History of our progress, from finish to start.  :-)

The term finish should be taken quite loosely. There are still a number of projects that have yet to be finished or even started such as the deck off of the livingroom.

September 4, 2004: New pictures of interior of our Dome, taken August 2004, after hosting an enthusiastic family on a tour of the dome, now uploaded to website. Enjoy! Also caught up with some backdated photos, going back through September 2003.

July 23, 2004: As you can see, updates are happening less frequently. We continue to work at small projects around the house. We've yet to build the deck off of the living/dining room area. Maybe 2005 will be the year it gets built. We're working on the downstairs right now. We're hoping to finish an exercise room, a family lounge area, and the entertainment and reading area.

Jan 5, 2003: Winter is here in full force. We've had snow storms on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. We have over 20 inches of the snow on the ground. I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to have room to put all the snow I clear off the driveway this winter.

May 2, 2002: We have goats!! Our goat named Red Sox delivered two baby goats today at approximately 3:15pm. The first born was a male goat and the second born was a female.

April 17, 2002: Spring has finally sprun. Temperatures were in the 80's today. In just under a month, our goats will be delivering their first babies. One of our goats is due around May 5'th and the other is due around May 15. We're all quite excited and nervous and eagerly await the arrivals.

January 1, 2002: Happy New Year!

September, 2001: We have found a carpenter to finish the outside work on the dome! Not only did he come out and do some work, he came back to do more. We love the work he and his wife did. One custom change that was made to the dome is that each of the entrances now have a slight roof extension [2 feet] so that rain water doesn't fall on you while you're waiting to open the door.

May 7, 2001: We have two new family members: Red Sox and Beauty, our goats.

May 3, 2001:We have a mortgage!

May 2, 2001:We have a date for converting our construction loan to a mortgage! After Thursday May 3rd, 2001, we will be the proud owners of a conventional 30 year mortage. We're not real thrilled with the rate we're getting, but we figure we can take our time to shop around and move it to another bank at a later date.

March 8, 2001:We have carpeting in our living/dining room and up the stairs to the second floor! The house actually looks finished now. Pictures will be posted on-line as soon as we get them developed [or digital camera is in need of repair].

January 26, 2001:We obtained our occupancy permit today! The house is still not 100% completed. We have the master bath shower area to complete, we need to build a deck off the dining room, baseboard finish work needs to be done, etc.

January 1, 2001: A new century dawns. We had our second annual New Years Eve gathering at the dome. We had a great turnout of folks. As usual, there was more food than we could possibly eat in one evening.

August 13, 2000:We found a new carpenter to help with some outside finish work. So far, he's fixed our bay window so that the side windows open and close, put a roof over the bay window, and put an enclosure on the bottom of the bay window. Many of the rooms are getting closer to completion. We're down to the final mud and tape in many rooms and painting has been progessing too.

April 21, 2000:  Spring is coming, at last.  Weather watches have changed from snow to rain.  Meanwhile, our building project turns from wallboarding and installation, to finish work.  Our new plumber is working grand and showing up when he says he will, a great improvement on the last one!  We now have two functioning bathrooms, although the master bathroom is still lacking the final installation of the tub.  We're waiting on a special order faucet from Moen.  The shower has been installed, and the floor has been sealed.  Now for the remainder of the tile, a little more plumbing, and we're all set!  Projects remaining are the exterior siding (which will soon resume as the weather allows), mud and taping, painting, and installation of the interior doors.  Norwest has been working closely with us to help us through the financial crisis.  We're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and it's coming none too soon!  We hope to plan another work weekend soon, once we get some of the siding stained and ready.

March 31, 2000:  We are extremely happy with the work that Roy from AGS Plumbing in Henniker has done for us. Roy showed up when AGS said he would, he did the work he said he'd do, and the quality was first rate. We are now able to finish the wall work that has been holding up all the other jobs in the master bathroom.

February 3, 2000:  The radiant heat has been performing admirably well throughout the cold and blustery winter weather.  Work continues in a steady effort, in an attempt to "finish" the house to Norwest's standards by March 6th. The exterior shell has now been wallboarded completely, and mudding and taping have made weird designs throughout. Interior walls are beginning to sport wallboard as well.  A glass wall is forming in the master bathroom.  Our driveway is rather difficult to track, making deliveries difficult.  Thankfully, much of the major deliveries have been made, and we hope to have things improved in time for the delivery of the master bathroom's tub, which should be our last major delivery.  The central vacuum system is functioning, and nearly completed. 

