3 1 3 W. S t o n e A v e n u e

So What Now....2 Months Later

2007-11-14T21:06:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been two months since we moved in (hard to believe) and we love being here. During the Fall for Greenville Festival last month we walked downtown several times and we have walked down to the library and to eat at some neighborhood restaurants. As far as inside goes, we have now almost completely finished Lura's office, hung all our bedroom closet doors, hung the rest of our living room and kitchen lights, had a fence installed, planted some things, and stained and sealed the foyer floor. We are now starting to think about finishing other projects like the light panels around the fireplace, the built-ins for the TV, DVDs, books, and CDs, the garage (a monster task) and the downstairs guest room and bathroom. Of course there's always the yard, but with no rain out there anywhere, it's hard to plant things. Even with our rainbarrels, which have lasted for a long time, without being refilled, even us earthy types have to use city water. Although we did just start that this past week and it hasn't rained in about a month.

We are enjoying our house, to say the least. Not a day goes by that we don't look around and feel very blessed to have come to this point. I think our favorite parts are the kitchen (lots of space and storage), the porch (awesome!), and our bedroom (a nice haven at the end of the day). All these other projects though are going to give us new favorite things. I almost get giddy thinking about the future upstairs room (MAN CAVE!!!) to say nothing of those rooms which will have kids in them someday. We are very happy and wanted to share some photos since our last update. Stay in touch and stop by sometime!

Sprint to the Finish

2007-09-08T09:53:00.000-04:00

For those of you who read all these little anecdotes, I have a pre-move in story before posting any more pictures. It's a little late, because yes, we have moved in. I mean, WE'VE MOVED IN!!! (He says with a combination of immense joy and extreme exhaustion)

With about a week to go before move, we weren't really sure if we were going to hit our target move in date of Labor Day weekend. We didn't have our gas hooked up to the house yet, do to a snafu with the gas company, and we weren't sure if the bank had to do their final inspection before we moved in either. A simple call to the bank relieved us of those fears. She said it was basically our house from the get go and we could move in at any time (if the City told us we could). So what about that gas thing? Well, turns out that it really didn't affect anything else because we are only using gas for our stove (only cooktop really) and for our gas logs. These were hardly on the list of essentials to move in. So that crisis was averted as well. So what about the City?

We had all sorts of little tasks to complete to get ready for electrical, plumbing, and mechanical inspections, and then the final building inspection before getting our certificate of occupancy (that little paper that tells you that you have the right to actually live in the house). We had a massive to do list and a short time, and the final inspection also had to come after the other 3 had been passed. It was like that scene in Apollo 13 where they had to find a way to fit a square CO2 filter onto a round vent with only a small kit of parts available to them in the space capsule, or when they had to find the right combination of switches and equipment to turn on to get them to exactly 12 amps. We had to get to an exact degree of completion with a limited time and a limited amount of parts in order to get passed by 4 inspectors.

First was mechanical, which we initially felt was going to get held up due to our gas situation (well, the house's situation actually), but that one went reasonably well. We passed on Tuesday. Next was plumbing and electrical. Our builder had called them in and they said the electrical inspector was backed up and it might not be until Friday that they could get to us. So move-in chances looked slim. Wednesday came and went with nothing new. Thursday, the electrical inspector miraculously fit us in his schedule, and all that was left was plumbing. We might just be able to get a C/O by the weekend! The plumbing inspector came Thursday afternoon and failed us. @!&%!? "WHAT?" we said, thinking plumbing was going to be a breeze. Two things. One, our contractor should have done weeks ago, but kind of slipped through the cracks. The second was that we found out the City of Greenville requires all plumbing fixtures to be installed in the house. There can be no stubbed-out areas, or areas with piping already in place for future fixtures. How come we didn't know this before now?? Well, as those of you familiar with the building trade know, sometimes these inspectors get a feeling of power from knowing they can make people do whatever they want in order to be able to use a building. Was this one of those cases? Turns out, all we had to do was to change to wording on the building permit to read that we had an unfinished basement and attic. How's that for bureaucracy? Well, we jumped through the hoops, but the building inspector was going to be busy and wouldn't be able to come by on Friday. Would we have to move plans back to next weekend? (By the way, we already had a truck rented for Saturday and Sunday) Nope, the inspector said we could move our things, but he would just need access to walls and panels and things. No problem we said!

Saturday and Sunday went off without a hitch! Both sets of parents and Lura's brother Tommy and his wife all came and lent a hand. My dad was a machine! I'd say for a 60-year old, he kicked butt! Everyone else was amazing too. We pretty much got the apartment emptied in 2 days. After that we slept on air mattresses for a few days until we could get the C/O.

