The Update!

I have been awful about pictures, so I thought this week I'd do a quick update of all the lots, so we could get caught up! :)

First up is Tina's house:

From the stairway: All the blue are electrical boxes!

Siding finished!

ELECTRIC DONE!

As you can see, besides a few little things, Tina's house is pretty much ready for drywall! All the exterior stuff is done (except all the doors haven't been installed), the plumbing and electric are in, and it is all cleaned out and swept! It's so fun!

Next up is Zahn's house:

Zahn's house is next, and the siding is half done, the plumbing is in, and is waiting for electric!

Then come's Robin's:

Robin's is plummed and has electric ('m almost positive, anyhow), and is waiting on siding.

Lot 20 is Josh and Anna:

All bottom floor exterior and interior walls DONE!

Back wall, getting ready to put up joists

From the lving room, bathroom, pantry, kitchen

From the living room, down the hall

Josh and Anna's house will get floor joists this week, so we'll be putting down subfloor and 2nd story exteriors soon!

The Pennoyers will be next to Anna and Josh:

I know...it's not very exciting yet. BUT, we are getting their lumber package this week, so might possibly be starting their house this weekend! YAY!

Linda is in 22:

Linda's lumber package should be delivered this week as well! YAY!

There's a lot that's not in our build group next to Linda, and then Selina and Jerica's:

We finished all the second floor interiors and top plates this weekend. Trusses for their roof will be delivered on Wednesday!

Ashlee is next to them:

This weekend they finished all the Tyvek and Windows in Ashlee's house! :) I believe hers will be next in line for plumbing and electric!

Nathan lives next door to Ashlee:

Nathan's roof is done, and his house is ready for Tyvek and windows.

Down on the next row is Roberts house:

Robert's house is next to have the roof put on, and is also ready for Tyvek and windows.

Garrett and Amanda live next to Robert:

Garrett and Amanda's house is at the same point Jerica and Selina's is at. Trusses will be delivered on Wednesday!

As far as this weekend, people worked on finishing up Garrett's and Amanda's and Selina and Jerica's houses so they are ready for truss delivery on Wednesday. Ashlee's house had the Tyvek finished and windows put in. Then a bunch of us worked on cleaning up all the messes from plumbers, electricians and siders! We reorganized stacks of lumber, swept out the houses, threw trash away, etc. It looked SO much better! :)

We are at the point where there's nothing more we can do on practically 4 of the houses until we get to interiors. (Tina's, Robin's and Ashlee's. Zahns has a little bit of sheeting, but I'm not sure if we do that, or the roofers). Robert's and Nathan's aren't far behind, because as soon as they are Tyvek'd and window'd, we are just waiting for contractors to get in there. There are always a few little things that need to be done. The two that are getting trusses this week will just need the trusses rolled out, and then they will be ready for roof and then Tyvek and windows, and Anna and Josh's will start a second floor soon. Pennoyer and Linda's lumber packages will come this week as well!

As far as our home, (which of course I forgot to take a picture of), Ross said he thinks the lumber package will be delivered the first weekend of May! YAY!!! That is not far away at all! I'm so excited! Not just to see our home take shape, but to be framing the last of the 12 houses! As much as it bummed me out to be "last", it will be so cool to know that not only are we starting our home, but also finishing up the framing for the whole group!

The weather was gorgeous, we had a great time this weekend, and got a lot done!

I hope you all have a great Easter! Until next week,
Heather

Ditto!

Well, I didn't blog Saturday night, which means half of what happened that day has probably already left my mind! :) But I wanted to put something down quick with an update!

