It's time for my wife and I to reveal our inner crazy. Since we purchased our 12 acre piece of earth, we have been planning and dreaming of building our country home. Even before we found our land, I had begun researching building techniques and floor plans.
Through my research I found all kinds of books and websites on building techniques I had never even heard of. So I began reading ... and reading ... and reading. I read books on everything from stick frame to cordwood walls to strawbale building and everything in between. I liked all the alternative building methods and after every book we kept coming back to one technique in particular. Slipform stone masonry. If you don't know what that means (like I didn't) for now I'll refer you here (about mid-page) and here (some good pictures). It looked like a great system for a couple of novice builders.
After about two years of planning, drawing and redrawing - we have a set of plans and a permit. I think we have exhausted the "paper and pencil" stage and there's nothing left but to do it. We're facing a summer full of hard work and long days. My wife is a teacher so she will have half of the summer off, but I work a regular day job so much of our work will be done during nights and weekends. Wish us luck.
Next step - excavation.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
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I'm anxious to see your progress. I've read, briefly, about this construction but more along the lines of walls and outbuildings to start (we have the advantage of a home).
ReplyDeleteAre you ordering your stone?
I'll be watching for future posts as I'm very excited to see someone blogging about this starting from the same level of experience as myself.
The stone will be field stone from neighboring farms. If all goes to plan and the weather holds, I hope to be ready for the the plumber to do the under slab plumbing after this weekend. If that is the case, I will put a blog post up (complete with my first mistake!)to show the current status.
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