Farmhouse New Build - Update 1
One of the main reasons for starting a blog was to share more about our new build. From the moment we bought the farm, we started dreaming about what it would be like to live on the farm. We also started talking about what it would look like to build a house on the property. Covid was a big motivator in taking the plunge and to sell our house in town. That happened fast as it’s no secret the real-estate market is crazy in Montana (even over here in eastern Montana). We then moved into the existing old, little, farmhouse. I made that sound romantic…it isn’t. The house is very old, very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer, and there are bugs and mice and weird smells…possibly even ghosts. Plus, I have to share a tiny bathroom with 4 boys which is by far the worst part! Give me ghosts over one small bathroom any day!
The little farmhouse we’ve called home for the past year and a half.
We had the intention to begin building the spring or summer after we moved to the farm. I began working with an architect, and we started getting our ducks in a row. We then got hit with lumber and material prices soaring! We were advised to wait until fall to begin which was a blow, but we knew we couldn’t justify the price hike. We fine-tuned our plans. (I had a decent amount of changes throughout that time frame to our house plans. Our architect was fantastic to work with and never once discouraged me from exploring options or ideas in regards to the plans. As hard as it was to wait, I really am grateful I didn’t rush the planning phase). Kevin dug the foundation and with some serious good-luck and good timing we locked in our lumber order right when prices dipped last fall. (fall of 2021).
We pushed forward with the foundation and it literally was finished the day before the snow started to fly in December. We got word in early January that if there was a window of decent weather, framing could get started. Then the real work began… we went to work shoveling out the foundation because the December snow storm drifted and filled the crawl space to the top in places. This was not an ideal situation, but the weather cooperated and between the melting and shoveling, the foundation was not a complete mess. I mean it was still very muddy and wet, but it could have been worse.
Family photo in our very snowy foundation.
Snow up to the ground level
Dave Phipps Construction Co. began framing that third week of January and it was wrapped up about a month later. I can not say enough good things about the crew that framed our home. There were plenty of days when the weather didn’t cooperate and they couldn’t work, and they still managed to get finished in an insanely timely manner! Even on days that weren’t terribly cold, it was still January and February and not the ideal temperature to work in. We lucked out and really didn’t get much snow on the sub flooring, and once they got ply-wood on the roof, we felt like we could make it the rest of the winter without too much moisture inside the house. The roofing crew came out with not much notice to get the moisture barrier down before we were expected to get more snow, and once they had a window of warm weather, they finished the main part of the roof. These couple last spring storms have been doozies, and after making sure window were boarded up, the house did really well in the storms.
Picture window looking out to our hay field.
Kevin and our contractor friend who was also part of the framing crew and has been on this project since the beginning have been working inside on insulation, and TJ (the contractor/friend) did the soffit/fascia. TJ has also been the one working on a lot of the interior projects. (stairs, master bathroom shower, range hood housing etc.) The subs have been hard at work on electrical, plumbing, and HVAC and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of windows.
Things have gone relatively smoothly since we officially got started. I credit the majority of that to the fantastic crew and subs we’ve worked with. Kevin has also spent so much time on the build. He helped with framing even though he had little to no experience. He has lined up the subs. He’s going to continue helping as much as he can since the more we can do on our own the less we pay someone else to do it. Kevin likes to tease me by saying, “We can’t all build a house from behind a computer screen,” and while obviously he is right, there is a lot you can get down by computer. I’ve done all of our product sourcing and have spent so many hours shopping for the best deals on flooring, lighting, counters, bathroom vanities, toilets, fixtures, and the list goes on and on forever and ever. It has been a lot of shopping, but one of the main reasons I was so gung-ho for building in the winter/spring is because it is slow season for both Kevin and I. I am so thankful for the time I have been able to dedicate to the design aspect of the house.
It hasn’t been all smooth sailing and building a house comes with a lot of stress…do it during a pandemic and supply shortage, and well you basically feel like you are on one hell of an emotional roller-coaster. Not so great for someone like me who is already moody by nature. Ordering cabinets was a major stressor for me as the company I thought we were going to go with essentially stopped fulfilling orders. (this was not the local store we were working with, but rather the larger cabinet company they order through) I had to take a few days, reset and start again. We ended up over budget on cabinetry as options were just a bit limited especially being in a rural area. Wait times on the more budget friendly options were also very long. (Truthfully, I wasn’t willing to sacrifice on kitchen cabinets as I know they will be worth it in the end) That meant that we needed to order bathroom vanities from Home Depot and Costco instead of doing custom cabinets. I also have a dear family friend building our master bathroom vanity which is a big deal as I struggled to settle on what I wanted for that. I have no doubts it will be better than what I envisioned and it will be completely custom and will be a treasured piece of furniture in our home. Electrical was also challenging. I started ordering lights and sketching where I wanted them on the plans months ago. However we still felt very unprepared when all those decisions had to be made. I have strong opinions on lighting which likely made it all a bit more work. Lighting will be its own separate post as I believe it can have a massive impact in terms of design, but it doesn’t have to break the bank as there are so many options. I feel good about where we landed on lighting even if it did come with some bickering.
I will also note that we have tried really hard to shop locally as much as possible. Our big purchases have come from the local options we have in town. However, there are things we just were not able to get here.
*Fingers crossed update 2 comes with the window reveal!
The most recent photo of the house