The Finches' Log Nest

April photos

2008-04-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

Almost 8" of Snow!!

2008-04-19T18:24:00.000-07:00

Here are photos that my mother-in-law took of the 18th and 19th.

First two weeks of April

2008-04-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

The first weekend of April it rained during the week and was drying out over the weekend. So it was muddy but nothing new. My husband and I were working on the house and doing pretty good. The sun was out and we got one of our cap logs on the last course - course 20! We wanted to get it right so it took a couple of times of putting it on and off to get it the way we wanted it. When that was on my husband had to finish pinning course 19 before we could put another log down. Only two logs to pin so he drilled first then would go back and hammer them in. Just as he was making the turn to pin the second log he dropped his rope before I could get him more rebar. So I tried to throw it back up to him. On my third or fourth attempt of trying to throw the rope back up to him my muddy boots slipped on the plastic we had covering the ground. My left knee buckled and I landed on top of it. My husband climbed down the over-dangles to my rescue. I couldn't walk on it so he helped me to the car and we went to the local gas station to buy some ice. We went back to the property to put away the stuff we left out. The next day the guys worked on the house as I watched. I have been on crutches since then.

The second week of April we had more excitement. Saturday was a clear and hot day I got sunburned as I watched the guys worked. The guys started to put in one of the girders. My husband cut the first hole above the entry way. After that they started to put in the log thought the opening. They got it about half way then had to cut out the hole for the other end. We called it a day about 8:30 after we moved the boom.

The next day the guys went right to work. My husband was looking around and couldn't find the hole-hog. He found the rope that was attached too but no hole-hog. He realized it was stolen then took off to buy a new one because we couldn't get much done without one. I called the neighbor at the bottom of the hill and she said she saw some people last night on ATV's on our property. She agreed to talk to the sheriff for us. My husband talked to the sheriff and they came not to long after that. They started us on some paperwork then left to talk to the neighbor. A couple of our friends showed and visited for about an hour. In that time the two deputies came by briefly. The guys continued working. About forty five minutes later the deputies came back asking if there was anything else we could be missing like a extension cord or outdoor light. The guys looked around and we were missing them. The deputies took off again. Not to long after that they returned with our stuff. They expressed that it is very rare to recover stolen property. My husband filled out another report saying we got our stuff back. We were so Thankful and relived to have our stuff back.

Course 17

2008-03-26T15:52:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday the 22nd we broke our record and got 4 logs on in one day. Finishing course 16 and one log short of finishing course 17. We celebrated Easter and relaxed and had good food that my mother-in-law prepared. Monday night after work there was enough daylight to finish pinning a log down and put on one. We were unsure if the log would sit very well. The log underneath was lumpy and so was the log we were putting on but the ends seem to be fine.

February Photos

2008-03-09T10:29:00.000-07:00

The course after 12

2008-02-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

Last weekend all 4 of us had a three day weekend. The first two days of the weekend we spent fixing the boom truck. We have had to jump start it nearly every time especially if it has been cold. On Saturday we charged the batteries and peeled logs. Sunday we decided to get them tested because they were taking forever to charge. There are four batteries they all should have been 6volt but one was a 12volt. That one 12volt gave to much power and fired the other batterers. So we bought 4 new batteries and the boom works so much better. Once we got that fixed we moved all the logs away from the house closer to the road so we can move the boom to reach the far side. On Monday the truck got stuck at an angel so we called it a day. This last weekend everything was drying out and we were able to move the truck. We got only 2 logs on this course. I must have written down the wrong measurements on one of the logs because there was such difference in height when we put the second log on. So we decided not to use it and got a different log.

#94 Leaping Larry

2008-02-03T21:08:00.000-08:00

We had to move the next log number 94 to finish peeling it. My brother and I had chained it on the large. My husband was operating the boom when the small end of the log had hooked underneath the logs next to it. He had to pull the log vertically in the air to free it. While the log was still vertical the small end of the log hit the ground letting the chain loose. The large end fell down hill hitting the pile of logs bouncing about 5 feet in the air. Then it slid down to the edge of the construction entrance. The last log for course number 11 was nearly almost lost down the hill.

9 Courses Finished

2008-01-22T08:38:00.000-08:00

We had some snow on Saturday and the other 2 days of our 3 day weekend were clear and cold. We got about 3 logs on per day. Yesterday we moved the boom truck closer to the house so it would be easier to reach the far wall. The ground is still settling around the house so we thought it would be the perfect time with the ground being frozen.
Last night we had a beautiful sun set the moon was riseing behind the mountian. I can't wait to enjoy them in the comfort of our house.

