Gravel was put down from the sidewalk to the garage. We now have a better sense of where the height of the driveway is going to be. This is going to be one tall garage!

All the boards have come off! The foundation now stands on its own. This must be quick dry concrete. It’s amazing how quickly it set! At this point, it’s starting to make sense and look more like a house and less like a mess of materials dumped in a hole in the ground. An interesting…

The wraps came off the footing (only 24 hrs to set? Wow!) New forms went up for the actual foundation. Several new pads (for the posts holding up the beams in the first floor) and some grading work on the driveway have been done. The grading in the driveway shows the elevation that can be…

These guys move fast. Like the wind. The footing for the foundation can be seen here. It’s done and ready for the foundation that sits on top of it. Footings are interesting to me from a archeological perspective – they are what essentially is the base for the rest of the house. Curiously, it’s buried…

The lot has been cut! Much of the clearing work is done, too. It’s incredible how quickly (1 day) it took to happen!

The day just before the clearing of our lot. Betsy and I took my mom out to the site for a little plant identification assistance (and so she could see what was to soon become home). Not too surprising, the flora on the lot had been maintained over the years by the previous owners. The…

Betsy and I started our search for a new house in Portland in the Fall of 2008. Needless to say, after looking at hundreds of homes – we decided that our initial intuition to build was our best choice. Bottom line – the houses we like in Portland are beautiful on the outside, have character…