Once framing began on Thursday, August 24, the guys worked fast and furious! Here is what the house looked like at the close of August.
More progress every day!
On Friday, September 8, we had THREE crews on site; we had quite a full parking lot!
While the framers finished up inside, the roofers came to shingle the roof…
and the floor was poured for the detached garage.
What a busy month! The house was coming along at breakneck speed! Jim says, “buckle your seat belt and hang on for dear life!” Here is a link to a video that Christopher put together showing 16 days’ work on the house in less than 7 minutes – from foundation to shingled roof – amazing! (8/24 – 9/8 with a clip at the end from 9/14)
A drone shot of the progress…
On the 9th, we had a fun evening at Top Golf with Jim’s former employer – for whom he still does some contract work.
On Sundays, we attended Sunday School and worship services at Stephens Valley Church and usually had lunch afterwards with Chris. And we Zoom every weekend to chat with our extended family!
Generally, when we drive toward Nashville, we see these Longhorns – and their little black calf! It is hard to get a good photo without stopping!
On the way to Home Depot one day, Linda spotted a Shasta trailer – She was rather enthralled with them many years ago when her family pulled a travel trailer all over the US and Canada. It was fun to see a Shasta with the wings attached; later models just had the wings painted on the rear panel.
The ”county commissioners” make their rounds daily! The workers all seem to get a kick out of seeing the turkeys cross our property – well we do too!
When we returned to Nashville in April, we had lots of decisions to make about doors, cabinets, flooring, fixtures… We stopped in at Super Home Surplus and saw this door in May and really liked the design.
Its a bit different from the common 4 or 6 panel door. We asked them to put 2 aside for us. Then, when we discovered the house plan had to be mirrored due to the placement of the septic field, Linda went by to ask them to change our “hold” from left-handed doors to right-handed doors. She called Friday (the 8th) to let them know we were ready to pick up the doors and was told they had to send them back to the manufacturer; they weren’t supposed to have been sent to their store in the first place. We were so disappointed! But, praise God, a couple of hours later, Linda got a phone call – they found there were 2 doors set aside for us with our name on them! The good Lord wanted us to have those doors! When we picked them up on Monday, we found yet another door we needed and a tub/shower combo. When we went to pay for everything, they thought we had paid for the doors they had been holding, since there was a ticket on them. That must have been why they had hung on to them – we happily paid for them and went home with all our goodies!
Later, looking online for our front door, we couldn’t find the door we had seen at Lowe’s back in December.
but found one we liked better online at Lowe’s — with the same motif as the doors we picked up earlier. We ordered it online to pick up later.
Tuesday, September 12 – another busy day! Jim took a load of construction debris to the dump; the transfer station is not too far from where we are building. Then the materials for the detached garage were delivered.
Jim made a quick trip up to Hendersonville to pick up the new front door and took it to storage. We rented a third storage facility in nearby Kingston Springs, and it has been very helpful. We had thought the detached garage would go up before the house, but that didn’t happen, and our other storage units are a good 45-minute drive away.
After lunch, Jim got the (house) garage area leveled out a bit with some gravel – getting ready for the windows to be delivered on Thursday. (The garage will need a lot more fill before the concrete floor is poured.)
Wednesday, September 13; Jim had oral surgery to remove a wisdom tooth cyst. He had a little swelling, but not much pain. Pretty amazing really because the doctor said the cyst was about the size of a golf ball! The worst problem he encountered was a side effect from the patch they put behind his ear to prevent nausea from the general anesthesia. He had the urge to urinate frequently but couldn’t go much. Linda went to Walgreens for a prescription to help. Thankfully his recovery was fairly quick, and he wasn’t too uncomfortable for very long.
The windows were delivered on Thursday – we will have a lot of windows!
Most of the windows were installed Friday – and they finished on Saturday!
Meanwhile, back at the detached garage site, they started installing the posts!
Here is a link to a drone video Chris made on September 15; its almost 11 minutes.
Monday the 18th we had a crane on site to set the trusses on the detached garage.
