September – October, 2004: Breaking ground, foundation. I started visiting the building site every few days to monitor progress. It was easy to swing by after dropping Allie off at school.
Thursday, September 23, 2004
I stopped by to check on things. Not much had started yet other than the storm fencing was finished.
Friday, September 24, 2004
Allie and I stopped by after school for a groundbreaking ceremony. I brought a shovel and we commemorated the scene.
Monday, September 27, 2004
Shortly after we signed the original contract in June, I started conferring with the folks at Stuart Kitchens about our upgraded kitchen and bathroom cabinets and designs. I made many trips to their Timonium showroom to go over ideas and make selections. Over several months and many questions back and forth we developed a detailed set of designs.
I had no idea there were so many choices to be made, including cabinet door styles and finishes, not to mention handles, drawer slides and shelving options. And on and on.
I also paid many visits to The Great Indoors, a massive showroom in Columbia for all sorts of interior design choices and appliances. It was great to be able to see things in-person even though we didn’t actually buy many things from there. Rather unsurprisingly, the offshoot of Sears went out of business a few years later. Glad it was there while I needed it. I slowly settled on the various major appliances.
By September 27, we were getting close to some of the final selections.
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
The first sign of real progress: the driveway and initial ground clearing was underway.
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
The footprint of the house starting to take shape.
Friday, October 1, 2004
The outline of the foundation is laid.
Monday, October 4, 2004
The outline of the foundation is poured.
Thursday, October 7, 2004
Walls! We have a basement all of a sudden. An amazing transformation in just three days.
In the afternoon, I stopped by with Allie to show her the progress. We were both pretty darn pleased.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Sub-foundation drainage pipes were laid out.
Saturday, October 16, 2004
The foundation floor is poured, along with the garage.
Monday, October 25, 2005
We were still going back and forth on additional details, including tweaks to the kitchen/family room desk area.
More choices finalized, including plumbing fixtures and faucets. So many fixtures and faucets. Even when I was just going along with the “standard” items it meant considering the style, color and finish of everything.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
The foundation concrete sets and lumber started to arrive.
Friday, October 29, 2004
Framing the first floor has begun. We have a floor; we have a ceiling; we have a Spot-A-Pot! We also have nice October leaves. We’re kind of amazed how far things came along in a little over a month.
You must be logged in to post a comment.