Goals for the Month

I wanted to mention that progress is still slow. That's the nature of things. It's the time of the year when we get a lot of storms, so I've been limited on when I could work on the house. In addition, there are times when you need to live life. We're not only building a house. We're building a marriage. Our anniversary was in May, and we took a little bit of time off to spend with each other. If we don't build our marriage, there's no sense in building the house.

Now, about June, I have some goals. They're aggressive and I doubt that I'll achieve them, but if you don't set goals, you'll meet none of them.

• Utilities to the house. Trench work. I hope to rent a mini-trackhoe or backhoe for a week.
• An electrical line from the new pole to the house, and into the garage where the main breaker box will be located.
• A propane line from the tank (near the location where the electrical pole is) over to the house. We'd like 2 lines. One goes out back where the porch will be (for a propane grill, and possibly a backup generator for the house)
  Another line will go up over the roof to the vent above the hvac room, where the propane line can enter the house. (Propane lines (by code) do not go under slabs).
• Extend the water line from the house to the shed where our well pump control and pressure tank are located.
• We might want an additional electrical line from the new house to the shed (for a supply to the well pump. Currently, this is from the current house, but we might want this switched so that power comes from the new house since this is where we hope to eventually have some solar power).
• I'm seriously considering (since when I do the trenches, I might as well do another) a network line (and intercom line) between houses. This will allow me to set up IP cams out in the new house. This is optional though.
• I would like to refine the drainage system at the north of the house so that area doesn't get swamped anymore.
• I want to get the sewer line from the house to the water treatment system (fancy septic system).
• I'd like to get the electrical work (below slab done in the garage so that we can poor the slab in there.

We had hopes of hiring an electrician to get the electrical work done. We asked for bids from two electricians, who agreed to do the work (or at least provide bids). Both took floor plans, but I never heard back from either. They evidently are doing so well that they don't need our business. So, I'll do the work myself. It's slower, but I'll get it done. It'll be to code, and we'll save money.