To view ALL POSTS of 'Building Our New House':

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If you want to view all posts of Building Our New House
from the beginning to the end,
 click THIS LINK, 

so you get to a list of only the posts about the how the house was built, which begins with a page with this post at the bottom.

 You will have TO READ FROM THE BOTTOM TO TOP and click 'Newer Posts' at the bottom left of the page!  

You will begin with the first post and work forward to the last 'new house' post.

It's been two years!

I just noticed that it has been two years since this blog began!
It has been two years since that first little bit of scratching around began work on the new house!

If you want to see the Yard and Garden work around the new house, start on the post linked here.

Roof and Paint Finally Finished!

Yesterday, the paint and roof crew left...
The roof is now tight, we hope, and the siding is all one color!

It is so strange to have the house all grey... we have looked at it so long as two-toned!
BUT IT IS BEAUTIFUL!!!
Time to begin on the landscaping and planting. With all the other ranch work that is to be done, I know I should keep my projects to a minimum. Plus, it will be nice to live in and around the house for a little bit before we start adding permanent features!
I am hauling tractor-buckets of dirt, manure, and sand in around the house... more photos to come soon!

Windows Replaced

Today, the glass guys came and replaced the two damaged windows.

Having Fun!

I still haven't done much for serious decorating, and over half of our furniture, clothes, books, etc are still in the old house, but we are HAVING FUN in the new house!
Here, John and Grant play a game of pool:

Nope, it doesn't play as nicely as it looks, but it's quality is not bad, considering we ordered it from walmart.com!
More soon, I hope!

Still Moving In

YES, I know it has been over a month since I updated this site!
We actually moved the beds and slept in the new house for the first time on December 15th. But soon I got the dining table moved over and we slept and ate in the new house for a week before the stove and fridge were moved.
THEN: with no phone to the new house, the computer stayed in the old house, plus the tv~! So, my menfolk wanted to spend their evenings there! But now we have nearly all those 'important' things in the new house! :)
Here are a few photos... nothing fancy, and please remember I am taking the 'decorating' part slowly! I want to live in the house a bit before I start painting, putting up moulding, etc! (Honestly, our finances are also a factor. Some of my ideas will just have to wait until there is money in my pocketbook!)
Here is a photo of the dining area, looking from the kitchen sink:
(sorry about the pile of seed catalogs... it is that time of year!)

Below is a photo from the opposite direction, facing the kitchen sink:
(we had apple fritters, so you can see the maple syrup bottle on the table!)

This photo was taken in the same place as the one above. I simply turned to the right. The blue blanket on the floor is the dog's bed, and you can see it in the top photo of the dining table, and in this photo of the living room.

The photos seem so small! But I don't have time to resize them today! I will add different ones as more changes happen.
>>>There are several more rooms through the arch on the left... photos of them soon. And I am sure the furniture will be rearranged many times over the next year! :) I lived in the old house 19 years, and it changed at least nine or ten times!!!! Hee, hee!
We are still having some 'problems':
The roof is still losing shingles.... and it seems the 'titling' and 'taxing' process is going to be a long one! Bills for the construction work are still coming in.
And at one time we had TWO insurance policies on the house... not yet sure ONE of them is in force!!!!!
But, I did get some curtains up last night... and it isn't very far to the old house if we need something that isn't in this one!
More photos soon, I hope!

The Final Day was TODAY!

Today was the final 'walkthrough'...
where the service manager made notes of anything that needed 'tweaking'.

And they fixed what things they could in this cold weather, like our door knob.

Several things must wait until warmer weather in the spring, such as replacing this window with an unusual scratch on the outside:

Here John hands the final payment to the service manager.

We have the keys!
:)

The Final Days!

Over the past several days, a crew returned to work on the roof and siding.


I think we are in the FINAL DAYS!

We have Water In and Water Out!

They worked late... until after dark,
but the new house is almost ready to have water in and water out!

We are waiting for a 'house crew' to return...
There are quite a few of shingles that blew off... and some siding work, and a few other small 'loose ends'.
But MAYBE SOMEDAY it will be completed!

Another hole in the ground...

The cistern is in and that hole filled in...
Now, there is a huge hole on the other side of the house!

