Well & Posts!

The water well has been dug & the equipment has been set.

But more importantly, the posts have been set. These posts are for the "barn" and the two patios. It will have a 8' deep patio in the back looking towards the pond. It will also have a 6' deep patio along the front of the home.

Next the plumber & electrician will come lay their stuff before the slab is formed and poured. We are going to have two floor plugs in the living room and outlets in the kitchen island. We also figured out the exact locations of the bathroom & kitchen fixtures so that the plumber knows where everything goes. The propane tank will be for the range only. Mom needs gas for all the yummy cooking she's going to do for all of us!

Waiting...

National Barn called & they are setting the posts on Tuesday. We'll have a GOOD update then (and hopefully good pictures). The water well was dug and set last week. So the foundation guys will have water...important!

Site Leveled

The excavation is complete. We leveled the building site a bit so that the slab will be less high in the back.



We also got electricity! This pole is directly uphill from the building site.

Pre-construction details

We finalized everything with National Barn. We're on their schedule to get posts set. Yay! It's really about to happen.

We also heard from the electric company & they are coming tomorrow to set the new post and get electricity to the property. Yay again!

I've been working on the budget & revising it to reflect the bids we've gotten. We're looking pretty good (I think).

My mom and I continue to work on design details, so we'll be ready when the time comes. Some things we've been thinking about lately: location of floor plugs, island size & location, roof color and stain choice for cedar.

Before Pictures

Here is the home site before we started:

Here is the lake on the property:

The Barndominium

So we're building a barndominium. I guess technically it's not a barndominium because there won't be any "barn" to it. But we are taking a building that's supposed to be a barn and making it a home. My husband and I are building this "barndo" for my parents.

When we started researching this idea, I found that there is very little on the Internet about this. So I hope this can help somebody out there wanting to do something similar. And friends and family can keep up with the progress.

Over the last few months, besides finding the land to build on, we have been drawing up the plans. I prepared them on amateur architecture software by Punch Software called Home Design Suite. We also found a barn builder at National Barn. We have been working with them to customize the home. We are doing a cedar-sided building. The inspiration was the barn seen on National Barn's photo gallery.

We closed on the land on Monday. We set stakes for the approximate corners. We also met with the electric co-op to get an estimate and plan to get the pole set. Luckily, we already had a pole on the land. So the electric company will set another pole closer to the home site. Later, we will dig from the pole to the home to have underground service and avoid an ugly line across the property.

We're starting some excavation today to prepare for the slab.

A little about the barndo: The dimensions are 64' x 36' with a covered 6' deep porch on the front and covered 8' deep porch on the back. Downstairs will have 2 bedrooms & 2 bathrooms on one side, a 2-story living area, kitchen & dining in the middle of the building and a master bedroom with bath and MUD room on the other side. Upstairs will have 2 bedrooms with a bathroom on one end and an open loft on the other.

More to come...