Water!

Our well was drilled yesterday- 111 feet down. (Slightly shallower than estimated) From what our neighbors tell us, it's supposed to be wonderful water. Sam was particularly excited that the well company is called "Sam's Well Drilling, Inc." Nanny is in this pic with the boys - she's really been getting our old house ready to sell! (check out www.fsbomadison.com if you're interested!)

Let's get going!

Yesterday was a big day...not at the site, but as far as getting this project going. We picked up our building permit and closed on our construction loan. Tim got the downpayment for the SIP panels, and we're on our way! Well, not quite. Tim is on vacation the next two weeks, so while he's gone, we'll get the final survey for exact placement of the foundation, the well placed, electric hookup, and the surcharge removed. Also during that time the SIPs company will finalize the plans and get ready to fabricate the panels. The heavy timbers have already been ordered. We should be ready for foundation work to start on July 30.

Buried septic

Just a couple pictures from today's events. The tank is buried and the drain field is covered. We'll seed the topsoil with native wildflowers as advised by the UW Arboretum.

Wow!

Well, this week didn't quite go as planned! Matt's grandma, Helen, died on Monday and so we found ourselves in New Mexico from Wednesday until late last night. It turned out to be a great celebration, and we were so glad to be there. Our closing has been rescheduled to this Tuesday. Progress has been made, however. When we showed up at our land this morning to do some clearing for the septic system, this is what we found! Due to the wet forecast for this upcoming week, our septic contractors wanted to get our tank and drain field placed. Matt is meeting with our well guy tomorrow in hopes of getting that done this week. I think things are really going to speed up from here on out!

Toilet talk

We're set to close on our financing this Friday, July 6. It's hard to believe it's been almost a full year since we purchased a tennis court and the dream of building our own home "someday" became more eminent. The timber for the heavy beams has been ordered and once we close on the construction loan, we will order the SIP panels. Last week we had a great time looking at plumbing fixtures....skeptical about what we would find, we were pleasantly surprised with our options. We are almost certainly going to install the Toto Aquia toilet - a dual flush, low flow toilet. This should be helpful with our septic system, but I've read the low water level is a little disconcerning at first use.

On a separate note, we are having to re-evaluate our fireplace. Our builder just discovered that our home won't qualify as "Energy Star" with a non-sealed wood burning unit. So, we need to decide what is more important to us, the "Energy Star" label (which is simply that, a label, but something we really believe in) or having a real log burning on those cold, long winter nights in Wisconsin. It's looking like we may be giving up the crackle of a "real" fire for a natural gas insert....we've just got to find one that fits. (Sound familiar, Jason?!)

If you find our blog interesting in any way, you might want to check out the blog of our "virtual friends," Jason and Stacy Hammond. It is just unbelievable how much we have in common - they are hoping to break ground on their home in Minneapolis this month, and are documenting their process for the Star Tribune. http://www.startribune.com/blogs/newhouse/

Window Poll

This is a post especially for Becker, who has been wanting a more interactive blog. We are trying to decide on the color of our window frames and the options are chestnut brown or cranberry red. So, let us know what you think! (Also, you can now see what the metal clad siding will look like.)

Curse of the signed contract?

We're hoping it's merely a coincidence, but since we signed the contract we've had a bit of bad luck. The microwave died (only needed it 6 more months!), our stereo's central speaker went out at the amp, and yesterday our clothes dryer and digital camera passed away. ARG! So, we have ordered our new washer and dryer a bit earlier than expected. Fortunately we have discovered that architects can get great discounts on appliances through a special website, but the entire situation is just so frustrating!! Special thanks to Kiki and Seth for the use of their microwave for the rest of the year.

The Contract is Signed!

It's official now! On Monday night we met with Tim and signed the contract. Now we are able to get our financing settled and get to work. We hope to close on our construction loan the first week of July. Once that happens, we will get the septic system installed and have the well dug. We will also put our down payment on the SIPs down and those will be fabricated off-site. While we wait for the SIPs to arrive, the garage will be built. Once things are really underway, it will be time to sell our old house...anyone looking for a nice 3 bedroom with a fenced-in yard on Madison's West side? It's going to be a busy summer!

Floor Plans

Budget Crunch

Well, it has been a BIG week...it appears we are significantly over budget and are having to take a lot of our ideas to the chopping block. Our biggest and saddest loss is the geothermal heat system. This is so unfortunate because it really is the best way to heat our home on this site. However, Tim assures us that our house will be so "tight" because of the SIPs construction that our heating and cooling systems will still be a lot more efficient than the typical house. Other items to be changed are the exterior siding (from cement board to metal clad - sounds strange, but I'll try to post an updated sketch...Matt really likes this change!), the chimney (from stone to possibly stucco), eliminating some upstairs windows, and various other things. We're hopeful that most of the changes will not affect the integrity of Matt's design and that we can still shoot for a December completion date. More to come...