Finally Done!

Though we've gone through DROUGHT, ICE, AND RAIN this past year, we're done, at least until we have more money for a paved driveway ,and a finished carport and bonus room in the back.

Our certificate of occupancy was issued on July 31, 2007 by the city of Lone Grove. We had Mike Hammitt come one more time to do a punch list for us so we could move in. We still needed bathroom mirrors and shower doors installed and a several other small odds and ends that if he hadn't done these things it would have taken us forever to do after we moved in. We officially moved in the week of August 5. We were so glad to be out of our apartment. The kids now have separate rooms and have alot more space to run around, and no more crickets (we had tons of crickets at our apartment building)! We are now living in a 3000 sf home with 4 bedrooms and 2 3/4 baths. We, also, have two eating areas, an office/spare room, living room, and a big kitchen!

Our bay window has become a stage for our 3 girls.


We special ordered a 8ft x3 1/2 ft storm door and had Mike install it. See how wide our door jambs are, both girls can fit in between the storm door and the front door?!




I'd like to make a few notations about our heating and cooling in this ICF home. One of the reasons we built this type of home was to save on our utility costs. So far we've been very pleased with our American Standard 14 seer Heat Pump's performance. It does feel very comfortable in the house at all times. We have special humidity sensors on our thermostats. We have a 2 zone system, one for upstairs and one for downstairs. We have an American Standard Accu Exchange ERV (energy recovery ventilator) in the attic which helps the humidity come down in our house since we have such a tight, well insulated house. It also pulls in fresh air. The biggest difference I notice is when I walk upstairs there's no or very little difference in temperature and the air doesn't seem heavy upstairs, but fresh.

As far as cost savings in our utility bill, we've seen moderate savings, but we've only lived here two months and we're getting used to what thermostat settings are the most comfortable for our family.

We've been really impressed with spray foam insulation in the attic, too. There's hardly any difference in temperature in the attic as there is in the rest of the house.

I'm including some photos of the features I've just mentioned.

This is our digital thermostat that tells temperature, time and humidity.

ERV in attic , air exchanger

You know this was our first time building this type of house, let alone building any kind of house from scratch with no contractor. We met many great people along the way. And I, especially, know alot more about the steps of building a house than I ever thought I would ever know, or that I would even want to know in my lifetime. There are many things we could have done differently and done in a better order, especially with painting, but in the end all the praying and mental and physical excerise we had to go through to get to end was well worth it.

"Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." Psalm 127:1

July 2007 Final Countertops, Cabinets, Flooring

When I look back it's amazing how many final items were completed in July compared to all the other months of construction where maybe two construction details would get done. We were also dealing with several rainy days, but at this point of construction most of our items were inside details that it didn't matter the weather.


Here's a picture of our temporary power outlet that supplied us power for almost a year, it was our lifeline to build our house. It was like losing an old friend that served us well.


On July 18, we finally no longer had to rely on temporary power, but now we had power right at the meter attached to our house. I was crying tears of joy on that day. I finally felt like we were near the end. The same emotion came over me the day (July 30) the portable toilet was taken away. It had been a little over a year since we started this journey, and we were finally seeing the end to our labor mentally and physically.

We finally cut down the tree that was so close to the bay window. We had decided several months earlier to cut it down because it blocked the view from that part of the house and it would be a problem to grow grass in the front yard.

Dave installed all our kitchen cabinets, which was quite a challenge , because of the 45 degree angle in the kitchen, just to get everything to line up like it was supposed to. But, he prevailed and the trim carpenter installed all our trim for the kitchen cabinets. Then, Steve from Counter Act came and installed all our cultured stone countertops in the kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry room. He even came on the weekend to install them. We were very pleased the countertops and his work.



Deanna reclining in the kitchen with our newly installed cabinets, counter tops, and appliances.




The kids bathroom newly installed lights, mirrors, cabinets, countertops, and sinks.



