Day 8 - Oct. 25 - more slab plumbing

The plumbers came back today and put in the water lines.  These lines run in the slab and come out at specific places.  After framing, more water lines will be put in through the walls to all the places that need water (faucets, tubs, etc.).

We got an inspection on the drain lines and the water lines and passed.  Yay.  Now we can move on with the slab.

Day 7 - Oct. 24 - exterior?

Since today is Sunday and we're waiting for a plumbing inspection, no work got done today.  However, Chip and I spent part of the day trying to decide on the exterior for our home.  We want a rock wainscot on the front and we were thinking about HardiBoard for the top of the front and the other three sides.  We drove around a little bit to get some ideas and to try to make a decision.

Chip remembered a house he worked on while ago that had horizontal HardiBoard in two different sizes.  But once we saw one like that, we ruled it out.  So, it's between board and batten and 8" HardiBoard.

We saw this home on our drive and like the mix and rock and board and batten.

We are also thinking about chopped limestone for the wainscot.  But I'm not sure about what type of limestone.  Apparently, there are many different types (colors) of limestone.





Day 6 - Oct. 23 - Beams

Our slab guys came and dug beams.  Beams are basically tunnels in the fill.  The concrete goes into these "beams" and it adds structure to the slab.  They can't do anything else until after Monday's inspection.

Day 5 - Oct. 22 - Waiting...

Today is a waiting game for the first plumbing inspection.  As of 2 pm, no inspection...

As of 5 pm, no inspection.

Chip checked at 9 pm and there was a red tag  - not enough pressure.  So we'll pump it up again and get another inspection on Monday.

Day 4 - Oct. 21 - Plumbing drains

Today the plumbers came and put in all the drains.  This is exciting stuff, right?  They also trenched for the water supply from the street.

Day 3 - Oct. 20 - more fill

We got the final loads of fill today and they worked on getting it compacted.  In the photo below, you can see the elevation difference to the front.  The slab will be at the top of those wood boards.  The big mound of fill to the left is the garage area before it was moved around and compacted.

Day 2 - Oct. 19 - fill

Jesse continued the forming and we got 28 loads of fill of 12 yards each.   We were very surprised that there is about 42" of fall from the back of the home to the front.  So we needed a lot of fill.  We also decided to put some steps in the garage to have it be lower than the rest of the house.  It will make for a much easier drive into the garage without having to grade up to the garage.  Because of these new steps with a landing, we decided to extend the garage out another 5'.  The garage is pretty small to begin with and I want my car to fit!  This is one of those decisions we had to make today because I drew the plans and we didn't take steps like measuring the fall of the lot.

Day 1 - Oct. 18 - forming

We started forming today.  Yay...real progress!  Jesse and two other guys came out and started putting up the form boards.

Breaking ground scheduled...

for Monday.  The slab guys are coming first thing. 

And we're going to be on a DIY network show.  Someone is going to be there on Monday to set up the still cam.  Should be an interesting experience...

Floor plan

Chip and I went over to the lot today and marked off the corners with spray paint.  We decided that the garage will be front-entry because there's not enough room.  I have my heart set on a one story and it's about 65' wide.  Chip will still have enough room to pull his truck to the left of the garage.  We can do a carport or gravel drive or maybe concrete over there.  Our two car garage will be for my car, the kids' toys and other garage stuff.  I'm getting really excited.

Here's the floor plan:

Electrical Design - Oct. 5th

Today, Chip met with the City of Austin electrical designer.  He decides where our electricity comes from since we're not in a planned development.  We do have a neighbor, so it'll come across the front of his lot to the corner of ours.  Then, later, we can decide whether or not we want to go overhead or underground.  I would love to go underground, but I don't know if the budget will be there.  Maybe I can dig the trench myself.  Ha.  It won't be too bad if we have to go with overhead because there are so many trees.  You probably wouldn't be able to see it if you didn't really look for it.  More to come on that later.

Right now I'm designing the half bath.  It's going to be a small room, just big enough for a pedestal sink and toilet.  I'm thinking about this wallpaper for one of the walls.

Permits - October 4th

I went down to Travis County today and filed our development and driveway permits and requested our floodplain certificate (saying we're not in one).  Once we get the cert back, we can file our septic application with LCRA.  Once we have that receipt, we can take it back to Travis County and request that our development permit be released.  Back and forth, back and forth!