Dick & Sandy Heismann

We're visiting Dan's brother, Dick, and his wife Sandy. They live in Henderson, TN and are also building a house. Look at all of those angles in their attic!

Fun at the Park

Last week Noah and I took a walk to the neighborhood park in Golden.

Lesson

Jennie worked with three students today on horsemanship skills. What a great teacher!

Picnic

We gathered at Zac & Jennie's for a family picnic. Zac was the cook and Jennie was in charge of bubbles for Noah.

sunflowers

We are enjoying these beautiful sunflowers while camping at the "Heismann Ranch," here in Golden.

Slab on Grade

Today they poured the floors of our house. They arrived about 7 am and the last of the four cement trucks left about 11am. The Canon Cement crew is working hard to get everything done today. Tomorrow they will cut in the grooves to help minimize cracking of the slab.

Cutting

Dan has been cutting the foam at a 45 degree angle along the foundation walls.

Leaks

The water system wasn't holding air - for the second time. Although it passed inspection, it developed two leaks. Hopefully this will be the last leak and we can get the slab poured later this week.

Radiant Floor Tubing

Two men from Ted's Plumbing & Hydronics are installing the tubing. Dan is finishing up the "fines" in the garage area.

Our own dump station

Pushing the gravel

Gus and Nancy came for a few days on their way home from Creede, CO where they were attending an RV rally. We sure enjoyed their visit and help today!

Double rainbow

This view of the double rainbow is to the east. The garage area has about several inches of "fines" or gravel, in preparation for the radiant floor tubing.

Cutting the Foam

We were lucky to have our friend, Curt Sorenson, help us install insulation under the slab. After Curt and Karen finished taping the insulation, Curt cut the foam for the stem walls. Dan was busy putting glue on the foam for the stem walls.

Garage floor is "foamed"

We have put down the black plastic and the foam on the garage floor. We still need to put foam on the sides of the stem wall in the garage area.

Foam

The 1 1/2 " slab insulation foam was delivered this morning. Dan and I plan to install it ourselves.

August 15, 2010

We have hired a consulting firm, U Build It, to help us build our house.

Sandbox

Tools needed for leveling the "sandbox" included:
the bobcat, the rakes, the shovels, the string, & the measuring stick.
Dan, using his bobcat, moved buckets of dirt into the needed areas, Karen and Mary used the shovel & rake to smooth the dirt and then the string and measuring stick to ensure the correct level. This view is to the North and we are working in "Dan's room."

August 10, 2010

Ted's Plumbing and Hydronics and Tony Carestia Excavating worked today on the rough-in plumbing and the septic systems. Ted has had to wait for some parts to arrive before calling for an inspection. Hopefully he'll finish up tomorrow.

Tony has worked hard on installing our septic system. He'll bring some more gravel up tomorrow to finish up the leach field and wait for the inspector.

8-9-10

Mary (Dan's sister) is here and she is helping us get organized!

August 6, 2010

The rain came.

Compacting

After back filling the ditch, Tony, the excavator, is compacting the soil.

Back filling

This view is to the East.

August 4, 2010

Digging the ditch from the house to the cistern and connecting the hose to the cistern.

Finished Foundation

The guys came back today and removed the forms from the stem wall. It looks really good, no voids, etc. Next up is backfilling once I get the water line stubbed in.

Stem Wall Poured

The stem wall was poured this morning. The crew will be back Monday to remove the forms.

Ready for More Cement

The forms for the foundation's stem walls were installed today. The county inspector passed them and the concrete will be poured in the morning. YIPPEE! Another milestone.

July 27, 2010

Today was the pouring of the cement for the footers.

July 26, 2010

The foundation contractors are finishing installing the forms for the footers this morning. We'll have an inspection today also. The green pipe next to the contractor is a 6" PVC pipe to allow for installation of a geothermal system in the future.

July 22, 2010

The excavator has completed the trenching for the foundation. This view is to the south.

July 21, 2010

Digging the trenches is the next step. This view is to the south and shows where the garage will go.

July 20, 2010

Dan is discussing the layout of the house with Tony, the excavator.

The land has been cleared and is ready for the trenches. This second picture is a view to the west.

Blue Building

The "blue building" arrived today...guess we are ready to start!

July 19, 2010

The long awaited Building Permit is finally here! Tomorrow starts the excavation.

Surprise

What a surprise to find that Gus & Nancy and Matt & Rosie came to spend a few days with us at Dilley Ranch Road. We enjoyed dinner & breakfast (twice) in our "dining room" in the shop.