So, after a day of Clemson festivities on Monday culminating in a fantastic victory over FSU Monday night, it was back to the real world. The inspector was set to come on Tuesday. What was left. We had passed all the others. What more could he find?? Remember that power thing?? Well he came and shortened our must do list to 2 things. House numbers and drywall. House numbers were easy, and was kind of a "duh" thing on our part. You have to have those so the post office and 911 can find you. The other thing was more major. We had to drywall the entire inside of the garage, which meant more time. The builders got some guys out there Wednesday morning to drwall (not that much to do really) and the inspector came out Wednesday afternoon. We didn't know this until about 5:00. Our builder had not been there and Lura and I had not been there, but then late in the day, we got the news we had been waiting 8 months to hear! WE COULD LIVE IN OUR NEW HOUSE!!

Below are some more in progress photos, but not of the work, of the moving in. And not actually of the moving truck either (we were a little busy those days to stop and take pictures), but of our stuff in our home. There will be be more progress and more pictures and more stories, but everything looks better from this side of the finish line!!

Lights, Paint, Flooring, Action!!

2007-08-23T22:18:00.000-04:00

Enough with all the words. Everyone really just wants to see pictures at this point anyway.

The Before & The After

2007-08-13T19:15:00.000-04:00

When building a house, there are lots of befores and lots of afters. It's hard to tell which has more, but I guess if you are a physicist, then the answer is that there are exactly the same amount, so I decided to split up the pictures evenly between the getting theres and the got theres, between the sweating and the admiring, and between the awake and mobile to the tired and barely able to move. This past Saturday, my folks were up from Columbia and we lighted and we tiled. Well, grouted actually, which is the best part. Also exciting though was the fact that we have power now and thanks to some summer training long ago at a lighting store, my dad and I were able to install most of the lights ourselves. You know, there is a reason why electricians charge big bucks for hooking up ceiling fans! Enjoy the pictures and help us count the days as moving day is in sight! We are targeting Labor Day weekend, assuming all the to-dos get checked off. We have a drop dead date of Sept. 19. That's when the apartment kicks us out, but if we are here one or two days past Sept 3, I am going to scream. Anyway, I think you can feel the excitement.

Sore Knees!

2007-08-07T12:54:00.000-04:00

This is an upate from Lura- the first time I've attempted this. We'll see how this goes. I was tired of waiting around for Mark to update the site because we have some good stuff to show you. (Mark's only been working his you-know-what off to make money to pay for this place!) My Dad has been a saint for the last 4 of the 5 days helping me lay tile in three rooms. What a chore, but well worth the result! He did an AMAZING job and now all that's left is grout and sealing. There is a great picture from Saturday (when Mom and Mark were there, too) of all of us with our tile cutting stains on our shirts. What a NASTY job. Just a reminder that we do clean up well- see previous post. We also painted our master bedroom- guess what color? Those of you who visited us in Decatur will know the answer. All the rest of you know us well enough to figure it out on your own... Go Tigers! Oh- I almost forgot- the site has been graded (finally!) and we have a functioning toilet! What a blessing that is. Now we're just waiting on permanent power and A/C. Would be handy for this 99 degree weather we're having. One last comment- our superintendant told me the slate "looks slamming!" Got to love that! Oh- and one more- a couple shots of our new door hardware (love it!) and kitchen sink, which has been in the apartment for about a year now (just brings to mind, "everything, including the...)

Counter-Culture

2007-07-26T20:47:00.000-04:00

A wise man named Costner once said, "If you build it, they will come." Once you prepare a space for something, of course, the natural next step is to actually put it there. We painted the walls to receive the cabinets and the cabinets came. Along with them, they brought counters, and drawers and doors. We had a little snafu with the end of the peninsula and we had to make a last minute design change. But that is what architects are supposed to be good at, problem-solving on the fly. Of course, one could argue that architects wouldn't make those mistakes in the first place, but this whole thing is afterall a learning experience. We also learned a bit about stair design. They put the railings and pickets up and we had to adjust things a bit. We won't tell you what we did differently, but you can judge for yourself if it works. Don't tell us if you don't think it did.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, while workers were busily installing our cabinets and doors and stairs, Lura and I were in Dallas, Texas at the annual Mary Kay Seminar. What a great time! Yes, that is me talking. It was motivating and inspirational and we will be going again next year. Lura is growing two businesses at once and I am doing whatever I can to keep up and help out! Check her out at www.marykay.com/lgodfrey and check out these photos below (a couple of us in Dallas).

