Of hay field and house

deranged · Jan 21, 2014

This weekend we finally broke ground on the new house. We are building on what was up to now Mom and Dads back hay field. We got 6.5 acres from them last year and have been working on it since then. All I can say is I hate easements and access rights.... Below is what we started with.

We have done what we could in the last 5 months, like trench 780' for underground electric to the site and start clearing a road. This has been fun, I learned how to operate a backhoe and a few more ways NOT to operate a tractor. After the first two months my wife's only request when I go out to work is, "Just don't get it stuck again".

The high lift operator arrived about 8 am on Saturday. It is amazing to watch someone who knows what they are doing. He had the entire basement dug by 2. After that he worked on the roadbed a little but due to my not having finished the culverts he had to leave for the day.

Fast forward to Monday. I woke up to work already being done. The guys where here to pour the footings. They only had one day as today we got hit with another arctic cold snap. Needless to say, I had to take a 100 mile emergency trip to secure a culvert, as the concrete trucks slid down the hill without a road and they where not coming out the way they came in. So we now have footings and the road in a much better condition. If all goes right tomorrow rock will be poured for the roads and I can stop having stuck trucks...

wmonroe · Jan 21, 2014

Very nice setting. My wife and I went through a similar process two and a half years ago and while some of it is stressful overall I found it very enjoyable. Any upgrades you want to do on the house that can't be done easily later I would recommend if finances allow. There were a few upgrades me and the wife had a hard time deciding if they were worth the money but looking back now it was a no brainer. Good luck

buckeyefarmer · Jan 21, 2014

will enjoy seeing pics of the build. I built my own house in 1997, after having convinced the wife I could build a larger house on a larger lot than what we had, for the same cost of selling what we had. Good luck on the build.

flusher · Jan 22, 2014

Welcome to TBN. Join the fun:thumbsup:
I went through that home construction experience about 9 years ago on my 10 acre place here in the North Sacramento Valley. Moved to CA from MO (Florissant/STL area) in 1990.

Good luck with your new home.

Gunny · Jan 22, 2014

That field looks like a beautiful place to put a house. I'd sure like to have a view like that!

EddieWalker · Jan 25, 2014

Congratulations!!!! I'm looking forward to following your progress.

Eddie

Raspy · Jan 25, 2014

deranged,

What a nice setting! I've been working on mine since 2007 and will finish this year. Building your own home is a great experience.

It looks like straw in the footing areas. What's that for?

Hope to see more pix.

deranged · Jan 29, 2014

Its been fun out here the last few days so not much computer time. But I'll try for a quick update. We are fighting or better said waiting on mother nature to calm down. The day the footings where poured it was 50 degrees out. The next day the high was 9. So much for living in the temperate part of the country. While we are waiting on some warmer weather to be forecast, I got the road rocked and the concrete crew has the high wall piers up. (I hope I said that right).

I've been learning why three bids is a good thing. On the septic side the county's install sheet listed 1,200' of pipe. The last bidder noticed that the county guy had read the soil sample wrong and listed our soil load for low pressure pipe instead of normal pipe. So my pipe length has gone from 1200' to 600'. What a relief.

Also due to some reading on here of people smarter then myself, I took my first tree down with the backhoe root ball and all. That was too much fun to watch the weight of the tree take the root ball out instead of digging it out after felling the tree. Much easier so thanks guys.

deranged · Jan 29, 2014

Raspy,

Congratulations in advance on finishing. I never thought mine would start so I cant even fathom finishing right now.

The straw was my attempt to keep the sudden arctic air off my footings. We thought we had a few days of warmer air to cure in but the night after we poured a cold snap drove in hard. Since I didn't have blankets that my wife would let me use outside on concrete, I grabbed straw as a hail mary. I hope that makes sense.

HarryN · Jan 29, 2014

Great start... I enjoy posts like this along with the accompanying pictures that show the hard work you are putting in!
Good luck.

MacLawn · Jan 29, 2014

Looking good, mighty good. I just love watching work; I can sit around all day and watch it. One small tip - I'd insulate every pipe in ye place while it's going in. I did that with mine, and wow, sure glad I did that! Hot water from long runs stays warm, no condensate on me pipes, a cheap and easy thing to do while building.

wmonroe · Jan 29, 2014

Once the weather stays nice it will really pick up and it will be hard to keep up. Take plenty of pictures of everything, I can't remember how many times a month after our house was finished that I went back and looked at pictures to see where exactly something was inside a wall or wherever, while it's being built you think you'll remember but there is so much going on it's impossible.

deranged · Feb 21, 2014

Well the ground has finally thawed out enough for the ground to become mud. I mean a lot of mud.

The concrete guy brought out a pump truck as the cement trucks where stuck as soon as they left the rock. So now we have basement walls. I'm not sure whats next but I'm sure it involves a butt ton of paperwork. Also I now know where water problems are on the road and how a little rock on the road will need repair after heavy cement trucks go over it. So tomorrow is some road work to fix some problems.

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wmonroe · Feb 22, 2014

Looks good! The driveway is going to take a beating with all the trucks that will be coming.

batwing · Feb 22, 2014

wmonroe said:
Once the weather stays nice it will really pick up and it will be hard to keep up. Take plenty of pictures of everything, I can't remember how many times a month after our house was finished that I went back and looked at pictures to see where exactly something was inside a wall or wherever, while it's being built you think you'll remember but there is so much going on it's impossible.

I agree on taking plenty of pictures, we also took some video when we built ours in 1994.
Ron

kristhegreat68 · Feb 24, 2014

Looks good! :thumbsup:

deranged · Feb 24, 2014

Thanks Kris and welcome to TBN...

deranged · Feb 24, 2014

wmonroe said:
Looks good! The driveway is going to take a beating with all the trucks that will be coming.

You don't know how prophetic your words where man. I've got another two loads of rock coming today to repair the really bad spots...

Also got word that they poured an 8' ceiling instead of the 9' that we where planning on. At least that will save a little money. The contractor is going to triple the footer and that will gain me 4-6 inches of basement height, I hope.

They say framing starts on Wednesday so stay tuned for more pictures if it happens.

MoKelly · Feb 24, 2014

Welcome from near St. Louis. We have very good friends near Marthasville. Good luck and Go CARDS!

MoKelly

HarryN · Feb 24, 2014

(""Also got word that they poured an 8' ceiling instead of the 9' that we where planning on. At least that will save a little money. The contractor is going to triple the footer and that will gain me 4-6 inches of basement height, I hope."")

Boy, I would be pissed if they made the mistake of 8 foot instead of 9!! My brother had done his basement at 9. Mine happened to be 8. It is a HUGE difference when I see his.
But good luck anyway. Enjoying your build pictures.