January 3, 2000:  It's a new millenium and we're still working on the dome. Our plumber finally graced us with his presence and has begun work on hooking up our radiant heating. We're hopeful that we'll have the system up and running at least via the propane furnace by the end of the week. We'd like to have the Heatmor outdoor wood furnace running by then but I'm not going to hold my breath.

We have a brand new Cover-IT garage to park one of our cars in. Now I don't have to clean snow off the car before heading to work. Thanks Mary!

October 29th, 1999:  Two months of work!  We've been so busy working, we forgot to update the pages for ya'll!  Much progress has been made.  We're still waiting on installation of the french doors, and completion of the installation of the bay window, but the other windows are all now in. Mary and Josh installed the kitchen cabinets, and the countertops arrived yesterday. The ceramic floor in the kitchen is underway, and Josh's room is shaping up nicely. We'll try and have current photos of everything on line shortly.

Our "work weekend" was a success, completing siding on the front side of the house, and some badly needed landscape work near the septic pipe.  Thanks to the McNeil family and Sandy for their company and help!

Our plumber has been largely absent, but was kind enough to install a temporary hot water heater, which we have hooked up to our slab radiant piping.  It "shouldn't work" as well as it does, but it manages to keep the basement a livable temperature while we await his installation of the furnace and the remainder of the radiant piping.  The Heatmor furnace is here, but yet to be hooked into the system.

Life is still not "normal", but it's less like "camping" every day!

September 9, 1999: The windows are coming! We have a delivery date of next week for our windows and doors! Once our contractor installs the kitchen cabinets, the windows and doors, the house will feel more like a fully functional home. Perhaps our plumbing will be complete next week too. That will leave completion of the heating system and finish work as the only steps to go. OK, so there's a few more shingles that need to be put on the roof and the siding... Still, the project is moving along and we haven't seen any snow yet! :-)

August 31, 1999: Plumbing is started! Our ceptic system is installed and we're awaiting the towns approval so we can have it buried and complete the plubming. The dome shingling is coming along.

August 8, 1999: Running Water! The pump to our well is now connected to the electric circuit and we're able to pump water via a hose. We're using a hose because we still don't have plumbing yet. The plumbing is going to be at least a few more weeks. We're happy to have the running water even if it is via a garden hose.

August 5, 1999: Money! We're shocked. Norwest actually sent us a check so that we can order our windows/doors/cabinets! Mary's off to the big city today to place all the orders. If we're lucky, we'll have windows and doors before September though we're cutting that close [3-4 week delivery].

August 3, 1999: A Well! Our well is now connected into the house. Once we run the electric to it, we'll have running water. We don't have any plumbing yet but we'll at least be able to connect a hose to the unit and get fresh water for drinking.

July 26, 1999: Water! It took 460' of drilling (that's 23 rods) but now we have the makings of a well. The first 75' was easy and then it was rock. At the 400' level they had found water but not with a sufficient flow rate. At 460', we have just over 2 gallons per minute which they tell us is within spec.

In case you're wondering, we still don't have any windows or doors on order. We've been told by a manager in the corporate office that they have worked out a solution [that was over a week ago at this point] but the person that controls the dispersements hasn't gotten that word yet.

July 6, 1999: The honeymoon with our lender Norwest Mortgage is officially over. We've run into a brick wall called policy. The lender policy is not to disburse any money until after delivery and after they process the invoice. What appears to be a shock to our lender is that companies such as Home Depot won't process and deliver orders without payment in advance. Because of this standoff, we're now three weeks behind schedule in ordering our windows and doors with no resolution in sight. We're also having problems getting our lendor to understand that budget estimates are just that, estimates, and that sometimes budgets need to be recalculated. If anyone asked me for a recommendation on our lender, I'd tell you to stay away from any construction loans with them. Hopefully the actual mortgage will go smoothly, whenever it might be that we complete the construction phase.

July 3, 1999: We underestimated the amount of time it takes to install the outside insulation. We've fully completed the five side pentagons and three of the hexagons. The other three hexagons are partially completed.

