June 4:  Perc Test.  Never realized how deep of a pit had to be dug to check the soil condition, when the drain field pipes are only about 12in down in the soil.  The State sanitation engineer who did the soil study said we had absolutely perfect soil, the best he'd seen, for a septic system, and we got the highest quality rating given.  The largest tank manufactured in Boone County is a 1500 gallon tank, but we need a 2000 gallon tank for our projected maximum capacity, so we're bringing a tank in from Springdale.

June 5:  Porch Poured.  Here is Kenny beginning to smooth out the front porch.  Kenny broke his ankle a while back, but was so sick of running the business from home that he's been on site the last couple of days.

June 5:  Patio finished.  David and Keith place the last bit of concrete on the patio while Bill, the driver from Arkhola Reddi-Mix looks on.  All the drivers from Arkhola have been really great to work with.

June 6:  Final forms.  Garage door entrances, ramp, stoop, and Jill's private patio are formed and ready for concrete.

June 6:  Ramp.  The entire first floor is designed to be accessible, so we're building in a ramp from the garage floor (which has to be 4in below main house slab due to code issues), up to the main slab.  The ramp landing also runs over to the side door of the garage.  You can just see the stoop outside the side door.

June 9:  Timestamp.  The kids help out in setting the timestamp for the completion of the concrete work.  The stoop for the side door of the garage stands as memorial.  Yes, that IS Josh making a peace sign.  Gabi got a little bit creative, as usual...

June 10: Circle drive.  Excavation begins on the circle drive that runs up the side of the house then back to the main drive.  I had originally intended the circle drive to be in front of the house, but the way the slopes were and the way the house ended up being oriented pretty much forced a side circle drive.  So, now there is NO drive in front of the house, and the side family room entrance will likely end up being used more than I had intended it to be.  Ah, well...I guess that's all the better for those upcoming youth functions, eh?  Also makes the master suite side of the house completely private.

June 16: Septic tank hole.  This sucker's a good 10 feet deep!  I'd have a hard time climing out of it!  Reminds me of a tiger pit, except this one's destined to catch something a little more unpleasant than some ole tiger...

June 17: Septic tank has arrived!  This one holds 2000 gallons.  Steve went and fetched the water meter from Roy right away, because we need to fill the tank immediately to keep it from floating out of the ground if it rains (which is in the forecast for tomorrow).  Jill will have the pleasure of looking out her window seat window right at this tank, so we'll dress it up a bit.

June 17: Septic field supplies:  Steve is using the EZflow Drainage System for our new drainage field.  This stuff is really interesting!  It's a perforated pipe surrounded by a netted back of polystyrene chunks, designed to mazimize the surface area and hence the amount of aerobic bacteria present and available to process the waste water.  Much easier to install than gravel and more efficient...

June 26: Permanent electrical service installed.  My electrician, Mr. Irvin Littleton, got the meter and riser installed, then Entergy was very responsive in getting service installed.

June 26: Rain in house.  The contractor I had originally planned to use for the roofing job backed out (it's getting hot).  It rained before the roofing got on, so the entire inside of the house is soaked.  Yippee....

June 29: Roofing felt on.  So, I redoubled my effort to find a new roofer.  Went with A-1 Roofing in Harrison, and they came out and got the builders felt down while the Olde English Pewter shingles from Tamko are on order.  Jill and I had wanted to go with a white metal roof, but after we saw what had happened to metal roofing prices (it has become trendy, and the price has skyrocketed), we went back to standard asphalt shingles.  I had specified 30lb felt to be used, but I found a wrapper for 15lb felt in with the other wrappers in the trash heap, so now I'll have to check and see where the lighter grade felt was used.  It'll be good not to have any more big puddles in the house!