Way back in January I made my official announcement here at Southern Made Simple that our family was growing in a BIG way! Throughout 2016 we (but mostly my husband) worked so incredibly hard creating and perfecting plans, gathering prices and making lists of contacts of workers to help us break ground and get the ball rolling on building our forever home.
We currently live in a small little brick home owned by our grandparents. They have been so gracious to allow us to stay in that home since 2013 so that we could save up enough money to put towards our future home, and they were even more gracious to deed us a little bit of land right next to our current home to build the house of our dreams. (Our grandparents are such a blessing to us, and are truly a pillar of incredible strength in our family. We don’t know what we’d do without their love, wisdom and support!)
So since it’s been a good long 9 1/2 months since I updated you last, I figured we were definitely due for a new update. A LOT has changed since January, but we’re still chugging along in the process, and our original date of completion (which was August 2017) has been pushed back to November.
Our concrete crew was wonderful to work with. If you’re in the lower Alabama region, I cannot recommend SquareCon LLC enough! They were timely, produced quality work, constructed a beautiful reinforced safe room for us and cleaned up all of their mess (which is frequently unheard of when it comes to construction crews!)
Framing started going up in January, and this was another wonderful group of people to work with! This crew worked quickly and diligently, and it was incredible seeing the shape of the house starting to take form!
While the framing was going up, my family and I jumped at the opportunity to write our favorite scriptures all throughout the structure of the house. Christ is the cornerstone of our faith and our family, and we want to honor Him in ALL things that we do, including building this home that He has allowed to come to fruition. You can read that full story here!
The house stayed in this state for the longest. My husband and his father did all of the electrical wiring themselves, which was an endeavor that took well over a month to do. (How did I get so lucky to have such amazingly handy men in my life?!)
Next came the exterior of the home. First we selected our brick, and then we selected the vinyl siding that we wanted. I made a sudden last minute decision to switch things up and use a board and batten vertical vinyl instead of the traditional horizontal vinyl, and I’m SO glad I did! Our front columns are made out of cedar, and the shakes on the dormers are made of a vinyl to match cedar. We also tied in the cedar look into the beams inside our living room.
Sheetrock finally went up in August, and it made such a huge difference to finally be able to see the inner form of our home coming together. I had been staring at 2×6’s for so long, I was beginning to think we’d never get to this point!
I’m in awe of all of the beautiful natural light that my kitchen and bedroom receive throughout the day. It’s like a breath of fresh air walking into a room with all of this glorious sunshine!
Cabinets started to go in place in late September, and on October 10th the power at our house was finally turned on. (I think I might have cried actual tears of joy at this point!)
We still have several things that need to be taken care of before we can move in, including another coat of paint on the walls, the cabinets being finished, bathroom fixtures being installed and flooring being put in. Here’s to hoping we’ll be able to be in before Thanksgiving day…because I’ve got a whole bunch of family members coming down to stay and have dinner with us in this house! 😉
It’s been a long and tedious ride. My husband and I are very tired, physically and emotionally (my husband especially.) We’re beyond ready for that moment when we can plop down on the couch in our brand new living room and rest, admiring the finished blessing that God has allowed us to have. We thank Him every day for this house, and we can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives living right here in this home we built.
The Tucker House: Coming November 2017!
Have you ever gone through a home building process or are you currently building a home? I’d love to hear any tips you have on hanging on until the finish line (without losing your sanity!) 😉
Tiffany Merritt says
I absolutely CANNOT WAIT to skip around in your house next month! You are SO close to the finish line!!!
Karen Elliott says
Your home has been built with love and it will be filled with love. May God bless this home and the family in it and all the people who built it. Tucker Family Love built this home with God’s Grace. Can’t wait I’m so proud ❤️