Saturday, March 23, 2019

The Barndominium Build Continues!

Three weeks into Kevin’s build we are making great progress! Beyond learning a lot about the building process we have realized far more. It is something I guess we knew but never really put a lot of thought into it. This realization is that there is no better feeling than helping someone be successful or realizing their dreams. It is part of what energizes us. Whether it be at The Farm, Pasha Lake or now helping Kevin build his house. Helping someone you care about be successful is very rewarding. Yes, the work can be hard but it is well worth it.

A little over a week ago we had all the first floor framing up along with 3 of the 4 garage/horse stall walls.
Over the past two weeks we started the walls and decking on the 2nd level.....
First section of the 2nd level!
Kevin putting the top plate on

A section of trusses going up!

2nd level decking down
Next up was trusses and roofing on the wings......

Unfortunately we did not meet Kevin’s goals for his 3 weeks here. Cold temperatures and 2 snow days really hampered progress.

This is where the house sits today, roofing and waterproofing on one of the wings and the rest of the house ready for trusses  and roofing. If we had those several lost snow days back we would had all the trusses, roofing and windows in but now we will have to wait until sometime in April.

Speaking of snow, in the past 10 days we went from a winter wonderland……
.…to a muddy mess with very little snow.

So what does one do when you run across a road covered in water? You plow right through it of course! 

Good way to wash off the mud!
Good news bad news. It is nice to have the warmer weather but there is mud everywhere! We cannot get up our driveway without 4 wheel drive and some of the roads are totally flooded. 
One of several muddy spots on our driveway
We have had a couple heavy truck deliveries at our place the past week. We had 1250 gallons of water delivered for our cistern, our first two loads of lumber for our house build as well as a 500 gallon propane tank. We try to time the deliveries for first thing in the morning when the ground is still frozen but that is not always possible resulting in huge ruts in the driveway. 
No more running to town for propane every couple of days!

The lumber trucks certainly did not help the driveway!
The cool news is that our water hole that has been dry the last couple years is now totally full of water! I doubt it will stay long but it is nice to have for a little while. We are going to look into lining it with bentonite so it will hold water year round. 

With Kevin now gone things have quieted down a bit and we did get out on one adventure when we stopped by a small school house/church/cemetery from the 1880's out in the middle of nowhere. The surrounding area is virtually untouched and you could almost imagine kids walking from the surrounding hills to go to school
An inordinate number of headstones just said "Baby Smith" or some other last name.  Times must have been very tough back then. While many of the dates on the headstones were from the late 1800's and early 1900's there were a couple as recent as the last couple years.


We are going to take a couple of down days and then start our house hitting it pretty hard. As a whole, the thought of taking a pile of lumber and building our own house from the ground up is overwhelming. But we are going to take it wall by wall taking our time so it does not become too daunting.  By our next post we should have a couple of walls up!

40 comments:

  1. Wow a lot has happened in 3 weeks. Good luck on the start of your house. Hopefully the ground dries out some so it's not so muddy.

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  2. You guys must be very excited and rearing to start with the house. You'll see how quickly you see progress once you get going and the weather cooperates. It is a great feeling to build a house and a satisfaction when all done. We'll be following your progress. Good luck!

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    1. We are super excited but are fighting the urge to devote all our energy towards it but we know we would burnout in short order if we did that so we are going to take it slow and easy.

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  3. Hope the weather cooperates for you and it starts to dry out some. Enjoy your build.

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  4. Enjoy the warmer weather! That is a lot of mud and water. Good luck as you move forward with your own house project.

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    1. Thanks, luckily it only takes a couple warm days to dry up so with luck everything will be back to normal by the end of the week.

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  5. Are those all 2x6 walls? That’s one sturdy house, Jim!

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    1. Yes, all the exterior and plumbing walls are 2x6, the interior room walls are still 2x4.

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  6. If Kevin had stuck around until the end of summer you would have had both houses done but some people still have to Work.
    By helping Kevin you will probably have much more finished then you think.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. We hope to get a lot done before he returns in April so we can put up trusses and roofing. That would be a huge accomplishment!

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  7. Kevin's place looks great. You really got a lot done. Too bad the weather didn't cooperate more. Looks like your driveway is going to take a million gravel trucks to make it usable without mud. Good luck with your place. Can't wait for photos!

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    1. You're right about the driveway, it would take about30 loads to get just a base on it. Unfortunately all our funds are going into the house project so the driveway will have to wait.

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  8. Wow, you sure got a lot done in 3 weeks. We once added an addition to our home that was bigger than the original house so we know what's in store for you guys. Hope the weather holds so you can get your home started.

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    1. Thanks guys, right now we just need the driveway to dry up so we can make it in and out of here without throwing mud everywhere!

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  9. Looks good. I hope the weather cooperates for you. I bet the dogs are a mess also.

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    1. We have to wipe off Dakota's feet before she comes in the rig, she really hates this time of year....

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  10. What a huge amount done for only 3 weeks! That place is HUGE!
    Wishing you sunny dry days as you start on your own home! Can’t wait to see how it develops!

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    1. 60's forecasted this week so we hope to get a few good days in between the rain and snow!

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  11. Kevin's place looks like my dream home. Can't wait to see it done. The building process is a fun and rewarding venture and even better when accomplished with friends. Look forward to seeing the process on your place.

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    1. Our building is a much simpler design but we plan on dressing it up on the outside to make it look less like a box and more like a home.

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  12. With all your new knowledge the 2 of you will do awesome. That New Holland with the jib is like having your own crane! One wall at time and at least it's getting warmer. Good luck and have a great time building!

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    1. There is no way we could have lifted those tall walls without that boom, it was a lifesaver!

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  13. It will be exciting to follow your progress on the build! I’ve been perusing your old posts to find good boondocking sites & hikes as we are starting our 3rd year on the road.....so many places!!

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    1. We try to list our favorite boondocking spots. If you ever get to Flaming Gorge you have to check our the spots on Jug Hollow!

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  14. Such progress in a short amount of time!! Wow!!

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  15. Looks like the bobcat makes the job much easier. Nothing worse than horsing heavy trusses into place. Safer too!
    Hope the ground dries up a bit. Before long it will be drought to worry about though.
    Stay safe and enjoy the house building.

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    1. Tying several trusses together and lifting them up as one unit certainly speeds up the process!

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  16. Such excitement! Rain, rain go away!

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  17. It's amazing how much progress you made on Kevin's place in such a short time. Too bad for the snow days. Hope it dries out soon...that's a lot of muck and water! Good luck with your build...looking forward to watching your progress.

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    1. We are hoping to get almost as far in 4 weeks on our place!

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  18. We did wonder about your build as we watched the weather. But it looked like progress has been made.

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    1. We were just talking about you two today, wondering what you have been up to!

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