Full Color Birthday

2007-07-21T21:56:00.000-04:00

Today was a very busy day. We are preparing to go to Dallas to a huge Mary Kay conference, but before we leave, we wanted to get over to the house today to paint a little. Yes, we are painting some, in fact most, of the interior of our house to save some dough. We also want to beat the cabinet installers who are coming Tuesday, while we are gone. So the 3 rooms with cabinets (2 bathrooms and the kitchen) got the first inside colors. Also today was Lura's Birthday, but she was quoted as saying "this house is the best birthday present I could get". Well, that and Harry Potter 7. We got that today too. Enjoy the pics. Next update, likely Thursday with cabinets and a fully built stair!

Stairway to Heaven (Part 2)

2007-07-18T21:57:00.000-04:00

You know, after a while, you just run out of clever titles for blog articles. So here is a follow up the post detailing when the stairs were first built. First there was just wood, but now, there are treads and risers and bamboo and paint and all kinds of stuff. Also new to the blog, interior doors and white washed walls (as in primed and ready for paint)!

We have given our apartment notice now (a very satisfying experience in and of itself) and have set a move-in date of Labor Day weekend. Move in Saturday and Sunday and then go to see Clemson take on FSU. What better weekend plans could there be? Okay, enough type, here's some new pics.

Here's Mud in Your Eye

2007-07-07T09:57:00.000-04:00

Normally someone would cringe if you told them that you saw someone throwing mud at your walls. But in this case, it's okay. It's only drywall mud, and with a lot of space comes a lot of mud. It went pretty quickly though. They have now finished sanding and mudding and taping and are almost ready for the priming before the paint. Also they have basically finished the exterior painting now too so the exterior, minus the grading, the landscaping and, oh yeah, the garage doors, it looks like a finished house. Well, there's also those Pella stickers in the windows! They needed to finish our drywall before installing the openers for the garage doors so we have been stuck with plywood to this point. This should be very soon though. Next week, they are supposed to build our stairs, complete with bamboo treads, 1x4 pickets and black painted risers and railing. To get a preview, I did a computer model of this so we could check out the paint colors. Soon we should have some actual pictures to compare. Also this week, they will be setting our doors and trim. Cool, cool, cool.

Interesting side note. Just to prove that it's not always the builder's fault when things are late. Yesterday, Ryan our super, was trying to get over to the house to grade with a bobcat and the truck he uses to haul it broke down. No biggie. We'll grade another day.

Until next time!

Amazing What a Little Paint and Drywall Can Do!

2007-06-21T20:22:00.000-04:00

Do you know what a ginko tree is? There is an interesting thing about a ginko tree. They have really pretty yellow fan-shaped leaves, but in the fall, they build up and then all the leaves change colors at the same time. Then they all fall off after only a couple days.

Well, that's about what the house has been like. No, nothing has fallen off, but after all this buildup and waiting and such, all the work which was done before is now covered up with drywall, and it only took them two days to drywall the whole house! Also, the painting (exterior that is) is going extremely quickly too.

The thing about everything going so quickly is that you find yourself suddenly pressured into asking questions and asking them quick. Questions which you sometimes don't have time to think about if they were good questions or not - like "Did those rooms have electrical outlets before they were covered in drywall?"

Soon, though, we will be able to have cool stuff like stair treads and doors and sinks and lights and all those little things that keep a house from being 4 walls and a floor and a roof. So here it is, in all it's glory. I offer you PAINT and DRYWALL!

Safe and Sound (or not)

2007-06-04T20:40:00.000-04:00

Safe we may be, but Sound we have not. We have an alarm system installed now along with all the other house systems so we are probably safer than we were. Electrical, mechanical and plumbing have all passed inspection and the Framing inspection was supposed to occur today. Also, though we have a whole heap of insulation. We have rigid polystyrene. We have fiberglass batts. Some with paper, some without. We have blown-in fiberglass. We have Icynene. Don't know what any of this is? See the pictures for some brief explanations. The long and short of it is you can't have an energy efficient house (or it's definitely a lot more difficult) if you don't have insulation. And, like I said, we have heaps of it. Our first house in Atlanta had insulation in the roof, but none in the floors or walls (brrr). Our second house had more of it, but it was falling down in the crawl space. This house has it everywhere you can have it and when you walk in and shut the door, it's like stepping into a vaccuum. You can barely hear the street noise at all. The benefit of insulation for energy's sake is that it is also good for sound. Shortly, we will have a painted exterior, drywall, and other interesting stuff.

To answer a question I keep hearing day in and day out....We will probably and hopefully be moving in at the end of August or first of September.

A rare look in the garage with cake batter (Icynene - or spray-foam insluation) on the ceiling.

Spray-foam in the ceiling (cut to fit in the rafters) and blown-in stuff in the walls.

