Here We Go

We're done (for the moment) clearing the lot and are ready for the big machinery. Since excavation is such a large chunk of the house building budget, and because it is the first big check we will write, we are trying extra hard to keep the cost down at this point. We have met with six people about excavation and are hopeful that we have found someone who will let us work with them so as to cut down on the cost. Our first attempt at saving money on the site work did not go so well, so hopefully this time things will work out as we plan.

Initially we had someone come up with a small excavator to rough in the driveway, but we ended up with a colossal mud pit that we then proceeded to get the the wood chipper and the Bobcat we have on loan stuck in again and again. We used the Bobcat to move cut up trees to a big firewood pile, but I am pretty sure we could have carried it all by hand in the time we spent trying to get the machinery out of the mud.

I do not particularly recommend the extreme miserly method of house building, but sometimes it is necessary. By the end of this process we will almost certainly have burned through our construction budget, yet still have some necessary purchases remaining. Perhaps by being super stingy in the beginning we will at least delay that point. This method will most likely mean we will spend much more time "stuck in the mud" than if we just decided to pay the going rate for things and have it done the normal way.

Whatever happens, we will have firewood for the next few years...