Category Archives: Kentucky

Today is the first day since we started this project that we slept a little later. Got up at 7am. Steve didn’t start work until almost 9am. The basement floor looks great today. More work was done on the siding around the front dog house dormer. Before the work could get started though they hadContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 131”

Last night it got into the 50’s. But quickly warmed up today to 90 in the shade. Look at the steam coming off the cabin as the sun rises. Today was mostly about getting the cement basement floor done. The first concrete truck came at 8am and the wheel barreling began. Justin wheel barreled mostContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 130”

Happy Labor day everyone! Today at our building site there was a lot of hard labor going on for sure. I am thankful for all the hard work being done on the high dog house dormers. They are getting there. I made some new friends today. My new friends don’t carry a conversation very wellContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 129”

Today was our no work Sunday. We had a birthday lunch and celebration for our three oldest granddaughter’s birthdays. The corn children even came by the cabin to celebrate. Steve set up his new beverage refrigerator. It will be nice to have room for some food in our refrigerator now. Trying to keep hydrated inContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 128”

Looking ahead we purchased the electrical sockets, switches and boxes. We are looking at service panels and wiring now. Another step in this journey. It is amazing how many electrical boxes you need for a new house. There are one gang, two gang, and three gang boxes. We have to locate the three gang. ElectricalContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 127”

As I stepped out of the cabin this morning, I was met with freshly sprayed skunk smell. Then walked to the old house opened the door and was met with a horrid smell. I could not even walk into the house. It burned my throat and made me choke. I had no idea what theContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 126”

Beautiful sunny cooler day today. Looking at the pictures of NJ, NY, and PA is heart wrenching. So much destruction and many frightening stories. A few family members personal pictures and articles were ruined from basement flooding. We have had a lot of rain and bad storms here in KY, but the east coast gotContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 125”

Steve cut the rebar and set it in the basement stone. The rebar is used to mark the height of the cement. It helps in the leveling process. The basement is now ready for cement and the 3000 psi cement is ordered. First delivery date is Tuesday at 8am. It will come in two trucks.Continue reading “Living the Dream Day 124”

It is so muddy and slippery that you have to walk on plywood around the house. Sometimes the plywood slides and you are mud surfing. Check out the picture of Steve. He’s in the dog house now!! I love those huge dormers. Last night it was raining so hard that I elected not to goContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 123”

It is very dark here at 6am. This morning the cabin outside light was loaded with yellow jackets. NO! NO! NO I can’t stand another type of bee. There must be a nest somewhere near our cabin. I had bought some bee traps from Amazon to hopefully catch the sweat bees. We put Cranberry juiceContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 122”

Hot, hot day today. Today was our off day, but Steve did put 1×3 boards around the basement windows. He wasn’t sure what to do with these windows since they are partially in the vinyl siding and partially in the cement block wall. He is going to wrap those 1×3’s with aluminum. The rest ofContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 121”

It used to take Steve one thousand of his man hours to build a house. That was with using electrical, plumbing, and excavating subcontractors. Also with two employee helpers. The cleaning never ends. These guys are hardworking in this heat, but they do leave a mess behind. Today, I worked on cleaning the upstairs beforeContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 120”

Fingerless gloves and knee pads are needed to roof in the hot sun. Today was the last day of roofing. Yea – success – roof was done by lunch time. Another milestone met. Last two windows are in. The house is starting to get water tight. Tyvek house wrap was ordered and the lumber companyContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 119”

Another hot day today and more bugs. We are trying to decide if Octagonal vents would look good over the dog house dormers. Looks like we are going with them. The back of the shed dormer is sheathed now and shingles are started. It just got way to hot to finish the roof. So theyContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 118”

We have had enough of the sweat bees attacking us. We have never seen anything like this. The amount of sweat bees here is incredible. Today was time for self defense and Steve went hunting. He is an excellent hunter. His weapon of choice was Hot Shot flying Insect killer. By the afternoon there wereContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 117”

