Week 8: Mechanicals & Gardening

More plumbing and electrical were laid this week in preparation for the concrete slab pouring. Planning is crucial at this stage since there's no way to correct it afterwards.
We were planning to do another balloon project, couldn't fit it in the car after filling with helium, thought we would be OK with hanging it out the sunroof....not a good idea. One balloon popped immediately after the car started and the other had a small hole that ruptured. Will try again when the kit starts to get assembled.
My parents did some light gardening to see how the seeds would do with the native soil, just a test really.
While we were on site, some neigbors stopped by to check out the property. They were really nice and told us some history of the land. It was farm land about 20 years ago.
We found a lot of rounded rocks, this place must have been under water at one point in time.

THE BIG DAY: 10/15/09 - KIT DELIVERY

We had our Kit delivered on Thursday 10/15/09. Truck arrived promptly at 9:00AM. Was unloaded in about 4 hours. The weather was cooperative right till the finish line, then it started pouring, so we are super lucky in this aspect.
Unloading took a lot longer than expected because the factory didn't load it up with unloading in mind. A lot of maneuvering needed to safely unload each pack.
After everything was unloaded, plastic tarp was used to cover up the wood to protect it from the elements.
Also, opened an account with Porco, the propane supplier to start the 1000 gallon tank installation.

Week 6: Stem Walls & a Very Deep Well

This week, the stem walls were poured. Kit delivery date has been pushed back about 3 days due to bad weather in Missouri, now rescheduled for Wednesday or Thursday of coming week. Our garden cam failed, we were just a bit too greedy, taking too many pictures (every minute), it drained the batteries. We've finally figured out that as the cause of the problem and we've now set it at 30 minute intervals and will swap out the battery every week.
Bad news on the well, 400 feet deep and still only 1.5 gallons per minute which is too low compared to an average home. We're going to try hydro-fracture and hope that gets us 4-5 gallons per minute. Supposedly, it has a 97% chance of success, so let's hope for the best. The cost of the hydro-facture is flat fee of $2200.00 (ouch!!! + that 400 feet deep well). Everyone assured us that we would not face any problems in the area, so it was a complete shock that we're having this issue.
Finally brought my parents to the land. They are super excited about it, potential farming endeavors. Lots to plan for them.

Foundation Walls Inspection

Just a quick note that we passed the foundation wall inspection today!

Week 5: Balloon Project & Foundation Wall

Han had the idea to launch some balloons and attach a camera to take some aerial photos of our site. After hacking a canon camera with scripts provided by tech specialists, researching a camera attachment mechanism, some fishing wire and getting some kiddie party balloons, we were all set. The script for the camera in essence hacks the program on the camera and allows the user to take pictures continuously. Started out early today (8:30am), went to Walmart, party balloon shop, avoided some major roadblocks on Rt. 9W and we were all set to launch around noon.
Took many continuous shots set at 5 second intervals to get some good pictures. This was a good test for another round sometime in the next month. Learned lessons: do not get too many balloons. we wanted some rubber balloons about 30" diameter, but the party place didn't carry it, so we ended up getting 5 kiddie party balloons. (Cinderella, transformers & party zone theme). I think the party place got a kick out of what we were trying to do. We barely was able to fit it all in the back of our car.
After we got back to the city, we finally found 36" rubber balloon in Tribeca's Balloon Saloon. $ 6.00 each without helium and we plan to fill it up in route next time. The party supply place is in Newburg and it's only a 20 minute drive to our place. We won't be able fit the helium filled balloons in our car, so will have to hang it outside the sunroof.

The foundation walls were erected this week. Concrete not yet poured in them. Septic trench was dug this week and the electrical junction box is finally up on our site.