Progress for Christmas

So we have footers and forms...a septic tank and lines for rough plumbing. We will be taking it easy for a day or two of really cold weather (oh, yeah, and the holidays). Check back in January!

Hello from soggy Southern Utah! Here are a few photos of the latest... As one of our neighbors observed, Andy's progress is nothing short of stunning. Other than the weather, we are facing few obstacles - so far. Andy now has a new assistant, and several other, slightly older ones. We will have visitors over Christmas break, but Andy will keep plugging along throughout. I think we're having a hail storm as we speak. Something just blew over...

12/17 The lot was graded over the weekend! We were busy with the puppy and now we have a space for the house.... Andy and Sarah(see photo) are on the lot right now, checking things out. She is going to be a good assistant. Andy mentioned footers and inspection for later this week. I'll add pictures:)

12/12/07

We have heavy machinery! Check back for pictures :)

So much for posting more often. I am officially "out of the loop". Andy's really got all the work now. We took our numbers to the credit union and got an appraisal, approval, and signed our closing docs yesterday. We now have a count-down. We have temporary power, water, and insurance. Of course, we've been praying for rain all summer, and now that we're actually starting construction, it's going to be an el nino winter. Our friends, Jim and Tracy, built their house the last el nino year (03-04). Anyway...this time I promise to keep up on the posting. I will add pictures, too. Stay tuned!

News

11/9/07 I know that it's been a while since we posted, but a LOT has happened. Andy has gotten almost all of the bids (3 for each area) in, and is taking our plans to the county. We met with a credit union to get pre-approval for our construction loan. We have made some minor adjustments and tweaking, and I am soooooo excited! I'll post more often.

10/26 We have so much news on the house front. We got the plans back, got town approval, and Andy's busy chasing bids with contractors. I will post more news later, but there's a lot of movement.

Plan adjustments

8/29 We got a "rough" draft back to finalize the details. My laundry room rocks!!! It's huge. We put a couple of ideas on the page and turned it back in. Andy says we should get the finals back next Wednesday(9/5).

We have power...temporary power

8/22 Andy visited with our designer/architect. He's been a little distracted - a new baby! He'll be done soon. Andy also installed our temporary power pole. Isn't it pretty?

Approval! - Episode 1

8/15 We got approved! Either they don't have a lot going on in the Public Health Dept, or having the secretary be a (happy) parent of a former student is a good thing! Just waiting on our plans from the engineer.

Cross your fingers - Episode 1

8/14 Dropped off our septic plan for approval. They said we should hear something in a couple of days.

Water Certificate

We officially have water! We've paid our hookup fee and received the certificate. Now we can take everything to the Public Health department and get a spot on the town agenda for local building approval.

We have approval!

8/10 Our perc test came back positive. We got the report and septic plan. So Monday we will submit our septic stuff to the Public Health Dept. for approval. This is a morning view of our lot.

Perc testing...

8/9 Our perc test was done today. Shouldn't be a problem, but you never know. Andy got a bobcat to fill the hole in, and had a little extra fun... You can see our stakes from last Sunday.

We have a hole!

8/8 Our perc hole was dug today.

Plans for the week

8/6 We are going to try to get our septic plan done this week, and have utilities connected. Have made the requisite phone calls...cross your fingers!

Where the house will go...

Here is our lot...we did a rough staking of the house and driveway today. The hand painted sign is the best! Called to get water hooked up this week and will call for power. Have the perc test guy coming this week. Waiting to get the plans back from the engineer so we can start getting estimates. Think we need to bring in 6-8 semi loads of dirt to even things out, but will get a better idea after it is cleared (probably 2 weeks).

Collecting applications

7/31 Printed out requirements from the town planning council, the county building department over the weekend. Then I went to the Public Health department (septic approval) and picked up another application, went to the county recorder to get a subdivision map and plot plan. I'm going to need 80 thousand copies of our plans...and everyone's fees are $300. Is that a magic number?

Tweaking the plans...

7/27 We met with the designer from the engineering firm and talked about the plans. He took them to make the necessary adjustments. We're rolling now!

Cautious action

We have an appointment for tomorrow (7/18) to meet with the engineering company about adjusting our plans! Will write more then...

Status

We have the lot, the plans, a notebook. We have sketched, noted, and scribbled. Someday we may have a house! This is the view.