One Year Into Our New Home Build : An Honest Progress Update : Part 1

We are a little over 365 days into our self build, forever home. We are building in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, and here’s a look into what the first year has looked like completing a DIY home build while working full time. Here is an honest timeline of our home building progress so far.

January 2025

The block for our basement was delivered on January 3rd. We had some winter weather and cold temps so the block masons couldn’t start on our basement walls until the 27th. In the meantime we sourced our window and door package. We went to a showroom in Asheville and decided to upgrade our front door to French glass doors for more natural light and to eliminate any issues with moving furniture in and out. As the block masons continued their vertical climb, my husband reinforced the block with rebar. I remember driving down the driveway and seeing the block walls and thinking it looked like a castle. Keep in mind we are building a modest sized home, so the fact that it resembled a castle is funny. The block was complete on February 5th.

February

We began tackling the waterproofing of our basement block on February 9th. A word of advice, subcontract this out! I was not worth the money we saved by doing it ourselves. It was very hard work getting the consistency of the waterproofing medium correct, the correct brushes, and the technique of applying it. It was also a time consuming project, that I’m so very glad to have behind us. We wrapped up the waterproofing around the first or second week of March. Told ya, it was a painstakingly long process. On February 8th my husband prepped the walls for being poured. This included inserting rebar for structural support.

March

Our walls were poured on the 22nd and we officially had a strong foundation for our home. Gravel was poured for the base of our cement floor on March 23rd. We also mapped out the pre slab plumbing with spray paint. My husband started digging out the trenches for the plumbing on March 24th. On the 27th we excavated the ditch where the plumbing from the interior goes to the septic system.

April

On April 4th my husband installed the plumbing pipes that will go under, and enclosed within, the cement floor. The concrete truck rolled up on April 30th to pour our basement floor. Fun fact, concrete puts off a ton of heat as it cures.

May

On May 3rd we received our very first lumber delivery! This was an exciting day because it means walls were coming soon. The first wall was constructed on May 10th. By the end of the day, two rooms in the basement were framed out. We moved to the basement entry door and garage door on May 17th. On the 19th our structural engineered beam was placed to support a longer distance to avoid having posts in the middle of our basement. This allowed us to strategically place support posts and enclose them within walls. On the 21st, my husband installed the floor joist hangers. We opted for top flange joist hangers so we could have under swung floor joists to avoid having a rim joist and to minimize the step height into the house. On May 24th the floor joists were placed. The very next day we started laying our subfloor. On the last day of May we tackled our stairs. My husband did a great job with the winders! The stairs were a fun project and connected our basement to our main floor. I will never forget walking up the stairs for the first time and imagining myself living there. My son also left a few love notes on the treads.

I hope you continue to follow our journey of building and completing our forever home. It’s been a fun ride so far. Has it been stressful at times, yes; but it’s also been an amazing experience to be able to be present every step of the way, from drawing our plans, to changing them on the fly. Our journey could be your journey!