Tina's house has almost all the siding on it, and had it's electrical put in! It's really cool to walk through there...you can see where every outlet, smoke detector, light switch and door bell is going to be. There are little blue boxes everywhere! Zahn's and Robin's houses have all their Tyvek and windows in. Ashlee's house is roofed, and I think Nathan's is too. (See...it's a blur!) We were mostly in three groups this weekend: The Tyvek/Windows group, and two groups that were building the second stories of Garrett and Amanda's house and Selina and Jerica's house. Anna and Josh's house had all of the bottom floor interiors built (but not put in), and they will be getting joists for the second floor this week. I'm guessing Robin's house will get electric this week (I'm not sure if Robin and Zahn have plumbing yet, since I didn't walk through there.) Ashlee's started to get Tyvek'd and windowed at the end of Saturday. (Ahren and Daniel taught me how to Tyvek...SO FUN! You get to whack this big staple hammer into the side of the wall...very theraputic!) Ahren then taught me how to put a window in...hmmm...very precise hammering is involved and I don't think I like it! I'm guessing Nathan's is next on the house wrap, then Robert's (who still needs some sheeting put in), and by then Jerica/Selina and Garrett/Amanda's should be not far behind!

We have six houses entirely framed. 2 houses that I'm guessing will get trusses next weekend (which means as far as the building goes, they are entirely framed), and Josh and Anna's will most likely be finished up with the framing next weekend. That leaves three to start: Pennoyers, Linda's and ours.

I think optimistically we could be done framing by May, and then we have to wait til the contractors catch up! :) My educated guess is after plumbing and electric comes drywall, then paint then floors! Tina's house is there!

The best news of all was after working a ten hour day on Saturday, I wasn't sore at all on Sunday! (And I did lots of heavy lifting!) I do have a gnarly swollen bruise/scrape on my leg from hitting a bunch of 2x6 when I was walking by, and a splinter of sheeting in my hand that I still can't get out, but it's much better than being in pain! :)

We are so thankful for all the people who help us! It's truly a fiasco trying to figure out how to get in all our hours, work out childcare, and stay sane! So far it's all come together, and there are definately people who are giving up a lot of their spare time to help us, and we will never be able to thank them enough! You know who you are! Last weekend, we had to leave earlier on Saturday so I could go to my nephews birthday party. The next day, I was going to have to put in a 9 hour day by myself, since Ahren was staying home with the kids. Josh and Anna came out and worked half of my day with me, so I could leave at noon and spend some time with my family. That's LOVE! :) They had already worked their own 30 hours and still came out to help. THAT is building a community!

I still love it, and I honestly doubt there will be a time I don't. It's busy and stressful and exhausting. There are weeks I don't know how we will make it work, but while I'm out there hoisting up walls and learning, it makes me smile!

It won't be too long before you see pictures of our house being put together...it's right around the corner. A few weeks ago, it seemed like forever, but it's here!

(No pics this week...it was raining!)

Until next week!
HB

Incentives!

We learned this week at our 8 am meeting that IF we have all the houses framed by June, we can have ONE WEEK OFF! As in NO WORK! 30 hours of freedom! Now, this might sound silly, but it's HUGE! AND, I may be a little over confident, but we have six houses framed entirely, two with the bottom floors done and sub flooring started, and another one (Anna and Josh's 1295) started today! We didn't start until mid February, and it's not even mid-April. That's 2 months. Why shouldn't we be able to do 4 houses in the time we've done EIGHT! I'm totally excited about this! :) It's so the contractors can catch up and finish plumbing/electric/roof etc. But it would sure be a blessing! :)

ALSO, if you've been trained to use a nail gun, and Ross is there, they can be used. This is the equivelant of trying to dig a large hole with a spoon, or dig a large hole with an excavator. Seriously. It saves us HOURS of time, and is so very lovely!!! I mean, it seriously makes me smile everytime I hear the compressor kick on!

NOW, for the updates! :) This morning we sheer walled Robin's and Ashlee's houses, and then we started BUILDING Josh and Anna's house! YAY! Tina's house has siding, and I love the way it looks! See?

Ahren, Josh, Zhan and Bernie worked on housewrap and windows for Zhans house:

Sam, Jerica, Selina, and other people (who I can't remember at the moment) worked on subfloor sheeting on Jerica and Selina's house.