Spray-foam up in the bonus room,

again cut to the rafters.

Spray-foam in the attic

(cake batter again)

Blown-in stuff in the living room.

Gives the room a completely different feel. They staple some felt-like material on the studs,
cut a hole in it and then blow it full (chock full) of fiberglass fluff.

Blown-in stuff in our bedroom.
The diagonal wall is interesting huh?
You can also see the ceiling insulation for sound control.

Spray-foam in between the floors next to the stair.

From St. Louis with Love

2007-05-27T22:42:00.000-04:00

We are currrently on vacation in St. Louis, so I will keep this brief, but there has been some exciting new developments which you need to see. A new hadrail on the balcony, more roofing (almost finished) and brackets under the roof highlight the additions. On our way out of town on Friday, we stopped by and were amazed. On the exterior, only a few things remain to make it look finalized. See what you think. Happy Memorial Day!

On The Brink

2007-05-15T21:42:00.000-04:00

It seems like during the course of a house, you are always on the brink of something. About to start grading, almost to framing, we should have a roof soon. But now, we are full-fledged in the midst. But we are alas still on the brink. On the brink of being finished with the roof. On the brink of getting electrical and mechanical inspections, along with our Earthcraft framing stage inspection (the realy important one). On the brink of getting paint on the outside. On the brink of insulation and drywall. Its exciting to think there is always something about to happen, and it's exciting all the things which have happened.

Interesting side story: Lura might have a new client. A lady called my office today (bear with me) and our receptionist, knowing that we don't do single family homes, gave her my name in order that I might put her in touch with Lura. Through the conversation, I learned it is a couple with two kids who have relocated from New Orleans. They bought a house in need of some addition and renovation. I told them a little about Lura and about our house. I also asked where their house was. When she told me downtown Greenville and the street. I said, "oh my gosh, that is like 2 blocks from us, we are on Stone". Then she exclaimed, "You're not the Earthcraft House are you??" They want to stay as green as possible with the renovation. It's interesting how some things work out. Lura started out with some potential clients and we ended up with future neighbors. Cool, huh?

Well, anyway, on with the pictures.

Weekly Wrapup

2007-05-03T20:13:00.000-04:00

Good evening friends. Welcome to the Weekly Wrapup. The News program that dares to take you where few can go, mainly because we are some of the few people with a key to the door. Friends, as good as our coverage usually is, sometimes still photos just don't cut it. Some times you have to tell the ever-loving truth using moving pictures, with living color and sound and everything. For that we turn to our local partner in media, our local NBC affiliate, WYFF News 4.

There she was, just minding her own business, doing a normal site visit at about 10:30 on Monday morning. She was actually just about to leave, when out of the blue, Mark Allen with WYFF News here in Greenville stopped in with his cameraman in town and asked the carpenter if they could film a little bit and ask a few questions. "There's the lady you need to talk to" he said "She's the Owner and the Architect" So one thing led to another and suddenly we were a feature in the 5:00 news hour. Apparently another story which was being prepared fell through and some of the folks at WYFF, which happens to be around the corner from our house, mentioned that Mark should go over and get some info on "that house we pass everyday".

Lura did a great job explaining our purpose for doing the house and a little about the green features. It wasn't long, probably 3 minutes at the most, but it made us feel like some people out there are interested in what we are trying to do. I was great! They don't have any video, but here is a link to the text article on their website. http://www.wyff4.com/news/13234958/detail.html

If I find a way to upload the video (youtube or something maybe) I will let our viewing public know.

Oh, and by the way....some more siding.

Side Items

2007-04-25T21:47:00.000-04:00

We haven't put any pictures on here in several days so there is naturally lots of progress. Siding is in progress now, as is fireplace installation, some electrical work, and oh yeah, we have ducts.

Let's get right to it.

A look into the cleaned up 4-square room (our combination kitchen, breakfast, dining and living room) and Now we have a deck (party coming soon)

A look at out feature wall (more on this later)

A new landing and a new dormer window (and then up to the 3rd level)

Speaking of bonus room!

It's okay, this is normal when testing the plumbing

We have been informed that its not a fascia, it's boxing!

Lura says "Natural light in the stair rocks!"

A closer look at our fireplace and we now have our ducts in a row!

And did I mention siding! (looks like a real house!)
Siding and windows on the entry patio and

SO LONG FROM THE MIDDLE DORMER!

And Now, a Word from our Sponsors....

2007-04-16T22:25:00.000-04:00

We've shown a lot of pictures already, but some of you are probably wondering..."What is all that stuff?" And "Why are you using that?"

Well, you probably know by now that this is an Earthcraft house, which means its built a little different. We are trying to conserve materials, create a healthly indoor environment, save energy, save water, and use materials that are friendly to the environment. How do we do that?

