Category Archives: Uncategorized

Driveway restored

The driveway has been restored and strengthened, so hopefully it will not wash out again at the next flood.

IMG_7270

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These two culvert pipes will be finished with concrete, so the water should flow under the driveway instead of flushing it.

IMG_7369

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The driveway looks nice again.IMG_7373

Septic plan

Today I received the planned septic layout plan, that will encompass three spray heads uphill.
The water supply is coming from the far left side of my lot (seen from Appaloosa drive)
as indicated with the blue line. The three magenta half circles are the outlets where the spray heads will
spray purified water from the septic tank indicated by the smaller white rectangle.
siteplan1

360 view

Today I took my pano gadget and took this little panorama, with a 360 view from about the middle of the extension.
The actual view from the front of the lower and upper deck would be better, as that is raised 6 and 14 feet.

View the panorama

Door to nowhere

Today Paulette & Bob helped me to find a cool front door for the log home in Johnson City at “Pieces of the Past“.
Rather than buying a new door, I purchased a door made from salvaged wood, a nice solid door that should fit nicely in the log home.
So even though I have nothing there yet, at least I have a door to nowhere.

Solid salvaged wood door
Solid salvaged wood doorTo make it more authentic, I also got a used handle and string hinges, as the door is very solid.

To make it more authentic, I also got a used handle and string hinges, as the door is very solid.

IMG_3440
Heavy Hinges
IMG_3439
Big doorhandle

 

As a contrast I will add a high tech lock that will allow me to remotely set codes to open it.

Finally we saw some really cool stuff that would look great inside;

IMG_3437
Saloon doors

These saloon doors could be in front of the hallway leading to the bathroom and bedroom in the extension in the back.

Bar & stools
Bar & stools

In the open kitchen in the great room, this bar and stool might look really nice too.

A lot at Stake(s)

Today I staked the building site; that means I put in stakes (sticks of wood) on the lot at the corners of all parts of the structure.
The front foremost four stakes will be the location of the deck (24′ x 10′ or 8 x 3 meters if you prefer metric).
Behind that is the main log structure that is shown on the first shots post, with a size of 24 x 20′ (8 by almost 7 meters)
Again behind that is the addition, adding 15′ to the Log structure built with timber frame instead of logs.

IMG_3422
The staked building site; 8 stakes indicate the location of the building

 

With a 200 ft measuring tape the corner point was measured from the lower left stake of the survey I had done earlier.
I also cleared most of the cedar bushes and smaller trees, so now you can get a good idea of the size of the structure.
Some stakes I could not drive into the ground further than a few inches before I hit solid rock.

The tools used for staking and clearing
The tools used for staking and clearing

 

The Log home will be getting shade on the south side from 2 live oak trees. These are already sizeable, but will grow fast once the cedar bushes around them are cleared; those cedar trees almost take as much water as the live oak, although the oak is three times taller.

Tree #205, a 22" live oak
Tree #205, a 22″ live oak

From the lower deck, the view should be somewhat like this, but then about 40′ closer, so just overlooking the trees in the front;

View North East
View North East

From the upper deck, you will certainly look out over all trees and see the meadow and hills in the distance.

 

Driveway & Wimberley

Met up with Elias Sharp to plan the driveway, which now will be placed more to the left, due to the big 42″ pipe that would make making a driveway on the right side more difficult.
This is how the driveway plan is now;

Log_Home_Driveway_002_Mono

 

The plan is submitted to Comal County, and an engineer will come over tomorrow morning to check and discuss.
Probably it will require a 12″ pipe to allow water to flow under the driveway near Appaloosa drive.
A smaller pipe will be added further up the driveway, to prevent the crushed limestone to wash down with heavy rain.

In the afternoon, I solved a property tax problem by going to Comal County Office in New Braunfels; a fine I got because the previous owners had not paid up was lifted.

It gives a good overview of the size of the home compared to the lot.
The length of the driveway will be about 30 meters (100 ft)

Today (Thursday 23rd) the County engineer approved the driveway. It will take three 18″ arched culvert pipes made of corrugated metal to prevent rain washing the base (crushed limestone like stuff) of the driveway away. With some luck, both the pipes and the base can be delivered tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The blacl lines show the left and right border of the lot
The blacl lines show the left and right border of the lot, it goes uphill about twice the width

 

 


 

Coming back I took a few pictures in Wimberley, the best known village near Uzuye Lodge.

The following images are from Wimberley square and Cyprus Creek, that flows through Wimberley.

 

IMG_3415
Totem pole Wood carving
IMG_3413
Cyprus Creek, that flows through downtown Wimberley
IMG_3410
Wimberley is well known for it’s Art markets, that are the largest in Texas on some weekends
IMG_3411
Wimberley Square has lots of shops, restaurants and bars.

IMG_3412

My base in Downtown Wimberley.
My base in Downtown Wimberley.

 

 

First shots of the Main building

Neil's saw mill

The sawmill is a few miles down the road, where Neil Buie is making the dovetailed logs.
The logs are cut to size and put in place off the building site first.


Front Side

 

Me in front of what will be the front wall. The Cedar wood is grey now, but will be sanded down when the Cabin is placed on-site,
so then the color will be more like the top log you can see here.


Inside

Standing inside the Loghome.


Main Angled

Shot at an angle. On this side the addition (not visible here yet) will almost double the first floor square footage.


2nd floor level
2nd floor level

Here you can see where the 2nd floor will be; the top three logs are walls for the 2nd floor.


Neil and Trusses

On top of those logs there will be 4 of these trusses that will support the roof.
The Log home builder Neil Buie is posing to get a sense of proportion.

Revisiting Appaloosa drive

Today I was back on what I can now call my land for the first time. I had been there before obviously, but then I was scouting locations.
Now, as the official owner it is a nice feeling to be driving somewhere that I can also call home in the hopefully near future.
I made a few shots of views and the stakes, showing the borders of my lot.View in front

 

The corners are now “staked”; indicated by pink ribbons;

IMG_2913

Looking up from Appaloosa drive, this is what you see;

from_Appaloosa_drive_Up

 

Now I know what a 42″ CMP is;

IMG_3354

 

From the top the view is something like this;

IMG_3384

 

From the lower part the view is like this;

IMG_3353