Garrett, Alan and Ross worked on the same for Garretts house, and then Anna, Julie, Ashlee, Dave, Kari, and I worked on building Anna and Josh's house! :) SO FUN! :)

As always, I had a great time with my neighbors, and am totally amazed at how far we've come! I have so much fun working with everyone, and getting to know everyone! Just a few more pictures of my fun neighbors!

I'm going back out for eight hours tomorrow, so I'm sure we'll get a little farther on Josh and Anna's! So fun!

Until next week! :)

HB

My Achin' Dogs!

Seriously. It's 9:15 pm. I left the site a little over 3 hours ago. It hurts to walk. These ten hour days are KILLER! Luckily, my feet don't hurt til I stop working! Ok...enough whining for this week's post! :)

I know this is going to come as a shock to you, BUT I framed, squared and sheeted this week (Shocking I know!) :) The exciting part of that is that we started our 7th house (of 12), and our first 1295 plan (there are three total). After that, we have three more plans and then all 12 will have been started! YAHOO!

So here are the updates:

Tina's house has a FRONT DOOR, sliding door, all the windows, plumbed, and has been house wrapped. Ross said siding will come this week, and the electrician. That sounds very house-like, and it's totally exciting! Zhan's house has the roof on, the plumbers I think are done in there, and it will start wrap and windows this week, as will Robin's house. Ashlee's house had half the roof sheeting done when we got there this morning. Nathan's house is all trussed and ready for sheeting, and Robert's house is ALMOST all trussed and ready for sheeting. Garrett and Amanda's 1295 was started this week. We had almost all the bottom floor interior and exteriors done. Man, it seemed like nothing went easy with that house today! We hit a snag at every turn. Makes for a long day with everyone standing around trying to figure out how to fix the problem!

Ross said all the other packages are being delivered soon (I forget exactly what he said), AND he even put in for our house to be cut! YAY!!!! People ask me all the time if it's frustrating to look at my slab when Tina's house is really house-like! It's not, and for a few reasons. At first, it's because I knew that Tina (or whoever's house is done before ours) won't get to move in until all 12 houses are done and have passed inspection. We are a team, and we move in as a team. That's the way it works. I think in a lot of ways, it would be harder to look at your almost finished house that you won't get to move into for whatever amount of time, then to be the last house finished.

But these days, it's a totally different thing that keeps me going. I am truly proud of the people who will soon be my neighbors. All of us come from different situations: Families, singles, couples...people who work full time, people who go to school, etc. I could name more of my neighbors who I think aren't "like" me than are. As I get to know each one, however, they make me smile. Their hardwork inspires me to always do my best, and that is probably the single most motivating factor. Yes, at the end of this, my family will live in a beautiful new house that we built with our own hands. The house that love built. THAT is amazing. But there are so many rewards along the way: getting to know new people, rocking out to the radio and learning what everyone does and doesn't like, finding common ground and respecting differences. Jerica taught me how to "dougie" and "Roll the dice" last week. Now, I assure you, I THINK I look much cooler doing these than I actually do, but we had fun. Ashlee (who I now lovingly refer to as "french toast") makes me laugh EVERY DAY I work with her...the girl is hilarious! Anna and I have gotten to be great friends, and I love her dearly. Our kids play together, and will grow up right down the road. Julie and I were plotting a rock band play date when we get moved in, I'm learning Garrett always looks skeptical (even if I wasn't the last one to touch whatever it is he's skeptically looking at), Robert is always smiling and never makes fun of me when I've cut the same board ten times and it's still not right, and Sam makes me both laugh and roll my eyes everyday. It seems like he's always 'on', and that keeps us all going. Daniel is dependable and funny, and Tina is such a hard worker and a sweet gal.

There are still neighbors I don't really know well. We kind of have "teams" we work in, so there are people I hardly or never see. But I know when this is done, we all worked for the same goal. And THAT is awesome. :)

The good news is that while I was telling you all how awesome my neighbors are, I forgot about my feet. The bad news: I have to hit "publish" and stand up now! :)

Til next week!
HB

Yeah Buddy!



Rolling Trusses