More Action

Sunday, May 28th
We only worked a half day today, but managed to frame in the basement walls. The weather has been pretty hot, so we needed a break from the furnace we call the basement.

Alex playing with the nail gun.

Jer took a break from guarding his house to come help lift the wall. I think while he was away, someone broke in and jacked the Cat's flatscreen. They didn't take Roseplant though...too bad.

First Wall

Saturday, May 27th

Matt came out to help frame the first wall.

Done with the wall, 54' across with two 6' windows. It took us half the day to frame it, mostly because we had to get our bearings after the lumber was delivered in the morning.

We dominate! Especially Matt, with his 2x4.

For those of you that are wondering, the Balla is working fabulously. It's made it back and forth to the job sight multiple times, and it even transports our tools and supplies. I've had several offers from passersby to buy it, but the Balla aint for sale, so those chumps can step off!

....Ok, no one has tried to purchase the Balla, but it still runs like a hoss!

Delivery

We got most of our lumber from Home Depot on Saturday. The truck had to stop in the middle of Shaffer and bring it all in on a lift. It took him a good 2 hours to do 2 loads, but he managed.

backfill

They backfilled on May 24th. This is a view looking at the lot from the Southwest. the excavators ended up having to drop in around 150 yds. of sand, since their is so much clay.

A view from the East, the driveway will have a steep grade, but there's not much we can do about it now.

A view from Mesa Verde Ct.

Looking at the back side of the house...the house across the street is pretty nice with a couple exceptions. They have a huge fense running their entire backyard, and a "beware of dog" sign resting in their front window. Classy. I thought we were moving away from the hood.

basement plumbing and floor

May 23, pouring the basement floor.

Rough in plumbing completed Saturday, the 20th

Walls!

Last Friday the forms were stripped and the walls sprayed with water proofing. We're on schedule to start framing on Friday. Man, between school and this project, the last few weeks have flown by! The plumber got in and did his work on Saturday, and the inspection for that should take place today or tomorrow. The tile and stone guys came in today, and tomorrow the floor should be poured. Wednesday, the excavators should be there to backfill, and the lumber should be delivered on friday morning. Things are looking up, now I get to sit back and wait for the bills to come in.

forms being stripped

Witness this, Lebron!

I want to introduce to everyone the Black Balla. I happened across the Balla a couple of months ago, and picked it up at a phat discount. I'm sure the guy I bought it from is regretting he ever sold it because it's a crazy tricked out machine! Let me tell you a little about it.

The Balla is really a 1985 Dodge Ram Royale 250 SE (3/4 ton). Under the hood it has a 150 untamed stallions with a 5.2 liter V8. It has a full 8 foot bed, and a practiacally new Delta tool box complete with a key lock to keep fools from stealing my product. The cab consists of a customized gun storage area behind the seat where I can keep plenty of rifles and ammo, and a radio that works in both FM and AM. The seat cover is a blanket with some colorful (but not immasculine) pheasant images. There are two switches in the front, one for heat, and one for some killa fog lights! Some other pimp features are cruise control (although I've never used it), windshield wipers, two sun visors, and an automatic transmission.

You may ask, "does the Balla even run???'"

My answer...
"No."

"The Balla sprints. It roars down the road!"

Making Progress

The weather cleared up this week and the concrete guys were able to pour the footings on Tuesday. Wednesday the forms were put up and they poured the walls. Today they're going to strip the walls, and hopefully the excavators can hook in to the sewer, water, and storm water drain. The problem we had in the last day or so was that the sewer was at a seperate location than the water and storm drain. So now the excavators have to dig two trenches, which sucks, because that probably means more money. Oh well, it's to be expected. They're supposed to spray the walls today, and if they can get in and lay the tile, sump crock, and sling the stone, the plumber can plumb the basement. It's a lot for one day, so the chances of us being able to pour the basement floor Saturday are minimal. If not we'll have the floor poured early next week.

Getting Started

Finally I've got some pictures on here! Yesterday the excavators dug the hole, and today Jacobson Concrete is pouring the footings. In a few minutes I'm heading out to the site to take some pictures and inspect the progress. Things are a little off schedule, but Godwilling we'll still be able to start framing Memorial Day Weekend.

The bulldozer sits, waiting for the rain to stop. It's hard to Pimp Our Hizzle in the pouring rain.
Alex intently contemplating his next move out of the mud...then quickly interrupted by thoughts of a Peppino's pizza.

This is the site looking West towards Shaffer.
Looking North from Mesa Verde Ct.

This is our site, looking North to South. Jer is practicing his Miss America wave.

New Name

Much to my disappointment we've decided to change the name of our blog...and by we I mean mostly Christy. I guess not everyone can be as transcultural as me. It's been very rainy the last couple of days so the excavators decided to hold off until Monday to dig. So we're behind a day, but we should still be on schedule to start framing the 26th. I'm trying to post some pictures of the site before they dig. Hopefully they're successful.

Cat's outta the bag

I filled Christy in on our blog yesterday, and shockingly, she disapproves. She wants to be in charge of the content and updating it, and I'm not too sure she's very fond of the title...but personally I think she's just jealous. For the mean time it's going to stay the way it is, even the background color that I chose with her in mind.

Let's get pimpin'

Hi everyone! Christy and I are building a house this summer and wanted to share the progress with everyone who can't see it first hand. I'm calling the project "Pimp Our Hizzle" in honor of our current neighborhoood, the BNA. As much as I will miss people parking in my driveway, blown-out stock speakers rattling my windows, and ever accumulating trash (literal or figurative-your choice), we've decided to move. We're building the house in Kentwood, in hopefully a much quieter and more tranquil new development.

The house corners were staked today by the surveyor, and the excavators should have the hole dug on Friday. We'll keep you updated on our progress! I'll throw some pictures on here soon.