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

[EOTE]

The forecast is for 10 days of rain so I am not going to get much progress done on the site prep.  I finished the fine leveling and am within +/- 1-1/2" so I am pretty happy to be able to get it that close without a grader.  Next up, excavating and contouring around the western perimeter and trenching for utilities.  I am hoping during lulls in the rain to plant grass on the areas I've already contoured to prevent erosion.  I bought some excelsior matt to help hold the soil on the slopes and encourage the grass seed to germinate.  I will probably use annual rye and coastal bermuda grass.



 

Indoor work is to switch gears and continue making shiplap.  Only 4,000 board feet to go.

[EOTE]

I was able to extend my parking area a bit by filling the area with some of the excavated soil from the building site.  Hauled 4 loads of gravel and got it graded before the rains.



 

I got to do some finish contouring on some of the area where I put down the excavated soil.  Got it seeded and erosion mat put down before the rain hit.





We're expecting over 2" of rain over the weekend but next week looks like it is going to dry out again so I can get back to site prep, excavation on the west side of the perimeter and maybe start laying out the batter boards and forms.

[EOTE]

Like a lot of places in the country, we are having lots of rain which is preventing me from working on the concrete forms, although I did get my batter boards in and everything measured out.  10 more days of rain in the forecast.  To think I had plans to have the concrete poured by the end of March.   I will be lucky to have it poured by the end of May at this rate.





The grass that I sowed on the built up and contoured area is coming up nicely with the rain.

 

 

So I will probably work on finishing out the shiplap this week since that is pretty much an indoor project.

[EOTE]

The rain finally let up a bit and today was sunny so the building site firmed up.  
I finally got to start putting in the forms.  I am using tall stakes so I don't have to bend over.  Once the forms are in I will cut them off level with the grade.



 

Tomorrow promises to be hot and humid but no rain so I should be able to make good progress.

[Raider Bill]

No footer?

[DFILER2]

Taller stakes, brilliant!

[EOTE]

No footer?

Concrete pads in this area are done a bit different because the ground is very stable to build on.  Once the site has been leveled, you can put your forms down. On this project, I will then come in with an excavator and install all the underground utilities 2' down.  A trench is dug around the perimeter for load bearing and where ever else one is needed.  Vapor barrier is installed and then rebar is set on 2' centers prior to pouring. No footers per se needed since the perimeter trenches act as the footers.  Concrete is spec'd at anywhere from 3500 psi to 5000 psi.

Here are some photos from when they did my drying and sawmill house's pads.  

I did the basic leveling on the area and the concrete contractor dug out the perimeter and did the rest.




 

Since these were open air structures, no vapor barrier was installed.



 

Here they are pouring.  Prior to pouring they put in the rebar supports to hold it off the ground.


 

After the concrete was poured they installed the embeds that I had built for the 8 x 8 columns.

[EOTE]

Heat and humidity made the day brutal for working outside.  But I got the North and East sides completed on the forms.  Hopefully I can progress tomorrow and finish the South side.



 

[Raider Bill]

How deep are those "trenches" along the forms? I guess I'd call them footers..
In your first pix it looked like you were pouring up to the forms with no "trenches"

Someone here on the FF I think years ago  laid mud on top of the ground then set block on top of that for a foundation. "I can't remember who" Said it was normal to do so in their area.I now pay attention to the ways other areas build in case I get the urge again.

[EOTE]

How deep are those "trenches" along the forms? I guess I'd call them footers.. In your first pix it looked like you were pouring up to the forms with no "trenches"

On the sawmill house and drying house, the trenches (footings) were only about 12" deep.  On the house where I am putting up the forms now, they will be about 16" deep.  They won't be put in until after I put in all the utilities.

[Raider Bill]

I'd call 16" trenches footers myself.

[Raider Bill]

Also I've never seen the forms put in before digging. If I was doing the digging those form boards wouldn't last 5 minutes.

[Crusarius]

Those are called turndown footers. its basically a slab on grade with a thick edge. Common practice in places without a frostline, or a very shallow one.

[Corley5]

I've heard that style called a mono-lithic slab/pour around here.  They're used here but the footings are 48" deep.

[Crusarius]

yea, a turndown is basically just the edge of the slab that goes from say 4" thick to 12" thick angling down. monolithic slab is a single pour with an actual solid wall that goes below the frostline. same basic concept just different terms for different demographics.

I learned all my structural knowledge in AZ. NY it is called a monolithic footing.

[Raider Bill]

Same term in Florida.

The picture in original post threw me by seeing the form boards up with nothing dug.

Like I've said many times, if you want to see someone that's spastic on a hoe I'm your man. I have to dig first then form or all the boards would be tore up.

I'm more of a "dozer" guy myself..

[EOTE]

Same term in Florida.

The picture in original post threw me by seeing the form boards up with nothing dug.

Like I've said many times, if you want to see someone that's spastic on a hoe I'm your man. I have to dig first then form or all the boards would be tore up.

I'm more of a "dozer" guy myself..

Its interesting because all the pads I see around here, the form boards go in first and digging is done with a mini-excavator.  I am guessing there has to be some finesse to the digging to prevent destroying the form boards.  The mini-ex usually has a 9-12" bucket.  

[EOTE]

Finished the third side and am now working on the 4th side of the forms.  Unfortunately we have 2 days of rain starting tomorrow so it's back to making shiplap.  Fortunately this is the last batch of shiplap to make out of 6,000 board feet.  235 - 1" x 8" boards to plane and rabbet.



 

[EOTE]

Well, 4 pound hammers and I don't quite get along.  While pounding the reinforcing stakes for the concrete forms, I had the hammer deflect off the stake and hit me in the leg just above the ankle.  Its bad enough that it happened once but it happened twice.  Took about three days to "sink in" as now I am in a lot of pain and having to take a few days R & R to recover.  I've got to choose a better stance for pounding stakes.



 

[samandothers]

I've got to choose a better stance for pounding stakes.

Maybe bigger targets?
Catcher's shin guards?

[EOTE]

I've got to choose a better stance for pounding stakes.

Maybe bigger targets?
Catcher's shin guards?

I liked your idea so much I decided to do some research and found a pair of MMA shin guards that might work - at least I will wear it while pounding the stakes and hopefully I won't "need" them.  :D

These stakes at a 45 degree angle are the ones that got me.  I had my foot on the spike end to keep it aligned and held down.





I am going to try these out. 



 

You would think the older we got, the better our aim...unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

[EOTE]

So my leg was good enough to be walking so I finished up the west side of the forms and am now ready to start laying out the underground plumbing.

The shin guards worked...didn't hit myself once (maybe it made my aim better).  ;D



 

[EOTE]

While I was recovering from whacking myself with a hammer while pounding stakes, I started hauling gravel to cover the road up to my sawmill house and drying house.  I use a 16K dump trailer and can haul up to 6 tons at a time.  Since my home in central Texas is only a couple miles from the largest gravel pit in Texas, I can get road base for $7 a ton.  In east Texas it is $57/ton.  Lots cheaper to haul it myself.



 

Today I set stakes for all the plumbing stubs and marked out the trench lines for the plumbing.  I hope to start trenching on Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

[rykermcdermott]

It's coming along nicely, I love the work ethic. Keep it up!

[samandothers]

Progress is being made!  You are doing a great job.  You are taking on a big project and it is great to follow you here.

Glad the catchers shin guards helped out, though I would not want to test them.