Building the House

 

This was the beginning.....pouring the stem walls for the foundation!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The insulation

As we began to think about building, we drew on our knowledge, both current and past, of energy

effeciency.  We built a house about 29 years ago and it was, to a degree, passive solar.  We situated

the house so that the side with the most windows, were on the south side and the north side had no

windows.  But, as with all things, the building industry has changed.  Insulation has become more

efficient with the use of the sprayed foam.  It can cover cracks and openings that you can't even see! 

The crew that we had do ours even sealed the area around the doors and windows.  I don't think we'll

have any air leaks in this house. 

Windows have also improved considerably.  It is now very common to be able to get "Low E".   In

the sunroom which is situated on the south side of the house, has windows that are not "Low E" so

that we can gain as much solar heat as possible.  You can definitely feel the warmth on sunny

days...so much so that if it is fairly warm outside, I've had to close the doors between the sunroom

and the rest of the house!

Moving in!

I need to bring y'all up to date on what's happening with the house.  We began construction on August 3rd.  It was so terribly hot

during part of our construction.  Those poor guys were working out there when it was over 100 degrees and we certainly do

appreciate them for it.



After all this time, we were finally able to make the big move into the house on the second weekend in November.  Aaron, Rachael

and Chloe came down from Ozark and Joe came over from NW Arkansas.  We used an enclosed trailer of my dad's which certainly

made it a lot easier.  Doing it this way you don't have to be so concerned with how things are tied down....and there's no chance of

anything blowing out.   It's so embarrassing to be going down the highway, have something catch your attention and it be something

blowing across the road behind you.   And heaven forbid it be something that hits another car!!   Anyway, we moved in knowing

that the house wasn't completely finished yet, but living in that shop building with no windows was about to drive us buggy!!  

The house did not have cabinets in the kitchen or vanities in the bathrooms, but we had a bathtub, shower and toilets....that's

enough for us!!   Oh...and did I mention there are WINDOWS !!  Big, glorious, wonderful windows.   We can now actually sit inthe

house and look out!    The shop that we were living in before had no windows, so if was raining or cold, the roll up doors were

down.  It certainly makes it more cozy and comfortable....but I like looking out!

 We moved the big furniture and set up housekeeping!!  That's when the unpacking of boxes began.  But, since there are no cabinets,

only clothes and bedding can be unpacked,  I'm trying to be patient!!!!!

Getting here.

Just getting here to the farm can be an adventure in itself.   If you come from the south, you

have to, or get to (depending on your attitude) ride the ferry.  This is one of the last ferries in

AR and it is operated by the Highway Department.  It only runs during the daylight hours, so

it can put a damper on your traveling.  You've got to restrict your traveling to daylight

hours only or go around the other way which can add many miles and lots of time to your trip.  It also

won't run if there is dense fog or extremely high winds.

There is a schedule for arrivals and departures, so unless you want to sit and wait the 40

minutes it takes for the ferry to make a round trip, you look at the schedule and plan.  We

know how long it takes us to leave the farm and get to the ferry, so that we don't have that

time to sit and wait.  It can be a social event though.  There have been many times that

we've seen people open their trunks or get into the cooler in the back of their truck to have

a cool drink of water or soda while waiting.  There's also a lot of visiting that goes on. 

Catching up with the neighbors or finding out where the other travelers are from is usually

the topic of discussion.  This route is very popular with motorcyclists and many times they

are from other areas and interested in what else is in the area.  That's when we get to brag

on our little area of the state and its beauty!

This is what you see when you pull up to wait for the ferry.  There is always a spare tug....you just

never know when you might need another one!

 

 

Vehicles line up and people get out of their vehicles while they wait for the ferry. 

 

Here it comes!!   You can't see it, but the tug powering the ferry is obscured by the extra tug.  The pilot glides up to the dock and a dock hand secures the ferry to the dock with large ropes.

 

Just a couple of motorcycles on this trip.  Sometimes there aren't any vehicles on a trip, but they have to go anyway to keep on their schedule.


There is another way to get here besides the ferry.   It just depends on which direction you need to go

whether you take it or not.  Sometimes though, you just need to ride it for the enjoyment!  There's

nothing like putting your tailgate down, sitting on it and enjoying the last ride of the day.  It's the

"sunset cruise"!!!

 

 

The water line

As part of putting this farm in to use for cattle, we needed to install three freeze proof waterers. We will

have electric fences seperating the place in to five different paddocks as we are planning on utilizing

rotational grazing. That required a backhoe to come and dig the water line.  It needs to be approximatley

24" in our area as that is the freeze line.  First, in the country you've got to find out who has a backhoe

and when they can come.  So, after asking around, a name comes up, you ask around about their

reputation and then you give them a call.  You have to find out what they charge and if they can do the

job.  Then find out when they can come and hopefully they show when they say they will.  Before the

digging even started, we located a plastic pipe manufacturing facility that was fairly close (35 miles) and

spoke with them about purchasing 3000 feet of pipe.  No problem....they have what we need.  So we load

up in the wonderful green and white dump truck and head off to get our pipe.  The lines all get dug

and now comes the part of laying out the pipe and glueing them together.  Everything works pretty


good...we have a few snags such as a few of the pipe pieces not fitting snugly enough together to make

a good seal.  Somewhere in quality control, they missed these pieces.  So....you cut them apart and

reapply the glue and move on down the line.  Once the pipes are all laid and a riser attached, then

comes building forms for the concrete that will be poured to be under the waterers.

Windows....Missing the view

You don't truly appreciate windows until you don't have have them.  The shop  building that we are

living in while building the house, doesn't have any windows.  We did that for security reasons as we

 were not living here at the time and have tools and things that we didn't want people to be able to

see.  Now though, while it is raining and we can't raise the big doors....I really wish we had put a

couple of windows in this building.   It is quite cozy, but I want to see out!!   Maybe the rain won't

last long today, although we desperately need all the rain that we can get to make up for the deficit

we have had all summer long.  It's good for the pastures and makes the cows quite happy as well as

helps the garden.  I've replanted green beans hoping for a good fall crop as the summer crop just

couldn't produce because of the extremem heat and lack of water.  

It's time for an awesome update!!   The house has finally begun!!   We've been working at it for about 4 weeks now and we are so excited about the progress. 

 

As the carpenters began to add the 2nd story......we realized that it is going to be really tall standing out there in what once was a field!!

 

 

 

 

Now, as we're looking at it.....I begin to wonder how in the world the carpenters are going to be able to get the trusses up there...

 

Lo and behold.....the next Monday.....this crane shows up and makes short work (45 min.) of getting the trusses lifted up and secured.

 This saved a lot of man hours and was well worth it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's still looking a little gangly at this point, but in my next post I'll show you how much better it looks with the porches on it.  They kind of ground it and anchor it visually.

 

At this point, we still don't have the construction loan and I'm getting a little nervous....talk about building on faith!

 

When we began this process and finally found a builder, he asked if we wanted to have it bid or build it for time and materials.   We chose time and materials.  We pay the labor every week and for materials as they come due.  Fortunatly, the lumber bill isn't due til the 10th of every month and I've got a little hedge time here :)

 

I'll keep you posted as we progress!!