December is here

Welcome to December, we are nine months into the construction. 

Here are some pictures...

Luke, Mark Strege and I installed the windows one Saturday.  When the sun shines the house temperature rises into the 70s, the highest temperature we have noted is 76 degrees F.  Overnight the house is heated with a 1,500 Watt portable heater... equivelant to a hair dryer.

This is a picture from October of the master bedroom suite just as the footings were going to be poured.












After the two piles of dirt were removed, the ground was leveled and we are getting ready to put down highway cloth (think landscape cloth) and will be following that with 3" of 3/4" rock (same rock I used in the gravel garden in Fargo).







We got 7 to 8 inches of snow one weekend.  Carol applied for a burn permit and I burned two slash piles about 50' from the house.  I got them started early in the day and by the time the sun set they had burned down to almost nothing.







We were rushing to get as much done before the next snowfall.  We got three loads of class 5 road gravel on the 30th of November.  I spent half a day getting it leveled out. 










Our driveway had been a source of mud since we broke ground back in April - we were sooooo happy to get a layer of gravel over the mud before the winter set in.




Carol helps install the extruded polystyrene between the foundation walls in the master bedroom suite.



This is a view of the rock that will be visible through our master bedroom window.  The 3/4" landscaping rock will extend from the bedroom walls to the rock.










Carol and I installed the PEX radiant heat tubing over the course of two days.  It was only in the 30s both days so we would work for and hour or so and then have to retreat back into our apartment for a cup of coffee to warm up.

We took advantage of the 11% sale at Menards, I purchased most of the materials that we will need to complete the house, on Wednesday we got the rebate for a bit over $3,5000.

 

We hired a couple of guys to hang and tape sheetrock, they should be here middle of December. 

 

We hired a company to pour the concrete slab in the master bedroom suite.  It has been too cold to pour concrete the past few days but the forecast is for temperatures in the 40s by mid week, so the plan is to pour the slab on Wednesday.  The contractor will have to use hot water to mix the concrete, calcium adjuncts to improve cold weather performance and cover it with thick concrete blankets to keep it warm overnight.