Well, see the following for info.
Info on the Earthcraft House Program
http://www.southface.org/web/earthcraft_house/ech_main/ech_index.htm
This will tell you some of the practices and theories behind EarthCraft.

Info on US Green Building Council's LEED for Homes Program
http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=147
A National program for rating "green" homes.

Info on Energy Star
http://www.energystar.gov/
Lots of great info! We have Energy Star windows, HVAC, doors, some ceiling fans, some light fixtures, some bathroom fans, and all appliances

Some of our materials and products.
Our Exterior Siding: Hardie Siding
http://www.jameshardie.com/homeowner/prodhome/default.php
Why?
Low maintenance
Not a wood or vinyl product
Doesn't rot or grow mold
Long life span

Windows: Pella Impervia
http://www.pellaimpervia.com/
Why?
Low maintenance
Energy Star (low-e glass)
Fiberglass (not wood or vinyl product)
Doesn't transfer heat or cold through frame

Doors: Therma-Tru
http://www.thermatru.com/
Why?
Energy Star (low-e glass and insulated door)
Fiberglass construction

Roofing: Ryerson Metal Roofing Panels in Cool Color Silver
http://www.ryerson.com/products-services/roof.asp#
Why?
Long Life Span
Recyclable Material
Cool Roofing Color

More info to come as we fill in the house with stuff!

Pella Progress

2007-04-16T22:07:00.000-04:00

We have some more windows and doors now. This is a very good thing. After visiting today, we have all but a couple doors and windows in place, so that the whole first floor is "secure". And since the garage doors are not in yet, or at least they can't install them yet due to the order they must do things, they just put up some temporary plywood to close off the openings. We now have a housekey (a big moment unto itself) to get access to the inside.

Other tidbits:

We went to pick out kitchen cabinets this weekend.

They are starting on siding tomorrow.

We had a delay on our roofing so the roof will not go on for another 2-3 weeks.

Pictures to tide you over are below.

4-Letter Words

2007-04-11T19:59:00.000-04:00

In the process of building a house, or at least the process of watching a house get built, you say a lot of them. Some in anger, some in amazement, some in joy, some in confusion.

We had one four letter word instance when someone took a [four letter word] on our site because the port-a-john was locked up except for workers. Joy!

Some people have asked us if our marriage is surviving this craziness. That it is such a strain on life in general that we can't possibly be getting on as usual. This has not really been the case. We still get along fine. We still talk to each other in sensible tones (or at least the same loud tones we would normally). We still say "I love you" and kiss each other. We still go out and pay bills and watch TV and all the usual stuff. For us it's more about counting down. Counting down to the day when we are out of the apartment and on to our next big adventure. As the pieces come together more, it's starting to look like something. Something familiar to us because we've already drawn it on paper. When the slab was in, we were looking forward to framing, when the framing was far along, we wanted insulation, when that went up, we want doors, and a roof, and plumbing, and appliances, and drywall. Is it impatience? Greed? A lack of happiness? Nope, just good old fashioned excitement!

Actually most of the 4-letter words we use now are DOOR, and FOAM, and WIRE, and PIPE. As you can see from the pictures, these are much more worthy of shouting out. You can do it at home while you browse.

Another word - WRAP (as in Tyvek)

Back of the house in mid-FOAM

BATH! (well, shower actually)

PIPE!

This was different 4-letter word

(Oops, I put a pipe in the wrong place in the concrete floor)

Good Friday

2007-04-06T17:12:00.000-04:00

Is it right and proper to wish someone a Happy Good Friday? I'm not sure. It doesn't seem right to say happy since today is a day to remember a sad event. Jesus died today. But, since the story was not finished (even though Jesus did say "it is finished"). I think what he meant was "Act 1 is finished". We are now, like then, about to end Act 1 and head into intermission. Act 2 is coming up on Sunday morning. We anticipate Act 2 because that's when the miracle happens. Jesus rose again!

So I say Happy Good Friday! You are in for a real treat in Act 2, and even I don't know what's going to happen in Act 3, but I hear it's heavenly!!

So, anyway...here's this week's progress on the house.

Raising the Roof!

2007-04-02T21:57:00.000-04:00

Floors and walls are nice, don't get me wrong, but what really gets you feeling like you have a roof over your head is to, well.... have a roof over your head. We finally started raising the roof or at least we stood by interested as others raised our roof into place. Lots more has happened since the last post. We now have all our second floor walls and all our roof trusses and even some roof deck. For the laymen (and women) out there, that's all that plywood they stack on top of the roof trusses before they cover it up with shingles. At least that's what MOST people do. We, on the other hand are roofing snobs and prefer a more lasting and sustainable roofing product like METAL! That is coming soon, as is plumbing, and doors, and windows, and electricity. Oh, it boggles the mind to think of such things. Lets just concentrate on what we have now though and not get too far ahead of ourselves. Enjoy the home stretch of the framing marathon.

