Building our Dream Home a.k.a. Delusions of Retirement

[thecfarm]

A dog and a cat!!


 





Yes we have done that.
The white dog, Dew, and Grace would play together. Dew would get kinda rough and the cat would be the claws to him. I would hear a yelp and Dew would be sitting there with his, I did not do nothing wrong, look.  :D 
The cat would clean Dew's face too.
Lucky that you stopped.

[WDH]

You are a good man, Mr. EOTE.

[EOTE]

I wanted to post an update on the concrete pour and progress.

Unfortunately, the pour is now scheduled for Friday the 26th.  The contractor has had slow progress getting the poly and rebar put in place primarily because of a shortage of workers in this area.  We were scheduled to pour tomorrow and the forecast is for severe thunderstorms.  Also, yesterday, I discovered that the final grading in the courtyard was incorrect as they did not take into account the pitch on the trench drain.  Had they poured as it is, the thickness on one side of the courtyard would have to be less than 2" to meet the drain.  Now the workers have to pull up the rebar in the courtard and regrade it.   

In this photo, the rebar actually sits above the trench drain.






92 degrees in the sun.



 

Almost ready to pour.  



 

In the meantime, I made a kitty corral for my 3 rescue kittens.  It's amazing what you can make from a single 2" x 6".



 

And a couple of pieces of scrap wood become a play center for them.



 

[EOTE]

After my plumbing problem, I had 140' of trench line to backfill and finally got the opportunity to do it.  Along with backfilling the trench behind the barn I was able to widen the area so the 12 Mexicans could fit more easily.  Contoured and sloped it so the water runs away from the barn.



 




 

[EOTE]

Poly and rebar have been laid.  A few touch-ups tomorrow and if everything goes right we will be pouring on Friday.  

This picture is about an hour before we had a huge downpour (1-3/4" in 15 minutes and 2.15" overall).



 

[farmfromkansas]

We have gotten some really good dogs from people just dropping them off along the road.  Once a tiny little puppy walked up in the yard, she was a crossbred Corgy, nicest dog we ever had.  She had manners, and would not eat with you watching.  And when you came home in the evening, she would smile at you.

[EOTE]

We finally got the concrete pad poured.   8) 8) 8)

It was an "iffy" forecast and ended up getting a quarter of an inch of rain while pouring.  We started at 6:30 am and finished at 5:30 pm.

We are sure glad it is done.  I broke ground for this on February 3rd and it took this long to finish it out.  

Here are some pics of the pour...



 

 



 



 

 





Finally done!

 

 

[thecfarm]

Nice pictures!!!!

[EOTE]

I probably should have paid for the concrete crew to remove the forms.  It's really backbreaking work and with all the screws and nails covered with concrete, it makes it much more difficult.  Pump truck delivery of concrete to the forms is so much more messy.  It doesn't help in some respects that the ground is still muddy from all the rain.  It's taken a day and a half to remove 2 sides out of the 4.

Once it dries down a little (or after I get the forms off) whichever comes first, it is now backfilling and contouring for water runoff.

Also this will be a good time to put on self leveling compound to fill in all the little "puddles" (low spots).  After that I have to mark out the wall locations and set anchor bolts.  I am planning on using the Hilti system with 1/2" diameter anchor rods epoxied into the cement.

Lots of work to do now, but what a great milestone!

[Don P]

Once you're out of the mud life improves!

[EOTE]

I finally got the concrete forms removed and now have a burn pile of stakes and broken boards and garbage left from the contractor.  Hurt my back to boot.  :(  However, in looking at the foundation I decided to plumb in all the rainwater collection underground plumbing before doing the backfilling.  That way I don't have to trench for it in the future.

We have a rainwater collection system on our barn and it feeds 15K gallons of storage tanks.  The rainwater collection on the house will be for irrigation of trees, flowers, and lawn during the dry season.  

After that, then I will backfill and contour around the house and the dirt wall to the west of the house will be sloped up to the treeline.  Lots more dirt digging with the 12 Mexicans.  I want to be able to start some of the major landscape work in September so I need to finish up all the site contouring.  

Then, I will be able to start prefabricating all of the trusses and exterior walls.

