EHM: Coventry Edition - my castle walls and moat

On Day 12 of my Extreme Home Makeover: Coventry Edition, my dream home finally has walls--concrete basement walls, so far. And what looks like a moat all around the house. If it rains, well suffice it to say, they'll be building a bridge.

We stopped by a few days ago when they were putting up the panels and rebar that form the casing for the concrete to be poured in. The guys who were putting the panels up answered our questions, explaining the process would take about 3 days depending on weather.

The first day we saw half the wall done, with clusters of panels scattered throughout, waiting to be put up. It made me think of a very strange Stonehenge ------>

Marc and I forgot to ask them about windows and doors. Do they cut them out afterward? Because when you walk along the perimeter once the panels are up, it just looks like it'll be a solid wall.

But we found out the secret later. They place wooden frames between the panels so that when the concrete is poured, it settles all around the outside of the frame. A-ha! Top secret, confidential secrets no longer. I have cracked the window/door code! Da Vinci, watch out!

Days later, they removed those lovely, rugged-looking panels and--voila! Concrete walls! With windows and a door.

With the lower level of our new home in the ground, the lot doesn't look so big. My husband is very happy about that. Our old home was built on one of the biggest lots in all of Meadowbrook, and mowing the grass is not his favorite chore. With our new house, our yard will be just right, especially since it'll have a deck with a hot tub.

As you can see, we already have trees out back. They're actually on the other side of the fence. That's one of the reasons I picked this lot--7 trees out back (5 are evergreens) and a handful more on the other side of the right-side fence.

Also, note how far away my neighbors are. No neighbors to share a fence with except on the left side. For me, this means privacy, something that's important to me. There's a wide path that runs behind our wood fence on right side. Out back and to the right is a circular green area with benches and more trees. And an even wider greenbelt with sidewalk runs parallel to our back fence.

So here's a closer look, just no peeking in our window; I haven't hung the curtains yet.

Larry, the site supervisor for Coventry Homes dropped by while we were visiting our "castle". He seemed to like the "Tardif Triumph" house design--it's a real original. (Like me, my husband says.) Larry said our house is going to be "beautiful". And I believe him.

Now all we have to do is figure out if we're going to have crocodiles or sharks swimming around the moat. Our daughter would prefer the latter.

This ends Day 12 of our build. I hope you're enjoying following our journey. Let me know what you think. Have you built before? Ever thought of it? Do you want to--now that you see how much fun it is?

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
who plans to write lots of bestsellers in her new home!
http://www.cherylktardif.com