Our New Cottage - Progress Report #1



Dear Cottage Friends,

Whew!  Where to begin?


First, I've been out of circulation this week with a bad cold, so bear with me as I try to catch up not only with blogging, but with all of you who have dropped by AJC and left nice words behind. I promise I'll visit you soon.


Second, construction is moving so fast on our new cottage that I fear if I don't bring you up to date right now our house will be built and we'll be moved in before I can say "occupancy permit."  The weather has been so unbelievably nice here that construction is ahead of where we thought it would be on this date. (I'm so sorry to talk about nice weather in front of all of you who are suffering with a horrid winter, I feel for you. . .I do, and you have been and will continue to be in our prayers.)

Let's take a look at what's happened with our new cottage build so far.

February 6, 2015 - The house location is staked.


The little white building came with the lot.  It's a well-built shed.


February 9, 2015 - Excavation! And we meet Scott!


Thank you, Mr. Excavator!
This is the excavation for our entire cottage -- all 667 square feet.






Scott, the construction superintendent for BLH our builder, is our new best friend. We met him for the first time at the excavation and let me tell you he put me at ease immediately.  Scott's gonna nail this thing! (No pun intended.)


February 11, 2015 - The footings are poured.



Footings in and ready for the pour.




Greg Bales arrives and sets up his amazing Mobile Mix Concrete truck for the pour. 





And we have a pour!  This process is truly amazing. The concrete is mixed on demand -- as it pours -- and Greg moves his truck remotely to place the trough where he wants it.  (Look Ma, no hands!) 

I made a short movie (only about 12 seconds) for you to watch Greg in action with his super-duper concrete truck. Watch this. . . 






Is that the coolest thing ever?  This isn't your grandpa's cement mixer, my friends. This is high tech stuff.





In less than an hour the concrete footings are in place.


February 18, 2015 - The foundation is poured and I introduce you to Dean Hines of BLH, our builder.



The forms have been built and we're onsite for the pouring of the foundation.



Close up of the forms and reinforcement.




And one more view before the pour. (Does this interest you at all?  Because, honestly, I love this stuff.  I've been around construction of one kind or another most of my life.)





Greg's back onsite with his fancy-schmancy truck and the foundation pour is in the works.




"Hey, Greg! Can you give me some concrete for this porch support?"

"Sure thing, Scott, I'll just push my remote control and whip that concrete trough right over there where you want it. No problem."





Here is just the nicest guy you could ever hope to have for a builder, Dean Himes of Bronson Log Homes (BLH), Enterprise, Oregon. We're not building a log home, but that's okay because BLH builds frame homes, and furniture, too. Dennis worked for Bronson as an architect 16 years ago, so there's some history here.  Dean has a great reputation as a custom home builder and we're very excited to be working with him.



We left the guys to finish up and headed back to our apartment.  

Tomorrow (February 20) the floor truss joists and subfloor will go in. Good chance of rain on Saturday, so they may have to cover up the floor.

To be continued. . .

Update: Click here for Progress Report #2.

50 comments

  1. Wow - I think this must be the first time the words 'new build' and 'construction is ahead' in the same phrase! I'm enjoying this. Good luck as the cottage goes up.

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  2. Holy smokes!! Yay for you - this is going to be so much fun!

    Enjoy the process!!

    xox

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  3. You are getting there, Nancy. It does move fast, doesn't it? It always seemed to me to be slo-mo when they move inside to do the finishing work. Is it common to set on footings there and not have a basement? Everything has a basement here.....just curious. I love construction and have been around it since I was a kid. We have rehabbed 15 or 16 houses and lived in all of them. I think I have one more (smaller) one in me! xo Diana

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  4. Whoo-Hoo! Very exciting to see the progress~~~can't wait to see more and more! Blessings~~~Roxie

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  5. This is very interesting since we have just been through it ourselves. You're very lucky to have a fast team of workers. I can't say the same for our first group but our second team moved very fast. I'm anxious to see your walls framed up. Best of luck with this fun project. Deb

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  6. Nancy wooooo hooooo so excited for you. Wow they have done so much already. This is going to be up and ready for your move in very quickly. So fun to see this go up along with you.
    Kris

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  7. Nancy,
    I'm excited for you, great progress and it will be fun to see your cottage built through your photo essays.
    Sorry to hear you were ill, hope you're feeling 100% in no time.
    xx,
    Vera

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  8. It won't be long now, adding the frame it seems that it goes fast. Enjoy! Jo

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  9. You have to be so excited seeing your new home starting to take form. I'm glad that your weather is cooperating.
    I hope you are feeling better. It seems like the germs are making waves again.

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  10. Hi....this is SO exciting..I'm going tiny house if I can sell my place this summer..your photos are a welcome sight..we finally have winter here an I for one am not liking it..way colder then it's been in forever..look forward to the next installment..you'll be landscaping before you know it.! Hope you're feeling much better by now..

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  11. Good evening, Nancy! YESSSSSSSS! Like you, I must have been an architect in my "past life" (if that could be true!) I so love this stuff. I used to love to watch my father build things, and when he built my little stucco playhouse in the backyard, I never got over the AWE with which I was struck when I saw how he did it. Then as an adult, I marveled at how our builders added on our two rooms.

    I just saw a report tonight on how small homes are making a comeback. I love it - to learn to live happily with less (but more satisfaction and creativity), we can maybe return to a much simpler and economic way of living...how nice that would be!

    I can't wait to see more!