Thank God No Snow

2008-01-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

This was the first weekend without snow since Dec. 1st. It was sunny and warmer then it has been. We got the 7th course done yesterday. Since we had to have a log stick out for the balcony and another one for the entry we had a double butt log on the East side.

I think the warmer weather really help speed things up as well as our routine. Our process is we select the next log and get all tools in place. Move it closer to the boom truck with the chain, make sure it is peeled. Cut off the end that will butt against the log in place. Find the center and balance the log with the straps. While it is in the air we look for bows and knots that will effect how it will sit. We then mark what is top and bottom and then adjust it and cut off any knots. We then put ropes on both ends so we can control the log as we put it on the house. I normally sit at the top of a later in view of my husband operating the boom. To direct him to put the log in place we then level the corners and hammer log dogs in to keep it in place. If the log isn't sitting right then we roll it so it will. Then my husband sits on the log facing the butt end and takes his measuring tool (stick with pencil) and marks where he needs to drill with the hole hog. Next he hammers a stick of rebar in place and slides down to drill the next whole. My brother faces him and hammers the rebar all the way in with a 4lb hammer or the demo hammer. After they have put enough rebar to keep the log in place they take out the log dogs and unhook the straps from the boom. When they have put rebar in the top they then pin the corner. After the log is pinned in place we remove the straps with the boom.

Snow Every Weekend Since Dec 1st!

2008-01-07T10:30:00.000-08:00

It snowed yesterday it didn't stick but everything froze. We are on the 7th course and once we are finished with this level then we are done with the 1st floor. We had to make sure we had acuall 50ft logs for the ballcony that suck out on the South West side. We also used a 50ft log for the entryway roof. It should go faster after this course since we will be a box shape the rest of the way up.

New Year's Eve

2008-01-02T16:25:00.000-08:00

Over our 4 day weekend we had a break in the weather. We are on our 6th course. Once we are done with the entryway I think things will go much quicker. We are thinking of finishing up the the entry on the next course. One sort of what is on the plans.

Boxing Day

2007-12-28T09:55:00.001-08:00

We took Christmas Day off to celebrate it with the family it snowed a little where we were. There hasn't been a white Christmas here since 1990. The next day it was raining. As we drove out to the property the closer we got it turned into slush then snow. We had to stop and put our chains on. My mother-in-law wasn't too far behind us and decided to turn back after giving us lunch. We couldn't drive up the hill on our property so we parked at the gate and walked up. We took a few pictures and decided not to work. Both of us were already soaked from the snow. Wish we had a sled our hill would be perfect for that!
On the way back there there was a huge branch that broke off and blocked the road. Just as we stopped PUD was heading out for another incident and we helped him clear one lane.

Last Two Load of Logs

2007-12-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

On Friday my husband drove 150 miles back and forth from work and the property to recive a load of logs. Saturday we got the last load of log we needed. We have already started stacking logs on the foundation so they are small enough that it isn't affecting the building sequence right now. We have 4 courses up at 5' 2" and the guys have to scoot along the logs to pin them in.

Snow 2 weekends in a row

2007-12-10T14:50:00.000-08:00

It has snowed the first two weekends this month. I took some of the pictures form the warm cab of the boom truck while the guys braved the weather. We have 3 corses up right now. After this corse we will have to work on the logs and not on the floor we put up.

slideshow

2007-12-04T15:21:00.000-08:00

Boom Truck

2007-11-20T08:12:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday right after work we went to look at a boom truck we are renting. We were not expecting to rent it till the weekend. The guys we are renting it from had to jump start it. The boom had been sitting for a while on the previous renter’s property. Then there were problems with the emergency break and they had to have a mechanic out that night. When it was finally was fixed and was up and running we stopped to fill it up with gas on the way to our property.
Over the weekend we got to use the boom turck. My husband operated the boom and my brother and him moved the sacrafice logs next to the house.

Once those were in place they moved the logs from the mill over.

Here is my brother guideing the log next to the house.

A friend of ours milled us some 4x12's for our floor with his Alasken Mill. They are beautiful douglass fur and smell so nice! Or friend delivered them over the weekend and we got to use the boom to move them.

It would have been much easyer if we had the boom when we moved these glulam beams eary last week. The guys pushed it down into the basement then lowered it down with the scafolding.

