I love the view from the top of the first floor. The church bells are ringing and the cross is towering over the trees. I am blessed.
P.S Yes. That is a steel 34' i-beam (open space living).
JOA - Curing Concrete
Waiting for the concrete to cure for 10 days before starting to frame the first floor.
JOA Concrete Day
Concrete Day is one of my favorite days of a custom build. As the saying goes, the key to a good build is a strong foundation. In reality, there is a little more to it than strength and it is prior to the actual pour of the concrete. The fun part is seeing over 15 cement trucks lined up to dump wet concrete into a concrete boom truck. The kids being dropped off at the nearby school were all excited but the carpool parents were stuck behind the cement trucks. Sorry neighbors.
JOA 53 Piers
One of the issues with this project site is that over the years the soil has subsided several feet below grade and the site has become a retention pond. As a result, I decided to install 53 piers into the ground to help support the six inches of concrete slab to be poured on top of the piers.
JOA Green Light
Permission granted to start the custom build.
JOA Demo Day
In the days leading up to demo day, I had the opportunity to get to know the previous homeowner, who told me an interesting story about the original idea of the neighborhood. She told me that the the inspiration of the layout of the neighborhood was to have homes surround the church, similar to the Basilica di San Marco in Venice.
On the morning of demo day, I said a quick prayer thanking the Lord for giving me this opportunity to build a custom house.
The project site is located across a Catholic school and all the little kids (especially the little boys) get really excited when the life-size versions of their favorite construction toys are right in front of their eyes. It is great to have an audience on the edge of their strollers pointing and getting excited about the excavators and bulldozers.
