not quite a timber frame

[ljmathias]

Day 2 of the plumbing rough in

Not sure if I mentioned it yet, but the rough-in is one of three stages for plumbing; numbers two and three are stack-out and trim-out.  The hardest to get right is the rough in. "Why?" you might ask?  Well, I didn't know this till I worked with Josh on a couple last year- you have to get the measurements right for pipes that you just bury in the dirt, and by right, I mean within an inch or less of where it's supposed to be, otherwise your toilet is in a wall or your waste line is in the middle of the bedroom instead of in the wall of the bathroom- pretty serious problems that can only be fixed with a jackhammer and lots of sweat and tears (no blood- we bleed without need of a jackhammer).  To get your figures correct, you have to first make all those changes to the plans that were agreed upon (or not but you do them anyway).  First picture below shows me re-figuring window placement in the kitchen so we could move the sink over three feet for a better view and to allow the conduit for the electrical service to enter a narrow attic space instead of the middle of the kitchen.  We needed to have the waste for the sink connect to a vent that goes straight up through the roof so water will flow down the drain (well, duh!): suction is a powerful thing and can stop flow easily without such a vent.  So knowing where the window is (exactly) means we don't put the vent pipe in the wall to go up through the window- would look a little odd, don't you think?

We also moved the bath from one outside wall (east wall of the master bath) to the north wall.  For some reason, the plans had an outside door in the middle of the master bath... why?  Daughter wanted a storage room under the roof there anyway, so we took out the door, moved the bath but left the window on the east wall (wouldn't be much of a view into the storage room...).  Also, because we're having trusses custom made for the roof (strength for when all those pine trees come crashing down in the next hurricane), we lost most of the attic space big enough for HVAC unit and hot water heater, which meant they had to be located somewhere in the house.  To do that, we replaced a storage closet (bummer, never enough space for storage) with the HVAC closet, put the hot water heater next to it and eliminated a half bath.  For a two person house (daughter and grandson), didn't make sense to have two and a half bathrooms: one down and one up is enough.  This freed up space next to and in the master bath for closet space, so we got that back.  Summary: find exactly where the floor drain with p-trap for the HVAC and hot water heater overflow has to be; locate the relocated bath drain and put in a rough-in box, and position  the drain for the washer that we moved from the east wall of the very small washer-and-dryer room to the north wall.



Ok, now we know where we're supposed to put all the pipes in the dirt and walls, the challenge is to do it, which means more hand digging and pipe cut-and-paste.  First picture below is Josh working on one connection to the 4" trunk line that connects to the outlet under the master bath toilet.  Next is an almost completed section, and last that same section from a different perspective but now finished.  All in all, another 3 hours (six man hours) to get 'er done.  Went back later in the afternoon to cover up all the pipes and work on getting the dirt pad level and below grade needed for slab... more later.







We worked kinda slow today, enjoying the breeze cooling us off in the 80 degree sun and watching the kids play around the work site.  We could get away with this because our supervisor (the blue belly dragon) now resides in my grandson's new terrarium to be part of his reptile merit badge project- lucky lizard gets three square meals provided to him- well fed crickets- oh, and that's three meals per week or so... Well, we finally got this thread turned to food, what say you?  Rather eat the lizard or the crickets, or maybe a delicate concoction of the two?

Lj 

[ljmathias]

Sunday break time

We had worn ourselves out on the plumbing rough in (I know, it didn't take all that much to wear us out) but we had gotten all the pipes in the ditches where they were supposed to be... well, almost all.  At the last minute, as we were picking up tools, scrap pipe and spare fittings, Josh said, "Oops, forgot to put in the clean out..." which is a big deal if your waste pipe gets plugged up with cat fur you flushed down the toilet, or a big grease ball from the kitchen sink, or whatever (it happens) and you need easy access for a "snake" to try to unplug it, and if that fails, a water jet to blast it out (and that costs a lot more but works every time).  So, Josh takes his tools and the fittings over to the wall by the kitchen, twists off the glued vent pipe and 90 degree bend, and busts a whole in the form block with his hammer.  Then he re-assembles but with a T-connection for the vent pipe rather than a 90 degree, and puts the clean-out cap on the outside (set way out and not glued on yet because we haven't decided yet what finish will go on the outside of the blocks- bricks, stone or a coat of paint to save money).  I forgot to get a picture...

