More pictures - What a week!

What a whirlwind of a week! I wanted to show you all some more pictures of the basement prep done this week. My builder was kind enough to share the pictures he had taken.

Here you see the rock being thrown in to fill just inside the walls. This completed the prep work for the underlayment. The underlayment (my own layman's term!) is a vapor barrier and a reflector (to keep the heat from radiating into the ground).

This picture shows what the tubing for underfloor heat looks like. The heated water (heated with solar power) will be pumped through these tubes (the pump is also solar powered!) and heat the basement floor. Just imagine - no cold basement floor, even in winter! And all for free! (OK, once the equipment is paid for, THEN it's free!) We'll even have heat if we loose electricity!

Here, you see Jason - the solar heat guy - attaching some of the tubing to the pump.

I hope you are enjoying this journal of our home-building journey. We have so much more to share! I'll write again, soon!

Here are the latest pictures from the house! They have laid a reflective/insulating lining in the basement floor, that also acts as a vapor barrier. This will keep the heat moving up into the room, rather than staying in the floor, or radiating into the ground. The builder also did a rough 'drawing' of the walls, so they would know where to place the tubing for the heat.



This area is where the bathroom will be. I took it while standing at the bottom of the future stairs to lead up into the rest of the house!






This one shows you the first line of tubing coming out of the box. The rectangle here is the closet for Rebekah's bedroom. You can also see the sump pit next to the box. I was standing in the bathroom area when I took this one.



Here, you can see the tubing stretched out of the window - this was how he straightened it out to for an easier install.

Next, you see a wider angle including the box where the tubing is originating, the two white pipes are on opposite sides of the stairway coming into the basement, and our two water heaters (120 gallons EACH!) will sit partially under the steps. I was standing just outside the bathroom door for this picture.

The water heaters will be solar powered. We will have solar panels on our roof that take in the sun's energy and convert it for use in heating our water. There will be a small solar powered pump that will pump the heated water throughout the tubing, which will be coiled under the basement floor. This will give us heat in the basement. It will also provide for our hot water needs in the rest of the house. Because we do have some stretches of no sun in the winter, we do have a backup tank-less water heater that will help us through those days. However, if there is any power loss in the winter, we will have hot water and heat in the basement as long as there is sun! (I'll explain what we are doing for heat upstairs when that time comes!) We will have a thermostat downstairs so we can regulate the temperature. I am really looking forward to living in this house to see how everything works together! Just imagine - virtually free heat in the winter! (Once we pay for the equipment!)

This just shows you the outline of Rebekah's room. She's already started packing!

Pictures!

I have finally gotten the pictures figured out. (Video will be my next step!) Anyway, here are some pictures of the basement walls going in:

These are the walls sitting on the trailer waiting to go in:

And here is a photo of one being put into place by the crane:

It was incredible to watch them do this! This was a gusty, windy day, also, but that crane operator moved those walls around like it was nothing! They slid right into place, and the guys on the ground guided them right in. The walls lock into each other like puzzle pieces, and the guys on the ground would put a sealant on the end of the wall on the ground just before they placed the next section down. This seal is so strong that if you try to break it just one week later, the wall will crack before the sealant gives way!

OK, here's another one. The basement is in, and the footings for the garage. This is a view of the front of the house. You are seeing the front porch base, and the garage is off to the left of this picture.

Here is a picture of Rebekah looking out her future bedroom window. This girl can't wait to get her own room!

OK, I'll share more pictures later, but this gives you a glimpse at how the basement went in, and what it looks like now.

Later this week, perhaps early next week, the solar folks will be putting in the tubing for the radiant floor heat, and the basement floor will be poured.

I hope you enjoy seeing the progress - it sure is fun to watch this happen!

Many steps come before you break ground

I thought I would step back a bit and share our story of how we got to the place we are now.

About 2 - 1/2 years ago, my husband walked a beautiful piece of land with the landowner. Her mother had passed away, and they were dividing up the family farm into sections and selling them. At the time, the smallest piece was 20 acres. Ouch. We couldn't swing it. But Hubby loved that land.

Every so often - after another 2 frustrating months of searching for a new home for our family - Hubby would call and ask (again!) if she would be willing to break up one of the pieces into smaller sections - we could swing about 5 or 6 acres.

After a year of seeing homes, pieces of land, almost buying a piece that would not have worked for us at all, almost giving up hope - she called us. She was willing to break up one piece into 3, and one would be 6 acres! It took a lot of working with each other - but after nearly two years, we bought six acres!

That was just buying the land! I'll write next time about some more preparations for building your own dream home!

We Jumped off the cliff!

Something I'm finding out is this - when you decide to build a home, it feels a lot like jumping off a cliff!

We knew the day would come when we would have to actually commit to building our home - officially, with a bank and everything! - and today was the day! We signed the papers at the bank today, and now we are truly committed to building this house! YEAH!!

Of course, we don't have control over everything that comes up, so we are trusting the Lord, our builder, and all the subcontractors that are working on our home to do a great job, and stay in budget! See what I mean by jumping off a cliff?!

Of course, we've selected a great builder, who has done a great job of educating us about building an energy efficient home. We'll even get an energy star rating for our home, before it's all said and done!

I'm having computer issues with getting pictures and video up, but as soon as I get it all worked out, I'll add those, too! I'll write soon about the basement walls going in - it happened in six hours on Wednesday! I'll tell you all about that soon! Come back often to see what's happening with our new home!

Superior Walls hard at work!

Today was an exciting day! The basement system folks were working hard at our place. Our hole in the ground now has the sump pit, drainage tile (inside and out, per county codes! Oh, joy!), and rock in the bottom. Tomorrow is the day our basement walls go in. Some of the walls are sitting at our property even now!




We are using Superior Walls for our basement. This system is made up of pre-formed walls, that will be set into place and locked and sealed together for a super-dry, super-strong basement for our new home's foundation. I'll take video and pictures of the events tomorrow, and post them when I get another chance to sit at the computer!

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to my new blog!

We are just beginning the process of building a new home, and we are building green! I know there are a lot of people out there who want to know what this process looks like, so I thought I'd share it with you!

We have actually been working for months on this new home, and you will get insights into what we have done so far as we move along.

This week, we finally broke ground - and now we have a big hole in the ground and mounds of dirt all over! The pictures were taken at about 7:00 am on Thursday!

I can't wait to see how everything comes together! I'll be posting updates and pictures as we move along in the process. I'm told the basement walls will be in the ground by Friday - barring any bad weather. We seem to be blessed with great weather right now, so we are moving along well now!

I hope you'll come along with us on this exciting ride and see how you really can build a green home of your own!

Please feel free to ask questions and leave comments for me. I would love to share information with you on all the great things that can be done to build a green, energy efficient home. I hope to inspire you in some way for your own home - whether you plan to build a home of your own, or just want to improve your current abode.