Framing our Farmhouse

It’s been quite a awhile since I’ve posted an update on the progress out at the farm, and so much has changed since my last post! The two photos above show the drastic change in just a few short weeks: we have a house!!!

It has been so fun to watch the house take shape! Because we worked with a draftsman to design our own custom house plans, we had never “seen” our house other than on paper (when you buy stock plans there are usually real-life pictures of that particular house plan that has been built!). I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous to see the house come together – was it going to look the way we envisioned?!

Other than a few stressful near-disasters (first-timers 🙂 ), all in all the framing stage went pretty smoothly. Our framing crew was wonderful, and we had my brother to help oversee everything for us – which was an absolute lifesaver. Hubby worked harder than anyone I’ve ever seen (on top of his already demanding full-time job!) to ensure that everything went seamlessly.

The framed house looks prettier in real life than I could have ever imagined, and I honestly don’t think there is one thing I would change!

Lumber Delivery day

Oh happy day! This is the day our lumber was delivered from Builders First Source.

I can honestly say that getting to this day was the most stressful part of this entire process so far.

The Covid pandemic caused lumber prices to surge to unprecedented, record high prices. We are talking 80% increases from pre-covid pricing. (What a great time to try and build a house!).

It threw our budget and timeline way out of whack and we honestly had no idea what to do!

We couldn’t drag our feet too long because we had already closed on our construction loan (which is time sensitive) and we are living in a rental house with a one year lease term after selling our previous home.

We waited a few months and thankfully lumber prices began to come down… ever so slightly. It was not the ideal situation we had planned for, but if we have learned one thing during this process it’s that you’ve just got to learn how to deal with the unexpected challenges that arise during building.

The framers started working the day after the lumber was delivered and we were there bright and early to get a front row seat to the process!

Watching a house you’ve dreamed up on paper come to life is so surreal!

We went out to the house just about every day to watch, and we were always amazed at all of the progress they had made since the last time we had seen it.

Framing the basement.

Two sweet little boys who loved watching the process 🙂

Framing the first floor.

A look at the back of the house.

One of my own little construction workers in his boots and overalls with tape measure in hand 🙂

Watching the second story go up!

Starting to look like a house!

We opted for open rafter tails, and these are the rafters that we used. Hubby put a coat of exterior primer on the ends that would be exposed to give them a little extra protection from the elements.

The roof going up! We opted for a stick framed roof as opposed to trusses, so it was all framed on site.

You can also see the porch starting to take shape – by far the most exciting part of the process!! I’ve dreamed of that wrap around porch for a long time 😉

A closer look at the open rafter tails. I love this detail!

A look at the porch starting to take shape! Pretty sure I squealed with excitement the first time I saw it!

And just like that, we have a framed house!

It took them about two weeks to frame the house. They still have to install the porch posts and then the framing stage will officially be done!

One of my favorite details: the open rafters and tongue and groove porch ceiling! Our framer kept telling us how much extra work it was 🙂 but I think it was so worth it!

My favorite view out the kitchen window. I don’t think I will mind doing dishes here!

Had to include this picture for memory sake! We were short on some lumber and needed it first thing in the morning for the framers to continue working. Our building supplier couldn’t get it to us until the next day, so Hubby had to go to Home Depot late at night, rent a Home Depot truck, and transport the lumber to the construction site in the dark by himself at night! Haha!