Thank goodness for cranes.
A look up into the future bonus room.

Trusses as art.
Look, it's a house!

A look down the main hallway.

The whole back of our house is held up by this one stud.
O, Brave Lura!
(The real stud is actually taking the picture)

Stairway to Heaven

2007-03-27T12:32:00.000-04:00

Yep, obviously we have some stairs now, so the second floor is now accessible to us. Framing is wildly underway and there has been a lot of progress since the last floor truss pictures. We can see the shapes and sizes of all the rooms and we are starting to understand the ramifications of what it is we do as architects. We draw lines and they become walls and we now we have to live with them. Although we are making a few changes as we go. Ryan Gleaves, our super, still thinks we are okay to work with (as architects go!). Speaking of Ryan, if you look down below, you'll see Ryan, Lura and Clyde Rector (our builder) standing in Lura's future office. Also pictured are Lura's brother Tom and his wife Ann. They didn't make it to the ground-breaking ceremonies, so we had a late birthday (Ann's and Lura's mom) celebration on the second floor of our house on Saturday. We had wine and snacks and looked out over the city and our neighborhood and enjoyed the lovely spring weather. Tomorrow we are expecting roof trusses! Now that will be excited!

Movin' On Up

2007-03-19T19:17:00.000-04:00

...to the east side!! Actually we are kind of moving from the east side to the northwest side. Anyway. I know I should be posting more often. Especially since framing has started now and things are moving more quickly than they have been. Maybe that's why I have been slack, because things are moving too fast for me now. Well, that and the fact that I have been working like a fiend lately. Well, now I am ready to share some visions of lumber with you. Visions of trusses, and headers, and joists, and beams and columns. In case you don't understand these terms, I will show you these pictures, which are supposedly worth a thousand words. To us, they are worth about a million.

Never noticed how artistic floor trusses could be...

The Other Side

2007-03-11T22:23:00.000-04:00

For every exciting moment which is happening on Stone Avenue, there are three or four more unimpressive, frustrating, and boring moments happening at the current Godfrey residence on Pelham Rd. Before framing starts tomorrow (!) on W. Stone, I thought I would give you a glimpse into our current living situation. The walls are starting to close in as we are hoarding building materials, among other things, in our little apartment. Have a look. Boy, a new house can't come quick enough.

Bamboo flooring (32 cases!), carpet tiles, and other assorted appliances, plumbing fixtures, lighting and ceiling fans - these are all part of the decor. At least the boxes are colorful (bright side, anyone?) Also below are pictures of our extra "bedrooms". How would you like to sleep here??

First Floor....Ladies Lingerie

2007-03-09T20:14:00.000-05:00

Actually there is no ladies lingerie, at least not yet, but I got your attention! Well, the pourings (yep there were more than one) are over and the verdict is in, we really do have a slab now. It is really beautiful, for a hunk of concrete. Day one was all about the main floor slab and the side and back patios. Day two, they came back and filled in the garage slab. We were originally supposed to begin framing earlier in the week, but due to a couple of hangups, it won't be until Monday. I have been remiss in posting for the last few days, so I am going to overwhelm you with photos. Here's a quick rundown of what will forever be known as SLAB WEEK!

1) a quick view of some of the patio formwork
2) all the plastic's down
3) Workers! They install the perimiter slab insulation
4) More Workers! and a big concrete truck!
5) Smoothed out and drying
6) A little personal touch at the front entry
7) a look at the whole slab - basically dry
8) Lura standing at our future front door
9) Me posing on the slab not too long after the pour

Stay tuned for 2x4's and trusses. Monday! Monday! Monday!

Prelude to a Slab

2007-03-05T22:13:00.000-05:00

You know what it's like the day before Christmas, or the day before your birthday (when birthdays meant going to Putt Putt, Showbiz Pizza, or Bowling and getting lots of cool things) or the day before vacation when you are waiting for 5:00? Well, that's what we feel like right now. Actually right now, Lura is not feeling like that. She's a little under the weather. But in the grand scheme of the house, that's how we feel. We are a day away from getting a slab!

When big high rise construction projects go up, sometimes the contractor will throw a party when the top floor is poured, but since we only have one floor to be poured, we will get excited. Probably won't actually be a party tomorrow, but have a beer or glass of wine wherever you are and toast to the final step in our future foundation! Cheers!

