Progress is good...

Last week we took the kids over to the house. We now have a basement floor! It is a big basement. I guess because the main floor is smaller than our current house at 1800 sqft I wasn't imagining the basement as big as it is. The kids chased each other around while my hubby and I walked around and mapped out how the basement might be divided up once we are ready to finish the basement.

We went in the evening so other than the headlights from the truck there was no other light.

The kids chasing each other around the new basement!

The stairs going from the garage into the basement. (alternate entrance from garage)

I was really starting to worry that we wouldn't have any more work being done until after Christmas but my hubby proved me wrong. He was determined and he did it. We have had our builder on site since yesterday, although that almost went south. I started getting calls at work by my mother in law who was trying to get a hold of my hubby. Apparently the builder was on site ready to start working and there were supplies and materials missing. The builder was ready to leave but my hubby got a hold of Home Hardware and got his point across quick and easy - the materials should be there, they better be there in half hour or they could kiss the business good bye. And they did. Some of you might wonder why we went with Home Hardware instead of Turkstra or Home Depot. They gave us the best price on lumber. Home Hardware is trying to compete for the home builders business.

I stopped by the house last night after work and the floor joists are in. So we have progress!

The excavation, hole dug for the foundation

Forming for the foundation  - done

And finally we have a foundation!!!

Wow a lot has happened in the last 3 weeks. We are building a house people! We  have gone through the demolition, excavation, and now have a foundation. It hasn't been an easy process but it is getting done.
We've had a couple of incidents that should have held us back - my hubby was in an accident at work while driving a backhoe and smashed his head into the windshield. He suffered a concussion and has been dealing with headaches as a result. And the other day there was an issue with the sewage tank that he and a friend of ours installed. Because of the rain it lifted and with the floor being poured today he had to go there and get it back into its proper position. Well while he was there he ended losing his footing and fell into the foundation - 8ft. He now has a sprained ankle and headaches! He'll be broken before this house is built.
We've continued to have walk throughs at the house but no bites yet. I think it is just a bad time of year to be selling. People aren't thinking about buying a house right now so close to the holidays. I'm sure we'll get more action in the new year. But it makes us nervous knowing that we need to be able to sell this place so that we can continue work at the new place. I'm sure things will come together in time.
We have purchased our appliances - anyone looking for a great deal and amazing service should check out Goeman's on Hwy 8, Kitchener. We went to Sears, Bad Boy, TA appliances and a couple of other places and their best prices - even Black Friday prices didn't touch Goeman's. We went with stainless steel, GE Profile appliances. At least that is out of the way and is one less thing I have to think about.
We are very close to having our kitchen design done. I still haven't settled on colours for the cabinets. I want to be able to pick out my floors so that I can have a better idea of what colour cabinets I should go with.  I think we decided on a really nice Maple handscraped/distressed wood floor. It is not too dark but kind of in between. But I love that it is distressed. I don't have to worry about the dog or the kids or the furniture making dents or scratches in it. I will have to add a photo of it once I download it from my phone.
Hopefully the weather stays somewhat dry so that we can get the framing started next week. That is the part that worries me.
Anyway, thats a bit of an update. I'll post some pics later. Hopefully we'll have a productive, accident free day today!