Roger & Linda's World

Oh! We See Some Green!

2008-07-27T12:11:00.001-07:00

We Call It Home Now

2008-07-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

More on the house. This is Dad's "work" room. Not much work goes on though, just more of Dad's stuff.

We call this the "Great Room," even though it is in the basement. You can see the two bedrooms in the background. The double doors are a closet for storing games.

The fireplace in the "Great Room." Remember Craig's bookcases? The doors on each side lead to more storage areas.

The basement stairs. You can see the 3/4 bath to the right.

This the foyer and front door as viewed from the dining room. The door to the left leads to Grandma & Papa David's wing.

Oh To Be Settled

2008-06-30T11:48:00.001-07:00

Grandma's kitchen.

Grandma's dinning area/sitting room with laundry and pantry in the background.

Grandma's new bedroom furniture.

Sun room.

Main dinning room.

Main kitchen.

2008-06-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

It may not look like it, but we moved in on May 30. Half the driveway was "placed" on May 29, and the other half was "placed" on moving day.

And here's the back yard.

Look closely and you'll see Bambi and her mom grazing in our back yard. We see them often--like every day and sometimes several times. Turns out that our house was built in their path to the woods across the street.

We're In!

2008-06-11T20:13:00.001-07:00

Keeping the Home Fires Burning

2008-05-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

Fireplace in the great room with the new flooring nearly done.

Lower level family room fireplace looks like a great place to gather at Christmas time. First thing we'll burn is that box behind the screen (just kidding, Silas). The mantel has not been stained yet and get this, it was installed first and the stone was then placed around it. I thought that was the hard way but then I don't build fireplaces often.

Grandma & David's new bath. And we have a nice mirror ready to hang below the light (and it's for our newly weds --room for two :-).

Home Plate

2008-04-26T20:45:00.000-07:00

Some semblance of a front yard is appearing.

The start of the retaining wall.

We even have an A/C unit. Well, it's actually a heat pump.

Screen It

2008-04-10T09:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot of the back of the house taken on April 1, showing the deck and screened porch. The pressure treated wood will be "stained" white as this is the style of neighboring houses. As of this posting, ceramic tile has been laid in the kitchen, sun room, laundry room, and most of the bathrooms. Cabinets are about 80% installed, the interior trim is about 90%, electrical work is about 95% complete, painting is about 95% complete, the gas meter is installed, but electricity is not on yet because of issues getting the conduit buried that holds the wiring. We are looking at a May 15 move-in date. The builder was hoping for May 1, but the flu bug caused some key items to be delayed, including the gas line installation, where the gas company fell more than 2 weeks behind. Many people had some version of the flu 2 and 3 times.

Fit 'N Trim

2008-03-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

Outside trim and siding being installed.

Those ladders look too tall from me.

Trim in the sunroom.

Trim in the basement is done and is now its final coat of paint before the walls get their final coat.

Furnaces are ready to go. This one is for Grandma and David's wing.

Dry Walls Are Dry-Walled

2008-03-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

Brick work is done except for power washing. The scaffolding belongs to the masons and I'm sure they'll come by soon to take it home.

The garage floor is scheduled to be "placed" on Tuesday. The garage doors are scheduled for installation on Thursday. Water, sewer, gas and electric hook-up are underway. But there sure is a lot of yucky mud around with all the digging going on.

Here is the start of the screened porch. The door in the back goes into the master BR.

The sunroom looking out toward the screened porch.

Grandma's living room. Monday the ceilings will be textured and the painters will begin painting on Wednesday (not just Grandma's living room but the rest of the house). It was interesting to watch the dry-wall guys walk around on industrial-grade stilts, ducking low to go through doorways. One guy quipped that if the dry-wall business gets any worse he'll join the circus.

Brick Tossing

2008-02-18T17:24:00.000-08:00

Here's a shot from the back. The basement rec. room and two bedrooms have been drywalled. Sheetrock on the main floor will start on Tuesday, February 19.

The front is where the action is. A video here would show some real brick slinging.

A bull dozer pushed some dirt (mud) around.

Ton of Bricks

2008-01-28T14:37:00.000-08:00

A small army of brick masons have been working. This was taken Saturday. Looking at the back of the house.

Northwest side of the house.

View from the foyer, looking through the Great Room, through the Sun Room to the doors leading to the deck.

Bee Hive

2008-01-23T14:58:00.000-08:00

Windows and doors are in. Electrical, plumbing, and HVAC will be done by tomorrow or Friday. Sheetrock starts on Monday, January 28. Brick started today.

Boy, that first step is a big one up to the front door.

Busy Place

2008-01-14T09:15:00.000-08:00

I took attendance today and found 16 people working today. Plumbing and electrical rough-in work appears to be over 50% complete. Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning (HVAC) is starting tomorrow. Roofing is complete. Backfilling around the basement walls should be complete tomorrow. Exterior doors and windows will be installed on Thursday. The word for today is: "Stay Out of the Way!"

