Basement Walls Are UP!

The Basement Walls are Up!

Well, week 1 has been a busy one for sure! After removing the footings were finished on Tuesday, TKO returned early Wednesday Morning & began setting the forms for the basement walls. In just 3 hours, the forms & rebar were set & the crew were waiting for the inspection before continuing. He came around 11:30 and the first concrete truck from Desert Rock arrived at noon! When it was all said & done, there were 6 trucks (if my count is accurate) that came perfectly in sync. Most times, there were 2 trucks at once with a crew of 8 working. It was so cool to watch! They were finished by 4:00-4:30, job site cleaned up & looking nice.

Thursday Morning: Another early arrival (7:30AM) and the forms were removed from the beautiful walls! Inspector tells me "they're dead on! look great!" and by 10AM, job site is cleaned up & TKO is onto another project. Sam arrives & marks out the lines for the water-proofing. Mark Bishop & Kaleb Washburn meet Darren & I at the Sunrise office to get some paperwork signed & filed. (How nice of them to drive it to US!)

Friday Morning: Water-proofing is by Rocky Mountain Roofing. Big Johns Plumbing does the Rough-in for the plumbing & septic tank. As they leave at 10:30 Big John tells me "See ya in 2 weeks!". Boy, that really shocked me! We are moving along!

One more thing: I have been so impressed with the effeciency and accuracy of these workers. I'll let Darren tell you about his engineering instincts taking over! haha (psst: it has to do with measuring everything out after they leave & being pleasantly surprised that it was right on the money!)

NEXT UP: Backfilling on Monday! (And a major surprise on Thursday!)

Footings

So Tuesday Morning started out bright & early! The first trucks started pulling in around 8AM & they got right to work setting up the forms to set the footings.

They were finished with that around 11:00AM. I was actually really surprised at how fast they worked. Darren came home around 11:45 and we took a few photos while we waited for the inspector to come. Mr. Matt-Inspector-Man came around 12:15....

AT 12:35 THIS BIG GUY SHOWED UP!!!
(another one came later, but I didn't get out to take more pictures)

The guys worked really fast & the cement trucks were gone by 3:15, the forms came off about 90 minutes later & last night when we got home from the soccer games, this is what we found:

OUR FOOTINGS ARE POURED & SET!!!
Perfectly set & right on the money!

These pictures were actually taken this morning, but I have to say that it was so much fun to walk around last night, flashlight in hand, and just check it all out. I still can't believe this is really the beginnings of OUR HOUSE!!! I'd tell you to pinch me to make sure I'm not dreaming, but I'm a wimp & I don't like being pinched! LOL

Speaking of Dreaming.....
A little picture showing BEAUTY, BRAINS & BRAWN

(Isn't that Camaro Gorgeous! haha)

We're BUILDING!!!!

WAHOO!!!! Chances are our excitement was heard around the globe today!!! lol

We have FINALLY begun construction on our home!!! It's been the longest, hardest road ever & I'll admit, most of the time, it felt more like a NIGHTMARE than a dream. We have talked to NUMEROUS contractors, bankers, tradesmen, etc. etc. We would get "this-close" to building, only to have some stinkin' little glitch (usually an appraisal!--of which I think we have now paid for 4 of!) squash the entire project.

Many people (and maybe you're one of them! ha ha) have asked us why we just don't give up the "silly notion of building since it's OBVIOUSLY not working out for you & just buy something already built." The short & simple answer is this:

THERE ISN'T ANYTHING HERE!!!!!

I'm not kidding, there is NOTHING!!! (At least nothing newer than 60 years old & basically what we are trying so desperately to escape!). Darren & I literally spent DAYS in the car, driving around bawling (ok, he drove, I bawled!) because we couldn't find anything! It was beyond frustrating & disheartening. I literally had a nervous breakdown, but I'll spare ya the ugly details, that's another story for another blog! lol

But then, our prayers seemed to be answered. After seeing an ad for "Bishop Homes" we drove to Springville to meet with a man named Kaleb in one of their model homes. We loved the model home, we also loved what they had to say. But, I'll admit, I was pretty calloused at this point. But, we knew we needed to exhaust all of our efforts, so we proceeded forward. And much to our surprise (and GREAT DELIGHT!) things kept moving forward & we kept finding ourselves saying crazy things like "I feel so peaceful about this." After meeting with Mark Bishop in a model home in Logan, we not only KNEW that he was the man to build our home, but we also knew that we were sitting in "our home". The craziest thing was that it was nearly identical to the houseplan that we had been designing for the last several years. Even down to the tiny little details. We're still laughing over that.

So....back to TODAY!

HI! MY NAME IS SAM!!!

This is Sam, he's our Construction Manager! We liked Sam, he is organized & on time & returns phone calls! He measured & outlined the foundation for the excavators this morning & then let them get right to work.

THE FIRST SCOOP OF DIRT!!!!!

The Excavators arrived around 10:30. I don't know the machine operators name, but he was a nice guy & for some reason reminded me of a cross between Scott & Marty. (Both of whom would probably tell you that he must've been a very handsome & charming man, but I think it was that he was tall & had the same hair color & style, but whatever). Issac was the rod-man. He's from Oregon originally, he brought his sweet puppy Justice with him. Max liked Justice, he thought she was HOT! Darren thinks I'm crazy cause I find out crazy things like this. When they come back to do the backfill, I need to find out about "Sco-Arty" man! Just to be fair!

THE PROCESS:

This was after they had been digging for a few hours. They were quick & very good. You can see Issac & even a hint of Sweet Justice lying in the shadow, (she really wasn't in danger of getting scooped up like it looks. I think she's been on these jobs before, she wasn't scared at all & she was very well behaved!)

