I was really hoping to document this whole house build process as we went along, but it has all been going SO quickly and keeping me SO busy, I rarely even have time to post a quick picture to Instagram!  The framing on our house started at the beginning of September.  We got home from our annual Labor Day vacation and the framing had not only started, but was really moving along!

front door

living room window

view from the living room towards the school/media room

property view from the driveway entrance

So, as a reminder, our property has 2 (kind of 3) different parts: the main house (with the garage/loft attached) and the barn, so when you see all these pictures, it looks like 3 buildings.

beginnings of the barn!

Our framers have been so amazing!  They are a big crew and work quickly, but are also so patient with me whenever I have questions.  Here they are showing me where the stairs will go so I can envision it.

garage (my parents’ loft will be above it, attached with a glass bridge to the main house)

view from the barn (on the right) toward the house

I have never been able to stop this boy from climbing!  I just have to have him chill out a little around the subs because he worries them!

view from above the garage, down into the first floor of the house (before the connecting bridge)

the backside of the garage, the loft getting framed in.

2nd floor going up on the barn and loft

My parents standing on their future front porch

GIANT beam going in between the dining and living room

the barn loft getting trusses – it went up so quickly!

barn fully framed and getting sheeted

the big window wall lifted into place

view of the big window wall from inside – the fireplace will go in between the windows

start of the bridge!

view into the kitchen

inspiration pic of the bridge connecting the main house and the loft

The second floor of the main house getting framed.  This is Sean standing in our bedroom.

master bath

barn deck going up

main house getting trusses

view from the upstairs hallway

It was so fun being INSIDE the house when the framers were putting up the trusses! (yes, I was being careful)

2nd floor up in all 3 buildings!

front porch roof

inside of the barn – where we’ll have a game/hang out space

inside of the barn – where the RV will go

underside of the porch roof – the beams will all be painted black with the tongue & groove wood stained

Silas’ room

one of the girls’ room

working on the loft porch roof

roof getting sheeted

view from the living room – main living space is vaulted to the second story

loft porch roof – so pretty!

So many pictures, but I wanted to catch you up!  This process has been so crazy – each step is so much fun and exciting, but also filled with more decisions and questions than I ever expected, so lots of stress in this as well.  I am shocked at how much of my days are spent in meetings for the build or shopping for products.  I think I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, but just barely!

In my last post, I shared with you all the progress on our property – from grading to forming the foundation.  And as of today, we have slabs!

This process is ridiculously exciting to me, it’s just silly.  I am asking all the annoying questions (“why are you doing this and that?”) and learning so much.

As a reminder, we are doing 3 separate buildings, as shown above: the main house, the barn, and the loft/garage.

Before this, I thought foundation and slab were the same thing.  I was wrong!  The foundation, formed above, is the edges of the building and the slab is the whole surface.

Here is the foundation forms getting filled and smoothed out.

Once the forms were filled and smoothed, rebar was placed vertically in the wet cement, which would be later bent down to tie in with the slab.

Next came the rocks and sand – piles of it!

The rocks and sand were spread out.

Then the moisture barrier.  I never realized how many layers went into the foundation and slab!

For the main house, we are doing radiant heat in the flooring, so we added an extra layer in the mix – a special foam that prevents heat loss below the slab.

We chose the color aggregate for our concrete.  Since we are having polished concrete on the first floor of the main house, I want very little aggregate to show.  But if it does, I want it to be in the grey family so it’s not so noticeable against the concrete.  I chose the top rocks, but later had to go with the bottom instead because the radiant heating guy was afraid of the sharper edges of the grey rocks and the possibility of them puncturing the lines.

After the foam, they added more sand, then bent the rebar and tied it in with more rebar, forming a grid over the entire surface.

Next came the radiant heat tubing (the red tubes).

It was tied down everywhere that would be exposed, so not under cabinetry or walls.

Lots of early morning excitement meant no sleeping in for the teenager!

Getting ready for the slab to be poured.

It was such a satisfying process to watch!

once the whole things was done and dry enough to walk on (by the evening), Sean sprayed a sealer on it that will help slow down the drying process in hopes to prevent any cracking.  We aren’t making any saw cuts in the slab because we don’t want to accidentally cut a radiant heat line, so most likely we will get some cracking – it’s just the nature of the concrete.  But we are doing what we can to hopefully prevent them!

Lines were made in the garage since we’re not polishing in there (Sean’s company will do epoxy in there later).

The slabs were almost too dry for me to get a little etching in!

And more exciting news:  the framing starts on Monday!  Things will move so quickly from here!

I am hoping to keep updates coming more regularly since the kids will be back in school starting Monday.  I’ll have those precious 2 days a week to myself – well, to work, make house decisions, run errands, etc. – but it’s more than i’ve had all summer!