KB Ranch

As I write this, Brad is on his way to Animas to give the contract (and accompanying big check) to the panel people and then to Deming to deliver plans to the person there who will be drawing the panel plans. We are hoping to be able to get these plans to approve before we leave for DC for NECC next week so that they can begin manufacturing. [Postscript: There is yet another problem with the panel manufacturer that might further delay things. Oh well.]

This has been held up for several weeks due to issues with the windows. Upon trying to get quotes for windows and doors, we learned that the window dimensions in the plans are not standard as we’d asked for. (Big surprise.) Everything has been further delayed by the fact that it seems to take weeks and multiple phone calls to get quotes on anything from anyone. I’m not sure what the lesson is on all this, but if we’d quoted out some of this while we were in the design phase, we might have found this out sooner. Of course, it would probably have taken even more time that way, so I’m not sure. At any rate, this is certainly as frustrating as I was warned and anticipated it would be.

The boys are due to arrive here July 3. The panels will not be here by then, but we have other things to work on, such as moving the driveway (it currently goes through our main house) and clearing areas for the pump house and patio. Hard work that should keep them all busy.

Brad and I got up at 5 this morning to stain the slab, but it was raining. It’s rained several days this week, not hard or long, but big winds and violent looking clouds blowing through. It appears that monsoon season has started, much to everyone’s glee. Hopefully, it won’t rain too much during July when we are hoping to get lots done.

We have also been making progress on the greenhouse. We’ve painted the wood beams and will be doing stucco this weekend.

And Brad finally cut apart that lovely insulated barrel contraption around our water lines. The bottom third was filled with dirt.

I have been working around the clock to finish a couple grants (relatively low $, but local, which should facilitate actually having some time to build a house) and haven’t had much time to write, so this is a “catch up” post. Here are some updates:

We’ve continued working on the slab and now have most of it scored. (We’ve gotten a lot of use out of the generator Barry gave us. Thanks!) We’ll likely be staining next week.

After much research on concrete crack repair, we decided to get an injected polymer kit. It basically works like epoxy with two parts that you mix and inject into the cracks. It’s supposed to chemically bond into the concrete, becoming stronger than the concrete itself. It’s expensive but seemed a lot better than Quikrete.

Well, it was a fiasco. The stuff comes in a two-chamber tube that mixes in a caulking gun and comes out through a tube, to which you can attach a nozzle for hairline cracks like ours. When we started using it, the stuff immediately solidified in the tube after we had done less than a few inches of cracks. There was one $40 tube wasted (or rather solidified). It was maddening. We suspect that the heat here caused it to immediately react. The next time, we refrigerated it first, but it was still dodgy. We ultimately decided just to do the bigger holes and cracks with this and do the rest with Quikrete. I had bought a few special tools to do the cracks, like woodworker’s syringes, but it turns out that just smearing it on with my finger worked best.

With the plans approved, we’ve been finalizing the construction budget and getting lots of quotes. Some of this has been fun (like looking at beautiful glass double patio doors) and some has been awful (like finding out all our beautiful windows and doors will cost close to $20k). I am more than a little scared of this all costing more than we have planned (or have), but I am including plenty of pad in the budget.

Many people we’ve talked to have not bothered to get back to us with quotes. It’s good to know that the economy isn’t really as bad as we hear. Ha ha.

I talked to many roofers about our planned membrane roof, only to find out that membrane roofs are apparently not used much for residential construction; they’re pretty expensive; and no one wants to come to the middle of nowhere to do one (and a small one at that, as I’ve been told repeatedly). We’re probably going to go with a metal roof like everyone else here. We met another couple who built their own house (similar style to ours), and they put on their own metal roof and love it.

No other major changes in plans, so we’re ready to proceed. We’ll be ordering the SIPS for Tumbeweed in the next few days. It’s a little scary, but good to be getting going.

Jonathon and Harrison are set to come out in early July. We’re looking forward to their arrival and help.

The compost experiment continues. It is seeming hard to keep it moist with the heat and dry air here.

We attended the first ever Douglas Farmer’s Market. The farmers down the street from us have a stand there. It was really great, and much better than driving to Bisbee for the farmer’s market there. Also, since we have to go to Douglas every couple weeks anyway, it’s convenient. They hold it in a beautiful park in town.