Written: 18 December 2002
Much has to happen before you even begin to dig holes in the ground. Unfortunately I got no pictures of any of it, primarily because I've never been much of a "camera person." I didn't even own one at the time.
First I had to mark where the house was going to go. This involved carrying T-posts (the metal posts used for barbed wire fences) from the road to where I wanted the house. I also had to mark where I wanted soil tests done.
First there was the Architectural Control Committee for the subdivision I am building in. The ACC is basically a very weak homeowner's association. They made me add a covered porch to the front of the house so it wouldn't look so plain.
Then I needed permission from the local Regional Building Department. I had to get soil tests done and various minor approvals first. Then came multiple trips there trying to get the plans to the point where they would accept them for review. One time they told me the only thing missing was the plan showing where the roof trusses were, in relation to window headers and so forth. I literally went home and drew the thing up in about 30 minutes. Talk about speed-drafting! But they took it. A couple of weeks later, they called me in and had me make many minor corrections.
Regional Building granted me the permit on 11 May 2001.
While all this was going on, I hired out getting a driveway. Nine hundred feet or so. I had no intention of carrying all the parts of the house from the road!
Speaking of moving things, I also ended up buying a full-size pickup truck. After all I need to carry lumber and what-have-you to the house site, and occasionally pull a trailer. First American built vehicle I ever owned. There are finally imports up to the task but they are horrendously expensive, even used.
Then a fence to keep the cattle out. It would be really bad to have cattle footprints in my floor or have them wreck the house trying to scratch themselves on it.
I don't remember exactly when the driveway got worked on, but I do remember that the first fencepost went in on the 10th of May, at 2:45 PM. It was the first thing to actually stand up on the property. The fence took a long time, in large part because I was learning how to do it and also because the wind was blowing the wrong way all the time, but after it was done I had a 2.5 acre (1 hectare) area free of cattle.
Then it was time to start excavating. I hired my friend Tom to cut the house site; I ended up with a flat spot and a couple of big piles of dirt. Since part of the excavation is going to be the "back yard" it was a fairly big area.
Then time to trench for the foundation walls. And then hire someone to do the foundation.
And that brings us to the point where I broke down and bought a camera--albeit a very cheap one.