Well, after a year of watching everyone else threads, and working on my own build(s), I've decided, and found time to post some progress on our home.   To start, I am an IT Manager working for a non-profit healthcare organizaion, my wife is a stay at home mom, who is the 'learning coach' for my daughters 'home school' program.

We purchased the 20' wide universal plans, and of course modified to our liking.  Instead of posting individual pictures of our progress, since we are so far at this point, I'd like to just let you guys browse my albums, which are in order from start to current.  We first started of course, with purchasing the land.  We initially were trying to buy our 'dream' house, but the banks have become ridiculous and annoying to work with.  Despite having what they required for the down payment, closing costs, etc., our close date got pushed back 7 different times, at 2-3 weeks each time.  The last time the bank called to push back the closing date, it was over a matter of $5 a month.  They wanted me to get our home owners insurance 'quote' down by $60 a year.  At that point, I was beyond over it, and decided we were going a new route. 

We negotiated a good price on 2.5 acres, near where we wanted to be (close to my parents, who is caring for my elderly grandmother...we are helping them with that task, so being close was important).  We started our journey in November 2015, once the corn was cleared off of our land by the previous tennant by deciding to build a pole barn to work out of - something we do not regret doing first!  This album is of that task, start to (almost) finish.  I have some minor things to work on, but plan to do that this fall, once the house is weather sealed in for winter.  The link takes you to my google photo albums, feel free to reply here on any of the photos if you have questions.  https://goo.gl/photos/m2KVuL5nELs29awd6

Teaser:





We started the house in June 2016, once the barn was complete, and we made our final decisions on the house design.  Again, this is a link to our photo album on google - please let me know if you have any questions.  https://goo.gl/photos/ooG4DDUVcMHPdwYo6

Teaser:









We are excited to share our progress, as so many of you have helped me get where I am today, because you shared your progress.  I will try and post as often as I can during the rest of our journey.  Up to this point, its been work from dawn till dusk, while still working a full time job.  I had saved up a ton of PTO, and took approx 4 weeks off this summer to get this far this quick, all while trying to beat the weather....now that we are at a good place (and hopefully this weekend will see us sealed in), I am hopeful to have additional free time to keep updates rolling.

Enjoy!

EDIT: (I tried attaching individual photo links - but they don't seem to work through Google Photos, and I don't want to take too much time uploading all these photos to different locations to show them here...anyone know a work around to get photos to work through google photos?) -----I figured this out!  If anyone needs help with this, let me know...I can now post with individual pics - added some to this post for previews of my album.

Now that I am able to post individual pictures, thought I'd add my google sketchup design and my floorplan:

This is the front side of the house:


This is the back side:


Floorplan, or close to what we want to do that is:

This weekend was spent finishing one gable end and getting the other started.  We found a deal on t1-11 sheets, and we got an idea of cutting them into 9" strips and overlapping them to give a 'shaker' look...Going to also do this on the other end next weekend:

   

Here, you can kinda see how the sheets look after we've cut them:



The other end, we put an old stained glass window in the peak (the 'attic') and our first window also got installed, the only one in the loft area:



Hoping to this week get the last of the sheeting and wrap up on the short sides, and maybe the rest of the windows installed as well, and possible the 3 exterior doors (had to make my own frames for the doors we found, so nearly complete with that as well!)

I'm not seeing any images.

I guess i'm still having troubles with using google photos   I am now seeing two work on a different computer, but not the middle one.  I will start using photobucket or something else I suppose. 

I'm a fan of imgur.

This weekend was spent finishing one gable end and getting the other started.  We found a deal on t1-11 sheets, and we got an idea of cutting them into 9" strips and overlapping them to give a 'shaker' look...

That's a great idea.  I never would have known they were t1-11 unless you told us...

Quote from: cbc58 on October 10, 2016, 06:06:50 PM
This weekend was spent finishing one gable end and getting the other started.  We found a deal on t1-11 sheets, and we got an idea of cutting them into 9" strips and overlapping them to give a 'shaker' look...

That's a great idea.  I never would have known they were t1-11 unless you told us...

Then my plan paid off     

Stopped by after work to check on property, and took these pics as I think they are pretty neat. 

Stained Glass window from inside - its really a shame you won't be able to see this once the house is done, since its in the 'attic' space: 


And this view is looking away from the stained glass window in the 'attic' space: 

We've been real busy lately, but not on the house   Anyhow, we went over last night and got one of our 3 exterior doors in (taking so long because I've had to custom build the door frames for the doors that we have).  It went in well, and to our surprise, it closes, opens, locks, and feels so good during any function!  I still have some work to do on that door, but I'm satisfied with the results.   

Quote from: cbc58 on October 10, 2016, 06:06:50 PMI never would have known they were t1-11 unless you told us...

I agree 100%, it looks great.

Quote from: pmichelsen on October 20, 2016, 09:26:39 AM
I agree 100%, it looks great.

Thanks!  I'm so glad it turned out as good as it did!  I can't wait to get the side facing the road done - its going to be too windy saturday to rent that lift to do it, so we are gonna wait till next saturday..sposed to be almost 20 degrees warmer then too.  Gonna try and rent a ditcher machine instead and get some power to the house...runnig an extension cable from the pole is getting old. 

I did get exterior door #2 in last night...one more to go!






We got these doors at one of the Habitat for Humanities for next to nothing...just had to make the frames for them.  Never had done that part before either. 

Happy building!

Finally got around to doing the other gable end!





Also, soffit and facia are complete on front end...just a little more of that to go and that part will be all buttoned up. 

It rained like mad yesterday, which allowed me to be inside the house during that time and inspect for leaks.  I found some    

I believe that the wind was blowing so hard that it was pushing the water back up the metal underneath the flashing, which I thought they had sealed...Upon investigation, they indeed did not seal.   

