Although we already got the outside walls prepared for stucco when it warms up, most work now is on the inside. We just completed the electrical and media wiring and the plumbing. Next comes the interior spray insulation and then drywall.
To get some idea of the layout of our house, you enter from the door on the left and are immediately in the great room with a kitchen, dining room and living room. The kitchen cabinets will be along the back wall seen here. The curved island will hold the kitchen sink and dishwasher. What a phenomenal view from there! The east end of the house (seen here) will hold the master suite and office.
The west end holds two smaller bedrooms and a bath.
This picture gives you some sense of the view from the great room. It faces directly south and is all sliding doors and windows for maximum passive solar gain in the winter. There is a large overhang outside to keep out the sun in the warmer months. The roof of that overhang is the correct angle to hold photo voltaic panels, providing enough electricity to completely power our new home.
As you can see, we are high on a hill with only a few houses down below, and an unobstructed view of the Spanish Peaks, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Mount Mestas. We own a couple acres below our house. No one can ever obstruct our view!
This week we have lots of action and progress up at our house in the foothills west of here. This is EXCITING!
We are bringing in the water from the county road. After that we’ll have the septic system put in and finish up on the plumbing.
We are also getting the house wired, not an inexpensive proposition. But we found a great company in Pueblo to help out.
After these systems are all installed, Mike plans to do the cable installation himself, and then we’ll be ready to insulate and get some drywall put up!
Some day all this stress and these hassles will be a distant memory, and we’ll be happily looking out on this fantastic view every morning… Cocktails on the patio anyone?
I am sad to share with you the fact that our new home has already been vandalized.
I had many concerns about moving to a rural part of Colorado, but vandalism on our new home BEFORE we even had it finished was not one of them. They ruined our brand new front door before I even got a chance to go through it for the first time…
Whoever did this: SHAME ON YOU!
P.S. The sheriff’s office is checking into this crime, and our motion-sensor cameras will be up soon!
During the last snow storm, we had a talk with our builder/contractor. Costs were out of control, so Mike decided to take over the contractor part of our job.
Now that the snow has finally stopped for a while, Mike is busy lining up an excavator for the septic system, someone to wire our house, and someone to do our stucco in the future. This involves lining up a few possibilities, showing them the job, and then taking bids.
Originally Mike wasn’t certain he was up to this job because of health concerns, but circumstances are now requiring special attention to all details.
Please note: New home construction is so much more expensive today than EVER! Be sure you have more money than you expect to spend before you even begin. The excellent price we received for our former home in suburban Fort Collins will not come close to covering the costs for constructing a smaller solar home here.
The advantage, of course, will be seen in much reduced utility costs from now on.
We had one of our biggest snows of the season this week, which revealed the true beauty of the foothills we’ll be living in soon! Isn’t it amazing how the snow flocks on the Pinon-Juniper woodland outside our new windows?
… And of course, the Spanish Peaks were looking lovely in their snowy white trim!
Not to be outdone, our brand new garage door was installed yesterday!
We are now ready for the delivery of our kitchen cabinets and miscellaneous other things this week.
Some have asked me, how do you build a home in the winter in Colorado? You just work around the weather and pray for the occasional 70 degree day!
To get some idea of the layout of our house, you enter from the door on the left and are immediately in the great room with a kitchen, dining room and living room. The kitchen cabinets will be along the back wall seen here. The curved island will hold the kitchen sink and dishwasher. What a phenomenal view from there! The east end of the house (seen here) will hold the master suite and office.
The west end holds two smaller bedrooms and a bath.
This picture gives you some sense of the view from the great room. It faces directly south and is all sliding doors and windows for maximum passive solar gain in the winter. There is a large overhang outside to keep out the sun in the warmer months. The roof of that overhang is the correct angle to hold photo voltaic panels, providing enough electricity to completely power our new home.
As you can see, we are high on a hill with only a few houses down below, and an unobstructed view of the Spanish Peaks, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Mount Mestas. We own a couple acres below our house. No one can ever obstruct our view!
After another big snow that made our view of the Spanish Peaks even more delicious…
We now have the plumbing and electrical wiring roughed in. We’re connected to the district water system and we have power.
Can the insulation, drywall, paint, kitchen and baths be far behind?
This week we have lots of action and progress up at our house in the foothills west of here. This is EXCITING!
We are bringing in the water from the county road. After that we’ll have the septic system put in and finish up on the plumbing.
We are also getting the house wired, not an inexpensive proposition. But we found a great company in Pueblo to help out.
Some day all this stress and these hassles will be a distant memory, and we’ll be happily looking out on this fantastic view every morning… Cocktails on the patio anyone?
During the last snow storm, we had a talk with our builder/contractor. Costs were out of control, so Mike decided to take over the contractor part of our job.
We had one of our biggest snows of the season this week, which revealed the true beauty of the foothills we’ll be living in soon! Isn’t it amazing how the snow flocks on the Pinon-Juniper woodland outside our new windows?
… And of course, the Spanish Peaks were looking lovely in their snowy white trim!
Adventures of the NEW??? Old Farts 