Pour It On...PR #27

May 27, 2009...Poured walls framed-up and poured today. In this first photo, taken approximately 8:00 A.M., racks of wall sections had been unloaded and assembly is well underway. Prior to hubby's arrival, workers had drilled holes into the concrete footers and inserted long sections of rebar that will extend up through the first floor walls, tying the walls and footers together.

A team of 5 men worked quickly and competently assembling the 9' high wall sections:

The back wall framed up and ready for the pour...no windows here...excavators will backfill to within 18" of the top of this wall:

A worker in the ditch where the frost footers and non-frost footers meet:

9' wall sections almost complete:

Work continuing...these guys were really hustling because the concrete was scheduled for delivery at noon.

They still have to finish assembling the forms in the ditch in the foreground...this front part of the home is the garage.

We chose to use the poured walls over block wall for a few reasons:

First, poured walls give us more strength and eliminate the need for retaining walls to "hold back" the mountain;
Second, poured walls are faster...not a huge factor, but anxious to get moving, we are;
Thirdly, COST...poured walls are comparably priced, and factoring in the extra cost of retaining walls needed with block walls, it was a wash.

Forms are scheduled for removal tomorrow.

FRAMING to begin next week, Lord willing. We are gathering the needed supplies for the first floor radiant heating...(Ebay has been a wonderful resource for us!!!)...and plan to begin work on that the second week of June.

Our carpenter is getting started on the kitchen cabinets. I am quite excited to see the finished product! As the process progresses, we're looking ahead to what needs to be done next...getting supplies ordered...scheduling inspections...scheduling ourselves to do what we need to do.

As we're getting closer to having a home, we find the waiting is harder. Not sure why...other than we're realizing that it IS going to happen, and we're wanting it to happen NOW. And we're not looking forward to moving all our stuff...AGAIN. The unpacking, re-organizing, sorting...ugh. I'm setting a goal of June 2010 to have all boxes unpacked and life in good order. This upcoming school year is an important one for J-Bird...he's entering 9th grade, and he'll be working on his diploma requirements, so his academic needs will be a priority, as well. Finding a balance in it all will be key. And prayer...lots of prayer.

Stay tuned,
Kris

How Firm A Foundation... PR #26

May 18, 2009...Bright and early (it was so chilly!) Monday morning our excavator and footings contractor were on site to begin the actual construction process! We arrived around 7:30 A.M. to find them measuring and setting pins. It wasn't long until the digging began. Here's the first scoop of dirt being removed for the frost footers:

The back of the house will be set into the hill, with the ground floor walls in that area being poured concrete. Because the walls will be backfilled almost up to the second floor, frost footers weren't needed in that area. These "Form-A-Drain" footer forms are set on top of the ground and will remain in place after being filled with concrete, and will channel any water away from the foundation:

The "Form-A-Drain" being assembled and set into place:

Shameless plug for our excavator:

Shameless plug for the footings contractor (you wouldn't have believed how scrupulously clean this truck was):

OK...I DID take pictures of the Amish footings contractor. I wasn't trying to be disrespectful to his beliefs, just wanted to capture the moment. He worked steadily and swiftly...assembling the forms himself. He had an "English" co-worker who drove the truck and was assisting our excavator during the digging:

Trying to hold the camera level, this is looking from the house towards the driveway...you can see the well cap in the foreground:

Looking across the homesite:

View from the south side of the house, excavator continuing to dig for the frost footers:

Assembling the (non-frost) footer forms:

Our front door will be approximately where the bucket of the backhoe is digging (but on the second floor):

"Form-A-Drain" footer forms almost complete:

Handsome onlookers...can you tell they're freezing? It was a chilly morning.