The Glulam is 5-1/8" x 12" x 35'. With them in place now we will not have to worry about getting them though the door later.

Logs from a Mill

2007-11-14T13:38:00.000-08:00

We got a load of house Logs from a mill on Tuesday. I haven't seen them yet but my husband tells me they are really straight. They don't have much bark on them and have some track marks from the machinery. We need about 2 more loads of house logs left to get.

Starting the First Floor

2007-11-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

We started to work on the first floor. With the floor in we can walk around a lot closer while we stack the logs. The pressure treated wood had to be against the concrete so the guys first had to take off the Styrofoam.

The anchor bolts were put in when we made the walls. So we measured each anchor bolt and drilled holes into the PT wood. The guys had straiten most of them with a 3lb hammer. We are still working on the placement of each hanger for the I beams. The washers are pretty big so we will have to work around them.

More Concrete Poured

2007-11-05T18:50:00.000-08:00

Thursday we finished putting up the forms for the entry way. Here it is ready for concrete. Friday we had a cement truck pull in and pour it directly into the forms. It worked well with only one blow out in the inside corner. It got all over my brothers feet. The guys had it patched up quickly and shoveled up the spilled concrete back into the forms.
Earlier that same day we had the slab done. There was a cancellation and they were able to fit us in.

They did a very good job and I am glad we didn't try to do it our selves.
When we had finished we wrote bible verses into the concrete. On the entry way we wrote Job 38:4-6
On the slab we wrote Luke 6:48 in the door way.

More Footers

2007-11-05T15:12:00.000-08:00

We had to do more footers for the entry way. My husband and brother shovled gravel to rase it to the right level. Then we made the footer boxes and layed rebar. We started Monday of last week and finised to pour concreat by Friday.

Load of House Logs

2007-10-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

My husband and brother tell me it was pretty cold out at the property yesterday. They were waiting for house logs as well as a load of grave/sand to be delivered. They were going to spread the gravel/sand out where the entrance will be. We had to wait to have the footer drains and down spouts to be put in and then backfilled before we could work on the enterance. It is the last part of the foundation that needs to be finished.

Well the gravel/sand didn’t show up but the house logs did. There was a total of 21 logs delivered our logger was expecting only 20. We kept the extra log it is a little short but it can be put to use.

Basement in 5 days

2007-09-22T11:32:00.001-07:00

My husband and I took the week off to work on our basement. We finished the footers the week before. On Monday the 17th the insulated concrete forms (ICF) were delivered. The guy that delivered them did a demonstration on how to put them together. It was really simple to put together. On the first day we got 4 out of 7 levels done as well as a window and door cut out. The rain was the hardest thing to deal with. On the second day the scaffolding was delivered and that took all day to put up. The scaffolding was nice to have for our 9 foot walls. They were also helped to keep the wall level.
On Wednesday we got all 7 levels up.
The same day we got window and door bucks in so the concrete will flow around the window and door.
Thursday we were working on putting in rebar in the walls and the inspector showed up. We called after hours the day before and left a message so he would show up Friday morning. So we were not expecting him. My husband asked he could come back in the morning and instead he just asked a couple questions of what we had left and signed off. Which was kind of nice it gave us some time to get things done right. The next day we had concrete scheduled. The pump showed up at early and the cement trucks showed up late.

It took 2.5 hours to do all the pumping. We had only one problem we forgot to put supports in the window and door. So when we had about four levels of concrete we had a blow out in the door. About a wheelbarrow full fell out both my husband and I were scrambling. Luckily the guy that did the demonstration was there and he worked with the pump and we worked on fixing the door. When the door was patched up my husband took over the pump and we finished the last bit on top. Here I am smoothing out the top and making it level with the forms.

Concrete Poured for footers

2007-09-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

My husband took half a day off to pour concrete into the footers. Tomorrow we will start to take off the forms.
Here is the pump that we used. It has a 36 meter reach.

Passed our 1st Inspection!!

2007-09-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

PTL! We Passed our first inspection yesterday! We finished putting in the vertical rebar in the night before after having to take out what we put in on Sunday. We had the wrong size and we didn't have the bottom L shaped part alternate from inside to outside. Later this afternoon we are going to pump concrete!

Laying rebar

2007-09-07T12:32:00.001-07:00

The other night we started to lay down the rebar. Here is a photo of the corner. We bought the rebar pre-bent so all we had to do was wire them together.
This photo is a little dark but in the foreground you can see the 3 rows of rebar. They are sitting on chairs so they are 4" off the ground.

