Category Archives: Home Building

Year 6, Day 95. “Living the Dream”. Monday, 8/03/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Framing Day 3. Cooler overcast day with sprinkles of rain on and off. Great day to be working outside. Front of the home was leveled and is ready for a large lumber delivery tomorrow morning. The main girder and floor joists are goingContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 95 – Clifty Hill 3 – Framing day 3, Main girder and joists”

Year 6, Day 94. “Living the Dream”. Sunday, 8/02/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Half day work. Verified foundation is on size and square. It had not been checked since the first block was put down. It was another reason to celebrate with a Diet Coke. The main basement foundation is ready to build on. Main girderContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 94 – Clifty Hill 3 – Main Girder started”

Year 6, Day 93. “Living the Dream”. Saturday, 8/01/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Hello August and of course it rains. Reminds me that it is time for the NJ Fair/Farm and Horse show. Always monsoons a few days during that time. Tried to work and ended up with a day off. I met up with ReinaContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 93 – Clifty Hill 3 – Rain day, lunch with Reina, window sizes”

Year 6, Day 92. “Living the Dream”. Friday, 7/31/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Day 40 Foundation Block Laying and last day of Foundation Block Laying. Up early to get more mortar to finish the block laying. Then onto the Aquatic center where you can tell school is starting soon. The high school marching band has startedContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 92 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 40 and last day of Foundation Block Laying, Started sills”

Year 6, Day 91. “Living the Dream”. Thursday, 7/30/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Day 39 Foundation Block Laying. One more block laying day after today. Then it is on to framing. We are so getting there. Trying to decide on a front door. The back door will be a larger version of the door in theContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 91 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 39 Foundation Block Laying, Picking doors”

Year 6, Day 90. “Living the Dream”. Wednesday, 7/29/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Day 38 Foundation Block Laying. Wednesday morning walks with friends is great. Love walking around Somerset. Somerset is a really nice town. It offers a blend of small-town charm with a revitalized downtown featuring arts, local food, and bourbon, alongside a low costContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 90 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 38 Foundation Block Laying, Tooter Pie”

Year 6, Day 89. “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 7/28/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Day 37 Foundation Block Laying. Nice breezy day. All eight inch blocks are now completed. Cap blocks and anchor bolts need to be done. Basement floor is ready to be poured. It will probably not be done till the end of September. TheContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 89 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 37 Foundation Block Laying, All Eight inch block up”

Year 6, Day 88. “Living the Dream”. Monday, 7/27/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Day 36 Foundation Block Laying. First thing this morning we created the next lumber list. Lumber King provided a price. Only one and one half rows of block need to be done in the front wall of the basement. A lot of timeContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 88 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 36 Foundation Block Laying, Next lumber list created”

Year 6, Day 87. “Living the Dream”. Sunday, 7/26/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Off day for construction. Spent the day looking at products to purchase. We need six porch posts. Todays video: Off Day no videos Daily Reflection: Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/4xejvI8 Force Factor NAD+ (NMN or Nicotinamide Riboside Alternative) | withContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 87 – Clifty Hill 3 – Sunday shopping for porch posts”

Year 6, Day 86. “Living the Dream”. Saturday, 7/25/2026, Clifty Hill 3. First thing let’s give a big shout out to this wonderful hardworking couple. Thank you for working on the concrete pour yesterday. The crawl space floor looks fantastic today. Front of the main foundation is plastered below grade. Sitting on the deck inContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 86 – Clifty Hill 3 – Last wall below grade plastered”

Year 6, Day 85. “Living the Dream”. Friday, 7/24/2026, Clifty Hill 3. By 8am the concrete is down in the crawl space area. By 11:30am the concrete floor was finished. All went well. The mix was the perfect consistency. It was a 6-inch slump concrete which is a highly flowable, wet mix that is easyContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 85 – Clifty Hill 3 – Crawl space concrete pour”

Year 6, Day 84. “Living the Dream”. Thursday, 7/23/2026, Clifty Hill 3. “Living the Dream” Day 35 Foundation Block Laying. The V in the front side of the main foundation is now closed up. The site is ready for tomorrow morning’s concrete pour in the crawl space. Visited the John Deere shop and discoverd thisContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 84 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 35 Foundation Block Laying, ready for crawl space concrete pour”

Year 6, Day 83. “Living the Dream”. Wednesday, 7/22/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Last night we had some wicked thunderstorms and torrential rains. It rained about 3 inches in one hour at one point. The heavy wind was reported to have gusted up to 70 miles per hour. Those high winds and driving rain broke ourContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 83 – Clifty Hill 3 – Plastic set up for cement pour”

Year 6, Day 82. “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 7/21/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Day 34 Foundation Block Laying. Pallets are set and ready in the back of the house when the first load of lumber is delivered from Lumber King. The best thing is by the end of the day the thirty foot rear basement wallContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 82 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 34 Foundation block Laying, First load of lumber delivered”

Year 6, Day 81. “Living the Dream”. Monday, 7/20/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Day 33 Foundation Block Laying. Today was a long hard ten hour day for the guys. Top cap blocks and anchor bolts are being added now and will continue to be added the next few days. Some work had to be done toContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 81 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 33 Foundation block Laying”