THE BASEMENT!!!!!!
They finished about 3:30-4:00ish. We still can't get over how cool it is to see big piles of dirt & a big hole out there! But it's not just "plain ol dirt & a hole in the ground, it's OUR dirt & OUR basement (I so know some of you went "THERE"....but I kept it clean! Be good!)

And in case you're wondering what it will look like when it's finished, here it is:

(And, did I mention that it will be completed in about 60 (yes, SIXTY) DAYS!!!!)

For those of you here in Utah or the surrounding areas who are wanting to build, but are having a hard time getting that elusive construction loan or whatever, give Bishop Homes a call, tell them that we sent you.

TOMORROW: FOOTINGS BEING POURED

WEDNESDAY: FOUNDATION & WALLS

http://www.bishophomesutah.com/

God is Great, (Root) Beer is Good & PEOPLE ARE CRAZY!!!

In my mind I have written this post 7,856,943 times.....and I still haven't figured out a nice way to say this, so I'm trusting you to to just know that I am honestly trying to be nice.

We've been scammed. A fast-talking, big-haired woman with black lipstick and 2 inch tennis shoes took our money, made big promises & the only thing she gave us in return was a lot of heartache, headaches & complete aggravation!

Tonight during Karlee's soccer game (I'll post photos of that on my other blog tomorrow) Darren received a phone call from "Fraudulent Frieda's" boss. She has not only cost us money, but he's spent the last 3 1/2 weeks trying to get in touch with her & he's had the same amount of success as we have...ZERO!!! It's come to the point that "Frieda" has cost him so much money that he's going to have to shut down his entire business (and it's a pretty large Mortgage Brokerage with more than one office).

In the meantime, we are exactly where we were the end of May....cleared lot, a signed purchase agreement contingent upon a construction loan and a lost summer with nothing to show for our heartache & hard work.

You know what's funny though? I am extremely grateful! I am so grateful for a wonderful friend who was honest enough to give me a warning about doing business with "Frieda". (Sadly, she'd learned the hard way herself). I'm so grateful that all of this happened BEFORE we got into the process of building and trying to finalize loans & such. Can you imagine?!!!! I'm so grateful for sweet & patient people. And most of all, I'm so grateful for a Heavenly Father who has blessed us during this whole thing. I've been more patient and optimistic thoughout this entire thing than I ever thought possible. I've been blessed with a happy outlook and a calm feeling inside that "everything will work out".

It's been hard, I won't lie. For *YEARS* I have invested time, energy, prayers, hope and a lot of hard work into creating the house of our dreams. (Thus the title of the blog). It's made me angry that one person could be the wrecking ball of so many hopes & dreams. We aren't the only ones she has done this to. And I'm furious about that. Fortunatly we didn't loose very much moola, but I'm afraid to think about what others have lost. We're ok, I hope others will be too. We do have some other options, but, like so many who trying to get a construction loan after the big collapse of the housing market last fall, it's hard. A lot of banks want 40% cash down! Who has that kind of cash?! Uhm, not us. We'll figure it out.....in the meantime....raise a toast to honest people out there. There's got to be a few good ones out there. (Just stay away from a place that rhymes with "rElk fRidge eFinancial" & a crazy chick named "sKathy".) In the meantime, hope you don't mind if I start singing my own version of that good ol' Hank Williams Song "There's a Tear in my (Root)Beer...."! ha ha

Patience is.....

they say it's a virtue, but I'm pretty much over it & just going to say it's OVER-RATED! ha ha

I hated to put this on here for fear of sounding like a big ol' whiney butt, but this is part of the journey so I'm documenting it. *STOMP* ha ha

We've been told "this week" for several weeks now & I'm pretty frustrated. We're still waiting to close on our construction loan. We can't do a single thing until this is finalized.

While we've tried to make the most of this interim by gathering bids, clearing & mowing the land (I'll add a few extra photos a little later) & trying really hard to be patient. Right now, I'm just not feelin' the love. We *NEED* to be finished/moved in by the end of December in order to take advantage of that $8000 tax credit for new homeowners. I'm just feeling like we're now 2 months behind schedule.

Ok, fine, rant over, I'll go get some dishes done while I hope & dream of a brand new kitchen WITH A DISHWASHER! *smiles*

While I'm doing that, leave me a little feedback love & tell me what you love about your kitchen or wish you had in your kitchen.

Once Upon a Houseplan....

Several years ago my SIL decided to build a new house. She was using "this cool program" to design it. After getting my paws on it & playing around with it, I fell in love. I learned how to draw walls, insert windows, doors & even cabinetry. I learned how to use the 3-D camera effect and actually see what my newly designed room looked like! It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen & before long I was dedicating hours and hours to designing my dream home.

I went through several different plans, changing things here, adding and subtracting floors and rooms there. In looking back, it's interesting to see how my tastes have evolved. In the beginning, I was ADAMANT about having a 2 story house. I envisioned gazing out of an upstairs window at the vast landscapes before me. I dreamed of prom photos and wedding portraits of Karlee taken on a long, sweeping staircase. And then reality set in. We weren't spring chickens anymore. We were getting older & I needed to get wiser. I needed to listen to Darren. So, I scrapped the upstairs loft and started creating main floor master suites that would be kinder in my geriatric years.

One thing that never changed was the location. We began talks with our current landlord nearly immediately after designing the house. She wasn't ready, we needed to secure financing. Needless to say, it took a little longer than we anticipated. Finally, last Friday we came to an agreement. Yesterday when we received the signed purchase agreement I breathed a sigh of relief that that hurdle had been cleared.

Planning & Zoning approved our plans last night & tonight the town council will have the same opportunity.

So our plans are good.....but you know what they say about all good plans....

One phone call this morning the warning bell sounds & panic begins....."Houston, we have a problem." Stay Tuned....