June 24, 1999: We hope to complete the outside insulation tomorrow and then begin roofing in earnest on Saturday. Anyone that wants to stop by and lend a hand is more than welcome.

June 21, 1999: The dome raising was a smashing success! We had over 30 people in attendance on Saturday, and a large proportion of those who came actually participated in the actual building of the dome.  The result is the most beautiful site we ever imagined, a fully erected structure on Saturday, and all the finish pieces completed on Sunday. We even got many of the bracing straps installed, as we still had eager workers into the evening.  Words cannot express adequately our intense gratitude for the generous outpouring of help and support from our friends, old and new, who came out to be a part of our big weekend.  Many many sincere thanks to you all!

We will continue to work on our new home for some time, our next project being the insulation and the interior framing of the main floor. Photos will continue to display our progresses, and visitors are always welcome to both our web site and our actual site.  Stop by anytime!

June 17, 1999:  We have electricity!  And we now have a complete floor, all ready for the raising!

June 15, 1999:  Schedule seems tight but still do-able.  We lost a little time due to intense rainstorms on Monday, but we're still within schedule limits.  We're awaiting the electric service hookup, and finishing up the floor joists.  Preparations for the raising are progressing as well.  We arranged for the scaffolding to be picked up on Friday, and delivered our refrigerators and a table to the domesite.  The only rain in the current forecast is scheduled for Thursday morning, so we're looking forward to excellent weather for the raising on Saturday.

June 11, 1999: The excavation progresses, and things are beginning to look as they should!  Our interior basement walls are framed, and the schedule still looks good for the 19th.  We're struggling to get the electric hooked up so that we can safely hook up the power hammer.  We'll be continuing work on the electric this weekend, as well as moving the floor joists up the driveway and nearer to the house to facilitate their installation next week. 

June 9, 1999: Steve and Scott are beginning the interior framing for the basement walls.  Meanwhile, Dan and Mary are working on clearing a few more trees so that the walkout from the basement will have the correct grade, and working on relocating the underground utilities to the wall of the foundation.   RSVP's are coming in from folks planning on attending on the 19th, and excitement is building for the big day!

June 7, 1999: Dave and crew arrived bright and early this morning to pour our cellar floor.  Despite raging temperatures (over 90º), the crew were diligent, efficient, and hard working.  When they wrapped things up at 3:30, we had a lovely smooth cellar floor, curing under a load of cool water (Thanks again Chappy!).  We also met Jean Lemire from MEG companies, our inspector, for our first official inspection.

June 5, 1999: We said good-bye to the truck and driver that delivered our dome pieces, after helping guide the truck around the last turn onto and across the bridge. We purchased a huge tarp today that was placed over the bulk of the pieces to keep them dry for the two weeks until the raising. We're not really looking forward to moving the piles up to the house site, but at least we get a few days rest until the building area is ready to accept the piles.

June 4, 1999: Our dome pieces arrived!! After getting the tractor trailer unstuck a couple of times [stuck once on a switchback and once turning around], we finally had the trailer positioned in our driveway so we could start unloading. Unloading officially began at 12:00 noon exactly. We finished at 8:30pm. Whew! What a long and tiring day.

June 2-3, 1999: Still waiting on the basement floor pour.  At this point it looks like that will have to happen on Monday.  This means our delivery of dome pieces will have to be unceremoniously piled on another portion of the lot, and then relocated when it's closer to raising date.

June 1, 1999: Our dome is in Indiana!  We just got word from Oregon Dome that our shipment is roughly midway to us!  Still looking for some folk to help us unload the truck on Friday.  Our porta-potty and washstation arrived today, so the place feels more and more like home! Unfortunately the "scheduled" pour didn't pan out, so we're hoping for a pour at some point this week.  Steve tells me he'll be ready to work on the interior framing next week, and remains confident that there is ample time before the scheduled raising date to prepare the building for the raising.

May 29-31: Memorial Day weekend.  We have installed the vapor barrier, wire mesh and insulation for the cellar floor.  We've completed looping the radiant tubing, for a scheduled pour on Tuesday.  Feel free to stop in and visit or lend a hand.

May 28, 1999: Henniker Sand and Gravel back again today, to fill in the wall support trenches. Pictures online soon!

