by Alison Moore Smith | Apr 7, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Before moving the enormous dirt pile from the back of the house to the front—and filling in the mote around the front porch—the basement concrete panels were covered with stucco. Unlike typical building materials, stucco can be applied directly to the aerated concrete...
by Alison Moore Smith | Apr 6, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
The builders—waiting for it to stop snowing in April—installed a makeshift staircase from the basement to the main floor yesterday. Alana says they look like “the depths of hell.” Truth be told, it was a little scary for Samson to climb them. But better...
by Alison Moore Smith | Apr 5, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
In order to meet code, we had to screw straps through the base floor and into the floor trusses with the end attached to the cement wall panels. This was completed today.
by Alison Moore Smith | Apr 1, 2010 | for Body, for Home
A Clean Eating Dream Long before the term Clean Eating became a huge health industry, I was converted to healthy eating. For almost 30 years I've eaten a diet consisting mostly of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and all things high in...
by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 31, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
The main floor walls have been stacked. We were wondering if there were enough block to finish the job, but the crew made it through the top row. It's quite fitting, I think, that the fourth (and final!) cement pour occurred in a downpour. Today we woke up to snow...
by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 28, 2010 | for Home, for Money
After Sam finished his PhD, we moved to Florida where he was set to be a professor of ocean engineering. After years of school we were excited…and flat broke. Our first place was a 3-bedroom townhouse. Not luxurious, but clearly a step-up from our college apartment...