[Old Greenhorn]

However, in looking at the foundation I decided to plumb in all the rainwater collection underground plumbing before doing the backfilling.  That way I don't have to trench for it in the future.

Man, I love watching you work and I love the way you think. Doing this may slow you down now but saves you more work on the back end, it just makes good sense, do it all in order even if it delays the next step a bit. You are already moving to the framing phase and the concrete isn't even cured yet. You thunk this out really well and are very nicely organized. It is DanG impressive. Good on ya man. Soak your back in a little alcohol and keep on truckin'.

[EOTE]

However, in looking at the foundation I decided to plumb in all the rainwater collection underground plumbing before doing the backfilling.  That way I don't have to trench for it in the future.

Man, I love watching you work and I love the way you think. Doing this may slow you down now but saves you more work on the back end, it just makes good sense, do it all in order even if it delays the next step a bit. You are already moving to the framing phase and the concrete isn't even cured yet. You thunk this out really well and are very nicely organized. It is DanG impressive. Good on ya man. Soak your back in a little alcohol and keep on truckin'.

I really appreciate the feedback.  One thing I learned in the business world is that the only constant is change...change in plans, change in direction, change in philosophy, change in change.  :D  My wife often inspires changes in plans as well as it get me to rethink my processes to accommodate her desires.  Case in point...when we poured, it was the perfect storm of all things mud.  My wife hates mud and thus pushed all weekend to change things so she never has to deal with mud again (or at least minimize it).  (i.e. city girl vs. country boy) :D
So my plans now include adding a concrete parking pad and driveway from the gravel parking area to the house as well as remediating the gravel parking area (which was never designed to support concrete truck traffic after 2" of rain).  And, it includes bugging the county commissioner to regrade our road and add gravel as the truck traffic took its toll on it as well.  The best laid plans are laid...waste.  ;D :D
So, while I have plans to have the exterior shell (or as we call it, the box) done by December, if it follows the foundation plans, it will end up being about 3 months later than that.  Life is good! 8)

[farmfromkansas]

If you are having back trouble, you might want to get one of the inversion devices that you see advertised.  I bought one years ago, and any time my back feels a little off, I go hang for 30 to 45 seconds.  I just count to measure the time.  Like to do it in the evening so it has a chance to do some good overnight.  Like your progress on the house.  Wish I could do it again too.  Now I know all the things to do right, it would work out better than the one I built 40 years ago.

[Old Greenhorn]

I had back problems for 30 years, I considered it part of working for a living. In December of 2018 I hurt myself so bad (just pushing the mill on and easy log) and I HAD to get help. I asked friends and two recommended a specific chiropractor. I was miserable (and I think most of it is documented here on the forum someplace) and could barely walk. He fixed me. It turned out to be the culmination of many years of abusing my body with no adjustments. I can't tell you how this guy has changed my life for the better. I go in once a month now for a tune up and he can pinpoint what I have been doing and where my muscular stress is every time. He keeps me moving and I no longer have any of the restraints I had on my ability to work. 
 I should say it is very important to find the 'RIGHT' person with the right methods. I got lucky and found the right guy on the first shot. He and I have become good friends and go catch music gigs together from time to time. Some day I will put him to work here at the mill, he keeps asking. Look for the right guy or gal. When you find them, life gets a whole lot better.
 You maintain your equipment to keep it running well, what are you doing for your own body to keep it running well?

[EOTE]

I had back problems for 30 years, I considered it part of working for a living. In December of 2018 I hurt myself so bad (just pushing the mill on and easy log) and I HAD to get help. I asked friends and two recommended a specific chiropractor. I was miserable (and I think most of it is documented here on the forum someplace) and could barely walk. He fixed me. It turned out to be the culmination of many years of abusing my body with no adjustments. I can't tell you how this guy has changed my life for the better. I go in once a month now for a tune up and he can pinpoint what I have been doing and where my muscular stress is every time. He keeps me moving and I no longer have any of the restraints I had on my ability to work.
I should say it is very important to find the 'RIGHT' person with the right methods. I got lucky and found the right guy on the first shot. He and I have become good friends and go catch music gigs together from time to time. Some day I will put him to work here at the mill, he keeps asking. Look for the right guy or gal. When you find them, life gets a whole lot better.
You maintain your equipment to keep it running well, what are you doing for your own body to keep it running well?