Foundation Work

2007-09-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

We got a hole dug for the foundation. In the picture I was standing on the West side looking down into it. There is a about a 7 foot drop to the bottom of it. The East side will be the daylight part of the basement. We staked out and put orange tape up to outline our 35' by 35' foot print of our house. The dirt pile was kind of nice to stand on to get an idea of what our view will be like.
It was a little muddy so we got some gravel put in. You can see the batter boards in the corners and we tied string to mark our foot print of our foundation. We used this to put in the footers.

Here is the first corner my husband built for the footers.

Here is what we got done on the first day over the weekend.

Here is after the second day of working on the footers. It really starting to take shape and you can image where rooms will be. The long boxes in the right corner is where the stairs will be going to the 2nd floor and right underneath are more stairs to the basement. The square boxes the run down the middle will be for the support logs. And the large box in the top middle will be where the Masonry heater will be.

3D drawing of our house

2007-08-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

Our Architect did this 3D rendering of our house. There will be a couple differences like we have and garage that will be semi attached with the entry. The slop of the hill isn't as much and we will have some stairs to the lower deck. It is pretty awesome to see it!

Starting to work

2007-08-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

The same day they were delivered we painted the ends and numbered them. Then we made a catalog of the measurements of each log and started to do some peeling.

My mother-in-law helped us peel logs Monday night and yesterday after work. We got a lot done on the 50 footers (1-9).

Here is my husband useing a peevey to roll a log so we could peel the other side.

Delivered Logs

2007-08-07T21:42:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we got our 1st delivery of house logs. We had to wait till a driver was avaliable luckly it was after our vacation. Here they are being trucked in. Here is the driver unloading them onto our property.

Check out the beautiful pink center of the douglass fur.

Logs Cut to Order

2007-07-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

This morning on our way out to work we stopped by the site to meet with the logger. We got to see them start to process the logs. Here they are pulling the log through a de-limber:

Here is my husband giving his expert log buying opinion and quality control remarks.

Here is a logger cuting our first log after mesuring and re-mesureing.

Pile of Logs

2007-07-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

The logger said he would give us a call on Friday to come and check out the logs. But we had made plans to leave town for our anniversary. So we decided to stop by on our way out to see if anything had been done. The property is in a shape of a U so at first we didn't see anything then we went down the street a little further and...
After seeing that there had been we called the Logger to let him know that we will be gone for the weekend. He said he still needs to processes (measure, cut to size and label) the logs and plans to do that on Wednesday.

Met with Logger

2007-07-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

We have been in contact with a logger for over a month now. Today we met with him for a second time at the site where we will be getting our house logs from. We walked the site to look at trees to get an idea what we wanted and didn't want. We wrote down the size and quantity we need and went over which ones we would like delivered first. This is all he need from us which saves us the time of marking out each tree. After they cut them down we will take a closer look before they are delivered.

Construction Entrance and New Address

2007-06-13T15:40:00.000-07:00

After the utilities were marked we were able to put in the construction enterance and culvert. We also had a guy mark out where the house will go so an inspector can take a look at our building site. It was exciting to see where our house will be.

We were given an address so we put up a temporary sign. This is good because we needed an address to get power set up.

Utilities are Marked out

2007-06-08T08:02:00.000-07:00

We went out Tuesday and saw that the utilities were marked. Now we are just waiting for a dry day to put in the driveway. In the mean time a silt fence was put in for the run off.

Excavator

2007-06-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Check out the work the excavator did. They took out all the stumps and put all the wood in piles. The driveway will be carved out once the utilities are marked out.

We got an excavator on our poperty today. They will start srcaping and putting in the driveway on Monday. Which we had to mark out with flags.

More Practice

2007-05-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

We got a new demo hammer that we tired out last weekend. We put a bit on it that will drive rebar into the log for us. We weren’t sure if it would work we saw a video but he was using it on softer logs then what we will be using. We tried it out on the pump house that was build by the guy we visited the weekend before. It was good for me to see how things will be done.

First we had to drill a hole in the top log and a pilot hole into the one below. The rebar should go though the top log and half way into the one below. Once we drilled the hole we used a 4lb hammer to start the rebar then used the demo hammer to do the rest. The first couple times the demo hammer would drive the rebar in leaving about 3” exposed until the bit broke. Now the end of the bit slides up and down creating a guide and we can drive the rebar nearly all the way into the log.