Taking Shape

2008-01-03T09:16:00.001-08:00

Building inspectors have arrived on this cold, cold New Years Day, with shivers and chattering teeth. The youngest inspector found the snow flakes falling to be much more interesting than a bunch of boards.

The roof structure is taking shape. The framers worked Saturday, Monday (New Years Eve) and New Years Day.

Walls, Walls and More Walls

2007-12-23T14:21:00.001-08:00

Here's a shot from the front "driveway" overlooking the future garage. Interestingly, the framers have made several mistakes, such as mislocated walls, walls where doors or archways go, doorways in the wrong location, etc.

Looking from the back yard.

Here is the basement recreation room where Linda-Mom is checking out the spot where the basement stairway is supposed to go. A small problem though...the framers will have take much of that wall out where she is pointing to make way for the stairs.

Here's Roger in the basement work-room standing in the doorway.

We've Been Framed

2007-12-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

As you can see the basement was framed-in this week. The floor trusses will go on top of the walls beginning Monday.

The floor trusses are stacked along the road in the background of this picture. Double click on the pictures to see a larger version.

What's Under All That Cement?

2007-12-13T17:55:00.000-08:00

See our new basement floor? (No, Hoffa is not there.) It was "placed" last Thursday and then saw-cut on Friday. The saw-cuts are intended to weaken the concrete in prescribed lines so the cracks are nice and straight and not jagged random lines. Note also there are no posts. The slab was thickened under various interior walls so the walls can support the upper structure. That way we can have a rather large recreation room with no beams and posts. Actually, at the time of this post, the entire basement is framed-in and the floor trusses are being installed tomorrow.

The Plumber Hides His Work

2007-12-04T20:19:00.000-08:00

Since taking this picture on December 1st, the plumbers have buried a bunch of pipes under the basement floor in preparation for "placement of the concrete" by those "Castable Aggregate Placement Specialists" (formerly, cement workers) on Thursday, December 6, Lord willing.

Linda points out that the doorway you see is actually a small storm shelter.

This, like all previous pic's, was taken from the back yard. A picture from the front would show a porta-pottie, piles of dirt and a bunch of trees, while the basement would be mostly hidden from view.

Foundation Walls Completed

2007-11-28T08:24:00.000-08:00

We now have concrete walls in about half the basement perimeter. The remaining walls will be wood frame construction. This picture was taken from the back of the lot. What you can't see is how much mud there is. We had some more badly needed rain this past week.

Next on the agenda is "placing" (not pouring) the concrete floor in the basement, due the end of this week--but with all the mud, we'll see. When I walked around, I was "pleased" to see that I had grown taller, but my joy was short-lived when I cleaned my shoes. Before the concrete is placed, all the under-floor basement plumbing has to go down, then 4" of crushed rock has to go down, sheets of plastic (vapor barrier) and finally, welded wire reinforcement over that.

Wall Builders

2007-11-15T08:02:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken on Monday and the walls were "placed" (poured) on Wednesday in the midst of much-needed rain. "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" was apparently adopted by our subcontractor, but probably not by the fellows sloshing in the trenches. Note also that concrete is no longer poured, but "placed" by fellows bearing certain credentials and having the title of "Castable Aggregate Placement Specialists" which probably explains why just 2 of 4 walls cost $30,000. I'm fairly sure these are down-sized UAW workers.

Anyway, the only concrete walls in the basement are along the front and the side including the garage while the remaining walls will be constructed of wood. I just know I can hear singing and dancing in the tunnels of our local termites. Notwithstanding the march of overweight termites, our move-in date stands at May 1, 2008.

You Need A Good Foundation

2007-10-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

Progress. We have footings. While walking around the footings today, we came away with the feeling that they made a mistake. They just don't look big enough, but we'll see. Now, a surveyor needs to verify that the footings are accurately placed before the City of Oak Ridge will grant a building permit.

Next comes the "short wall build-up" on a portion of the footings on the back side of the basement where the basement floor is 5 feet above the grade of the next door neighbor. I know it sounds complicated, but the footings at the back right corner had to go down to the original grade level so a 5 foot concrete block wall will be layed up to the basement floor level (it will eventually be covered with brick). While this is going on, the front basement walls will be poured. After these two items are done, the basement floor will be poured. But for now, nothing can now be done until we get the official building permit.

We've Finally Started!

2007-10-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

Yes! We've finally started. We've started a blog AND we've started building our new home in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In late September, the trees along the front where cut down and in early October the builder began hauling in fill dirt totalling around 1000 cubic yards. A Bobcat was used to fill what will eventually be the back right corner of the basement floor where it required about 5 feet of fill. This picture is taken from the back of the lot. October 19th was the planned date to dig the footings but we've had nearly a week of on-and-off rain. East Tennessee has experienced the worst draught in 150 years so this rain was a blessing even though it has delayed the house somewhat. The schedule calls for digging and pouring the footings and then a double-check by a surveyor to be sure they are exactly right. Once the City of Oak Ridge accepts the surveyor's report, we can apply for a building permit. Our builder says that from that point the house will be completed in 6 months.