cabin building part 2...

 well come rain or shine im still out salvaging materials.  this time i had the whole crew with me.  thanks mom, dad, blake, and kellee, you guys are awesome!!! behind kellee's shop up at the lake i noticed a whole lot of lumber and metal tin roofing, so... yep i had to ask.  kellee's dad bill said take what i want (thanks bill) so that i did.  we drove up to see blake for his birthday and surprised him, spent some time on a scavenger hunt and then dad got the biggest ice cream cone he has ever had... 7 SCOOPS!!! thanks to blake and then we went to work, just as the sky opened up and gave mother earth a nice little bath. 

 blake and his goofy faces, i have yet to take a picture of him with just a smile. 

 we got a full trailer load.  big SUCCESS!!!

 i have been really antsy to get the foundation in but this weird rainy weather we have been having for months now has put a stop on the project until yesterday when we heard the weather was going to clear and warm up for a week.  so we went to work.  i was able to get all the supplies i needed from our local ziggy's hardware store and got a bit of a break on it since dad has some contractors licence. 
i should mention so far the only cost up to this point was 10.00 on black plastic bags to store the insulation in.  however i decided that i needed to spend a bit on my foundation so i could get going.  so yes i did by the concrete, post base brackets, re bar, sono tubes and a couple of bolts.  oh and the cement mixer which was the best decision EVER!!!

 so on monday night, dad, mom and i went over to the cabin site to do a practice hole to make sure everything worked great so that on tuesday morning we were all ready and prepared for the day.  dad said he could drill the holes four feet deep under 5 minutes a hole, (we usually have to times everything by 3 so we figured on 15 minutes)  to our amazement it took dad 2 minutes and 19 seconds.  but mom and i told him it was 7 minutes 10 seconds, he was shocked he said, it didn't seem that long.  that was good fun. 

 after the hole was dug down 4 feet, then we belled out the bottom four inches to be ready for the concrete footing.  here is mom doing her part.  im so lucky and blessed to have such amazing parents who are allowing me to build a cabin on their land.  it was roughly about 30 minutes a hole to be ready for the first pour. 

 two of the holes dug and measured out.  building a small cabin is such a cool thing because you have so much less work to do.  i only need six post, so this process was really fast and smooth. plus i really believe in the idea to SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE.   tuesday morning dad and i were on the job at 7:30 got all the holes dug and ready for me to leave by 10:45 to go pick up the cement mixer. 

 freeman came to help out with the the first pour, and it was awesome to have his help.  (THANKS FREEMAN, i owe you dinner!!!) freeman and i got the concrete ready while dad was finishing up on leveling and just making sure each hole was ready for the pour.  we added 2 four foot long rebar poles into each hole.  (here freeman is getting ready to spray me with the hose, WHICH HE DID)

 we put about four inches down each hole at the bottom where we belled out the hole and dad added two 1 foot long pieces of rebar for in the footings. 
we worked hard and steady and before we knew it our first pour was complete!!! this is about the time i realized WOW IM REALLY DOING THIS... IM BUILDING A CABIN out of 95% recycled materials.  it feels so awesome and satisfying.  dad, freeman and i made quite the team. 

 so the next morning (today) blake and kellee came to help with the second pour, we were on a bit of a time schedule to get the cement mixer back in time, so i wouldn't get charged more so we knew we needed to be fast and efficient.  having blake and kellee around is always such a great time, they are both so full of laughs, it was great.  kellee and i are cutting the sono tubes to length (after we again got everything leveled and measured out once again.  dad always taught me measure twice cut once, well we are using the measure multiple times cut once method.  which i thing is a good way to go. 

 dad and blake are making sure that each sono tube is level and plum before we pack dirt around the tube to hold it in place.  oh by the way the first pour was really nice and had set up just enough for us to continue on today. 

 kellee filling the hole up with dirt. 

 today's pour needed to be more accurate into the 6 inch sono tube hole, so dad and i came up with the idea to make a shoot.  (first dad said buy a really big funnel, and i was more inclined to think up a way to use something that we had picked up on one of my salvage hunts.)  dad was thinking about building a shoot out of some old plywood, but then i though about the short piece of scrap metal i had gotten over at the cooks place and thought this will be perfect.  so i got it all bent into a perfect shape and kellee used some wire to hold its shape, it was PERFECT!!! blake held the wheel barrel while i shoveled cement into the shoot, dad steadied the shoot on a five gallon bucket full of our stakes and kellee made sure it stayed in place and only cement went down into the hole and not past onto the ground.  again it was PERFECTION!!!

 blake always being the fun guy, you just can't help but love him.  blake is definitely one of my best friends, we have gotten so close this last year it is totally awesome,

 the last stage was putting the post base brackets into place, and dad did a great job making sure everything was level and just the way it needs to be.  we finished right on time and i headed in to return the cement mixer, they said i could have a 30 minute leeway with my return and i got it there right in that 30 minute space.  i am so thankful that i ended up renting that mixer best money ever spent.  i should also mention that after doing our concrete calculations dad and i came up with needing 19, sixty pound bags of concrete.  we figured on 17 and two extra just in case.  we ended up using 16 and i have already returned the last three and saved a whole 8.77.  im loving it!

blake and kellee said they were also willing to go help me grab some insulation that i had heard about (thank you bill for using craigslist) he is demolishing a house on friday and told me i could come and have all the insulation i wanted.  so that was our next stop. 

 we were very thankful that dad had these masks in his truck because we sort of forgot about having on protection for our breathing.  we got a TON of insulation and had a great time doing it.  it took us less then an hour and was able to meet bill who is just a really cool guy. 

 we striped down one whole room, four walls and a ceiling. 

well that is the end of today's story.  im so excited to now be on the way to building my new home.  today a lady at the bank asked me if i was having a great day and i told her is is an EXCELLENT DAY!!!!
thank you everyone for your help, mom, dad, freeman, blake and kellee.  thank you to everyone who has so generously given me materials and thank you to everyone who has contributed in telling me about  free materials. your all a part of this.  let me know if you want to come and pound a few nails or just come by and see the progress.  your all so wonderful, i feel blessed to have each of you in my life and be part of my journey in all things that i do.