Septic System, Driveway, Airstream, and Barn ... it's been too long!

Well, it's been February since we've updated ... sorry about the long delay. I guess we've just been busy working on the projects so much that we forgot to let people know what's happening.

From where we left off last time, the septic system is now finished! With LOTS of help from family and friends, the lateral lines were dug, filled with gravel, leveled (meticulously), and covered. Abundant thank you's to my Dad, Danny, Steve, Russ and Margaret, Brandon, Ronnie, and Justin for taking the time to help us. Also, our friend Ron blessed us in a big way by using his tractor to cover the lines back up ... we tried doing it by hand and it was going to take about two weeks, then he showed up and it took about two hours.

The septic tank is set and is being filled to prevent "floating"

Christie is showing us how real work is done!

We wheeled load upon load of gravel to the lateral lines with this and another wheel barrow.

Once the septic system was complete and fully functional, we celebrated for a moment ... then had our gravel driveway installed. This meant bulldozer work and a talented dump truck operator who skillfully "tailgated" gravel on our driveway. We decided to use river rock instead of concrete rock for aesthetic purposes; it was also a tad cheaper. Looking back, I might have gone with concrete rock for the sake of stability. River rock is round, which is pretty, but it can be slippery. Now that I've driven over it a hundred plus times it's packed very well, but still has a tendency to move under the weight of a vehicle.

Since we now have a good driveway, we brought our Airstream RV up to the property to work on restoring it. We took out the original 30 year old carpet due to some musty smells and some mild rot in the subfloor. We installed snap-together wood flooring that brightened the inside considerably. Christie painted the interior walls to brighten the low, arched ceiling and it looks drastically better. We are also in the process of reupholstering the original couch. I built a platform that spans the two twin beds so we can put our queen mattress on it and sleep comfortably. We aren't Airstream purists, but we do like the original design. It's much more welcoming now that we've updated some essentials. Christie has spear-headed this project and has done an amazing job!

Before

Before

After. The couch is yet to be reinstalled.

After

The outside of our 1983 Excella Airstream

Now that we have a place to move into, we need to have a place to store our stuff that we'd like to keep in the house once we build it. So, I've started work on our barn. It's a 16'x16' pole barn. I put up batter boards and squared up the area, then dug the post holes with the much-appreciated help of my friend Nathaniel. Now the posts are in the ground, squared, and the grade boards are installed and very level! I'm excited to see it when it's complete. It will be a bit of a project to finish it in the next few weeks.

Also, a big thanks to the website www.pole-barn.info for the free education on building a pole barn.

Batter boards and string squared and level

Post holes are dug and a 4" concrete footer is poured.
Thanks again to my friend Nathaniel for the help digging these holes by hand.

The first post is in, level, and braced. Concrete is poured up to ground level

I put treated 2x6 cleats around the bases of each post to give stability and security under the concrete

The corner posts are in!

Thanks for reading! Enjoy the summer heat and stay safe if you're working in it. I'm sure taking my time and drinking plenty of fluids. Feel free to come up and check out the progress if you're ever in the Russellville area.