May 27, 1999: Today I painted tar onto the foundation walls...managing to get it all over me, in my hair, and through two sets of gloves.   What an exhausted mess!  Chappy also showed me how to knock off all the pins on the foundation, so I added a few new blisters to my hands.  Krystin and I managed to complete the job, while Chappy delivered some new sand to backfill into the area around the basement.  We also prepared the gravel for the supports for the interior walls in the basement floor.  Pictures online soon!

May 26, 1999: The forms are off the newly formed basement walls!  Around noon, Henniker Sand and Gravel left, taking with them all their forms, trucks, and men, and leaving me with an echoing basement with 10 clean walls!   I took another boatload of pictures...Online soon!

May 25, 1999:  My birthday! Henniker Sand and Gravel arrived today to finish the forms, and pour the basement walls. Pictures on-line soon. Our current plans are to assemble the rebar and radiant tubing for the basement this weekend. We'll be in Warner bright and early to watch the forms removed.

May 24, 1999: Despite a drizzle, we caught Henniker Sand and Gravel workers at work assembling the forms for the basement walls. Pictures are online in the May 1999 section above. It's exciting to finally see progress!

May 19, 1999:  Construction has begun! I came back from a short trip to North Carolina and found this huge hole in the ground with the frost wall completed. We still don't have a firm date for the raising due to outstanding questions regarding some materials for the capping of the basement and the unknown amount of time it will take to complete the basement and capping. We had hoped for the raising to slip no later than June 12th, but that date appears no longer viable. Will we have a some raising on Father's Day weekend? I hope so but we'll know more next week when we take stock of the current status.

May 12, 1999:  Still waiting...this time not for the bank...but for contractor commitment on the raising date. It's beginning to look as though the foundation will be stalling the project for a while.  How long is still an unknown.  We'll post a firm raising date when we have something reaffirmed.  Our sincere apologies for those of you who already put in for vacation time or readjusted your schedules.

May 6th, 1999:  CLOSING DAY!  It actually happened...we are officially approved to run ourselves into debt!  It has been almost exactly a year since we purchased the land and began our search for funding.  Plans for the dome raising are now progressing quickly.  Excavation will continue once again on Monday, and hopefully the foundation work will begin promptly as well.  We have confirmation from Oregon Dome that our new home kit can be delivered in time, and our official dome raiser is Linda Booth!  We're looking forward to meeting Linda, and seeing you all at the raising June 5, 1999!

April 30th, 1999:  We have a CLOSING DATE!!!  We've set a date for May 6th at 11:30 am!

April 26th, 1999:  We received yet another profusely apologetic "no date...no closing"  from Norwest...still waiting.

April 22nd, 1999:  It was too good to be true. Our closing has been pushed out to hopefully no later than next week. We're told that before we can close, Norwest needs a particular person to do something and she's out on vacation and will be returning on Monday.

April 17th, 1999:  We've made our new address official by installing our mailbox. We've even received mail already! All we need now is a house to live in.

April 10th, 1999:  We finally have a closing date! It's supposed to be next Friday, April 23rd. No exact time has been set. The way things have been going, we figure it will be late afternoon.

March 28th, 1999:  The excitement, and patience are both wearing thin...we're still waiting for a closing date. Chappy has installed a foundation drain, and is poised to dig the foundation anytime now.  We've made headway with the electric installation process, but it's temporarilly stalled as we'll now have to wait until the foundation forms are in place before we can relocate the conduit and get the wire pulled and installed.

March 5, 1999: Now we're REALLY excited!  Norwest has verbally approved our construction loan. It will be nearly a month before we actually close, but we've made significant progress, and Norwest is backing us fully and giving us the service we expected from a lender. Now we hope the weather will stay cold [read: not muddy] long enough for the excavator to get his work done and the foundation finished before mud season hits.  We are told that Newmarket Road may well shut down to trucks for a month during the wet season.  With luck, we can get the heavy work done before the season starts.

February 25, 1999:  We're excited!!!  We have finally met with Norwest, up close and personal, and things are all go for a possible yes vote next Friday (March 5th).  As soon as we hear, we'll post it here!

February 2, 1999: Norwest reports that the New Hampshire banking industry is very reluctant to deal with a dome home. Norwest was not put off by this however, and has found a bank in Ohio that will finance us. Norwest is working on understanding all the procedures and processes to get us to the end result.

