Construction: Days 10-13

With word that the foundation would be poured in the latter part of this week, I snuck out of work a little early on Friday and drove straight to the home site.  Sadly, there was no foundation - but it still had some pretty big changes.  

you can see here that they have dug trenches in a grid throughout the house.  I'm assuming this will all be filled with concrete when the foundation is poured to make it more stable. 

You can see the red/blue pipes for hot/cold water that will run through the house.  

Tapped into the sewer lines.

The husband and I went out again on Saturday afternoon to see if they poured that morning.

We were so pleased to see the concrete truck still there - and everyone working!

After they finished pouring they had some kind of 'buffer' that they used over the entire foundation

Basements don't really exist in Texas, but you can see the slight dip in the foundation where the garage and front porch will be.  There's a dip in the back for the patio as well.  

Hip Hip Hooray!  They're now saying we should be able to move in no later than June 15th.  We're down to 73 days.  They took forever to get started, but I think is going to be a quick build!!

Construction: Day 3-5

On Friday evening we drove by the house again.  We found that they filled in the the homesite and leveled it.  They also started doing the "rough in" of plumbing.  I am very confused about the placement of pipes - but I have to trust that they know what they're doing - and I'm an idiot.  

 This photo is taken from the back corner of the yard.  You can see that the back of the house will be slightly elevated in the back to create a level home.  I image we'll have a few steps down from our back porch to get into the yard.  

The weather was beautiful on Friday evening.  So The Husband and I decided to take a walk around our new neighborhood.  We are building in a new area of the neighborhood - so we are actually one of the first houses being built.  Right now, it's just open land and it's so beautiful and peaceful.  It really feels like we're out in the country.  I know that feeling won't last long... but for now - we're enjoying it.

On our walk - we spotted a family of four deer.  Awesome, right?

Wanna know what's NOT awesome?  We also found this on our homesite.  Either our builders are having a fun time while building the house - or some neighborhood hoodlums have decided to 'hide out' with their bong on our property.  Either way, it doesn't leave me thrilled.   

The pipes in the back right corner of the house seem to make sense - as that's where our master bath is located.  However, the pipes in the center of the house are what is leaving me confused.  That may be where the kitchen is located - but that leaves no pipes for the guest bath.... I tried measuring it out but I couldn't tell for sure what they were there for, and again, I have to assume the builders know what they're doing.  

Things are really progressing.  We got a phone call from the builder letting us know they're going to finish up the plumbing early next week and get the cables out for the foundation and they should be pouring our foundation by the latter part of next week.  They said once they get the foundation laid - everything will move quickly and the house is will appear before our eyes.  

Construction: Day 1-2

Holy Cannoli.

There is "movement" on our lot.   Things are happening. Shit is getting done!!!

As a reminder:  This was "before"

And now... look at our (soon to be) house!!!

They knocked down all the oak trees that were in the way of the house - and the cedars.  

(those of you allergic can thank me later for killing a few of the evil texas cedar).

If you want a re-fresher of our floor plan... click here.  

As I mentioned before we have a greenbelt behind us.  No backyard neighbors, and we get to look out into the wooded area. 

This is the front left (if you're standing in the street, looking at it) corner of the house.  

This is the back of the house.  Look at those awesome trees that will be in our yard!

The view when I'm standing at my (pretend) front door.  Obviously, there will eventually be houses there.

This photo was taken at the back left corner (when looking at the house from the street) of our backyard - looking onto the backside of the house.  We're thrilled with the size of the yard.  That was something that was very difficult to visualize with all the trees everywhere. 

So yeaaaaaa! We're so thrilled to see progress.  They said there were going to start digging for plumbing and should have it "roughed in" by Saturday.  I'm not sure what that means, but we'll find out.   It's amazing how small the footprint of the house seems at this point.  I know it's an optical illusion, but still... it's strange.  

We going to see it again on Saturday to see what the builder accomplished on construction days 3-5.  

The lot.

We took our weekly visit to our homesite on Sunday morning.  I was hoping to see some trees knocked down or something cool... but it looked pretty similar to what we saw last week.

So far, they have already done a 'rough' mark of where the footprint (4 corners) of the house will be on the lot.  Today we did notice they added a few flags where the back fence will run.

Our lot backs up to the greenbelt - which ensures no backyard neighbors... ever.  This privacy was something we are really looking forward to.  State law (or maybe neighborhood law?? who knows?) requires an iron fence when you back to greenbelt which is fine by us...  because that is less future maintenance, and it allows for great views into the wooded areas.  I can imagine Cooper (our beagle) having lots of fun trying to spot deer and another creatures.

Here are a few pictures I snapped during our visit.

The tree in the far left of the photo is the dividing line between our property and the neighbors.  The small yellow flag (just to the left of the stick in the front of the photo, and the flag is actually pretty far back) is the left corner of our house.  Isn't that "SOLD" sign the coolest thing since keyless entry?  'cause we all know that keyless entry in your car is way cooler than sliced bread. 

That big patch of tall oak tress in the center of the photo is where our backyard will be.  I'm not sure how many they'll be able to save in the building process... but they seem pretty confident.

  

This yellow flag is in the back of the property where the iron fence will be placed.  That the husband standing where the next marker is.  Any trees (or brush) behind this fence must stay.  

I added this photo because he's cute.  The last post's 'cute scale' was off the charts just by including our fab-o floor plan.  I feel like this post was lacking... because photos of dirt (with no house a top) isn't as fun.  However, throw a pointless photo of an adorable dog at the end of a post... and all is right with the world once again. 

p.s. That dog can't wait to pee in his very own backyard.  He told me last night at 11:45pm when he was scratching at the door to go potty.   can.not.wait.

p.s.s. Our design meeting to pick out all of the interior finishes is next week.  Get ready for some serious topics such as grout colors, back splash designs, and debates such as brushed nickel vs. oil rubbed bronze.... 

Who am I kidding????  Anything and everything "oil rubbed" is better.  Decision 1 of 1,000,000 - complete.