Framing stage has come and gone

The foundation has been poured and the framing has taken place. I've neglected you, but I have many pictures to share. This house was framed so quickly, that I could hardly believe it! Check it out.

Here are the 2x4s. It doesn't seem like there are enough here to frame the house.

Future frame

First, the workers lay out the planks in the appropriate areas.

The stage is set

Next, they start popping up the walls.

Baby bay window frame

 

 

 

Soon, they have framed my home!

Fast and fabulous framing

That allows me to stare up at the beautiful, Texas sky through the crazy, geometric openings. This is my favorite artistic shot.

Texas sky overhead

It's amazing what a bunch of guys can do within a few days, eh? Speaking of getting work done, that's why I've been absent so much. Without work there would be no new home, though. Hi, ho! Hi, ho!

The foundation of my future

Hear ye, hear ye! The foundation has been poured and it was quite a surprise! I wasn't expecting it the morning it was poured.

Concrete truck

Here are some shots of the pretty new base for the house.

Back porch

View from back of lot

Afterward, I was a bit shocked. Why? Well, much to my chagrin, the slab is super thick in the front and much thinner in the back.

Thick front foundation

I have to say that this is a major bummer. This unforeseen event means that I will have stairs going up to both the front door and the garage entrance. Therefore, I may have trouble when I get ready to sell the house. I built a one-story home so that I could include older folks the demographic of potential buyers.

Besides this big surprise, I'm excited to see the exact outline of the house. It seems like everything may actually come together, albeit not exactly as I had envisioned.

I snoozed and lost you?

I hope that isn't the case! I wasn't actually snoozing that much. I've been working some nights and weekends to meet a deadline.

Then, this past week I had to let my oldest kitty go. We were best buddies for 16 years, but her body just couldn't hold up any longer. I'll see her again, I'm sure, though.

Lileee enjoying the sun

Before I catch you up with the progress on the house, let's go through a few terms. I, as a layperson, found these phrases quite confounding. So, I asked my big brother, James, since he used to be a construction manager.

Case and cable is the first mystery phrase. Casing out the forms is the placement of additional wood pieces to
fill areas inside the form boards where concrete is not needed at the same level. An example is when they pour a garage that is a few steps lower than the finished floor of the house. The concrete contractor is basically building a mold to hold the concrete in place until it sets.

The cable part of this phrase refers to cables being placed into the beams and across the cap (top 5 inches of concrete) of the foundation to strengthen it.

Case and cable

Beam and poly is the second befuddling phrase. Forms surround the perimeter of the future slab. The opening within the forms is approximately 12 inches wide. These areas will be poured full of concrete to make the exterior beams of the foundation. The beams will hold the weight of the exterior walls and some of the weight of the roof. Empty spaces in the interior of the forms will be filled with concrete to create interior beams.

Beam and poly edge

Poly is plastic sheeting that separates the dirt from the concrete. It is be placed over the dirt to form a moisture barrier. The water lines are placed on top of the poly (second plumbing rough).

Okay, enough jargon! I hope these pictures give you an idea of what these terms look like when put into action.

Moving on to more exciting things next time!

Completed beam and poly

Plumbing, beams, and cables. Oh, my!

Woe! I have been so busy that I've neglected my blog! I sincerely apologize. Now, let's move on. Shall we?

Over the past nine days, the plumbing rough, layout inspection, "beam and poly", "case and cable", and foundation inspection happened. That's a lot and I was amazed. In fact, this past weekend, one crew was even working on a Sunday!

Now, if you are anything like me, you might be wondering what a few of these terms mean. Luckily, my brother used to work as a construction manager. I quizzed him a few times to find out what was actually going on, since the construction manager building my house wasn't too interested in chatting about terminology.

The plumbing rough isn't too hard to figure out. First, trenches are dug in designated places. Then, the workers place the main plumbing lines and drains in the trenches and connect them all together. A new sewer line for the house is created and is then connected to the main sewer line for the neighborhood.

 

Main line

A pressure gauge is installed to make sure the shower does a decent job. The inspector makes sure this is set to blast all of my grime down the brand-new drain!

Pressure gauge

Kitchen plumbing

To the left is the kitchen plumbing. Fancy, eh?

The bathroom plumbing is all important. Do I have to go into more detail? I thought not. Stay tuned for the more wacky construction terminology.

Bathroom plumbing

Easter blessings

There are no Easter egg hunts going on today here, but I'm sure my niece and nephew are having a wonderful time. I hope today you are enjoying your blessings from above.

I'm thinking of my house, my friends, my family, and God's grace and love today. I'm watching Frozen Planet and and am just amazed at the beauty of this earth. I'm nowhere near Antarctica, but we've got our share of beautiful creatures and plants here in Texas. Check out this great cactus near the new lot. Do you know what type of cactus it is? I love the red in it and I've never noticed any like this in the past.

Red & green cactus

Not much is going on with the house, since I last posted. It's day 13 and there is a lot of flat dirt. Unfortunately, all of that extra dirt has made the lot seem pretty steep. I spoke with the construction manager, because I really don't want a bunch of steps going in to the house. However, it turns out the lot is more sloped than I had imagined. He is going to do what he can but is limited by the lay of the land.

The only other update is that there is a big trench all the way around the perimeter of the dirt. This is within the wood forms. I think the plumbers and electricians come next and put in some pipes and wires. We'll see, though.

Left side trench

Here are a couple of pictures of the trenches. My parents warned me to watch for trash in these holes. It turns out that the workers may not always want to walk over to the trash receptacles in order to throw away their refuse. So, they just throw their water bottles into these trenches. It's extra insulation, right? LOL I'll be going over each night to clean out the trenches, I suppose.

Front trench

They can dish the dirt

It's day 10 and the lot is growing up (literally)! After they scraped all of the trees and resident dirt from the lot, they came back with truck loads of foreign dirt. They brought what I guess is "special" dirt. It has crushed rock or something like that in it. I really don't know, but I do know my view from the high point of the lot is getting better and better. Unfortunately, I shouldn't have tried to venture out into the fancy new dirt after work. Stuart Weitzman shoes just don't do well in such conditions, even when they have a snakeskin texture. Lesson learned?

Stuart Weitzman in the dirt

To honor a request I had, I am adding some drawings of the elevation and floor plan. Now, you can start imagining what the finished product will look like. The house will be about 2500 square feet and is a one-story plan.
This is my elevation. This floor plan is very popular on my street, so I didn't get a choice of elevations. I am happy with this one, though.

Elevation of house

Now for the floor plan. The powder room isn't reflected on the floor plan. It's going to replace the weird art niche on the left just past the hall. Also, I removed the columns that would have surrounded the dining room. I thought that it would seem too cramped with columns right across from the powder room.

Floor plan with most options

The two previous graphics are the property of and are copyrighted by Gehan Homes.

Loverboy was wrong

I found out this weekend that not everybody is working for the weekend. In particular, nobody worked on my house at all this weekend! There aren't really any excuses, since it didn't rain. Right?
Regardless, I promised to post a few pictures for you so I'll do a little work before bed. I can't let you down.
This is the lot that drew my attention. It's also the lot I could afford. (That is probably me behind the "Sold" sign.)

Proud owner of a lot

It may not look like a lot to you, but it's in a great neighborhood and I love how close it is to my current house. I like that it backs up to a small, private ranch. Peace and quiet are good things, especially if you have to live near town. I'd much rather have some acreage, but that will have to wait until retirement.
Here is a bluebonnet I found on the lot. My mother says that it's a sign of good luck for a Texas gal like me! Yes, I am a true Texan. Yeehaw!

Texas bluebonnet