Drop Back and Punt

With football season looming in the not-so-distant future, today's conversastion with our would-be concrete man left me feeling just this way. Just swell. There is no denying the fact that a statement my husband made today to our builder-friend Dave is SO true:

"This house is going to be built on faith.

No 2 ways about it."

Dave gave us alot of good pointers, offered a hand of fellowship and help when we go to do the actual wall-raising, and pointed us in the direction of a reputable concrete foundation company. It was a very productive conversation, though the end results was different than we had planned. It helped that he and his wife and 6 children live in a 10x32' (or thereabouts) travel trailer while they wait to be able to build their own house. A shot of "you can do this" was just what we needed. His best piece of advice came in the words, "You guys are gonna have fun doin' this. Just don't let the devil steal your joy." How very true!

It was difficult not to let that happen though, as we discovered that our concrete slab was going to cost about twice what we had figured. Meaning labor was going to cost us as much as materials. We don't have that much to spend. So we are now back to the original plan - a wooden pier foundation. It is exactly what we wanted to do in the first place, for several reasons other than cost. Here are a few places to look at what we're talking about (in case this is all Greek to you!)

• An Explaination of Wood Post Foundation Piers
• Our cabin will be built a bit like this one.
• This site has an awesome description of the how & why's of pier-foundations.
• This site is full of owner-built homes with pictures and stories of each "cabin". It's amazing what a little inginuity, hard-work, thinking outside the box and determination can accomplish!

An exhausting, exhilerating day in all. And we have yet to even pick up a hammer.