The Septic System is Dug!

We have gotten a lot done over the last several days.

I have finished gutting one side of the building. I removed the center wall, two closets, paneling, sheetrock (on the ceiling), and all insulation. I also removed all the nails on the outside walls and almost all the nails in the ceiling joists. Then I took all the usable 2x4 wood, and removed all the nails from them. I also removed the siding where we are putting the addition.

Russ rented a backhoe this weekend. And what a weekend it was! On Wednesday, he started a second story deck with a roof underneath . He and his crew were supposed to be done on Friday. But leave it to the lumber company to make sure THAT didn't happen. The first lumber they needed, the 6x6s, didn't arrive on the truck Wednesday morning. Then didn't arrive until around 5 pm. Russ was "fit to be tied." He thought he had a few hours left on Saturday. It ended up taking until 4 pm. Meanwhile, the backhoe sat here with no one to run it.

When Russ arrived from the jobsite on Saturday, he took the backhoe to the back and dug holes He got the hole dug for the 1000 gallon tank and started digging the lateral trenches for the leach field. Russ was concerned that he wouldn't get it all done before Monday when they are scheduled to pick it up.

Sunday, I took his dad's tractor back there and started moving the dirt that Russ was digging out. It was a LONG day. But we finished. I feel like someone has beat me up. Bouncing around all day on that tractor is hard on the body. We finished up around 7 pm. Russ put 10 hours on the backhoe.

The sand and gravel are due to arrive on Tuesday. And the septic tank is schedule for Wednesday. But Russ is going to have to call and push that back to Thursday or Friday.

Good news/Bad news...

The good news we received the last post - that our power had been released - was wrong. Bexar county had released it. But then, the ETJ declined it. Yesterday, Pat (Russ' dad) got a list of things that have to be done for it to be released. Some of this stuff costs money that they don't have. So I don't know what is going to happen next...

But we are pressing forward anyway...

We worked hard on the house this last week. Russ got the floor in on the addition. And he dug the holes for the deck around the addition. Once he gets the poles in for the deck, he can start building the deck and, more important, the steps up to the house. That way, we won't have to use a ladder to get in and out.

I worked Saturday and Monday on tearing up the inside. All the paneling, sheetrock, interior walls, etc. need to come out. And then, all the nails holding that stuff to the outside walls and ceiling need to be removed. I can see a BIG difference, but the photo doesn't do it justice.

Addition Floor and GREAT NEWS!

Russ and I worked all day yesterday to get a frame up for the floor of the addition. He finished up the floor joists today. It is sooo very exciting to see things moving forward. It is 28'x8'. It is designed to make our living room and my craft room larger.

We got GREAT NEWS last week. Russ and his dad went to see the folks at the Bexar County office. They happened to talk to THE guy that makes the decisions. He agreed to allow us to intall our septic even though the septic permit is still on hold. AND he agreed to let us have temporary power. We can use temp. power for up to six months. Once we get the septic inspected and passed, they will release us to get permanent power.

I was beginning to wonder whether we would have to run on solar and wind power...

The House Stands on Its Own

Dodson's House Moving came out and took out their shoring from under the house and it now stands on OUR foundation.

Our next step is to start the addition. We are installing 4x4s instead of telephone poles for logistic reasons. But the structure will be very sound. The telephone poles are way more than the house needs to hold it up. We plan to get the floor joists installed this week. That way, we can start installing the framing for the deck so the stair stringers can be installed. Then we will actually have a way to get into the house without using an extension ladder. We also are planning to put in the center piers before the end of the weekend.

Another flood?!

We are behind where we should be. Dodson's came out and took the stuff they used to hold the building up about a week and a half ago on a Thursday. Then Friday, we got rain... Not a little, a LOT! I couldn't even come home from work! At the airport, they registered 3" - not much really... But in Quihi, which is closer to us than the airport, they got 11". Russ thinks we got beween 12" and 13". Needless to say, it was too much for our dry creek beds to handle. And we had water in our low water crossing - the one to get to our house - had standing water until Thusday this week.

Our piglets are growing. They have probably doubled in size in a month. They are really cute and very playful. Momma is still being very protective. We think they are weened. And have two people that want one. We have to separate them so we can figure out if we have a male. We will keep one male to breed the females with.

As long as the weather holds, Russ plans to start the deck and trusses for the addition tomorrow. Its is an exciting time!

Stilts -r- Us

Russ and some buddies cleaned out the dirt that the storm left in the holes last week. Today, they set the piers and now we are ready for concrete. It is being delivered tomorrow at 8 a.m. How exciting is that!!

Lots of crazy things going on. The electrician is coming out tomorrow to run the underground wires and set the meter.

We are waiting on the septic permit to be approved.

And the storm water engineer is going to come out tomorrow to be sure the excess water is running where it should. Then that dude has to write a report and give it to Bexar County's storm water folks. Once they approve it, we can get our electric...

I guess tomorrow is a busy day! And I won't even be here. Doesn't that just stink.

Also, we have new friends here on the property. Russ insisted on rescuing a dog that was about to be put down. Tuxedo is his name. When you look at his photo, it will be obvious why we named him Tuxedo. He is about a year old. He very pretty, and his coat is shiny and so soft. Tux has caramel colored eyes that draw you in. We have enrolled him in behavior classes at Pets Mart. He is full of energy and loves to catch a tennis ball. We want to see if he can play with a Frisbee too.

Also, the pig named Hagar (who we were sure was a male) had a litter of piglets - four of them - on Sunday. So, I guess we were wrong! He is a she. And we've decided to keep her name Hagar. It is too hard, after eight months, to remember a new name.

More Information

Someone asked how we made the decision to build our house from an old school portable... So I thought I would tell the story.



I drive past Dodson's House Moving on South Loop 410 every time I drive to Tejeda Academy to work. They had a cute little green house for sale and I was interested in it. Russ and I went online to Dodson's website and looked at that house and others that were on the website.



One day, we had some time on our hands so we went to Dodson's to look at what they had available. The little green house was REALLY small (probably not more than 700 sq. ft.), really old, very poorly laid out. They had several houses there, but all were too small or really needed too much work. Russ and I looked at several portables just for fun. Russ's dad, Pat, was wanting to build a catering kitchen for Gina and Russ and I talked to him about buying one for that purpose. While talking about that possibility, Pat said you can't buy the material for what they are selling some of these buildings for. That got Russ and I to talking about it, and finally deciding that it was a great idea.

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Russ is very excited. The building is at least 6 feet off the ground on one corner and about 8 feet off the ground on the opposite corner. He hopes to be able build a shop under there for his tools etc.



He has to clean out the holes that we drilled in the next few days because he plans to pour concrete on Wednesday. Then we wait for two weeks for it to cure. After that two week wait, Dodson's can come back out and put the building down on the piers Russ has set.



During the two week wait... Russ is going to put in our septic and hopefully our electric (from the pole to the building).



I also wanted to put in a photo of the tub we bought. I mentioned it in an earlier blog, just didn't have a photo of it then.