After today, we should have water in and water out!!!
Things are starting to look up!
The plumbing in the old house is acting up again: the inlet water line began a second leak, and all our drains suddenly became very, very slow....!!!
Maybe a bathroom in the new house would be much better than an old fashioned outhouse!
Today is our anniversary! We spent it working on the house and moving cattle!

We ALMOST have water!

At least we have the tank in the ground, and it will be ready for water by tomorrow morning!

Hopefully, tomorrow will see both the septic and cistern completed!

Day Five of the Inside Work:

The carpet layers came today!

Notice the blurring hammers!
Even with flash and a fast shutter speed, these guys could swing their hammers too fast for my camera!

First, laying down tack strips, around the edges of all carpet areas:

Next came the pad, then the carpet was spread out:

'Taping' the seams:

Nearly done:

Day Four of the Inside Work:

The walls are nearly done!
Some touch up work:

It took alot of paint:

Left to right: Nancy, Jeff, and Becky

Waiting to see what tomorrow brings!!!!

Day Three of Inside Work:

The sun came out today... and work continues on the house.
Spraying the putty:

Then smoothing it out for the final texture:

The whole family at work:

I'll bet she could tell me how many cupboards there are!!!!

The sun came out to light up the house interior!

A housefull of materials and tools:

The house is progressing.... at least inside!
(Still no septic guy! Maybe we should have a pool on when he will show up...
will it be this winter, or next spring??????)

Day Two of the Inside Work:

Lots of work... with something being done in every room of the house! The husband-wife-daughter team seem to have their individual tasks under control!
Below, each area of work is carefully taped off, many also with plastic.

Spackling is applied.

As the cracks fill up, it begins to look more like a 'real house'.
Here, the 'marriage line' will soon be concealed.

Outside, the wind rages... combining with low temps to create HORRIBLE WINDCHILL TEMPS!!! This morning, my brother's weather station listed a windchill of -64 degrees F.
Burr! John and Grant are thawing out cattle waterers....
and would love to trade jobs with the perfa-tapers!
AND---- I think the septic system guy is avoiding my phone calls!
If he had came as planned last week, he would have avoided working in these cold temps.
Today is the day for another phone call to him!
Postscript: Yes, I am being 'stingy' with photos of the interior! Hee, hee!
If you look carefully at the photos over the next several days, you may catch a few glimpses of how the inside looks.......

Work has begun again!

Th lights are on!
The perfa-tapers began work this afternoon!
Soon every light in the house was on!

Inside photos tomorrow!
Yippee!

Getting Colder...

Waiting....
Winter arrived with a vengence... night time temps have dipped to -15 to -18 with daily highs just above zero. BURRR!!!
The house sits... waiting and getting colder!

But, after two days with the furnace off, a few ounces of ice tea in a milk jug was not frozen solid!
And there was snow blowing in around the two outside doors!
So I think we will be happy with the insulation quality in this home!
PostScript:
This afternoon, we did get the furnace started... finally!
So the house is warming up!

Have you ever looked at SHOES???

This photo got me to looking closer at the set up crew's shoes!
And, no, he isn't standing on the window grid!
Hee, hee!
:)

Some shoes were 'experienced'!

Some had a bit of attitude!

All of them have lots of mileage, on this job alone!

This was lots of fun!

Can you match up each crew member with his shoes?
(hint: look at the group photo)
So, what type of shoes do YOU wear?
:)
Me? Sometimes I wear manure-splattered tennis shoes and sometimes I wear cowboy boots!
P.S. Still no septic or cistern crew!!! ??? Hummm!

Day TEN of the house setup:

Now we have power!
Mike, the local 'power man', came this morning and now all the smoke detectors in the house are beeping! Hee, hee! Music to my ears!

Day Ten was spent in hooking up the waste water lines, etc.
... and even more siding!

Dueling Hammers!

Here is the set up crew!
SPECIAL THANKS to Art and the gang for all their work!

If anyone wants photos....

If anyone is interested in a certain photo or photos, just ask! The photos on this site are in a very small size, so there isn't a long wait for the photos to load on the page. But, I will gladly send a photo/s by email, or as a print by 'snail mail'. Just send an email to stoutdebbie @ hotmail.com. Please note that I added a space on each side of the @ to prevent automatic spam.