TIMBER!!!

Ladies and gentlemen: The trees are down! That’s right – they’re gone, no more, deceased, done. I’ve never been quite so excited about trees being destroyed as I was when I drove past the cleared property for the first time.

In the span of a day and a half, the tree crew came in and turned a heavily wooded piece of land into a clear space on which to build our dream home.

View of the front right corner of future home.

The land clearing didn’t go completely to plan. We were hoping to keep a good amount of trees in the front yard, but many of the ones we wanted to keep were in the way of the construction vehicles and would be in the way the whole time we built – the tree crew figured this out the hard way while trying to navigate gingerly around our keeper trees. 

Secondly, there were concerns about the health of some of the trees. When paired with close proximity to our future home, unhealthy trees just have to go.

View of the front of our future home.

When Chris and I first visited the property after the trees came down, I admittedly was a little disappointed because I felt too many trees had come down. It doesn't look bad, but it definitely didn’t look the way I had envisioned.

It’s strange; originally, I was concerned about too many trees being taken down because when we walked the property to identify the trees we wanted to keep, I was avid about taking out any trees that were close to the house (I’m not trying to have a big ole tree crash through my newly built house during a hurricane).

But after all that, I still didn’t imagine the land would look like it had a lack of coverage once all the trees were taken down. We called father-in-law (FIL) to ask him about the trees. He told us about the two points I mentioned above, but when they didn’t comfort me, he said he’d come out to walk it with us and explain the plan (for the millionth time) to help us see what he sees when he looks at a clear piece of land.

A couple of Saturdays ago, FIL took Chris and I to the property and we walked it with measuring tape to figure out where everything would be placed.

Chris with his dad, standing on the future spot of our driveway.

Because there are more trees gone than expected, we agreed to move the house over 30 feet in order to give us more breathing room next to our neighbors.

But other than that, we saw the light when FIL walked the land with us. He forced us to use our imaginations, and we realized the numbers of trees taken down was a blessing and was for the best.

Our house will be better protected from having anything fall on it, but it also means it will be more exposed to the sun. This might sound like it could be a negative, but it means our house will dry sufficiently after rains (no moldy siding) and we’ll have a great amount of natural light (and warmth) coming into our home.

Additionally, we still have plenty of trees behind what will become our backyard, so we will still have nice shade (when we need it).

View of the side of our future home and what will become the backyard.

At first, I thought we would regret how many trees came down, but with a little help and imagination, I think a misstep turned out for the best.

But the best part about the trees coming down is that it was the first step in the construction. Unfortunately, it happened right before our area experienced a week of nothing but rain and clouds.

For the past week and some change, we’ve been waiting for the (exceptionally saturated) ground to dry enough to complete the next step – getting dirt down - so we can move forward with digging the footer. FIL assured me this is always the hardest (and most arduous) part of construction.

So, we are back to waiting, but now, it’s for the weather, not the county. I’m not sure which is better, but neither seems to have a sense of urgency or cares that we are on a schedule. Hmm, I’m still thinking weather is more reasonable. 

Positoovely, 

Emily