Renovations, The Buffalo BurrowBuilding the Burrow – Foundation August 15, 2019 This dirty little cutie may be covered in mud, but he has some exciting news! We’re making MAJOR progress, FINALLY! In some ways, it seems like it’s taken forever to get to this point. In others, it’s like, “How do we already have a foundation?!” The progress so far has been super exciting to us, but I know to others it probably just looks like a bunch of downed trees and red dirt. I’ve been sharing real-time progress on Instagram stories, but wanted to do a round-up post here to catch you guys up in case you haven’t seen those! Because things are officially and quickly rolling now on this project! Hallelujah. As you see above, we have some cleared space and a construction driveway. We had to take down 14 trees, which coming from someone who’s usually excited to get a lot with A SINGLE tree, that felt just wrong! But they were all truly in the build site. I had to keep reminding myself this is our little forest. To build a house in a forest, some trees gonna have to go. But we kept as many as possible and still have four big ones in the front at different spots and basically woods all in the backyard. We do have a few clear, flat spaces in the back that’ll be great for creating play and outdoor living areas. We had it graded and then waited a month for foundation to start. Even if you were following along on Instagram in “real-time,” you felt the lull for sure! But, y’all, we now officially have a foundation and it is so exciting to see the house placement and start getting a feel for things. If you need a refresher, check out the exterior look and the floor plans. But one thing I’m most excited about with this house is the front steep peak where you enter the house. That’s the jut-out for it there in the center above. I cannot wait to see that peak come to life once framing starts. That’s the one thing I knew I wanted this house to have visually. And I love how the house lays on the lot now that the trees are down. That center peak and entrance is framed between these two big oaks from the road. L-O-V-E. Okay, let’s take a look closer in at some details. Remember, we aren’t able to do a front porch budget-wise (it was either that or a screened porch in the back). I was sad about that, but now I’m celebrating because I love what we’re doing instead! We never would’ve gotten to my beloved peak without nixing a porch. Now, we’ll have a brick stoop that’s 9 feet wide (but not the full width of the peak), that you’ll walk up a wide step or two to access. It’s wide enough to really use for plants and things (let’s be honest, PUMPKINS), which is great. That’s the foundation for it there above. You may notice in these photos that the foundation is cement block with brick on top. Once the house is framed, final grading will be done, so the ground level will change from what you see here. The cement block and actually some of the brick won’t be seen once we finish the grading. Not doing complete brick where it’ll be covered with dirt saves $$$$. This is on the left side of the house where the garage steps back. I’ll talk more about the garage in just a second, but first, let’s chat about this brick. We knew we were going to have to do base-level brick. Trying to do things as cheaply as possible, remember? There is plenty we can’t cut on, so wherever we can, we are. I was so worried that I would hate the base level brick, but we have so much of it, I knew there’d be no choice. Thank goodness, I LOVED it. There were four choices at the bottom price-point and this baby here, Briarcliff, stole my heart. Our brick guy said it’s the most popular and I completely see why. It has such lovely variation in color and it isn’t red at all. So it’ll really blend in and go with any paint color we choose. Not that red brick can’t work with any colors and be beautiful, but I knew it might steal the show with what we’re looking at. Okay, GARAGE. Y’all, I still cannot believe that after four houses in the city, we’ll have a double garage. It’s a dream and I’m not even sure what it’ll be like! We always hoped we would one day, but you never know. Again, the grade will change, so you’ll pull straight into that garage. The top of the brick there will be nearly ground level. But goodness, having a garage for all of the kids things, Chris’ tools, and oh yeah, cars! Dream come true. Now, let’s walk around back to the basement! You may remember we were really debating on whether or not to put in a basement. The space was definitely there with the slope of the lot, but we didn’t need the space and hated to spend the extra cost even to leave it unfinished. But we knew in the end, we needed the option of finishing it for/if we resale one day and you just never know what life is going to bring. That feels too big and excessive to us now, but time changes things, friends. And who knows what our needs will be one day. And already, we see some things brewing that that basement just may be a God-send for, who knows 😉 And I’ll go ahead and cut you off there, no baby news yet. I know where the mind goes! So, that back half wall to the front where Dax is will be the basement portion. It isn’t huge, but is big enough for a small living space, two beds, and a bath. And now for a little quick progress. Only a day after that was finished above, this happened so they could work toward pouring the slab. That back gravel portion is the basement and the front portion is a giant patio that will be underneath the deck and screened porch. I cannot wait for it – I have such plans for this outdoor space on ground level! The concrete is being poured tomorrow and the kids cannot wait to see the concrete truck. I think the most fun part so far hasn’t even been the vision for what this house will be, but it’s been going through this process with the kids. They absolutely love spending time over there. They want to see progress, collect rocks, and play. But they also come to work! These babies aren’t messing around. Daddy is raising some hard little workers and they love every minute of it. Rosie’s friend gave her these old glasses with empty frames and Rosie has deemed them her “work glasses.” And we’ve only just begun! I can’t wait for them to watch the progress continue, see their rooms, and get to be a part of the whole thing. And having all of these photos to look back on makes my heart sing. So here’s how our schedule is looking now: *Concrete happens tomorrow! *Framing starts SATURDAY. As in two days. Y’all. Our framer says that by next Friday, we’ll be able to walk through the entire first floor and see all the rooms. He’ll have it dried in in THREE WEEKS. After so much waiting time, I cannot believe it’s going to take shape so quickly! Stay tuned on Instagram for lots of real-life video updates. I’m working on saving all of them so far to a highlight. But there’s a complete video tour with many more details than I could include here over in my stories today, so check that out! And of course, I’ll do much more often blog post updates now that we’re officially making big strides. It’s happening, friends!
Silvia Loya says August 16, 2019 at 4:16 pm Going up fast. Can’t wait to see your finished house. Do you have a date yet for completion? Reply
Lindsay says August 20, 2019 at 4:52 pm It is going fast all of a sudden! We think “winter” is a safe bet haha…hoping for sometime in January! Reply
Silvia Loya says August 20, 2019 at 4:56 pm The holidays are always so hectic, so I cannot imagine trying to move in during that time. You’ll certainly be stressed out, Lindsay. Best of luck to you and your bunch. Your kids are adorable and hard workers. Reply
AmandaKB says August 16, 2019 at 6:24 pm Wow! You all have to be so excited!!! And seriously, those kids are the cutest. Love the “work glasses.” 🙂 Reply
Lindsay says August 20, 2019 at 4:51 pm Thanks friend! They are having the time of their lives 🙂 Reply