Basement Walls

The basement walls were poured Friday morning despite the rain and lightning. It was touch and go for a little while but after three cement trucks and two hours of work the forms were full. After a couple days of curing the walls should be ready to begin building on. Monday the garage will take shape and the plumbing process will begin in the basement. Sounds like a dry week so hopefully we will make some major progress this week.

Taking Form

Once again the weather has not been the greatest for the building process, however, we must overcome and we have. After a wet rainy Monday the tiling and backfilling of the footings was finished on Tuesday. Wednesday brought more rain but between showers the majority of the forms were set for the basement exterior walls. If all goes well the rest of the forms will be up and braced by the end of tomorrow. By the weekend we should have the walls poured so we can move on to the garage footings and walls. Ive included a few pics of the current state of the house as well as the farm and the girls' garden.

Concrete

Well despite the weather we were able to get some concrete poured. Wednesday they set up and poured the footings. All was not without issues however. First the concrete truck got stuck (only a minor setback) then it blew an axle (a little bigger setback). Luckily for us the bulldozer was still on site and after a phone call the dozer was manuevering the concrete truck around to where it needed to be. Things finally got done a little into the evening. Thursday some of the underground block was laid. It should get finished before the weekend so backfilling can start next week and hopefully by the end of the week we will have walls up and poured. Heres a few pics of the progress as well as the tow and foreman Thatcher checking on the progress of the pour.

The View

Mother Nature is a fickle lady. She threatened us all morning but the guys got to it right away and cleared out the walk-out with the help of some big machinery. The pictures are from basement level looking out over Trophy Lake. The frost footings were dug out and are ready for forms and concrete next week. Our afternoon was just as exciting as we officially closed on our house today. It made me a little late for my Mens League teetime but it was worth it. On another note Thatcher went in for his 4 month check up and shots. He weighed in at 15lbs 15oz and 25.25 inches.

The Hole

Well, Mother Nature let up and we were able to get a hole dug today. I cant say much for the rest of the week. The forecast is for rain tomorrow through Saturday. If the guys can get a half day in tomorrow the walk-out excavation should be finished. It may have been finished today with the exception of the lack of a place to put all the dirt as we cant just shove it all towards/into the lake. Numerous piles of dirt/sand/gravel had to be moved after being excavated from the house area. Overall the progress is slightly behind what was hoped but still far ahead of what could be. Heres a few pics of us having our first drink in the new house as well as a slightly late sunset shot from the future garage. Hopefully tomorrow well have a picture of the view to the lake from the house.

Rain Delay

The much needed rainfall delayed the digging today. It was tough to get too mad about it however as the natural rainfall was vital for my crops. In my haste to start with the show of progress I failed to inform many of the location of the new house. Here is an aerial view of the location (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=45.668435,-95.395682&spn=0.010436,0.027831&t=h&z=16). The other Sherlin house is in the lower left of the map on Mulligan Dr. Our lot is on the north end of the lake just to the right of the established house which is where John and Hannah Shirkey live. Also here is the link to the Trophy Lake Estates website http://www.trophylakeestates.com/. This is the beautiful community in which we will be living. We have spent a lot of time there over the last few years thanks to the many projects weve had the chance to help with at the Shirkey house and absolutely love it there. Heres to dry weather tomorrow so we can dig us a hole.

The Adventure Begins - Day One

Here it is, the first post by this Sherlin household. I figured this would be an easy way to keep everyone updated on the progress of the house. Today was groundbreaking day...sort of. No hole was dug but the driveway was built and the area was cleared of brush, weeds, and rocks. A large hill was also leveled out so it doesnt feel like climbing Everest just to get to the house. We staked out the house this afternoon and the digging should commence tomorrow, weather permitting.