My neighbourhood
Despite the snow that just keeps falling and falling around me, the houses seem to just keep growing and growing. Actually, it'd probably be more accurate to say, “appearing and appearing”.
As you can see from my posts between July 2004 and October 2004, I had the opportunity to drive out to the site, see my home being built, week-to-week... first the foundation, then the walls, then this and that. It was wonderfully fun and it allows you the time to realize that someday, you'll be living inside these walls. In fact, everyone I know who has bought a new house remembers doing this as well. Hell, when I moved into my last house I was only eleven, but even then I went with my family, out to the site, and took photos of the construction. I even put them together in a photo album (which I still have today).
So, what did I mean by “appearing and appearing”? Well, some builders have taken to building the frame inside giant buildings (think: airplane hanger) and then moving the completed frame to the site. I've seen them move homes twice now, but neither time with camera in-hand. Once the frame is on-site, they can finish the siding, tile the roof, and start putting in the doors and windows within a week. If you see only the basement foundation at your site one weekend, you could very well be locked out of your two-story, framed, roofed, windowed and doored home the next!
My point today is two-fold: people moving into these homes miss out on the experience of seeing their home being built and people living in the neighbourhood can be easily confused when they come home from work at night to find the landscape dramatically changed! For me, as someone already living in the construction zone, it is very weird to come home and think, “Hey- there wasn't a house there this morning!” as I drive past my street where I should have turned.
Supposedly, having your frame built indoors is much, much better, so I imagine that this practice will not stop any time soon. So, my goal now is, as it has been for weeks, to catch the house-mover on film... er, pixels. If it ever happens, I'll be sure to put it up here.
As you can see from my posts between July 2004 and October 2004, I had the opportunity to drive out to the site, see my home being built, week-to-week... first the foundation, then the walls, then this and that. It was wonderfully fun and it allows you the time to realize that someday, you'll be living inside these walls. In fact, everyone I know who has bought a new house remembers doing this as well. Hell, when I moved into my last house I was only eleven, but even then I went with my family, out to the site, and took photos of the construction. I even put them together in a photo album (which I still have today).
So, what did I mean by “appearing and appearing”? Well, some builders have taken to building the frame inside giant buildings (think: airplane hanger) and then moving the completed frame to the site. I've seen them move homes twice now, but neither time with camera in-hand. Once the frame is on-site, they can finish the siding, tile the roof, and start putting in the doors and windows within a week. If you see only the basement foundation at your site one weekend, you could very well be locked out of your two-story, framed, roofed, windowed and doored home the next!
My point today is two-fold: people moving into these homes miss out on the experience of seeing their home being built and people living in the neighbourhood can be easily confused when they come home from work at night to find the landscape dramatically changed! For me, as someone already living in the construction zone, it is very weird to come home and think, “Hey- there wasn't a house there this morning!” as I drive past my street where I should have turned.
Supposedly, having your frame built indoors is much, much better, so I imagine that this practice will not stop any time soon. So, my goal now is, as it has been for weeks, to catch the house-mover on film... er, pixels. If it ever happens, I'll be sure to put it up here.