    I hope you are well, sweetest Nancy! Anita

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  12. Nancy, I know exactly how you feel about the footings! Every little step, no matter how mundane, is so exciting when you are building a project like this. Good luck with the framing! - Melissa

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    1. Thanks, Melissa. We've had cold temps and snow the past two days. It's supposed to warm up tomorrow, so hopefully they'll work on the floor trusses and subfloor in the morning.

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  13. This is so exciting...all the best to you!! :)

    Jane xxx

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  14. Exciting to watch the progress! Hopefully you'll be feeling better soon and your cottage will be done and ready before you know it! :)

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  15. I love seeing the progress of your cottage. I'm so happy it goes smoothly.

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  16. This is so exciting, Nancy! More, more, more!!!!!

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  17. I couldn't get the video to play, But YES...I find this stuff fascinating too.

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  18. Hi Nancy,

    How exciting!! I can understand your joy, since I went through a similar process with the building of our home, and was there to witness those first pourings of cements, the difference being that my husband, who's a contractor, was doing the pouring! I'll tell you one thing, it certainly called for a pouring of champagne, since we'd waited such a long time for our plans to be authorized!

    Best of luck, and thanks for the update!

    Hugs,
    Poppy

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  19. Happy Weekend, Nancy!
    I can feel your excitement in this post. It is fascinating reading and I am learning a lot! I know your time must be at a premium with all you have going on, so I will be patient and enjoy your sharing when you can. What a great way to document the build from the ground up. I am excited to see the finish; I can only imagine how you must be feeling! Lol (I noticed Diana's comment re basements. That's all you see here, too.) Looking forward to this journey with you. EnJOY!
    Hugs,
    Linda at Beautiful Ideas

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  20. Your excitement is just bursting out of this post! So happy for you for the progress and your nice weather!!

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  21. YES, I love this stuff! So glad you made time to share. I am so excited for you!

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  22. How exciting! I'm sure you can't wait to move in.

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    1. We're very happy to have the project in motion. We've been planning this for 19 months. :)

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  23. No doubt about it . . . this is EXCITING!
    I love the step by step, "follow along!"
    Now take care of that cold so you will be in tip top shape for this new chapter!

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  24. So happy for you ! You are on your way and looks like things are going to move along very well! Take care!

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  25. Oh how exciting Nancy! What fun for us to get to watch the progress as well! Have a good weekend!
    Gina

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  26. I hope you are feeling better Nancy and woo hoo! Your cottage building looks like it's going so well! I love the technical aspect of the process too...especially when it all works! ;)

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  27. Fun! Fun! Love going along with you in this adventure! HUGS!!

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  28. Yes, I love it all too, it's fascinating, please don't stop as it's fantastic to see the step by step process of building your own home. If you could always put your husband's great drawing as the first pic, it always pops up on my blogroll, then I won't miss anything !!!

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  29. I am so excited to see the progress. Thanks for sharing the step by step. Sorry you are sick, take care and blessings. Debbie

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  30. Nancy - I've been missing you! I wondered where your "Joyful Monday" post was, and thought perhaps that the construction on your new cottage was part of it. I'm sorry to hear you were sick, and certainly hope you're better! I loved seeing the photos of the foundation being poured for your new little home! So incredible to be able to watch every detail take place! Thanks for sharing your journey with us - I'm rejoicing with you today that it is going ahead so quickly! Blessings and hugs!

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  31. This is my first time visiting your blog - I'm in awe of such a huge project!
    Amalia
    xo

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  32. This is so exciting, Nancy, and it seems to be moving quickly...yea! Can't wait to see more progress!

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    1. We should have more progress to report this next week, Julie.

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  33. so sorry about the cold you had! I fully understand. this winter's colds are hell-ish!

    oh I love that I found your blog, at the beginning of cottage building! oh yes. super. I'm so happy to go along with you, via your blog.... doing something that I would love to be able to do. :-)

    whooooo-hoooooooooooo...

    Tessa~

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  34. as I said above, I am very new here. have looked at the 3 posts, with the 3 different designs. but am dense enough, that I can not figure out, which plan you settled on.

    please, would you say which of the 1-2-3 house plans, you are building? so I can look at the floor plans. I simply love, love, love floor plans. ,-)

    please and thank you!

    Tessa~

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  35. How exciting for you both! I love seeing it all, being from a construction family it is exciting. Can't wait to see it come alive. PS - when I click on your video, it says "private" and doesn't let me view it!

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  36. Looks like things are coming along fine...wishing you all the best and good weather too! :)

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  37. Wow! It's going so quickly! How very exciting! That concrete truck really is amazing. And it's fun that you're sharing this process with us. I'm so excited for you! Hope you're feeling lots better now. And enjoy that weather!

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  38. I've been around construction my whole life too, so of course, I find it interesting. In fact, they used to call my mom the Winchester lady, because she was always working on whatever house we lived in. No doors to nowhere though lol

    xo,
    rue

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  39. You must have been so happy to see that cement! Cool truck!

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  40. Hello,
    Thank you so much for sharing. This is so fun. I love all of it as well. :-)) I am so excited for you!
    We had a busy Valentine weekend, the boys best friends, who live about 4 hours away came for the weekend. I had 4 boys in the house. It was a catch up for me, most of the week. ;-) We had a wonderful time with them. It is so hard for our guys to say good bye. Best Friends 4 hours away...but I am so thankful for how well they have kept the friendship :-) Technology helps.

    Get Well Soon! And thank you so much for sharing and listening to me share my week. ;-)

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  41. Wow, this build has gotten off to a flying start! Can't wait to follow its progress!!

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