Here is video that I took of my husband useing the demo hammer.

Practice

2007-05-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we visited a guy building his own log house. We helped him peel some logs. He had every kind of peeling tool you could imagine. We started out working with his tools and it didn't go very quickly. So we switched to our own tools and it worked much better. We had an extra spud with us and he tried it out and liked it so much he bought it on the spot.
I peeled a lot of #15 and his ridge pole which I think was the log left of #8.

My husband worked on 4 logs on the far left.

It was a good experiance. We learned a lot. One thing that was good to see was how to turn a log in place.

Clearing

2007-05-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken on 4/19/07

This picture was taken yesterday.

Sold!

2007-05-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday while we were out cutting some trees down they put a sold sign on our property!

Peeling a log

2007-05-02T11:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we tried out a new tool we got. It is an ice scraper but in log home builder terms it is called a spud.

Floor Stain Test

2007-04-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

We made a test floor to find out how strong they will be. I thought it would be a good idea to try out some stains that we would use in our home. We did an over all stain on half of the floor you really can't see it in the pictures. Then I thought it would be really nice to have a dark border. Most of what I have seen online is done with inlay. Well we will not be able to do that in our house so I wanted to try taping off a section and apply the border.

First attempt on top - not so good. I followed directions on the tin applied with a brush. Let it sit for 5-15 min and wipe off. The stain bled under the tape.

Second attempt just below - better. Looked up better method... apply small amount with rag and remove as I went along. I could have planned out my tape a little better.

Third attemp NICE!
We left the tape on the top border to apply a second coat.

Beautiful View

2007-04-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

Finally Closed!

2007-04-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

Closing was delayed one more time and we closed yesterday. We got the key to the gate ten minuets before the office closed. We grabbed a bite to eat on our way out to OUR property!! It was so beautiful.

After enjoying our property we went to a hardware store and got some power tools!

This is the entrance to our property!

2007-04-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

We signed our paperwork!

2007-04-19T15:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we left at lunch and drove north to sign all the paperwork to close on our land. It took us nearly 2 hours to sign it all. It went pretty well. The paperwork from the bank had the wrong address. So we had to change it from SE to NE and initial next to it. The seller still needs to sign it and closing was changed from the 18th to the 20th.

We found our land!!

2007-03-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

We really were not looking seriously for a plot land. We have been casually looking over the pasted two years. Anything that caught our eye we went out and took a look at. About the time we started to look we found a piece that looked really promising. The access was kind of hard but once we got out there it was beautiful. It had lots of trees on top of a hill with flat building sites and at good price. The day we were going to put a bid on it the owners took it off the market. That door was shut pretty quickly.

Last month my brother was talking about applying an internship in WA. That got us excited about building our house. He has helped build houses for friends and is working on our parent’s house. He would be a huge help with our house. So we started perfecting our plans, gather information and looking for land. Everything that seemed to be in our price range was wetlands. So we decided to look closer at or finances see what we could afford. As we were trying to get a pre-approved loan my husband signed up for and email service to receive new posts of property that fit our criteria. We got an email about 9 lots that had everything we could want. Two of the properties were at what we thought of our high end of our budget. It couldn’t hurt to look right?

So on Saturday morning of March 3rd we went out to look at it. It was a cloudy day with some snow from the Thursday before. The first property of the 9 was lot #23 one of two we were going to look at. I liked it right off the bat. Pete our agent then showed us the 2nd lot #6 just up the hill a little ways. We drove our car down the muddy driveway. Once we got out of our car our agent said “I didn’t think you would drive down it.” I wasn’t really impressed with it. It had more privacy then the other with more trees which I thought I like more. My husband asked me how I liked after walking around some and I said “I like the other one better.” As we were getting back to our cars we asked if we could see the other lots just for fun. We stopped at lot 8, I looked at my husband and we both grinned and he said well we know who would like this lot. It was flat and wide open. You could see the green grass poking out of the snow. Pete looked as us and my husband explained that his dad has a horse and he would love this lot. So Pete said well why do you get lot #23 and your dad get this one. We got back in our cars and drove around the corner and there was a tree in the road so we couldn’t go back and see the other lot. This was fine because they were way out of our price range.