If you are having back trouble, you might want to get one of the inversion devices that you see advertised.  I bought one years ago, and any time my back feels a little off, I go hang for 30 to 45 seconds.  I just count to measure the time.  Like to do it in the evening so it has a chance to do some good overnight.  Like your progress on the house.  Wish I could do it again too.  Now I know all the things to do right, it would work out better than the one I built 40 years ago.

Most of my back problems started when I was young and foolish and thought I was invincible.  As a teenager I would deliver 400 pound desks and file cabinets up 4 flights of stairs on a dolly by myself.  Along with that I used the idolize Evil Knievel and jump my dirt bike regularly.  My first career was as a diesel mechanic on ag equipment in Montana where I injured myself lifting lots of stuff by myself including my 400 pound toolbox into the back of a truck for service calls.

Fast forward to about 5 years ago.  I ended up with a CAT scan of my lower back (which is where I get most of the pain) and I find out that the disk between two vertebrae is compressed so much that the bones are rubbing together and pinching the nerve.  The doctor said I could fuse the bones together but it would limit my mobility or I could first try physical therapy.  I chose the latter and the therapist gave me a number of exercises that helped.  One in particular, laying on my side and stretching my arm as far behind me as I could was really the miracle exercise that eliminated my back pain.  However, some things still hurt my back ( like work  :D ) and it takes several days of exercise and whatever pain killers to bring it back to what I consider a state of normal.  

Farmfromkansas recommends an inversion device.  I think in Montana where I grew up they used that on criminals and it wasn't wrapped around their feet, it was on the other end. They were usually dropped through an opening in the floor and it always fixed their back problems, permanently.  :D :D :D  Now...I wonder about bungee jumping :D.  If I didn't have this height phobia, I think I would try that and see if it helped.  But seriously, I will have to look into that inversion device idea.

Old Greenhorn, I have gone to chiropractors most of my life but it wasn't until about 14 years ago that I found a truly excellent one.  I had an old trampoline injury to my neck from high school where I could never turn my head very far to the left.  He actually fixed that and most of the time my back as well.  Unfortunately, it was my chiropractor that sent me to the back specialist 5 years ago as he said he couldn't do anything more to it to help me.  I think he got tired of jumping off chairs onto my back to get the bones back in place. ;D  More than once he literally knocked the wind out of me getting my back into place.

I take a number of supplements like MSM and fish oil which actually help a lot to minimize pain and I have had recommendations to try CBD oil which I may try if I can find a reputable supplier and not some stoner making it in his basement.  But I've only got about 30+ years left on this green earth (God willing) and I suspect that with the way things work, I will eventually look like my dad, bent over permanently with a cane holding me up.  But until then I am grateful for all the advice and suggestions that helps to prolong the inevitable.  I'm not going to let pain stop me from enjoying life!  (Besides, I don't have anyone to hand off my to-do list to.)  On to the rainwater collection plumbing!

[Sedgehammer]

We have a rainwater collection system on our barn and it feeds 15K gallons of storage tanks.  The rainwater collection on the house will be for irrigation of trees, flowers, and lawn during the dry season.  

That's a lot of storage. What's it for? Where's the house H2O getting stored?

[EOTE]

We have a rainwater collection system on our barn and it feeds 15K gallons of storage tanks.  The rainwater collection on the house will be for irrigation of trees, flowers, and lawn during the dry season.  

That's a lot of storage. What's it for? Where's the house H2O getting stored?

Currently the barn storage is 3 - 5000 gallon tanks on a cement pad next to the barn.  The tanks for the house will be set back in the trees on a sand base.
The reason for so much water?  When I designed the barn and rainwater collection system, I calculated our average usage for a month from over 10 years worth of data and then multiplied that by 5 so that I had enough to last for at least 5 months without rain.  The barn will generate about 1600 gallons of rainwater per inch of rain which we use for potable water.  The house will generate more but the water collected from it will not go through our water filtration system, only through sediment filters as it is strictly non-potable.