Here's a few pictures of the gravel and waterproofing. Not quite as interesting.

Signs of Change

2007-02-26T12:22:00.000-05:00

The most exciting thing to happen since my last post was the fact that we have a nice BIG job sign now which explains all about our project to the passers-by. Not only do we advertise in big bold letters the Earthcraft designation which the house will have, but also big are the logos for Century Builders and for LDG Design (Lura's Company). We hope this will encourage people with design problems to call Lura to help them out.

Also new since last I posted are pipes! We have underground plumbing now to go with our concrete. This should get finallized today and be ready to have a slab poured on top by end of the week. If we are lucky, framing will follow next week. Here's to progress!

PS - We now have temporary power (woo hoo) and our future power will be able to be underground (WOO HOO!!!). Given the massive ice storms in Greenville's recent past, this is a good thing!

Going Vertical

2007-02-21T21:21:00.000-05:00

Despite what some people may say, there is life after footings. The next logical step is to come out of the ground. To give a purpose to all that rebar sticking up by joining it to it's soulmate, the concrete stem wall and concrete retaining walls. As you can see, we have now given a form, an outline for what is to come. The foundation walls are in place so the next step will be fill in that concrete cookie cutter with gravel, putting in some underslab pipes for shower and toilet drain lines and then pouring a floor. The first floor will soon be a reality. I know, if you are like me, you can harly wait for those next pictures of gravel!

Side note: We have consulted with several of the who's who in upstate metal roofing and have realized that we will be able to afford to put it on our house. Why metal? some of you may be asking. This has been a dream of ours from the beginning for two reasons. 1) break the monotony of shingles, and 2) to create a "cool" roof which helps to reflect instead of absorb heat and helps to do our small part to reduce global warming. More on this to come...

Footing Follow-Up

2007-02-11T13:21:00.000-05:00

I prefer now, at the present, to post a "post-previous post" (pegged presently as "the present post") to the post I had posted previously in the past. This post will proceed to paint the picture of the present proceedings at the parcel known as 313 W. Stone.

Concrete can be a concern if the conditions are cold. Coincidentally, concrete actually creates calde (Italian for "hot") conditions while curing. The conditions have been cold (caused by cold current coming from Canada) in the confines of the Carolinas, but the concrete keeping coming along.

Footings have been formed and the framework has been formulated for the foundation.

Rebar has been rightly relocated and rolls on regularly right toward the retaining ralls (er walls).

Pictures prohibit a perfect presentation, but possibly you will be pleased with the post.

Published by Pella

2007-02-09T10:43:00.000-05:00

The proudest moment in some architects lives is the day they get their first project "published." We had such a moment yesterday even if it was sort of instigated by us. We got in touch several months ago with Pella to let them know we were using their product. We told them some interesting facts about our house, our neighborhood, and Greenville in general. They were interested and published a press release on their website. As I understand it, this also was sent to local media in the Greenville area and maybe the Southeast. So, theorectically, if could go to a larger audience. We'll see. In the meantime, bask in the glow of our star as it's on the rise.

http://pressroom.pella.com/news_releases/display.htm?section=2&release=176

Pomp & Concrete

2007-01-31T21:05:00.000-05:00

When we all gathered at the site of our new home on Saturday, we had already officially broken ground on the property, but since we didn't have any time after work on Grading Day, we saved the Ceremonial aspects for the weekend. Also, we really wanted our parents to be there. So, Mom and Dad G came up from Columbia and Mom and Dad D came over from Keowee and we all met for some pomp and circumstance.

First I took more photos of the afore-mentioned Pile 'O Dirt, and then when everyone arrived, we did the official ground breaking photo shoot. Several of Lura and me with our hard hats and a shovel (below) and one of the whole group sharing a toast (also below). After photos, we said a group blessing for the site. Almost everyone was in tears by prayer's end. It is after all, a very emotional time. We've never done this before, and we thought it only natural to want to thank God! We really wish Tommy and Ann could have been there too, but they were off in Asheville for the weekend.

After photos and the prayer, we did the Pledge of Allegiance and then.... Okay, just kidding. We did however get a visit from the Viola Neighborhood Association president and vice president. No, they weren't campaigning for re-election, but they saw us out there and decided to stop by. Great folks! We talked for a while and we filled them in on the goings on. There are some really great people in the neighborhood and we can't wait to be a part of it. After saying goodbye to our future neighbors, we went down to what is sure to become our favorite neighborhood bar and grill. No, not Applebee's, but a little place called the Bohemian. Very ecclectic, and it has a cool used records and CD's store next door. They have excellent chips and really good soup, although they are a bit slow. But we weren't in a hurry so we just enjoyed our meal and spending time with our families!

