Jim's House Rebuilding

[jwstewar]

Cowboy,

I talked to the builder yesterday. We had enough material to do what you suggested. He was talking to the carpenter yesterday about doing it. I then talked to Monica. She like her pole the way it was. I had to do another quick phone call to get the change stopped. They were just about to start removing the moulding that was already up when I called.

 

[Cowboyjg]

Yep.....I'm familiar with that movie... ...

Sorry for the added excitement...

 

[OhioTC18]

Monica is doing pretty well, a little tired, but otherwise OK.



I had bought about 100', cut about 1' off the house end and maybe a total of 5' off the barn end. Glad I didn't buy any shorter.

Glad to hear she is dealing with all this and the upcoming arrival well. I missed seeing her when I was there last.

Isn't it great when it works out that close?

 

[jwstewar]

I need to get some more pictures, but the builder did their open house this weekend. Here is a link to their promo of it - http://www.affordcustom.com/OpenHouse.html,

Pretty much everything is finished except for pouring the driveway. It is supposed to happen today. With that, the bank will release the final draw. With that we should be able to start moving in. We can't wait.

 

[Doc]

Congrats Jim. This coming weekend is supposed to be the move in date for my SIL and daughter up in Hilliard. They are putting the last coat on the hardwood floors so they probably can't move anything in until Sunday, but just like you guys they are very excited.

 

[Bobcat]

Well, now we all have his address, but I didn't see a grill set up in the back yard yet.

 

[jwstewar]

Well, now we all have his address, but I didn't see a grill set up in the back yard yet.

It is in the old garage. Just have to dig through some junk to get it out.

Quick update, just talked to Monica. They are there working on the driveway so it looks like they will be pouring it today. We've got some furniture scheduled to be delivered throughout the week, I'll have to make sure I keep it blocked off so they don't drive the trucks on it and crack it.

 

[Galvatron]

Tell you what Jim i have full respect for you and your family for getting through what as been such an awful time.

You have stayed positive throughout and shared the new build with us here with such honesty and passion.....i really do hope your new home gives you and your family all the happiness in the world for one simple fact....you all deserve it.

That's one great home.

Kimi.

 

[OhioTC18]

Looks awesome, my friend.

 

[Galvatron]

I'm guessing your now moved in and all is well....any little updates we should have or did it all go that well??

final pics would be nice too.

 

[jwstewar]

Finally I've gotten a few more pics - at least of the outside.

We've been in the house now about 3 months and love it. We picked up most of the rest of our furniture a few weeks ago and now we are getting used to everything so it is starting to feel like home. Now we are getting in baby prep mode.

I'll post a few pics here, but you can see more here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jwstewar1999/HouseBuilding?authkey=bB1oJN9zfM8 I'll try to get some of the interior in a few days.

 

[Doc]

Looks good Jim. It looks HUGE! Next comes the landscaping. At least you can use your tractor for that.

 

[jwstewar]

Ah come on Doc, you don't like that look? That is my new Arizona look. I've done a little bit of playing around of moving the dirt to where I want it, but decided I might as well get the spouting drains in because I would be tearing it all back up. I want to pull quite a bit more dirt up to around the porch and sidewalk area as I was that to be a level before it starts to slope away. Monica has already been doing some planting up next to the house between the sidewalk. No mulch yet though, she is wanting to go with the lava rock instead. Only a one time deal, but much more $ up front. Looking for someplace we can buy it by the truck load vs. bag a Lowes. We've heard of something called brick chips that we can buy pretty reasonably, but haven't actually seen it yet.

 

[Bulldog1401]

Nice job

Is that a standard 200 amp service? By the size of the can it looks like a 320-400.

 

[jwstewar]

Nice job

Is that a standard 200 amp service? By the size of the can it looks like a 320-400.

400 Amp service. The house itself is only set for 200, but I split it off and I have 100 AMP going to the barn. They don't do 300 so we have 400 AMP available should we ever need to bump the house. With the panel being right below that in the basement, other than the panel itself being a pain, it wouldn't be a big deal to upgrade service.

 

[OhioTC18]

Jim, no need to mess with the existing panel if you ever decide to go larger. Just add a 100 Amp panel beside the 200 Amp one.

 

[Bulldog1401]

Jim, no need to mess with the existing panel if you ever decide to go larger. Just add a 100 Amp panel beside the 200 Amp one.

Yeah, what he said. When I do 400 amp services, I commonly do two 200 amp loadcenters side by side. Then I can easily configure one for a generator later. They are also much cheaper that a 400 amp panel.

 

[jwstewar]

Now that Christmas is over, Monica has started adding to her Honey Do list - OK, it actually started before Christmas. Currently the kids have their Xbox, Wii, and PS2 set up in the 1st floor bedroom. Well, that is OK for a few more months until Addyson needs her own room. At that point Keagan is going to move to that room and leave the 2 girls on the 2nd floor.

So we needed more space (that doesn't seem possible since this house is about 800 Sq. Ft more than the old one). We decided to finish the basement - which was the original plans just not quite this soon.

So starting the first part of December we started Dry Locking the basement. 20 gallons of Dry Lock Extreme and $500 later the basement was all Dry Locked with 2 coats - OK, I need to buy another bucket yet but that is for a section we aren't going to finish right now. So just before Christmas we made a trip to Lowes and started buying lumber.

I think I pretty much have everything framed now except the support poles and a couple of stub walls that will allow us to drop part of the ceiling down to hide the ductwork & plumbing.

We will be doing a dropped ceiling in it to allow access to the mechanicals as needed.

Once I get the last bit of framing completed, I'll start the electrical work. I'll want someone to take a look at it to make sure everything I do is Kosher. Don't want to go through what we just went through again. I don't know where I could find an electrical inspector.