Stairway to Heaven...

We now have a temporary staircase that leads us to the upstairs (granted, it drops you right into Kate's room where her closet should be, but hey...)!!!  Between the raindrops (aka stormy weather and yes, boots are a necessity when visiting the lot [see the kids pic below]!), the dedicated Airhart staff and framers have been working hard!! 

We have all exterior walls on the second floor, as well as a few interior walls!  Now, if only the weather holds for a few days, maybe we'll get a real roof!!!  There is a new load of lumber sitting in the future driveway, and the resident ducks are still there.  We hope to see more progress as the week goes on...

The kids in their future bedrooms

The master bedroom 

The kitchen (we can't wait!) 

The front

One of our new residents...we will feel bad kicking them out when it is time to move in, but I don't think Ruby will like having them around...or they won't be around for long :)

A Break in the Rain

Ok, so we've all heard the saying, "April showers bring May flowers," right?  But this is ridiculous!!!  So we finally got a break in the rain (for 1 1/2 days), and these guys worked hard for those few dry hours.  So here we have some bedroom walls!  The kids now have an idea of where their rooms will be, and ours is beginning to take shape in the back.

Wow, that was fast!

And we have a first floor!  It is only Wednesday, and they have done the entire first floor!  We now have actual rooms to walk through and tour (let us know if you'd like one, because we are always willing to walk through). 

Matt and Kate walking down the driveway

Standing in the breakfast area

The great room, from the kitchen

The doors into the piano room and den, from the dining room

We must have a superstitious carpenter!!

Does this mean by next week we'll have a second story???  Check back to find out!!

A floor or a ceiling???

"Are you really sure that a floor can't also be a ceiling?"  M.C. Escher

In our case, both!  The first floor deck, aka the basement ceiling, was completed in time for our beautiful weekend!  Now we can actually walk around and get an idea of what it will look like!

 

Moving on

Ok, sorry for the delay!  It has been a very busy week, and things are moving right along, and it is about time I get us up to date.  So here we go...

The blizzard of 2011 waited until the house was down, but came just in time to delay us from digging the foundation for the detached garage.  The reason we are paying good money to the good guys is for decisions like doing the detached garage first, thus not having to drive concrete and lumber trucks around the giant hole for the house foundation.  So after our 24" of snow, the bulldozer that was still on the lot, cleared the snow and dug the foundation for our garage.

And then the lumber and roofing were delivered and we were underway... Meet the garage!

In the meantime, they dug the big hole, parked the bulldozer on top of a mound of dirt next to the orange port-a-potty in the front yard (the neighbors love us), and poured our basement.

And then we left for spring break!  When we were gone they dug our geothermal  well and pumped all the water into the foundation.  We were told our basement looked like a swimming pool.  And that brings us to this month.  Stay tuned for the big changes!

January 31...demo day

Despite the cold, cold, cold temps, we were able to take the house down.  In order to demo, the temperature had to be above 20, or the water to hose it down would freeze.  With scheduled temps to be about 19, we crossed our fingers.  Well, we made it!  And at 7:00 AM, with donuts and hot coffee at the neighbors, they took the house down in about 20 minutes. 

In the beginning...

...there was a house in Wheaton that was looking for new owners.  And that house (or at least the yard) would become ours.

Once the new year arrived, with a lot of snow and a lot of cold, we were ready to go.  The demo sign was put up (then fell down, then leaned against a tree, then fell down again...and again...and...), the fire and police departments had their fun (and so did we!), the fence was errected and we were ready to go!