It's now 4 days later and what we thought was going to happen late this week or early next week actually started today - concrete footings!!! Isn't this exciting?!? They dug out some footings today. Didn't actually pour any concrete, but since we are supposed to have some NASTY weather tomorrow (1 inch of snow/sleet/ice), this is probably a good thing. We still have pictures to show of our not-to-distant-future foundation. ENJOY!

Piles of Dirt

2007-01-23T19:41:00.000-05:00

I would post pictures of this phenomenon online, but what would really be shown? Piles of dirt. But, to us these piles are mountains of gold, because we are officially started on our house!!! We met the builder and the grader on site today to talk a little grading strategy. Where to put dirt, where to cut brush, where to cut, where to fill. It was interesting in a "if this wasn't our house, we wouldn't care" kind of way.

The main thing is that something is being done. We thought this may be ontrack for last week, but due to the fake ice storm we had in Greenville, it was "not so fast!" The most interesting thing about the grading was the fact that they found an abandoned oil drum that someone at some point had used for heat or fuel or both. We need to find something to do with it, and we can't just take it to the landfill. They tend to frown on things with flammable liquid and vapors being dumped upon them.

Tomorrow, Lura is meeting the boring guy to talk holes. Yes, you read correctly. He's not actually boring. His job might be. We are doing a few borings in the ground to see if there are any pockets of trash or construction debris which may cause future problems with our foundation. This is a spend a little now to prevent spending a lot later kind of thing. I guess that's it for now. Concrete man is due late next week or early the following week. And after that....FRAMING!!! I know this is exciting for everyone!
Bye for now.

Happy New Year!!

2007-01-05T14:03:00.000-05:00

Much will occur in the upcoming months. Much building, much drawing, much painting, much imagining. Hopefully, by the early fall, most of those things will be done and we will just be able to move in. Of course the thought of moving again makes me feel woozy. The thought of a new house is the cure for what ails me.

We have now closed on our loan. All the money is supposed to be in place and it will quickly be a reality that we will have to start making payments on our masterpiece. For all the sucky things about apartment living it is cheaper and a little more worry-free. But, there's nothing like living in your own house. We have missed it these past 9 months.

Pictures will be forthcoming very soon. We hope to have an actual groundbreaking ceremony with everything but silver shovels. Stay tuned.....it's about to get interesting!

House Plans Coming Together - Now in 3D!

2006-11-02T22:42:00.000-05:00

We have been so busy after closing on the property figuring a way to make this whole process get jump started. We've finally had a breakthrough! We now have a new builder - Clyde Rector with Century Builders! He is EarthCraft certified and has been in business for over 30 years. We met Clyde through my aunt and uncle and are excited to get started. We expect to sign a contract next week, but due to Clyde's schedule, we won't break ground until after the first of the year.

Funny story - today, we got a letter from the City of Greenville that we are in violation of city ordinance by not cutting our grass! I guess we should be happy that we actually own grass now, or at least weeds!

Until there are studs and drywall, there are more images to show you. We talked to Pella Windows a few weeks ago about a possible publicity opportunity for us because we are using their Pella Impervia fiberglass windows. They are issuing a press release soon with some possible images. The images they are choosing from are below. We will post again once the article is released.

Land Barons

2006-10-11T10:01:00.000-04:00

Sorry there have been no updates lately, but there really has been no updates lately. We closed on our property yesterday so we are now part of the landed gentry of the City of Greenville! We are still waiting to build until we figure out a) which contractor to use, b) how exactly to finance it, and c) when to start. The good news though is that we got notice yesterday that our rent on our apartment will not go up if we decide to renew our lease soon. We hoped to be out in January, but my current estimate involves us probably being finished around late spring, early summer 2007. Stay tuned for more soon!

Info About the Site

2006-08-21T23:07:00.000-04:00

We've shown what the building is going to look like, but what about the property itself? We found a fairly good-sized lot (about 3/10's of an acre) near downtown Greenville which was leftover after a redevelopment neighborhood was created called Viola. The only drawback is it's very long and skinny. Not a problem though for two architects! As hot as intown living is in Greenville, we couldn't pass it up. To the side is the entrance to the Viola neighborhood. Our property is to the right of the sign. Below is a map of the area, a view of the property from the street, and the view of Greenville from the back of the property. The view will be even better when we are looking from the second floor. More to come!

Project Starting Soon

2006-08-19T16:31:00.000-04:00

Lura and I have been planning and preparing and the beginning will soon be near. We are finalizing financing, permitting, etc. before building begins. Check back for updates in the near future! In the meantime, before there is a building, as any architect will tell you, there has to be some drawings, so ponder on these little beauties.