Foundation

It has been a busy week. We have been barking at the guys building our doghouse almost every day! It looks like they stand around a lot so we tell them to get busy or we will get mean. We can tell they are afraid of us because they eventually get back to work.

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures where you can see the whole foundation. The first picture starts from the front of the house which is on the left and the second picture shows the back which is on the right.

The low part on the left is the front porch. Next comes the dining room which Mom has already said we are not allowed to enter. Can you believe that? It is our doghouse and she is making part of it off-limits? We know we have mentioned it before but it just really makes us want to pee when she makes rules like that! Anyway, next you can see where there is a part sticking out toward you. That is the breakfast room. You can't really see it but next toward the back is the utility room which will have a special dachshund length sink in it for torturing us with baths. Then there is a little back porch.




Our doghouse will have lots and lots of porch space. Mom took pictures of it so you can see. It is the section that is a couple of inches lower than the rest of the foundation. You can see that it goes all the way across the front of the house. The part closest to you is 8 feet deep (from the front edge to the wall of the house) and the part farther away is 10 feet deep.



This is the porch from the other side. It wraps around the house a little bit. The part of the house with the porch on two sides is the family/living room. This section of the porch is a little over 7 feet deep. In case you are wondering, that is Aunt Bec's house in the background.



This smaller piece of porch is off of our bedroom. It is going to be screened in so Mom can sit on it most of the year and no matter what the weather is like. It will be a little warmer in winter and a little cooler in summer. It is also on the south side of the house so it won't get the cold north wind. This porch is a little over 8 feet deep.



Finally, just so you don't think we are going to live on big block of concrete, here is the first shipment of building supplies. They will use this to build the frame. We don't know if you can see the boards on the top that are green but those are called "green board" and they have a special treatment so they can be used in bathrooms and other areas where there will be exposure to dampness.



Well, that is all so far. Next time we will probably be able to show you the framing. It still won't look like much of a house until they get some walls up.

Plumbing

Hello all,

Things have been progressing on the new doghouse. Mom says it will seem like nothing is happening because they have to do things that go in the ground. This week they did the plumbing. You can see all of the stub ups in this picture. The stub ups are those white post looking things. They are in the kitchen and both bathrooms. Mom and Aunt Bec walked around checking the locations. They both said how small the area looks when there are no walls. When Aunt Bec's house was at this stage, she used a tape measure to make sure everything was big enough ... it was.



Here is another picture of the stub ups. They aren't very exciting but they do indicate progress! If you look at the right side of the picture, you can just see the corner of Aunt Bec's house. The garage and storage building is behind the trees in the middle of the picture. Mom says she is going to have to do something about those trees - or at least something about the scruffy part of those trees.



And, while we are talking about plumbing, the builders brought a lovely addition to the landscape. Mom drove up on Wednesday night and this is what she saw -- well, sort of, it was dark when she drove up and it is daylight in this picture. People are so silly. If the grass is good enough for us ...



Okay, that's all for now. Maybe Mom will get out there and take some super-exciting close up shots of those pipes. We are sure that the possibility has you too excited for words.

Foundation Work and Neighbors

Hey everyone!

The builder finished clearing the area where we are putting the new doghouse. Then he hauled in a lot of dirt. There were piles all over but Mom didn't get any pictures of them. She got home late and the dirt guy was here early the next morning and was spreading everything around before she could get out there with her camera. Here is a picture of the dirt when she got home. This is the side view.



This is the front view. The pile of lumber on the right was for the foundation frame. The yellow building in the back is Mom and Aunt Bec's garage and storage.



This morning we got up and Mom was laughing because the neighbors came over and were using the front porch even before she got to step on it! As you can see, the foundation is framed. The builder called Mom yesterday to ask where she wanted the septic system. (We are out in the country so we don't tie into a city sewer system.) Anyway, Mom is going to see if the system can go on the left side of the house. Mom also needs to settle on a color for the doghouse because the builder wants to paint the siding before he puts the roof on. Mom says there are so many decisions to make!



Mom went out later to take a better picture of the foundation frame. Here it is.

Day One - Site Clearing

It's started! It's started!

Today they started clearing the site. This is about the same view facing the front of the house after the trees have been cleared.



And this is the view from the side.



Not much to see but at least something has happened!

And when Mom got home from work, she found me (Sammy) and Jake checking out the cleared site. She seemed to think we should have stayed inside the fence. Aunt Bec is going to ruin our fun by blocking the escape route.

The Doghouse Site Before Anything

Hey, sorry we didn't post the site pictures last night. Mom didn't realize the card reader was at the other house. Fortunately, Aunt Bec went over there today and picked it up for Mom to use. That just shows you how long it has been since she has posted any pictures!

This is a picture of from the front of where our new doghouse will be. You will be looking at the front of the doghouse after it is built if you stand in the same place where Mom was standing when she took this picture. Yes, those trees are going away. It may seem a shame but those are junk trees and there are lots of other trees to admire.



This is the site of our new doghouse from the left. That smaller tree on the left is about where the front of the porch will be. The big tree in the middle is about where the dining room will be. We have issues about the dining room because we found out Mom is putting up French doors so we can see in but we can't get in. Something about dog pee and her good dining room furniture keeping the good stuff for herself.



This is a picture of our back yard from the back of the doghouse. All of those trees are staying. We should have lots of squirrels to chase. Mom says she likes the trees but she might not be so fond of them when it comes time to cut the grass in the back yard!



Well, that's about it for now. Mom got the paperwork to get water and electricity set up. We know you just can't wait to see the water meter (barking so hard we are going to pee).

And for good measure, here is a picture of some cows - the neighbors.



And here is a pretty picture of Grandma's wisteria vine when it was blooming last Spring.

The Construction Loan is Signed!!

Mom signed the construction loan papers yesterday! They are coming out to clear the pad space on Monday! Mom took a picture of the spot before any work is done. We will add that to this entry tonight. Now Mom has to pick out colors and fixtures and whatever else people think is important to make a doghouse comfy for humans. All we can say is that there better be a place for our kibble.

We have to rest our voices. Since we are staying with Aunt Bec right now and we are building our doghouse next to hers, we will be able to watch everything the builders do. And you know we will have to tell them to hurry up or watch out or any number of things so they do it right!

Something

Well, this was a long road. It took a year to finally get my house on the market and another year to sell it. In the middle I got laid off. Well, now I am gainfully employed, my other house is sold, I have a nice chuck of money in the bank, I have a location on my land, I have a house plan and I have a builder! I have names of four local lenders to talk to about a construction loan. Once I get the financing out of the way, it is time to break ground!

This would be a little more fun without the broken ankle or the wrist brace (long story which you don't really want to hear) but I can still feel the excitement. I'll be posting progress. At first it will be blah and boring but then things will move quickly.

I hope you enjoy following along!