#imbuildingahouse

Today was a big day and if I might say a bit overwhelming. Today was like when you step off the cliff.... there is no turning back. Things need to be decided today and I made some decisions. If this house is going to get built (aka if my Dad and I are going to build this house, we need to get going.) 

I needed to decide exactly where the house is going to go. Everything is like a jigsaw puzzle. Every piece must fit together. I needed to decide exactly where the house is going in the field because I need to get a soil test and septic system designed. You can’t get a building permit without a septic plan. We can’t really do anything without getting the building permit. I think that I have also pretty much narrowed down on a design. 

Oh and let’s back up to permits....a driveway permit, a lot permit, a building permit. All to build on your own land on a dead end road in rural Maine. So, I made a decision where the house is going. We marked off the lot and on Monday the person is going to come and do the soil test and design the septic system. I don’t need to have the septic system in to get a building permit, but I do need the design. 

After marking off where the house will be, we pretty much decided which power pole we will come in off of and where the driveway will go. All I keep seeing is dollar signs in my head. Building a house is so expensive. Several thousand for a septic system... a thousand dollars just to put in a power pole (no power included), a well - which I am sure is several thousand as well. Some of the reasons I am overwhelmed. 

Last night, my Dad and I sawed some of the logs that we cut down last week. He has a sawmill down at what we all refer to as “The Farm”. He had put three huge pine logs on the mill last week and we began sawing them.

It has been a long time since I have sawed logs with my father so I felt very inadequate a lot of the time. I learned quick that once you saw a piece of wood it goes to one of three places.... the scrap pile, the pile to saw later or outside to dry. We worked for about three hours and got one and a half logs sawed. 

There is a lot that goes into sawing a log. First you have to square the log which means turning it several times to get it square. For a log with a 17 inch diameter, that is a task. It takes about 12 cuts to get the log square so you can consistently get boards. 

After the boards are cut, you take the wood you put into the “later” pile and cut the jagged edges off and then these become boards as well. 

Ten days ago these were pines growing in the woods. Now they are boards drying for my house. I asked my Dad what these boards would be used for and he said probably the roof. Awesome! 

To say my Dad likes to saw wood is an understatement. He showed me several piles that he has at ‘The Farm’ that he has mentally put aside for things in the house. He showed me a pile and said ‘these will make wonderful kitchen cabinets’