It takes two.

They say that one of the hardest thngs to do as a couple is to build a house together. That may well be for many but Janis & I quite enjoy the process. This will be our fourth house we have built together along with many other imaginative projects. There are many, many decisions to make on a constant basis. Janis & I often have very different tastes and opinions. But we work it out through discussion. Each project is much better as a result.

Janis has some difficulty visualizing what is not there. Staring out over piles of dirt, and pink ribbon tied to stakes doesn't look much like a new house in her mind but with a little help she gets it in a hurry. We like to take a little walk each night, looking over the progress of the day, making changes as necessary and planning out what might happen the next day. We'll take many such walks over the next weeks and months. In the end we will have the house of our dreams that we can enjoy for many years to come.  

Thanks to our good friend Donna for the pictures!

-grampa dan

Windows with a view

Today was a day of many meetings and lots of important decisions. After lots of research and looking at many options we have decided to go with innotech windows + doors for our new house. www.innotech-windows.com The windows are gorgeous, and extremely well made. With the unusual design of our house, the windows and doors are all custom and have to be hand made by a skilled craftsman, many with rounded sides and tops. We were looking for a company we could work with to ensure we only had to do it once. The windows are European style, tilt and turn, for the upmost in comfort and security. The north side (closest to the road) will be triple glazed. All the windows have a triple seal to keep out noise, the cold and the weather. Best of all, the windows and exterior doors will be manufactured only fifteen miles down the road in the next town.

One more of many, many decisions are now behind us.

-grampa dan 

Tearing down and digging holes

The new house is to be built in front of our old one, within a few feet to make it fit. This meant the old porch had to come off the old house in prepartion of the new build. We used the sabre saw and skill saw to cut through the soffits and then the headers. We tied a rope to the porch and then my son Peter climbed up on the roof with the skillsaw.

I jumped on the tractor ahd kept the rope tight.

As Peter finished the cuts, the porch wobbled and then fell forward, missing the house and landed in a heap on the ground.

While I moved on to other things Peter patched the gaping hole to keep the rain and squirrels at bay. Then it was on to digging the giant hole for the new house. Phoebe got her turn at the controls - which she thought was pretty cool!

My friend Len did a great job and moved a whole lot of dirt from the excavation. We managed to locate the gas line without incident. The water line didn't fare quite as well, but a quick trip to the store netted the parts we needed for the repair. I moved it well out of the way so we won't have to mess with it again.

It was a fun day in Yarrow!

-grampa dan