Sagebrush & Solar

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve shared a build update — it’s not for a lack of progress!

With weather going from 85 to sudden lows in the 30s, we’ve been hustling to finish several major projects that are temperature/freeze sensitive: parge coat, windows, driveway and septic.

Parge Coat

Parge coat is applied at the seam between the foundation and exterior wall. This helps protect it from the elements (aka water). Siding will be applied above it later.

It’s a surprisingly therapeutic (read: monotonous) task that is simple but time intensive. It’s also temperature sensitive, as it can only cure in above 40 temperatures.

Our entire first coat is complete around the garage and house. We’ve finished our second/final coat on the garage, but the daily lows have dipped too low to apply it to the house. We’re praying for a warm day with eight hours above 40 to finish our last coat.

Windows

In the world of windows, we requested a quote from an installer to see how many overtime shifts it would take for an expert to come in.

Our original quote was a lot of overtime shifts — about $350 a window, or approximately $6k for the whole job. We initially figured we would just do it ourselves — but our second quote was much better (provided we did the prep work ourselves so all he had to do was set the windows and apply zip tape over them).

The only windows that aren’t set are the south facing kitchen picture windows, the living room picture windows and the front door window. We have to construct special columns to install these, so we’re waiting for my dad to get back to do so. They’re currently boarded up.

Driveway

The money pit. The mud pit. The time pit. The driveway from hell.

Due to several upcoming heavy loads and remembering how terrible the wet season was last year on our driveway, we sucked it up and hired a crew to lay more material and flatten/grade our driveway.

We initially (naively) budgeted about $12,000 for bringing the main private drive up to code for our building permit, as well as cutting and making our driveway. We actually thought that was over-budgeting…boy, were we wrong. We were off by nearly double.

Writing a check for dirt will never not be painful. However, our driveway looks 10x better and as long as we maintain it, will last a really long time.

Septic System

We’re about halfway done with our septic system. We’re very grateful to our neighbor for not only being the brains behind the operation, but the brawn, too.

Last summer, we dug our initial test hole, which was inspected to ensure our soil does what its supposed to for the leach field. We passed with flying colors because while our dirt sucks for growing things, it’s really good for wastewater treatment. Because it’s made up of clay, silt and sand, it drains well.

Our goal is to get our system installed before the ground freezes and makes digging difficult. Our neighbor used his backhoe (dubbed “Bubbles”) to dig our septic hole. Next steps included leveling out the bottom, adding sand, and leveling it out some more.

Next, the 1,000 gallon concrete tank was delivered and set in the hole. This doesn’t sound like much, but we’re talking several weeks of work.

Next steps include renting an excavator to dig a trench to the leach field, adding sand to the trench, laying pipes, digging the leach field, passing several inspections along the way and finally, covering the septic tank, trench and leach field.

What’s next?

In addition the the aforementioned septic project, we’ll be hiring subcontractors to come out to install soffits (and thus dry our house in), build a column for the porch post, frame out some remaining structure in the garage and gutter installation.

Once the birds are stuck outside, we’re going to sand our subfloor (again) and add additional screws to make sure it’s not squeaky or bouncy. We’re going to look at fireplace installation soon, as well as electrical, plumbing and HVAC. We’ve also decided on a solar system, which should arrive soon.

Keith goes out of state for drill next week, which will put a bit of a pause on our overtime push and house projects.

We’re thankful to be nearly dried in. We’re hoping that with the installation of our fireplace (or honestly, even just a construction grade heater), that it’s an enjoyable and warm space to work in during the winter months.

And for the question everyone asks: when will you be done?

We don’t know.

We’re hoping for spring; but we have contingency plans if it’s not until summer or fall of 2024. Due to no construction loan, we’re at the mercy of our budget. That means we’re paying as we go, which takes a really long time. It will be worth it in the end to be close to debt free, but it means lots of patience and grace on the front end.

Last night, we went out to the house so Keith could grill dinner. My mom and Ruby joined, too. Though it was freezing and not exactly how it was imagined (read: less idyllic, more like a squatter/survival situation), it was a fun little snapshot of memories to come.