January 22, 1999: Norwest is busy re-processing our loan application. As a nationwide bank that has previously financed domes, quite happilly, we have higher hopes with this bank than the others we have dealt with.  They also promise to be prompt in their answer, so we expect a decisioin one way or another this coming week.

January 12, 1999: Well, we're no longer waiting for Sugar Rivers Savings Bank.  They have rejected our application for mortgage because the secondary market has refused to purchase the loan. Their official excuse is "will not accept land as collateral" [effectively reducing our downpayment to an insignificant sum] because they are "uncomfortable with the style of home".  We're working on moving our data to Norwest Mortgage, a nationwide bank who has already covered domes. Their turnaround should be much faster as they can use the assessment that has already been done.

December 9th, 1998: Still waiting on the bank...we feel at times like they hope we'll go away if they ignore us...we're told an appraiser will call soon. We have received confirmation that Sugar River Savings will lend us the construction funds, but only on the condition that the secondary market approves the loan.
We are very grateful to Chappy Thomas, our excavator, who has continued to work for us despite the lack of faith from the bank. Due to the oncoming winter weather, he has gone ahead with work on the driveway, and will soon be working on the septic area as well. He is doing an excellent job, and it is exciting to watch the driveway improve daily.
Last night, we burned the last of the yard waste, thanks to our first snow! Warner was graced with just enough ground cover to make a bonfire possible. We were up until almost midnight, but it was fun! Check out the pictures!
Electricity is due to be hooked up next week. I've spent some time updating many of the web pages and creating a few new ones. Let me know if you find a link that no longer works! Thanks.

November 14: Merrimack County Telephone has pulled one of the requested telephone cables through one conduit and strung the cable from our driveway utility pole down to the roadside pole. The wires are not connected at the street yet. They are anticipating a connect date of 11/24/1998. Once connected, we'll have a phone in the woods we can receive calls at. :-)

November 7: We now have a pull string in each of the conduits. We're ready for PSNH and MCT to do their work for temporary utilities.

November 4: Our utilities trench is now nearly complete. The trench was dug in one morning by our excavator Chappy Thomas. The conduit didn't make it on time, so we picked it up ourselves from Manchester, and delivered it manually across the trench and up the hill to the building site, assembled it and placed it in the trench. We spent a another two days shovelling dirt onto the pipes. Chappy spent another morning filling in the trench and smoothing out the driveway so that it's once again drive-able.

October 30: Our permit is posted, and excavation has begun! We're in the process of digging the utilities trench and installing conduit for the underground portion of the electric, phone, and cable lines from the pole to the house. Our new surveyor has begun working on the revised site plan, and we're still waiting for final approval from the bank.

October 22 We have a building Permit! Still waiting on the answer from the bank, but one is expected this week.

October 13 The cleared area is just a little larger today, after we succeeded in taking down three more trees. As usual one decided on falling the opposite way, but we're proud that we succeeded nonetheless! Rain was the ruler of the weekend, putting a serious "damper" on our activities, but we still managed to enjoy a little of the festival on Saturday, and work most of Sunday and Monday. On the banking side of things, the local Warner bank, Sugar River Savings Bank, is kindly processing our request for building funds. Our contractor assures us that he's put in foundations later into the winter than we expect to, much to our relief...still hoping for November!

October 8, 1998: We are struggling with the financing side of the issue. Telephone Credit Union failed to come through with a mortgage for us, so we're moving on to other avenues, attempting to secure financing quickly so we can still have the dome raising this fall. We have a few more trees to clear for the utility work area and the area for the proposed garage, but the house site is nearly clear. The brush piles are transforming into smaller piles of wood chippings. Best of all, we're getting the most beautiful display of fall color throughout the Warner area.

September 20, 1998: We have our final plans from Oregon Dome! Now on to the bank approval of our project. We're still hoping to have our dome raising this fall, although we're now looking at November. The lot is mostly cleared now, and ready for excavation. We've contracted with PSNH and MCT for our utilities installation. Our general contractor will be our new neighbor Steven Cermak, and excavator is Chappy Thomas, another nearby neighbor. Warner has been very helpful and accommodating to our various needs, and we've very much enjoyed our weekend campout/workouts. Josh and Krystin have learned several new constellations, and we are constantly amused by the antics of the native chipmunk overpopulation. We convinced the mice to move back out of the camper, at least for now, by introducing our cat Shiro and his scent throughout the area.