Jim (who is doing all the electric work on the house) began installing the “cans” for recessed lights. He was glad the surgery didn’t slow him down much so he could get back to work again!
Linda got the cabinets ordered on Wednesday and the insulation was put on the detached garage.
On Thursday when we went to mark for the plumber where the sinks and toilets go, we realized the Master bathroom cabinets had not been ordered, so we got that taken care of!
Saturday we picked up the firebox for the fireplace. We had to have an adjustment made in the framing so we could fit the 42” box in place. Even a 36” box would not have fit the way it had been framed – one of the very few mistakes our framer made. Overall. The framing is exactly what we want.
Jim had a birthday on the 21st. He had mentioned a fun idea a few times; we could put a skeleton in the driver’s seat of the Jeep when we tow it behind Acey. Linda found one at Home Depot and was able to keep it hidden as a birthday surprise… Meet Herman!
Our friends Craig and Linda stopped by with their granddaughter. They had been storing our long extension ladder and we needed to use it – so they delivered!
We did another nail sweep – WOW –there are LOTS of nails, screws and staples everywhere from framing and roofing!
On Monday the 25th, the plumbers got the “rough in” done.
By the 25th, most of the metal siding had been installed on the garage.
It was raining on the 27th, so we went appliance shopping and found a great deal on a refrigerator, range, dishwasher and microwave. We’ll get the washer and dryer ordered later.
On September 30. Jim continued working on the electrical and Linda went with Eve to see the Tabernacle at the Wilson County Fairgrounds! There was a life-size display of the portable place of worship that the Israelites carried through the desert, containing the Ark of the Covenant.
As we entered the building, there was Goliath – bigger than life?!
Our friends Tim and Vickie were there with a smaller version of the Tabernacle.
Vickie opened their model of the Ark to show its contents. Made of acacia wood and covered in pure gold, with 2 cherubim on its cover, the Ark contained the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, a pot of manna and Aaron’s rod.
Here is a diagram of the Tabernacle
And onto the display!
There were a lot of people taking in the impressive sight!
Upon entering the gate, there was an altar where sacrifices would have been offered.
Next was the laver of bronze; a wash basin used only by priests to cleanse their hands and feet before entering the holy place or approaching the altar to minister by presenting an offering.
Next, we entered the Tent of Meeting. Upon entering the Holy Place, there was The Table of Showbread on the right.
The Golden Candlestick on the left
And the Altar of Incense
Behind the Veil, in the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant.
The symbolism found in the Tabernacle could be a whole ‘nother blog – here is a link to an article by Dr. J Vernon McGee from his series about the Tabernacle.
Lots of activity in September! We are so very thankful that our house is coming along and for good weather (it hasn’t rained too much, and the house is “dried in”!) We hope to keep progressing and head to the finish line in December.
Jim, nice job on the time lapse building of the house. Very cool. House looks wonderful and I assume you and Linda designed it. You both have to be excited to be finally be able to have a permanent home to come to from your travels. Be safe and stay healthy. I’ll share this with mom when he see her in 3 weeks.
We did indeed design the house – its very much like our last house that we designed and built in 1999 where we lived until 2020 when we hit the road in the motorhome! This home is all one level. Our son Chris did the video, taking the surveillance footage from the security cameras. We hope to be moved in by Christmas; we’ll see! Hope Dee is doing well – it was so great to be with you and all the family for her 100th!
Both Bill and I have so enjoyed watching the house progress……and so quickly is nice too. Enjoyed Christopher’s video of the house being built is way cool. Continue the good work 🙂 Hugs Charlene & Bill
Your little Paradise is going to be beautiful. I really enjoy your updates.
BTW, as for the Ark of the Covenant, the angels gaze intersects and that is the Seat where The Holy Spirit resides. Those are beautiful objects
Thanks, Jim and Linda JOY
God Bless you and your home.
Theresa JOY
We are so pleased and thankful that the house is coming along so nicely! It was really neat seeing the Tabernacle and all the objects mentioned in scriptures. It was an unexpected pleasure that Eve & I were able to go at the last minute; we had neglected to get tickets before they were all gone, but a friend was unable to attend and gave is her tickets!