Slow and Steady Builds the House

Sorry it has been awhile since my last update, but it has been a full week. I have spent the days packing things into boxes for our move, trying to keep the house under control, preparing meals for our supper at the farm, and of course, making sure that Caleb and Hannah aren't ignored during this crazy fall (or year, I should say!)

This week of building has been kind of slow week compared to last week, or so it seems. As I mentioned earlier, we are just working evenings this week. With spending Monday in Des Moines all day, we have had three evenings at the farm.

Last week was quite exciting. We got a lot of work done and saw big changes as walls went up and wiring got started. This week, however, the changes aren't as pronounced. We have been working quite hard, but the things we are working on are piddly little things that go unnoticed so it seems that not much is happening when we walk inside.

Progress is being made, however, even if it doesn't jump out at us. These things are all things that need to be done before we will start to see big changes again when the insulation and drywall go up. Then, of course, there will be another phase of piddly little work that doesn't stand out very much.

So here is what has happened this week:
On the contractor end of things, the septic system is finished and the plumbing is set up along with the bath tub being installed. A note on the tub - it isn't blue. That's just a protective covering. It is however, two inches wider than a standard and quite deep. This was one of the few luxuries (even though it was about the same price as a cast iron tub) we wanted from the beginning. (Yes, Ethan was in on this one - I actually had to walk him away from tubs with jets multiple times!) We don't care that our bathroom is barely big enough to fit it. There's just something about a nice warm soaking after a hard days work!

The plumbing and the septic were the most noticeable changes of the week so far, especially since quite a large portion of the pasture got torn up in the process of putting the septic in. (It will come back though, and we can graze and make hay over the system too.)

The things we have been working on are the things that aren't very noticeable.
In addition to picking out and buying more materials, we have caulked around the entire base of the building where the concrete meets the wood. This will help tighten up the building to prevent bugs from coming in.




We fastened boards to the concrete around the perimeter of the building to nail the dry wall to . More outlet boxes and outlet spacers were installed (the one pictured isn't finished if you noticed it was crooked) and more holes have been drilled for the wiring. (I can see why the bid to have the electrical job contracted out was around $8000. It just plain takes A LOT of time!)











Ethan has gotten 3 of the 4 cabinet shelves constructed with 2 of them nailed into place. (Since our ceilings are 10 foot tall, we are going to have built in cabinets above our closets for extra storage.)

Caleb and Hannah also chipped in on their own and spent a good hour sweeping up sawdust and dumping it into the garbage.

It's amazing how every little hand helps out, and each little project that gets done brings us a step closer to seeing big changes again.