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 | 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 26, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
In our last home all our sinks (with the exception of the laundry room) were either integrated or undermount. In the new house, there won't be any exceptions. Undermount sinks don't have nasty lips that trap gunk and debris. When you have food and liquid on the...
by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 25, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Custom building is a nightmare. We've been through that. Building a tract home that a crew has built over and over will still have mistakes and miscommunication. But building a custom home is just asking for trouble because the general contractor and subcontractors...
by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 24, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
The construction has been going very smoothly. The first wall section had cut panels that exposed the areas inside at corners. Before each pour, these areas had to be covered with plywood that was wired onto the panel to hold the cement inside. Subsequent sections...