Our air conditioning was turned on officially July 23, right when our flooring was beginning to be installed. Which was perfect timing, it made their work conditions so much more comfortable. We hired Mike Blomberg to do all our flooring, which we had a combination of ceramic tile, laminate, and carpet.

This is looking from kitchen into breakfast nook. We have ceramic tile in the kitchen and laminate in the nook.






This is looking from the living room into the entryway and kitchen. That little step up into the kitchen took alot of extra work and creativity to get the tile work straight, since some of the concrete was damaged behind the door and not perfectly straight. But, Mike was able to work with these issues and do beautiful work. In the middle of the entryway is a medallion that Mike recommended to really set off our entryway. We're glad we took his advice.




Here's a closeup of the medallion.

Tile work Mike did around our jacuzzi tub.

July 2007 Final Stairs, Painting,Septic,Guttering

Things really got crazy the last two months of construction that I didn't have time to update this blog or take alot of pictures. In July we were in our final countdown of getting all the last of the interior done and finally getting our septic system installed. God was faithful, all those last things fell into place. We finished before our building permit expired (8-6-07) and before our 12 month construction loan would have ended in August, also.

Since, my last posting on June 24,2007 , getting our stairs finished was the next step. This picture shows our stairs completed with carpet. Our trim carpenter, Bill Hunt, did the caps and side wall trim out of mdf and used the iron balusters and oak posts and railings we had picked up from Latham Stairs in Sanger, TX. He was an excellent carpenter and we were very pleased with his work. We found out there's not too many trim carpenters who like to tackle these kinds of stair parts. But, the beautiful end result was well worth the effort and cost ($$).

Here's some more pictures of our stairs and the walkway above the entry.




These next series of pictures is when Carla Milligan, an art teacher from Kingston, came and painted murals on Dillon and Danae's room. We had been having trouble figuring out the final colors of the kids' rooms, when I came upon her ad in the classifieds. It was perfect timing. God did it again! We were so pleased with the results!

Danae and Dillon are sitting in the windowsills (they make great seats since our windowsills are almost a foot wide) after Carla had painted Danae's room. She has horses on every wall of her room. Danae had told me several months ago she wanted a horse scene in her room. Her prayers were answered.

Here's Dillon's room. Since Dillon's room was already painted a turquoise color, an underwater scene worked out well. Dillon had her paint sea dragons and ocean coral, but he asked her to also incorporate his favorite bird, the bald eagle. Not pictured are also a golden retriever and a cheetah , which also wanted painted. Carla was great at incorporating all the ideas the kids had and make it all blend. It was so hot the days she painted, too, which didn't bother her. I would highly recommend her. We'd like to have her come back in a few months and do the other two bedrooms.

While all this inside work was going on, we had work going on on the outside, too. Our septic system was installed by Chickasaw Nation free of charge. I started the application process with the Chickasaw Nation Office of Environmental Health a year ago July, just so we could get on the waiting list for the septic system. In October 2006 we made it on the approved list. Then they said the installer would come when we were within about a month from being finished with the house. Back in October of 2006, I don't think we ever imagined that we wouldn't be ready until the next July. I, also, found out once they were here installing that they could have dug and installed our water line from the street, but I would have had to request it with my original application. Oh well, hindsight is always clearer. Anyway, we are very thankful for the work they did and for the septic system. It was a great savings on our construction budget.

Here's the contractor smoothing out the site after they installed the septic tank and lines. We got a nice sprinkler system out of the deal, too. Look closely and you'll see Deanna standing next to one of the workers. Here she is making friends again.



We had our guttering on our house completed in July, also. One of the days they came, we had a terrible thunderstorm come through. The day it came through, not only were the guttering workers there, but also, the electrician, the HVAC workers, and the bricklayers. We all stood on the front porch or watched out the windows as it downpoured outside. Here's a picture of the aftermath of that storm. A truck of one of the workers got stuck in the mud near our newly installed septic tank. Fortunately they didn't damage anything, just made big ruts in the ground.