Momplex

What a frightening sight. Winter on It's WayI was already shivering, but the migrating geese flying over the Momplex was extra chilling.  Even the birds know.  That's why they are packing up and leaving.  Winter is right around the corner.Approaching SnowlineAnd our Momplex project is in danger of getting snowed on . . . without a roof overhead.  And a snow line creeping closer by the day.One Week AgoDon't get me wrong, we've been working very hard and making lots of progr

We are getting to the good part. With snow threatening to stick, and noticeably less light each day, winter is fast approaching up at the Momplex. We have been blessed with a beautiful fall (THANK YOU for your thoughts and prayers for good weather!), and are still optimistic about getting a roof on the Momplex and being able to work inside over the winter. I am so desperate to work inside the Momplex because these are the projects that I love. I already have the kitchen cabinets made i

Last fall, it was tough to walk away from this pile of trusses.

Thank you all for the wonderful inspiring comments keeping us encouraged up at the Momplex! My sweet husband, he works all day up there, and then comes home and reads your comments, and every once in a while, I catch him grinning to himself. You are making a huge difference to us! This isn't the first time we've built a home, but I tell you what, this is the first time we've built this BIG, the first time we've built entirely with ICF ARXX blocks, and this is the first time we've built putt

Man are we ever getting close to that day. For those of you who are new here, that day is the day when we have the Momplex full insulated, and it doesn't matter if it's -50 degrees outside, if the wind is blowing 80 MPH, if it's snowing . . . even if it's freezing rain. That day is the day we can work without -100 below boots and three layers of down. That day is the day we can work without gloves, when batteries can charge, and tools still work. It's going to be a big day for us! Tha

Can you believe that there was a time when the Momplex stairs looked like this?

And today, they look like this:

And hopefully soon ... they'll look something like this:

image from Centsational Girl

Man, there sure are a ton of steps (pun not intended here) to finishing out stairs, isn't there!

First, we built the upstairs railing -

And we painted the

It took us two tries to get you all the deets on installing the Microhood ... good thing we got two moms and two Momplex units to finish up!

Microhoods to me are like toilets or power lines or my big toes....  function over form here, especially when space is at a premium.

The good news about every microhood I've been a part of installing is they come with pretty darn good instructions and hanging hardware.

The tem

Within moments of stacking the last row of blocks for the first floor pour of the Momplex, the blocks just started disappearing. Hey, we might still need those!Playing HouseWhen these girls play house, they mean business.  All BusinessI'm all business this morning too.  The concrete is ordered and due at 1:00.  The pump truck is on it's way.  And we've got this checklist to check off on before walls can get poured in the Momplex.  The installation manual came with the

Have you ever noticed the large hill dead center in the Momplex's view?That's Donnelly Dome, sometimes claimed to be North America's largest hill.  It's a popular climbing site, awarding hikers with tremendous views of the Alaska Range.  photo by ApplecrossWell, there's an old saying in our community that when you see snow on the top of Donnelly Dome, winter will be here in two weeks.

I am going to apologize in advance for this long, long post.

But it was quite a long, long day for us working up at the Momplex.

After we got the first truss up at the Momplex, we wanted to have the next 22 trusses set by the end of the day. Certainly you can set a good chunk of trusses, hope the wind doesn't blow, and come back in the morning and finish up.  

But with a boom truck on site, we were hoping to keep cost down and just finish up in one very lo

You do not know how bad I wish I could say that today we start siding. After getting the doors trimmed out, time to start siding, right? Uh, wrong. This huge pile of siding is going to stay a huge pile of siding for a while longer. We still have to trim out each and ever single door and window with metal C Channel and flashing that does 2 things: 1. Hide ends of siding 2. Protect the Momplex from water drainage And what a long, tedious job this turned out to be!

Ever wonder what the Interior of Alaska looks like in November?

The weather has still been too darn hot for us Alaskans to work on a deck in the heat (yes, for us, heat is anything above 80 degrees - pathetic, I know), so our decking project is going to wait for another day. Inside the Momplex, it's nice a cool. When we choose to build with ARXX blocks (Insulated Concrete Forms that are basically hollow legos that you stack and fill with concrete) the main reason was energy efficiency and preventing heat loss. Ironic how we are enjoying how cool the M

Once upon a time, we bought some 2x12 boards.

And we dug a giant hole, and laid those 2x12 boards in the ground.

Those boards made up the forms for the foundation of the Momplex.

And we poured concrete inside those boards.

And let it set up.

Those same 2x12 boards were removed from the footer forms after the concrete dried.

We used a few of them to help