March 10 - Forms Start

At this point the hole is completely dug out (due to the slope, it's level with the ground on the back right as viewed from the road and 7ish feet down on the front left). The forms (framing for the concrete in the footers) are going in. At this point, forms still need to be layed out for the garage and the inner trace of the forms needs to go in.

Looking at the forms from the garage entrance. That square at the top is where the main entrance will be.

Stones for the temporary driveway (so heavy equipment like the kind that carry concrete won't get stuck) where the permanent driveway will eventually lie.

Looking north-northwest from past the garage.

Mmmm... Stump pile still there. Eventually to be burned.

Preethi surveys the work.

View from the farm road looking back (northeast),

Looking down on the forms that will be below the great room and kitchen (main level). The great room is our favorite room in the house (or will be) and is what we're spending the most time on modifying the design. I've been doing some CAD modeling to help with the modifications which I'll post later.

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Feb 26 - Basement Excavation Begins

On the way down the road, I startled Preethi with the cry, "We have dirt!" which was really quite exciting for me after the delays clearing the trees (mechanical issues with the track hoe). The hole was actually a little less than half done at this point. But ground had been broken.

View from the road (looking south). According to W.D. (the builder), we were fortunate with the dirt as the dense red clay is good for stabiltiy / minimizing settling.

Dan (W.D.'s son and lead on the excavation) next to the hole.

Me in the hole. I'm standing in the basement underneath where the main level bedroom will be. The wall of dirt to my left is where the main-level garage will be.

W.D. is amused by his customer scrambling into the basement hole to have his picture taken.

W.D., Dan, and me. I didn't hang around too much longer after this photo as having some fool where you need to dig is counterproductive for excavation.

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Feb 14 - Lot Cleared

Between the house and the drain field, we're knocking down trees over about an acre. Most of the drain field trees are knocked down and all of the trees where the house will sit.

Looking northeast towards the neighbor (who coincidentally also has a Shepherd)

Fritz and Silver walking down the old farm road away from the house site.

Cleared brush, sitting south of the house. The ridge in the background is mostly on the lot.

Mmmm... stumps.

The Track Hoe that will be digging out the basement but was initially used to help guide the trees as they fell.

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About this site

Preethi and I are building a house in Lynchburg (Boonsboro to be precise) and thought our friends might like to see it go up.

After a long (1 + yr) negotiation we bought the lot in September 08. The lot sits on 6.2 acres in a 30-year-old equestrian neighborhood (no we're not going to raise horses, but our Shepherds are about horse size so the space is useful) just 7 miles from downtown Lynchburg, but nestled up against the northern ridges (not the Blue Ridge, but you can see it). Most of the lot is wooded, but on the far side of the stream that bisects the lot, there's about an acre clearing on the stream's floodplain where we'll plant vegetables when the zombie revolution comes. (Little known fact: zombies fear bell peppers.) I'll post pictures of the neighborhood and the lot later. We think it's an absolutely gorgeous lot - Preethi did well to find it.

After meeting with builders over the summer leading up to the closing on the lot (we needed to do some surveying and soil testing), we came to terms with a builder shortly after the lot closing and got our construction loan in place in January to construct a lightly modified Barnsley Mill (from Frank Betz - click the pic labeled "The Plan" to visit the site) on the lot. Ground was broken last week and now the house is progressing along nicely. I'm on site basically daily now, so there will likely be frequent updates for a while.

Now, a blog just about building your house is a bit narcissisitic. But it's a blog. And you're reading it.

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