Anyways, we are still working on stripping the old windows we'd gotten so that they can be painted and installed in the next week or so.  And I really want to get my electric line buried and to the house so we can start running electricity through out, but my car has decided it wants some attention and may have blown a head gasket.  If thats the case, I may have to put somethings off till spring :*(

Man I wish I could see all your pics.

You can view my photo gallery here https://goo.gl/photos/ooG4DDUVcMHPdwYo6
Please let me know if you can't for any reason, or if you'd like something specific to see and I will gladly put it up for you.

My homeowner is stripping the windows and doors currently, if you have tips or a good stripper to recommend I'm all ears. We got some spring balances salvaged from a local job, I'm working them into new jambs and just reusing the old sashes after stripping, epoxy repairs and refinishing. I'm still looking for reasonably priced hardware.

On the head gasket, I recently blew one on her Honda and the estimate was higher than the car value IMO. I burned up You tube and then tackled it myself. Took awhile but about 1/3 the cost and it seems to be fine now. I was very leery of tackling that modern little sideways cramped engine bay but its still just an engine under all the fluff.

No tips from me on that - we bought what is supposed to be extra strong paint stripper from home depot and we've already done 2 coats with it, will need a 3rd for sure, maybe a 4th as well.  I thought about using my sand blaster and soda, but it would have cost much more to do, and might risk damage/glass etching or something...at which point, I should have just bought new windows    The windows I got were from a local Habitat store, and I paid $40 for all of them, so they are worth a little work I think.

As for my car...My mechanic is back finally from vacation (this guy is amazing, I don't trust anyone else working on my stuff anymore, so if hes on vacation for a week, its worth the wait) I stopped by and dropped my key off this morning (left the car there a week ago when it started having its issue) and he said he doens't think its the head gasket as he's had this issue with these cars before...seems to be a $20 part leaking on antifreeze near the exhaust manifold, which is why I'm low on antifreeze, and why I smell antifreeze burning off.  Still doesn't explain the rough idle (feels like 1 spark plug is fowling out (fouling?!))  Oh well...  I should find out by end of day and hoping for good news there, as I want to get my electric line in and buried (that will cost what a head gasket repair will cost....)

Heading over tonight after work to do some more.

I did get the trim done around one of the exterior doors (trying hard to get them sealed in between yucky weather)  I have some more work to do with some putty and caulk and paint, but the idea is there at least. 

Stairs....oh where or where shall I put my stairs.  I know...something that should have been planned out better initially.  We were originally going to do spiral stairs, and once we got to the point where it was time for them, the cost and the look made us decide against it.  So, I cut my stair stringers this weekend, and thought I wanted them here, which means I need to cut into the loft.  But now...I really don't like that idea at all because what will keep the floor joists that I have to cut stable.  I mean, I was going to build a wall against the stairs for them to sit on, but nothing will tie them to the other wall, and I'm afraid that could cause some issues somehwere alont the line.  I'm thinking of moving them to the other wall, and out further so I don't have to cut into the loft/joists at all.  I also thought about sideways along the loft edge, but I will lose the 'openess' of the first floor.   I will move it around and see what different spots will look like.  I really wish I'd decided against spiral much sooner than this!

Ok, moved my stairs and am happy with results.  Don't have to cut into the loft now, and i can have a bigger kitchen area again!  Also found some 2x6's that were cutoffs from roof rafters to use as temp stair treads (I need to trim them up now, but it will work until we finish the stairs off later!)

Have you considered having alternate tread stairs?  It's a fair compromise of taking up less space while still being like stairs rather than a ladder.

John has a sketch of them here.

We did actually, and although it would have saved us space and looks nice and clean, I wanted to put my electric panel box and my data connections under the stairwell...and maybe have it also server as a coat closet since its right near the front door.  I also wanted to make sure the stairs are easy for people with handicaps...the alternate tread steps might prove difficult for my mother in law who has polio, but the ones I put in she can handle.

Got my temp stair treads trimmed so they look nicer, hung the electrical panel, and installed a fireplace...it is the fireplace for the barn, thought I'd put it in the house as that is where the work is happening this winter - and when I find a deal on a nice one for the house, it will get switched out.  It definitely put out some
heat!









Warmth!

I've been crazy busy at work so hadn't had much time to get a whole lot done.  Fortunately, I was able to take last week off and made some real good, before the snow blows progress -

Finished sistering the 2x6's to the trusses:



Added ceiling beams for the 'addition' side of the house (with the low roof)...and in the distance of this photo, you will see my hickory kitchen cabinets   :



And now for some shocking stuff:



You'll notice I also got my windows installed in this picture:


This cable does not wanna bend much in low 30 degree weather....  I'm soo glad this is done!


Electric is now hooked up in both Barn and house , this is the barns panel:


While I was at it, I got the pipe and hooked up my boiler as well.  First pic shows running electric and network cable through the underground line.  My wife and my mom in this pic as well.  Mom took the week off too so she could help us get as much done as possible:



My daughter showing me how its done:



My old Bolens trying to help...really need ag tires on this thing(this is actually a video you can see in my google photo album, link at the bottom!):



When the Bolens wouldn't cut it, I called in for reinforcements, my trusty workhorse (this is also a video you can see in my google photo album, link at the bottom!):



This weekend I plan to finish my soffit and fascia on the last side, start working on electrical and insulation, and hope to have kitchen cabinets installed through the rest of the month.  Will add progress pics as I'm able.

More pics are available in my google photo album https://goo.gl/photos/ooG4DDUVcMHPdwYo6 for your viewing pleasures.  Back to work now

looks a lot like our place

David, do you have any photos of yours, would love to check yours out?