September 18,2006

Here's a picture from Sep.13 when Billy and his crew came back to pour concrete into the walls. The guy without a shirt on is pumping concrete into the wall while Billy uses a piece of equipment, kind of like a blender (called concrete vibrator), to get the air out of the concrete. That pumping hose was heavy. It took two men just to hold it.

Now, the finished product

Time for a little break

Slow Beginnings

We made a deposit on our 2 acre parcel in Lone Grove, OK on May 18, 2006. Then it took all summer to get our construction loan finalized. Mid Country bank out of Minnesota is the best for an owner/builder plus they are used to financing ICF construction. We hadn't originally planned on being an owner/builder but we had difficulty finding a contractor who wasn't busy plus was familiar with ICF. Over the course of the summer we concluded God was leading us (Dave and I) to be our own contractor. Actually, I, Debbie , am the contractor, Dave , the engineer, tells me what needs to be done and I do all the calling, researching, and "go-for"ing. It has been a grueling process so far, but the Lord is giving me what I need each day to make it through. As the Lord gives me a Scripture that applies to our building process I post it on our dining room wall so I can be reminded, as well Dave and our 4 children, that God is faithful to His promises and will help us see this through to the end.

Here's some of the Scriptures on our dining room wall. Click on photo to enlarge.


So, here we are Sep. 10th seeing some of the first steps of our house being built.
When we purchased this land it already had a footing on it and a gravel drive cut. We are using most of the footing that the previous owner had poured.
Workers from Insulating Concrete Homes out of OKC came yesterday and today to set up the first course of Build Block insulated form blocks. We were told this is the most difficult part of the process because all the blocks have to be leveled and squared off. Our footing made this especially difficult because it was so uneven. But, Billy and his crew from ICH persevered and had it all level and square by the end of the second day.