Steve is whistling away and having such a good time with his new $65.00 stair jig. All I know is that we are getting closer day by day to being able to walk up stairs in the house. No more ladders will be nice. He is constantly buying new Dickie suspenders. The clips only lastContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 116”

Steve was up on the roof by 7:10 am. I headed out to pick up our shutters. I found a way to kill the sweat bees. Open the car door and let them in. Then close the door and let the sun shine in. Oh yea instant death. So remember how I was nervous aboutContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 115”

Today was another Sunday fun day. The weeks just keep flying by. Super hot and sunny today. After our normal Sunday errand running Steve got up on the roof. He moved the Dog house scaffolding from the rear dog house to the front. The plan is to be on that roof as soon as itContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 114”

Steve finished roofing the rear dog house dormer and Justin worked on the front slope. Slow going with the super hot sunny day, and all the ladders and planks needed. They quit early because the roof just got way to hot to work on. They were burning their hands on the shingles. There are soContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 113”

Another Lowes day. Starting to get prepared to do the basement floor. Bought six mil clear plastic and another wheelbarrow. Cool wheelbarrow it has two front wheels. You can’t tip it over and dump the concrete. Next week we will order the stone for the basement. After stone is in and leveled the plastic goesContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 112”

This dream is rain, mud, sun, bugs and humidity. Flies are back again. The good part is the fly trap in the tree is catching them. There are also a ton of larger bugs getting in the fly trap. Better in there then on me or in my cabin. Although, I have to say swattingContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 111”

Another Lowes run for me. Had to pick up more planks to stand on for roofing. The weather today is hot and sunny. By 9am it was already super hot on the roof. We had to replace a sheet of plywood between the dog house dormers. Even though it was really nailed it soaked upContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 110”

Shed dormer shingles are on and the shingles are started on the Dog house dormer side. It was a overcast cool day. It was a perfect day for working on the roof. Today’s product recommendations are for keeping aware of your surroundings: 1) Love this indoor outdoor thermometer, and 2) We own and love thisContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 109”

Tried working today, but got rained out in about an hour. Steve spent some time building roof ladders. He used these kind of ladders to roof our rental last year. They worked great. Cleared up later in the day. Steve went up on the roof and put on some starter shingles. Today’s product recommendations areContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 108”

Strange weather today, cloudy and humid this morning, then hot and sunny in the afternoon, and finally lightning and rain in the evening. Not much was accomplished today with the house. We did our normal Sunday fun day stuff. Breakfast out, laundry, harbor freight shopping, and Lowes shopping. Took a few pictures of the houseContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 107”

Rained on and off this morning. Cooler with no sun so it was nice working conditioning. So I wanted to see exactly how much our air mattress has expanded. It started at 60x80x22 inches high. It is now 68x81x21 inches high. Wonder how big it will get and how close to the floor we willContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 106”

The birds were back on the wires this morning waiting for work to start. They are probably discussing how the big birds are building a really big nest. They love watching the action. Sheathing continued today. Almost, almost done. The shed dormer side is starting to look good. We put one of the high frontContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 105”

Steve says even after we move into the new house we can continue our outdoor showering. It is really inexpensive and it will save us money. Is he crazy!! I don’t think so. Actually, I know we are not doing that. Don’t the dog house dormers look gorgeous. They actually make the side of theContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 104”

My hope is that all who are reading these daily posts are developing a better appreciation for the construction industry. A builder/general contractor has to have an extensive knowledge of building codes, building design, building materials, excellent people skills, and endurance. It takes a lot of skill to build, remodel, and refurbish a home. LastContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 103”

Last night was a very stormy night. Therefore, no outside water activities took places. Dishes and showering left for the morning. Have to shower early though before work starts on the house. You can see right in the shower from up high in the new house. Someone said, rent the cabin and shower facilities onContinue reading “Living the Dream Day 102”