Framing - 10/15/07 thru 10/31/07

Framing began in the basement with a bathroom, utility room and mechanical room.

10/15/07

Floor joists installed over crawlspace.

10/16/07

Floor decking installed over crawlspace.
10/16/07

Floor joists and decking installed over basement.
10/17/07

First wall raised
10/18/07

First wall up...way up!
10/18/07

First floor walls up
10/21/07

Raising tub/shower for second floor
10/25/07

Second floor walls going up
10/25/07

Second floor up and starting on roof
10/29/07

It's a tall one!
10/29/07

Back side of house on a solid rock foundation.
10/29/07

Back side of house
10/29/07

Second floor roof beams complete
10/31/07

Basement floor - 9/22/07 thru 10/10/07

Basement filled and graded with gravel in preparation for concrete floor slab. Basement walls will be 20 block courses high (13'-4")

9/22/07

Sewer outlet pipe and water supply line inlet
10/4/07

Basement plumbing
10/4/07

Electrical supply line conduits
10/4/07

Placing concrete in area under front porch/accessway to crawlspace
10/10/07

Plastic sheet vapor barrier and rebar ready for concrete.
10/10/07

Concrete placement in basement
10/10/07

Concrete placement in basement
10/10/07

Finishing concrete floor in basement
10/10/07

Foundation Construction - 8/1/07 thru 10/4/07

Cut footer for basement
8/1/07

Footer had several stepdowns...5 foot elevation difference from back to front of basement.
8-6-07


Basement footer complete
8/6/07

Concrete blocks delivered
8/10/07

First block laid
8/27/07

First of 17 days of block work...very slow with only a two man crew.
8/27/07

Onward and upward
9/11/07

Two of the basement walls topped out at 21 courses.
9/11/07

Upper level of house to be on a crawlspace.
9/11/07

Pumper truck used to place concrete in upper level footers.

9/20/07

Pumper truck had a long reach

9/20/07

Placing concrete in formwork at transition from basement to crawlspace.
9/20/07

Upper level crawlspace footers complete
9/25/07

Only one course of blocks needed for upper level crawlspace.
10/4/07

Breaking Ground - 7/16/07

Cut in the entrance drive

Digging out the basement

Breaking up excavated rock

Discussing options to breaking up all this rock

Stack the rock to make a retaining wall

Bad photo of a great view


Better photo of our great view.

Looking west down the Cumberland River.

Site clearing - 7/16/07

I cleared the house site myself with a chain saw.

Rented a chipper and ground up the trees.

Saved two large hickory trees which will be in front of the house.

Saved as many trees as possible. Plan on not having any grass to mow! Took a load of the larger cedar logs to a local saw mill...got a whopping $78.46. Definitely not worth it.


Kept trees between us and the neighbors.

Treed lot - 4/12/07

The lot is covered with trees. The plan is to keep as many as possible.

Staked out house corners. This is the front right corner of basement.

Future center of house.


Edge of bluff dropping off to the Cumberland River.