 

[Sedgehammer]

K. Question though, why? I know rain H2O is better for plants overall, so for garden stuff I can see it, but still it can't be justified over well water for costs involved. I don't know what wells cost there, but you mentioned high H2O table. Is it brackish water? 
Your place, so of course do want you desire. We drilled a 60 gpm well for irrigating and keeping our pond full. $4,800 for the well. Another 2k for wire, pump n related. Glad we did, really nice to swim in nice clear H2O. For just household, lawn n garden, that'd be about 1/2 that cost. 

[doc henderson]

many places water is in short supply/high demand and highly regulated.  I assume it is for conservation and or getting around some regulation

[EOTE]

K. Question though, why? I know rain H2O is better for plants overall, so for garden stuff I can see it, but still it can't be justified over well water for costs involved. I don't know what wells cost there, but you mentioned high H2O table. Is it brackish water?
Your place, so of course do want you desire. We drilled a 60 gpm well for irrigating and keeping our pond full. $4,800 for the well. Another 2k for wire, pump n related. Glad we did, really nice to swim in nice clear H2O. For just household, lawn n garden, that'd be about 1/2 that cost.

many places water is in short supply/high demand and highly regulated.  I assume it is for conservation and or getting around some regulation

When we originally designed and built the barn, we found two existing wells on the property, both damaged when they bulldozed a clearing for selling the property.  When we looked into remediation or drilling a new well, the starting price was around $7,500.  When I looked at rainwater collection, the biggest expense was the tanks.  My total cost for the plumbing, tanks, and a very reliable water purification system was only $7,000.  Plus, we get an average of 48" of rain per year which equates to 76,800 gallons of rainwater that we could potentially collect.  The well option also was not encouraging from the neighbor's point of view.  He has two wells that are 200+ feet deep and produce hard mineral laden water which he has to run through the appropriate filters (high iron content) and he only gets about 5 gpm per well.

After we got the system installed, we had the water tested for 189 different contaminants, minerals, etc.  It was almost like distilled water.  There is no smell or taste or mineral deposits in the shower.

Texas is one state that actually encourages rainwater collection.  I know some states jealously guard that "right" and don't allow individuals to collect rainwater.  Since we had that option, for us it became an economic decision.  

My total maintenance costs are a pre and post filter every quarter and a UV replacement light once a year.  I also "slam" the tanks with a gallon of bleach every 6 months.  I have to keep the downspouts clean of leaves and debris but I have 2 screen filters before the tanks which are mosquito proof so they catch a lot of the finer debris.  You can look in the tanks after 3 years and still see the bottom although there are traces of debris that you can see as well.

For us, it was a good choice.

[Sedgehammer]

many places water is in short supply/high demand and highly regulated.  I assume it is for conservation and or getting around some regulation

He's in east Texas, so the regulated part prolly not.
Conservation, sure if in short supply. 
I know in Kansas there's many a place that don't have good water (lived in Syracuse area) and in south western texas (lived there too). So it's prolly a poor H2O issue. 
It's his dream, so live it, just wondering why the extra expense is all.

[Sedgehammer]

After we got the system installed, we had the water tested for 189 different contaminants, minerals, etc.  It was almost like distilled water.  There is no smell or taste or mineral deposits in the shower.
Texas is one state that actually encourages rainwater collection.  I know some states jealously guard that "right" and don't allow individuals to collect rainwater.
For us, it was a good choice.

Absolutely was!
Them some high drilling costs then. We're 280'. Hit H2O zone at 120' and at 240'.
Our H2O is hard. 32 grains. We soften it for the house and outside hydrants near house.

[doc henderson]

We have family near dripping springs Tx.  they could not even modify a natural spring fed swimming hole without formal eval and permission.  there water smelled of sulfur.  they barely noticed, but it was all we could do to shower there.  some sort of sulfur fixing bacteria.  the fix was to add bicarb to the water to raise the pH.  too expensive for them as they were used to it.  it affected the well, but not noticed in the spring.  They had a lot of moss, and we talked about a rake to clean it, but he said if folks down stream noticed a change in water clarity, there would be an investigation.

[Raider Bill]

Another thumbs up and recommendation for a inversion table. $199 on Amazon up to 400 lbs.
Love mine