House in a Day

As promised, our new house was delivered by Blenker Building Systems early on Monday the 15^th. I can’t say “bright” since the day brought light rain showers, making for cold and muddy conditions. I sat out draped in rain gear much of the day to record the process since Marc ended up staying very busy overseeing the process and helping out where he could. All in all it was quite a transformation to go from basement foundation footings to a mostly-framed and sheeted house by the end of the day.

Although our house was ready, the crew was not and as it ended up we got a “borrowed crew-for-a-day” off another job site so the house still sits without its roof trusses erected and sheeted which normally would have been done the second day. It will be Marc’s job to do the actual roofing. The builder says his part will happen during Marc’s absence. Sometime soon, the crane operator will need to stack the trusses and get his equipment back and up next it’s also a priority that the basement concrete pour be completed so the excavator can complete his backfill and also get his equipment back. Our lot definitely looks like a construction yard at this point.

Blenker Building Systems is a proprietary wall system completed using computer aided jigs inside a factory setting so everything is put together on site much like pieces of an expertly constructed puzzle. There are no weather related issues to interfere and no man made mistakes or poor workmanship. Our main floor had nine exterior wall pieces which came completed with the windows and Tyvek and it was a wonder seeing them being swung in with precision by the crane operator and then nailed into place by the workers. It’s actually pretty incredible that this much work goes together in a period of around eight hours, isn’t it?

Yet to come is another portion to our home: the front porch. Footings need to be erected and poured before that can be delivered and attached. It will be screened and maybe eventually enclosed and is a very generous 14x28 feet. It will add a superb outdoor space to livability and is where our spa will also reside. Our basement walls are nine feet tall and we went with a wood basement rather than poured concrete. This allows for 12 inch thick walls which can handle a whooping R-44 factor insulation, far superior to what is available with a concrete foundation. On the main floor, we also went with nine foot ceiling height and a tall vaulted ceiling for the great room and kitchen. The house is about 1230 square feet but double that including the full basement. The basement will not be finished square footage to keep taxes lower but everything will be set up to accommodate future expansion if desired. 

Without further ado, here are a series of photos which mainly track the erection starting with the first basement wall and ending with the crew setting the main floor interior walls. 

Fall's Coming

The days here are quickly transitioning into fall. The news report this morning said we may well be on a record track for rain this year and I can believe it. Although we are having some great clear brisk days they are often interrupted by cloudy rainy ones, some of which fall as downpours. I swear we sure didn't have much of a summer, with only a handful of days even reaching mid '80's.

I’ve been a bread baking fool lately since I signed up to provide the Waupaca Humane Society’s bake sale booth at Waupaca's Fall O Rama this Saturday. I’m providing 12 loaves of various flavors to be exact; all of which take just about an hour’s time since I bake them one at a time in the Dutch oven. I had no choice but to make them ahead and freeze them and only hope they thaw and will still be appealing at $4 loaf! Despite the rainy forecast for Saturday I am also slated to man the booth for a shift. 

Next week I committed to helping make up and set up a display exhibit recognizing the Humane Society at the Waupaca Library but just this morning felt as though I could be coming down with a cold. Quick—get the Zicam going! We swear it helps shortstop colds and I certainly hope it works quickly today. Marc has been sick nearly a week since the cold went like wildfire through his workplace. Despite how hectic our schedules have been with the house, he is due to head out again Monday for probably two weeks in the Dakota Territory. Coming up next will be a photo heavy update on the new house.

Folks, We Have Started!

The day finally came on our anniversary, the 4th, and now instead of a beautiful green pasture I am able to look out at massive dirt piles and gigantic holes in the ground of our lot. But how exciting to finally be able to walk and imagine exactly where my kitchen is going to sit and the views from various windows. It will only get better from here! I should be able to update again around the 15th when the Blenker crew expects to deliver our house to the lot. It is underway right now in their factory.

Mother Nature gave us a downpour shortly after the excavator finished his work, causing the dirt piles to ooze out onto the grass as though they were volcano flows. Fortunately the soil is entirely sandy loam with nary a rock, so water is quickly absorbed and it didn’t disrupt the setting of the forms the next day. Marc is working on extending the water line from the well head to the house location, all at a depth of 9 feet. The line will be entirely insulated as well, preventing any freeze up despite how harsh of a winter, even one -50 like this last one.

We’re not the only ones in our neighborhood building; a new neighbor just to the rear of us got a head start on his large home. Since ours is significantly smaller, maybe we'll catch up!

Not Quite a Standstill

Marc is once again in North Dakota for a couple of weeks but managed enough time at home to get the final details of our home build all in order. The final loan papers are signed and recorded, all the sub-contractors lined up with bids, application for and completion of the building permit, final “final” plans drawn by Blenker. The appraisal came in Wednesday; it’s short by $16,000 but we’ll just have to work with what we have; it will mean Marc needs to do more of the work himself. The market here is still soft and there really weren’t a lot of recent comparable sales, none of which were new construction. The appraiser was comparing our new build to homes up to 20 years old, which provides a very poor comparable! We are somewhat hampered in value by the fact that we are building a two bedroom, one and a half bath home but that’s what we can afford, what will work best for us, and in reality with a full basement of 1230 square feet there’s no reason an additional bedroom or two and a full bath couldn’t be added downstairs. We prefer to keep property taxes as low as possible and have no need for additional bedrooms.

Central Wisconsin has been pretty rainy this past week; Waupaca got over four inches of rain in one day and had localized flooding. We are hoping to break ground next week starting with the basement excavation but it is weather dependent—a big hole filled with water isn’t something we need, even though the soil in our area is very sandy and water absorbs quickly.

I’ve been catching up on dental work, continuing my volunteer work with the shelter, and making my projects. I finally made two fabric bowls and although they are simple to make, there is a definite art to it, which I don’t have control over as yet! The angle the coil is held determines the bowl shape and it must be held the same throughout the process or it throws off the shape. My first bowl came out large and shallow; the second took a tighter turn of its own volition and turned out narrower and much taller!

Even though I had Marc’s help in making my coffee table into an ottoman I was unhappy with the results of the way the covered foam looks and not sure I will keep it as is. It may become just a coffee table after all but to now remove the foam and adhesive will require a lot of sanding!

Our new boy Jerry is settling in and making himself at home, even becoming the lap kitty I wanted. Rocket is still not in the least impressed however and says he wants to move out! They don’t outright fight but Rocket is frequently heard growling and snarling. Jerry’s above it all and doesn’t even react. Munchkin tries to stay out of the middle of it and gets along well with both of them.