Excavation soon...

Received a call this evening and made a deal with an excavation company to have them come in, knock down about 3/4 of a acre of trees around the cabin site and push everything about 50 feet away from the foundation. The gentleman was quite concerned that it was really going to look like a mess and was I really sure that is what I wanted to do. I explained that I understood and we struck a deal at $1400. He will call me a few days before and I hope to go down and record the event. No deposit required...They certainly do things differently down there. It is currently raining and he wants to wait for a few dry days so he doesn't tear the ground up too bad.

On another note, I have been looking at post and beam timber frame homes for the main house (8 years away). I really like this one!!! Probably costs a fortune...



This rendering is for a log home, but they also make it with a smooth timber frame with almost any type of exterior.

The floor plan looks great too.....



I would probably make a small basement under part of the house for heating system and storage. Now if I could just win the lottery....

It’s a “Shed”….!!!

When I applied for the building permit, I stated that I wanted to build a cabin…. Unfortunately, a cabin is something that the county considered a residence. They would not approve a building permit unless it had a septic field and a well. I finally spoke to someone that said I was building a storage shed… after the third time he said this, I finally caught on… :-)

Permit is approved and I finally got an email from the excavating company. They had been out of town for the week before Easter. They are looking at the area I want cleared by this weekend and hopefully then can get the trees knocked down soon.

I also got the new address. A call to the post office got someone to come out with their GPS (Trimble) and get the coordinates for the center of the driveway and where the “Shed” will be built. He entered the coordinates into a computer program and the address was assigned. Apparently, the address is based on how many feet from a major intersection the driveway is located. My number is quite different from the houses across the street… probably caused by the fact they were assigned 30 years ago. I was told that this will help locate my house in the event of a 911 call.

Footers had filled in a bit, but I will re-dig them after the trees are knocked down. Can’t wait to call and get the “shed” kit on the way. Hopefully in the next few months.

Two days this week...

Went down on friday to get a building permit and was missing the original VDOT driveway permit. Had to stop by their shop and get another original. Went to the building permit department, but the person I needed to see was on Vacation. Stpped by the Health Department to see if they had to give me a letter saying I was not going to have a septic field or a well at the persent time. Think I have everything I need and will mail the information after a call on Monday.

I have decided to hire someone to knock the trees around the building site. Gas is costing about $65 to go down and back to the property. It will take me a few months of going down every weekend to get the site ready and will be cheaper to get a dozer to just come in and knock the trees down. It will also make it easier to grade the property since there won't be stumps. I marked a number of trees and have contacted someone to give me an estimate. Hopefully they can come by in the next few days. Thinking it is an area of about 1 full acre. The picture below shows the trees that are marked (red) for knock-down.



Decided to stay in the area rather than drive home since there is a Central Va Gold Propecting club meeting on Saturday. They are looking at starting a new East Coast Club since the other major club is primarily for people on the West coast. I really hope to get to mining for some gold on the property. Perhaps I will find some when I dig the pond.



Came back the next morning and starting digging holes for the footers. Didn't make the Gold club meeting, but got alot done. The picture below is of the pier holes. The slope of the site will mean that the front right corner will have the deck at about 45 inches high. That's a bit higher than I want, but I do want airflow and the cabin has to be at least 12 inches above the ground. Also started looking at where I want the windows to be positioned.

The Log Pile is growing...

 

Went down for the day on Sunday and felled a few trees. Starting to get to the the big ones and have to cut some others to get space for the ones I need to cut to fall. Saw worked very well and the log pile is starting to grow. It had rained a lot yesterday, but the ground is so porous that there was no mud in the building site. Thinking about camping with the pop up trailer in a few weeks since my wife will be at a dog show... depends on the weather forecast.

Did manage to grab a few local caches as well.

Beautiful day...

This is where the cabin is going to sit. The wife and "kids" came down for the day and they had the time of their life! They slept the whole way home and are wiped out.

The dogs just love the water! This is a shot of the main creek as it comes out from under the driveway.