Clark and the New House

Ann and I decided to bury Clark near the house and near the river. So just off the bedroom porch under a pine tree he lies. The stuff covering his grave is so some critter doesn't dig him up while we aren't living there. Eventually we'll make this more fitting. But for now his body is down there with all the tennis balls I could find.

Catching Up

With recent events along with rain events, several days of work on my part have been missed and a couple have been lost from the construction crew.

Yesterday they studied the radar, read the forecast and decided they might make three hours of work before the rains came. So they drove two hours only to get one hour of work in, and then drove two home.

Jay (l) and Bob connect the peaks.

The Eagle Has Landed

For those who visited our neck of the woods earlier this month, you were able to see a remarkable event--fledging baby eagles. Of course, to our eyes they look less like cuddly little things than juvenile delinquesnt neer-do-wells.

What you have not been able to see (and hear) is what happens after they fledge. They are inexperienced at fending for themselves, so they fly around (as best they can) and hunt for food (as best they can) and screech (which they are very good at doing).

And what they're screeching for is their parent to feed them. After they dive bomb ducks and generally make a nuisance of themselves, they'll perch on a limb and . . . . there's no other word for it, bitch.

It's been a screech-a-palooza, a cacophony of complaints around here.

So you may ask what this has to do with homebuilding.

It's because almost two months into the project (almost 5 if you count the beginning discussions), with the house almost one-fourth completed despite rain delays, we now have a construction loan. This after one last requirement of the bank--to get the elevation for the certificate--for the garage no less.

I joke about home building, that it's only a matter of writing out checks for $1000 every day, sometimes multiple checks in a day.

Each time the surveyor visits, it's $1k. So for the bank to demand this last visit, cost yet another grand.

But at least Charlie can get paid. Yes, indeed, the eagle has landed.

A Boat Ride

Ann walks the plank; Emma escorts; Dennis measures; Jay installs; Bob builds; Scott observes.

Ducks

From the river.

Dog view.

The First Truss (Video)

You'll have to turn your monitor (or your head) sideways. Sorry. I'll get the hang of this yet.

The First Truss from Northpith on Vimeo.

It Takes Truss

A big, honkin' crane hoists the first joist, errr truss into place.

It's beginning to look like a house.

Funky angles.

Friday's progress

Stamps set.

Dreams of my wife

On the 'Martin' porch

Hard Stuff

Steve, the owner of the concrete company, does this the 'Grandpa' way (his word, not mine), by pouring the concrete down a tube, into a wheelbarrow and schlepping it over to the work area and dumping it out.

By the way, Steve, no slouch in these matters, says that when the trusses are up the house is one-fourth done. He predicts we'll be in by December. FEMA willing (my words).

Before . . .

I was mesmerized by this whirling, silent laser beam that the guys used to test the level of the poured concrete. It only took about 3000 snaps before I was able to capture the laser light on an adjacent block of wood.

And after . . .

I noted that Ann spent an unusual amount of time observing the intricacies of concrete pouring. So I decided to investigate and uncovered, shall we say, the root of the problem--this tanned, rippling young man trying to do his job avoiding the drool of a middle aged onlooker.

Here the punk stamps concrete.

We have been trying to preserve as much of the old house into the new as we can. Ann's father used this symbol on his birchbark projects and here we incorporate it into the front porch.

'X' marks the spot

A quick recap--we've been in the midst of a tripartite tornado with the players barometric forces, Peoples Bank (lender), Wilderness Surveyors, and Hartford Insurance (since replaced by a local insurer, Insurance Center).

The crux of the matter is this: Zone AE vs. Zone X; the bank insists we're in Zone AE, the most risky of zones and requires the most expensive insurance.

All the other players, including some lesser players, engineers and DNR experts say that we're in Zone X, the least risky in terms of potential flooding. Despite the fact that we (used to) live mere feet from the river, it's a very safe body of water regulated at both ends by federal dams.

The surveyor was out this morning, took measurements, took pictures, filled out the elevation certificate, which says that we are in Zone X.

To date we have spent over a thousand dollars on this alone, and lost hours of sleep. I can not imagine that the bank will require us to keep hiring surveyors until we find one that agrees with their assessment. But I wouldn't put it past them.

Stay tuned.

August 10 status

Patterns

Master Bedroom Corner

From the Pier

Interior Walls Appear (Don't Know what the white stuff is.)

Ann showers.

Sunday Update

The guys building the house work four 10-hour days per week, so during the week, much progress is made. At the project's onset, one guy (Bob) worked that schedule; then Jay joined him a couple of weeks ago; and last week Dennis jumped in.

Next week a fourth will be added, so we should be screaming along by the close of Thursday.

But weekends have become time for examining, dreaming, and generally anxiety-ridden fantasizing whilst catching up on pics.

The deck supports protrude from the west wall facing the river.

Every once in a while I'll throw in a shot of the approach from the drive. Chaos reigns.

We've had our share of rain lately--not enough to erase the drought--but a fair amount anyway. This view shows the effect of gluing and screwing plywood. To the left, no warping; to the right (unscrewed and unglued) warping. To the far left, Ann shoes (definitely warped).

We tried a little something different with the garage that will repeat on the house. In addition to an extra large overhang, we angled the fascia (or is it the soffit?) 90 degrees instead of the usual straight down method.

Standing at the wester edge of the house and looking out where the windows will be, I notice a dramatic difference in the view. This comes from spending an inordinate amount of time gazing out over the marsh.

As the house is a few feet higher than the old one and a few feet back up the hill, more of the marsh surface appears.

This upcoming week will bring us big things. Perhaps the biggest is that we will actually sign a construction loan. Our surveyor comes back from vacation and filing an elevation certificate will be at the top of his list (we all hope).

On the construction side, more exterior walls will go up; the slab will be poured over the ground level foam and PEX; and trusses are poised for placement.

As always we will try our best here at the Pith to keep you up to date with the latest and hope that you will allow a little pride (boastfulness) to creep (blast?) through.

PEX and Emma and Studs

The PEX tubing arrived the other day via Fed Ex as mentioned in the prior entry. But today I noticed that the box said, "For Radiant Floor Heating and Snow Melting." SNOW MELTING!!!

What could we possibly be thinking? With the garage and landscaping the distance to our cars is more that 10 times as long. I think a new snow removal implement is in our future.

Ready for something.

An eerie view of the ground floor with dappled sunlight leaking through the main floor.

Everything is sealed.

Emma and her (2X8) Studs.

Emma seems to be saying, "Me and My New House--Exactly what I deserve."

Visible Progress; Invisible Torment

Floor joists up in less than a day.

Pex (sp?) tubing installed after . . .

. . . arriving via Fed Ex.

Dennis installs the joists.

A view out the guest room windows.

Oh yeah, the torment. The FEMA, insurance company, lender merry-go-round returns. It turns out we do need the elevation certificate if we wish to be insured in the zone that the bank says we belong in.

And our surveyor is on vacation until Monday. I'm sure he'll be glad to hear from me as the last time he tried to convince me to convince my insurer and my lender that an elevation certificate was unnnecessary.

This seems to be lasting about 3/4 of a lifetime.