Year 6, Day 80. “Living the Dream”. Sunday, 7/19/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Hazy cloudy humid day. Half day work and half day Sunday funday. The morning was spent getting the area around the home ready for a lumber delivery and cement pour. An area was leveled behind the house for lumber placement. Our very friendlyContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 80 – Clifty Hill 3 – Getting ready for 1st lumber delivery & crawl space cement pour”

Year 6, Day 79. “Living the Dream”. Saturday, 7/18/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Storms were around a lot of the day. Therefore, no work was done at the build site. It gave Steve time to work on the tractor in the garage. She was running pretty rough. Look at her she is working hard everyday. TimeContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 79 – Clifty Hill 3 – Storms and tractor spa day”

Year 6, Day 78. “Living the Dream”. Friday, 7/17/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Day 32 Foundation Block Laying. It is 100 degrees Fahrenheit at 8:30am on our deck. I can hear the music blasting at the worksite. They must be happy like the corn and wild flowers are with the heat. The first lumber was orderedContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 78 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 32 Foundation Block Laying, 100 degrees Fahrenheit at 8:30am”

Year 6, Day 77. “Living the Dream”. Thursday, 7/16/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Day 31 Foundation Block Laying. Another 6am start but by the end of the day the last Block wall is up five courses. Justin has been a tremendous help. The process is moving along much quicker with his assistance. By the afternoon itContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 77 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 31 Foundation Block Laying, Anchor bolt not lag bolt correction video”

Year 6, Day 76. “Living the Dream”. Wednesday, 7/15/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Day 30 Foundation Block Laying. Went to the movies and saw “Paddington in Peru”. It was one of the free weekly summertime movies in the local cinema. Great movie. Very entertaining! Oh and yes I cried at the end. After the movie weContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 76 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 30 Foundation Block Laying, Movie day”

Year 6, Day 75. “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 7/14/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Day 29 Foundation Block Laying. Sweat bees are swarming today. It is thrilling that the corners are all coming out perfectly level. The french drains need to be done around two more walls. This foundation is getting done. We should be pouring theContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 75 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 29 Foundation Block Laying, Corners are perfect and level”

Year 6, Day 74. “Living the Dream”. Monday, 7/13/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Day 28 Foundation Block Laying. While Steve worked on laying block. I headed to the Marriott in Somerset for coffee with some Newcomers. It amazes me how many people are moving here from Washington state and California. I think the high property taxesContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 74 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 28 Foundation Block Laying, Hello mole video”

Year 6, Day 73. “Living the Dream”. Sunday, 7/12/2026, Clifty Hill 3. It’s another no work on Clifty Hill 3 building. Yard work, mowing, and general maintenance was taken care of at both houses. Did a little Lowes lumber shopping and then tall saw horses were built for laying block courses 9 – 12. FettucciniContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 73 – Clifty Hill 3 – No build day – Lowes & saw horses”

Year 6, Day 72. “Living the Dream”. Saturday, 7/11/2026, Clifty Hill 3. It’s a freeeeee day. No home building work done. Cleaned up The Wellington for an open house and had fun enjoying Somerset while the Realtor worked. Todays video: None today – lazy day!! Daily Reflection: Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/3OaYMURContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 72 – Clifty Hill 3 – Freeeeee Day”

Year 6, Day 71. “Living the Dream”. Friday, 7/10/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Short work day today with no block laying. The weather has been spotty with rain. The back of the main foundation now has the french drain pipe installed with gravel covering it. The next step is to put landscapers fabric over it andContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 71 – Clifty Hill 3 – Short day – French drain work & Reno’s late lunch”

Year 6, Day 70. “Living the Dream”. Thursday, 7/09/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Day 27 Foundation Block Laying Day. A warm day with attacking sweat bees. They not only attack me but the hand truck also. Five courses were put up on the short basement wall today. That side basement wall is now up six coursesContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 70 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 27 Foundation Block Laying, 200 more block delivered”

Year 6, Day 69. “Living the Dream”. Wednesday, 7/08/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Day 26 Foundation Block Laying Day. Block work continues. Back wall is now six courses up and plastered. The empty pallet pile is growing. It was an early day due to being rained out at 2:20pm. Maybe the rain will take away theseContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 69 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 26 Foundation Block Laying, Back wall six courses high”

Year 6, Day 68. “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 7/07/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Day 25 Foundation Block Laying Day. The skunk is now playing games with Steve in the early morning. They both want to play in the gardens at 5:30am. One morning Steve is going to get sprayed. Correct number of Cap blocks are setContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 68 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day 25 Foundation Block Laying, Playing with the skunk”

Year 6, Day 67. “Living the Dream”. Monday, 7/06/2026, Clifty Hill 3. We have help now. Justin will be coming everyday for the rest of the summer. It is another foundation day. Not a block laying day though. Another load of about 25 tons of number 57 rock was delivered. This load was $200.00 moreContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 67 – Clifty Hill 3 – First day of added help, Garage floor compacting”

Year 6, Day 66. “Living the Dream”. Sunday, 7/05/2026, Clifty Hill 3. Nice off day discussing pergola styles and wildlife. The skunk makes his little travels around our yard. We can see his little paths in the morning dew. He checks out the shed next door, heads to our feeder and then on to theContinue reading “Living the Dream Year 6 Day 66 – Clifty Hill 3 – Day off, skunk travels”