The next day we drove out to the lots again with my Father-in-law. It was a clear day and nearly all of the snow had melted. Lot #23 looked even better without the snow. We walked around and looked up toward the East and there was and awesome view of Mt. Pilchuck. It was so beautiful with the fresh snow on it and the sound of a creek nearby. We walked back to the road and you could see more of the view of another mountain range more toward the south. We walked to lot #6 and walked around and moved on to lot #8. My husband and his dad walked all over and up the hill to see the view. I took some pictures. It is a nice lot very wide open. My father-in-law really liked this lot. He was telling us where he could put his horse, a stable and coracle. It didn’t have much of a view and more then what we wanted to spend.

That night we talked about the lots and decided that we really like lot #23. We placed a bid the next morning. At this time we had a pre-approval to buy a house but not land. We were still working on getting a pre-approval for a construction loan. We went back and forth with the seller. We finally came to a mutual agreement on Wednesday and set up our closing date for April 18th.

Friday morning the 9th I was putting in my contacts and thought Oh it would be so cool if we knew someone that had a RV we could borrow. As soon as I thought that my husband came in and said I am thinking of putting up an add saying free storage for your RV or trailer if we could use it while we build our house. I was really excited that he thought the same thing and told him that it was a good idea. So I didn’t think any more of it because we were expecting a friend to come and visit with us over the weekend.

On Saturday we decided to go and show our guest the property. On our way we stopped by our agent’s office to sign some paperwork that I missed. Then we headed over to our friends salon to say hi since we were in the area. As soon as we walked in Jim asked us “So did you find some property?” My husband said well in mater of fact yes we did. Then Jim asks us if we wanted a trailer! My husband asked him if he was serious which he was. Nether one of use could believe it. We could now really feel that this was God’s will. We told them that we would go and take a look at it after we were done looking at the property.

After looking at the property we had some lunch and drove out to Jim & Ruthie’s house to take a look at the trailer. It is a 35’ trailer and older model with 2 pop outs. We will need to fix it up a little but nothing serious we thought. We went and talked a bit with Jim and Ruthie and found out it is a blessing for both of us. They are going to put their house up for sale and it needed to be out of their dive way.

Over the rainy weekend of the 17th and 18th we started to work on the trailer. We wanted to replace the flooring. So we stopped at a lumber yard on our way out to Jim & Ruthie’s to pick up some flooring. It was a little expensive and they didn't have much in stock. So we got some other tools that we needed then grabbed a bite to eat. We started to tare up the floor and put a large tarp over the smaller tarps already there. After a hard days work we called it a day and made a list for the next days work.

The next day we stopped at a different lumber yard in Monroe to see if they had some flooring in stock. They had a much lower price then the lumber yard we were at yesterday. So my husband asked for pricing for 2x6's which we would be putting in our house. We were floored! My husband asked for a credit application immediately. The sales guy asked if we were building our house. He commented that he was doing the same and asked us if we had a place to live yet. We told him yes we were working on right now. He said well that’s too bad I have this trailer I have lived in for 2 years that I need to get rid because I can move into my house. And who ever can tow it away can have it. We got some more tools that we needed and our flooring. We looked at the quote a little closer on our way to the trailer and found out that he quoted us for the wrong stuff.

When we got to Jim & Ruthie’s we told him about the trailer. Ruthie said she may have a friend that would be interested in it. We continued to pull up the floor which was press board. My husband was cutting up the floor with a skill saw and accidentally ran over the cord. We went back to the lumber yard in Monroe. We asked the guy that helped us out earlier for a card with and told him we may have someone interested in his trailer. We got another quote for the correct flooring. It was still a great price that took a lot of pressure off of us.

We finished tearing up the floor and found out that it had a lot of water damage. The sub flooring which everyone thought was aluminum was really wooden 2x4's and they were rotting. Jim came out later that afternoon and saw the pile of wood out side the trailer. He was pretty surprised and saw all the damage and told us maybe this wasn't worth it. I was beginning to think the same thing.

My husband talked to Ruthie about the trailer and the condition it was in and that we were going to call the guy at the lumber yard about his trailer. She said that was fine her friend was looking for something bigger anyways.

Later that week my husband called Larry from the lumber place. We went and took a look at it on the March 23rd. It is in much better condition then the previous trailer we were working on. It is a 28 footer with a new fridge and stove. He showed us what he has been building for 2 years. It is really nice right in front of a lake about 10 min from our property. He is a really nice guy he has offered to hold on the trailer until we are ready to move it.

I am so thankful of all God has provided. I feel that the first trailer was to show us that we were going in the right direction and that a remodel would be much harder then building from scratch. The 2nd trailer is to show us that we will be taken care of and don't have to worry about anything.