DAY 54: Geothermal Drilling

Today the drilling started for the geothermal heating.  We need four holes, each 200 feet deep.  It took 2 1/2 hours to drill the first hole.  I hope to have better pictures tomorrow.  As I type Brent has the Little-Red-Car-That-Could on a road trip to Ogden.  He is picking up more pads for the radiant heating.  We hope to level out the basement floor and lay the pads this week.  The weather is optimal for working this week.  Still can't believe it's almost December and we have such amazing weather for working on a house!

DAY 53: Cute Boots

Sierra wanted me to post a picture of the girl's cute boots.  They each have a pair of rubber boots.  The idea is that we can spray them off when they get completely muddy.  So far, the plan is working!

Sierra (polka dots), Maya (zebra) and Estee (hello kitty)

DAY 52: Dirt, dirt, some rocks and more dirt.

Today we spent about 7 hours playing in the dirt.  We are trying to prepare the floor for the radiant heating pads and the concrete pour.  First we raked.  Then we collected rocks.

Next we compacted the ground.  I liked using the machine.  It was like mowing or vacuuming--you can SEE your work.  It makes you feel like you are making progress.  Cole liked the compacting too.

 

Brent moved dirt so we could move machines in and out of the basement.

It was hours and hours of dirt and rocks.  Sometimes Maya and Estee would go "take a break".  We usually found them on the back side of the dirt hill digging and sliding.  Check out this weather!  Can you believe this is the end of November in Utah?

DAY 51: November 25: Backfill Begins!

The weather outside is frightful...

But the dirt is so delightful...

 And since we've no place to go....

Let us fill, let us fill, let us fill!

("Let us Fill, Let us Fill, Let us Fill", Concrete Carols for the Holidays, Vol. 3, page 962)

DAY 51: A re-do is still progress!!

Last Tuesday we loaded up the gray window wells in the  "Little-Red-Car-That-Could" and drove to Stepwell in SLC.  We had a hard time finding the place the first time around.  We didn't notice the address spray painted onto the side of the building.

It's an interesting place.  They also weld and sell trailers.  Your selection looks like this:

We packed the wells into the trailer.  A few months ago Brent made this trailer with some help from Cole.  Cole loved the welding.  The trailer was his old boat trailer which served as the base.  The new and improved trailer has all the bells and whistles.

The trailer is pulled by the "Little-Red-Car-That-Could".  Brent bought this car just before we met in 1992.  It has been the most dependable car I have EVER known (it's a Honda).  This car took us on many fun dates, ferried around young children, pulled the boat to Lake Powell numerous times, and has pulled many trailers.  Brent talks about people staring at him when he tows things bigger than the car.  He gets looks, thumbs up, and giggles from truckers (I guess truckers don't giggle, chuckle might be better).  I have never been on the receiving end of those looks...until November 15th.  We were driving home on the freeway, minding our own business, when a driver next to me pulled out his phone and TOOK A PICTURE OF US!  I couldn't believe it!  What is so weird about an awesome little red car that can tow practically anything? (We have NO car payments...bet the photographer can't say that...)

Deja vu: time to wash window wells on the lawn again:

This morning after kissing the kids goodbye for the day Brent and I went to hang the window wells for the second time:

They are in.  They are done.  I love how they look!

Other happenings this week:  We are looking at options for the garage.  The garage foundation was dug 4 feet too deep.  Our architect, Ed from New Point Design in Park City, has been working on options for us.  We are likely going to do a six foot storage under half of the garage.  However, it impacts all of the grades.  We think that we have decided on a plan. 

This morning the city came and inspected the rough plumbing and it passed.  So far all of our inspections have gone very well without problems.  This week we hope to backfill the basement and foundation.  Next we will  pour the basement slab. 

Sierra, Maya, and Estee have been working on little odd jobs at the lot.  Estee picked up "a million" screws from around the footings.  Brent paid her $2.00.  I didn't know that she had been paid.  On Saturday she begged and begged me to go to the store. There are only two things she ever wants from a store, it's always gum or lipgloss.  I asked her if she had any spending money, she said "yes, $2.00".  Our kids put 60% of all earnings into the bank, 10% to tithing and the rest is spending.  Estee knows this plan.  But she was determined to spend ALL of the $2.00.  She bought her gum and ate all of it over the weekend.  Last night at dinner it somehow came out that she had been paid by Brent for her work.  New information to me.  So, her next paycheck all goes towards tithing and savings.  Hope the gum was good!

DAY 43: Basement Clean Up and Plumbing

We emptied out the house this weekend.  We had to move the blocks to the back of the lot.  It gets a little tricky to figure out spots to put things since there are mounds of dirt everywhere.

So now our basement looks like this:

Notice all the pipes?  Not an exciting shot for the viewer but I love it because it means we are making progress!  The rough plumbing went in on Saturday and the geothermal tubing went in today.

So the white pipes are the plumbing and the black is for the geothermal.

And this is the view today from our basement back door hole:

And now from the front...SNOW on Timp!

DAY 41: Plant Cam: Basement Walls Go Up

We finally downloaded the plant cam.  Here are the shots of the basement walls going up.  A lot to look at but the progression is fun!

DAY 40: 11.11.11 A Great Day to Wash Window Wells

My friend Kim told us about Stepwell in SLC.  We headed up to SLC with the trailer and picked out four window wells.  There was a discontinued style for $85.00 so that's what we got.  They just needed elbow grease to get them into shape.  So, on 11.11.11 we pulled out the power washer and cleaned window wells.  Lots of neighbors noticed...

The window wells were loaded in the trailer pulled by the little-red-car-that-could and dumped at our lot.  (Sierra cleaning up and I would like to say "hello" to all her friends who check out the blog!)

On Saturday Brent prepped the windows and then we hung the wells

Good news: we LOVE the way they look!  Just add that fresh coat of paint and VOILA!  Beautiful window well! Pretty, eh?

Bad news:  we think that we have the wrong size...decision on what to do is forthcoming....rookie mistakes...

DAY 34: Wrapping Waterproof Membrane

4 November:  Today's project was wrapping the basement with the waterproof membrane.  This will all be underground.  Brent kept working in the dark to get it done.  The above picture shows a north side bedroom and bathroom. Below is our walkout basement door and family room window.  Both face Timp.  The door on the right will be our outside yard storage.

And a note for my Dad:

Here are the actual teeth in the blocks: 

The two pieces just snap together like legos (check out the snow, yup, we got snow last night):