Framing

Framing is moving along quickly! In just a matter of days, we have "walls" on the first floor and getting started with the second. It's exciting to be able to walk through and get a feel for the size of each room, the layout, etc.

Front of House

Side of House

Dining Room

Kitchen

Family Room

Mudroom

Kitchen

Family Room

Foundation

It has barely rained in Charlotte this year, and of course over the past few weeks,now that we are moving forward with the house, it's POURED every few days. None the less, they have been able to get most of the foundation completed and are expecting to start framing on Wednesday. Progress feels great!

Could it be True?!?!

We have actually begun building! Sound the alarms!

After nearly 2 months of trying to re-plan this garage, we've finally started construction. After a redesign failure at the Historical Committee (we tried to put a single car garage under the house, which they didn't like), we've reverted to the original approved house plans and decided not to build the garage. We are still vetting out options for the garage/yard space, and that will require another trip to HDC, but in the meantime we got HDC approval to go back to the original plan and begin building. Phew!

I suppose on a positive note from this fiasco is that while we were trying to figure out if the garage would fit under the house, it was determined that the soil was not compact enough to support our house. Therefore, we are having to put 80 (yes, EIGHTY) pilings (think telephone poles) in the ground. I better not see a single crack from the house settling over the next 10 years!

Lesson Learned #1: Know The Deed Restrictions...

As you can see, there's been no progress with starting to build the house (we'd hoped to start on May 10th). That is because we've since learned that the garage cannot be built because it is in violation of a deed restriction. I suppose I should be happy that there's not an issue with the house itself, but it's quite disappointing that after having the land surveyed twice and going in front of the Historic Commission 4 times that this is just now coming up. Even with some legal guidance, we've realized we can't move forward with building the garage.

So, we're trying to adjust and actually build the garage underneath the house instead. It will likely end up as only a single car garage, but that is better than none (plus, since we have never even had a garage, getting a single car in would be an improvement!). However, that means changes to the architectural plans, cost estimates, and so on. Hopefully it does not mean going back to the Historic Commission for approval since the next meeting is not until mid-June.

We're trying not to stress too much about it, but I'm certainly keeping my fingers crossed that we can get this worked out by the end of this month!

Ground Clearing

The trees came down on Monday. We found out that 2 of the 4 were completely hollow inside, so that made us feel a little better about having to take them down... The rest of this week they've been working on leveling the lot and getting the footprint of the house ready for the foundation (which won't start until early May). Definitely making progress! We are also finalizing the house plans (why we can't start the foundation until May), picking out the lighting fixtures, starting to look at tile/marble/granite, and finalizing brick and shingle selection. Lots of fun!

Brush Clearing

They began clearing brush from the lot on Friday! Sadly the trees come down on Monday. Here's a final look at how big they are, put into perspective by the digger (I think? I'm trying to learn my trucks/equipment now that I have a son...).

Finally!

We got the "green light" from the Historic Dilworth Commission yesterday to begin building! Yippee! Four times was the charm afterall... Sadly, removing a number of large and beautiful trees is required, which will begin on Monday.

Keep tuned in for what we hope will be fast and furious progress going forward!