View to the west, approximately:

Looking back towards homesite...this is what it looked like when we headed for home, around 9:30 A.M. You can see the footer forms on the ground towards the back and the ditches dug for the frost footers in the foreground:

We arrived back on site just before 12:30 P.M. You can see the small square forms in place in the center. Metal posts will be set on these pads to support the second floor:

Here they've used rocks to elevate the forms to the right height, and fill in gaps to contain the concrete:

Concrete truck arrived around 12:30 P.M. The truck driver spent a few minutes in discussion with the Amish contractor:

Moving into position to begin the pour:

Pouring and working with concrete really is hard work. As the concrete flows into the forms, it must be worked a bit to fill the space...

tamped down to remove air bubbles...and smoothed and leveled:

Work continued around the south side...one man operating the concrete truck, two men working, tamping, and smoothing the concrete:

After the concrete was smoothed, they came back with a wider, long-handled tool and smoothed it again:

Pouring on the north side:

The truck driver maneuvered his rig with skill...but he was close to the "edge" a few times:

Our children perched above the activity...taking it all in...anxious to see their new home become a reality:

Filling the small forms that will support the support posts for the second floor:

Smoothing, again:

And, about an hour later...the foundation and footers COMPLETE! The kids wanted to write in the hardening concrete in the worst way...but the workers were still on site and I didn't know if we should...besides, all this will be covered up. But, garage floor...look out! We'll be leaving our mark on you, for sure!

This was a busy morning...we had to arrange for the building inspector to be on site after the forms were in place, but before the concrete was poured. He arrived sometime during the three hours we were gone, and signed off on the footers and forms, so the concrete work proceeded as scheduled. One inspection down...only 18 more to go!

The footings contractor will return May 26th to set up the forms for the first floor walls, and I believe the framing will begin the following week. The second week of June should see us on site installing the under-slab plumbing and PEX tubing for the under-slab heating...after that...electrical? We'll see...

Stay tuned,
Kris

Well...Here It Is! PR #25

April 29, 2009...Well-drilling day has finally come! Here is the drilling rig being raised into position:

Almost there:

We brought the well contractor in early in the construction process because they needed a flat spot for the rig. The truck on the left is actually parked where our garage will be. Had we waited until construction had begun, our "flat spots" wouldn't be flat spots any longer.

Looks like they're adding another 25" drill shaft:

Adding another 25' section of drill shaft:

Drilling through rock...notice the red dust cloud:

Still going through rock...I'm glad we had this part done at the beginning...can you imagine the dusting I'd have to do?

Close up of the rig operator...can you say "Dirty Jobs?"

I think here they're pulling up a section of drill:

It's hard to believe this hole eventually reaches 470 feet deep:

Shoveling the mud away from the well opening:

We were momentarily excited when they began placing the first casing section. We thought they might be finished...but they were only about 75 feet down at this point:

One 20' section of casing in...here comes another one:

Applying the PVC adhesive to join the 2 sections of casing:

Back to drilling again:

The water is being pumped into the shaft...not coming up as we had hoped:

A little while after this last photo was taken, the rig overheated and work came to a stop. I think they were about at 90' at this point...no water yet. Here's one of the workers on top of the rig trying to assess the problem:

The problem was fixed a few hours later and work resumed. (Too much dust from their previous job combined with ours to clog the radiator.) By the end of the day, we had a 450' deep well, and a flow rate of .5 gal/min. Less than optimal, but our well contractor assured us it would be enough for normal household use, based on an average usage of 75 gal/person/day. Assuming the well shaft would fill to within 100' of the top, we'd have 350' of water, where each foot holds 1.5 gal, yielding 525 gal of "reserve." By his calculations, our family's usage would be approx. 450 gal/day, (although I doubt we use that much...), so we would be restricted somewhat as to outside watering, gardening, etc.

Our well contractor suggested that we allow them to drill 50 more feet, if for no other reason than to increase our reserve. We gave him our go-ahead.

Are we glad we did!!! The next morning they resumed drilling, and at 470', hit a soft spot, giving us an ample water flow rate of 8 gal/min! They also think that the water filled the well shaft to about 50' of the top, so we have about 420' of reserve at 1.5 gal/foot means 630 gallons of reserve!!! We now have no worries about watering the garden, washing cars...we just feel so blessed. That extra 20' cost us less than $200 in labor...and will definitely be worth every penny!

Tomorrow (Saturday, May 2nd) we meet with our builder to put in the perimeter stakes.

Lord willing...
Our excavator will be digging the footers next week;
We'll be closing on our loan May 7th;
And the month of May should see the completion of the foundation work and a real good start on the framing and exterior work.
Then we can jump right into summer with the school year finished and nothing to do but the inside work...hoping to have the bulk of it done by fall.

When we start to see the walls going up...I think it will finally seem real.

Thanks for stopping by...please leave us a comment...we'd like to know who's visiting!

Stay tuned,
Kris