Speaking of snakes: some of you may be aware that pet pythons have been released in the Florida everglades over the years, mostly by kindly (but really stupid) families who think they're doing someone a favor by not finding their pet snakes (who have gotten to big and expensive to feed) another home, either above or below the dirt.  Well, it turns out, these pythons are reproducing like crazy and have now moved into Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.  How do I know?  Well, here's my story and I'm sticking to it: son Josh took his sons fishing in the pond, and surprise! it wasn't quite as out-of-balance fish-wise as we thought.  Warm weather has the bass out feeding and growing again: the boys caught a half-dozen or so half-pounders, then Josh landed one at about a pound and a half.  He called us to come see, so Nana and I mosey on down to take a look-see.  Yup, that's a fish alright (first picture below).  My HDAD-ADD kicked in right about then, when I noticed the canoe had some rain water in it.  I pick it up from one side, then tilt it over so the water can run out.  I take a step under/over to help lift when my bare foot comes in contact with what my subconscious screams is a "Snake!"  I jump back in real fear: last week a water moccasin was relocated from the world of the living to the nether world down by the creek (Josh is a good shot with a hand-gun), and my hind brain was sure this was another one: wrong!  It was one of those giant pythons, roamed all the way up here and just dying for a meal, with me number one on the menu.  Next picture below shows this hummer about to launch itself at me with the intent of winding it's enormous length around and around my body so it can squeeze the life out of me.  Notice the demonic blue eyes, cold as ice and filled with malice!  My life flashed before my eyes, and then my son noticed and said, "Hey, boys, look at the black runner!"  Our encounter then evolved into a nature lesson on good snakes versus bad ones: the boys got to see up close its tongue flickering in and out, it's coiled body but narrow head and all-black body signifying a friendly member of our local wildlife population.  Josh nudged it so the boys could see how fast it can move- gone in 60 seconds; no wait, that was a really dumb movie; this snake was gone in about 2 seconds, so there!  Well, maybe we can get this "new best friend reptile" to serve as job supervisor for the rest of the slab prep coming this week: dozens of rebar to tie in place, cover with re-mesh and get everything ready for the slab pour: yippee!





Oh, and this last picture shows that I actually did recover from a strange encounter of the fourth kind: me playing with or holding some of the local grandkids, who do some crazy, silly things, or maybe just lay there growing like a weed while being still... Life is good.

Lj

[WDH]

That snake must be getting ready to shed.  Glad you spared it. 

Wow, you are making great progress.  Your daughter is lucky to have such an enterprising Dad  ;D.

[ljmathias]

WDH: how can you tell it was about to molt?  The only odd thing I noticed were the eyes- a shade of steel blue maybe?

Progress: got almost all the extra dirt out of the foundation, and now it rained like thunder and lightening (plus hurrcane warning and watch in sequence) so I hope nothing got washed out...  Plan is (was) for tomorrow to finish the dirt inside to grade for the slab, form up the porch slab with a 1" fall over 8' and 3" below the main house slab to keep water out.  Also, the termite guy came and looked at the set up, gave us a really good price for treatment and annual contract (which guarantees replacement if the house gets eaten and falls down) so he's on hold for later this week/early next.  The fun never stops! ;D

Lj

[WDH]

When they get close to shedding their skin, they get a film-like coating over their eyes.  That is what your boa constrictor looked like to me.  Otherwise, the eyes should have been clear with a defined iris.

You have lizards and snakes, maybe you will not find any termites  :D.

[ljmathias]

Actually, I don't have to find the termites, they find me.   >:(  Lay an untreated board on the ground for a couple of days, pick it up and it's already marked with termite trails... another couple of days and their inside.  Worse right now though are the carpenter bees- picked up a piece of lumber I had leaning against the foundation to use to hold down the polyethylene over the red clay as it rains (going gung ho right now, in fact), and one of those bees bit me and flew off- had just started hollowing out her nest, about half an inch in when I "irritated" her.  Found a homemade carpenter bee trap design on the internet- anyone out there tried making there own?  Got to make some quick and get them away from my barns and lumber stacks...  Don't know which is worse, termites eating the wood, or carpenter bees hollowing it out for a nesting place- and I do mean hollow: cut one board from a torn-out rafter, and the nest was measured in feet up inside, greatly weakening the board.  Life is good, but bees like that are bad!  >:( >:(

Lj

[ljmathias]

Update on rough in plumbing and slab prep

I am continuously amazed at what strange and wonderful creations we humans are.  There are parts of us we don't even understand and certainly don't know how they work.  I'm speaking specifically now of the subconscious- that part of the brain we have no conscious control over but that is always chugging away, mulling over our actions and thoughts, and trying to keep us from doing something stupid.  Of course, we mostly ignore it and do stupid stuff anyway, or forget to do the stuff we're supposed to- whatever.

So two nights ago, I'm two hours into a sound sleep when my subconscious finally breaks through to my conscious and wakes me up with a start- happens all the time and I've learned to pay attention because it's usually something important.  I'm laying there, waiting patiently for the message to get through when wham@! it hits me: anchor bolts.  I remembered then reading on the forum about the new pressure treatments and their effects on steel- much faster corrosion and the only solution long term is either stainless steel (best but pricey) and hot dipped galvanized.  Two days later I've traded in my already rust-covered plain steel for galvanized bolts.

Then last night, bad sleep all night but I foolishly ignore whatever my subconscious is trying to tell me.  This morning, I'm on my third cup of coffee trying to make up for not very good sleep when wham@!  it hits me: no drain for the master bath lavatory.  Son and I both missed it in our desire to finish up last Sunday and go play with the kids.  Luckily, the termite spray for under the slab is not till tomorrow afternoon, so I have to scramble to today, finish up the fill dirt leveling and forming up the back porch, dig a trench, bust a block and tie in a drain for the lavatory, then form up the slab for the front porch.  No problem- I've got two or three hours before and after work...  just get 'er done so we can pour slab next Tuesday: weather prediction is perfect.

Lj

[Jim_Rogers]

All I can say is "check list".......

[ljmathias]

I hear you, Jim.  Only two problems with a checklist: first, you have to make it.  Second, you have to remember to check it... I lose out on both counts, although I do make lists regularly, there just not the detailed kind that would help... Off to fix our mistake and get the last of the excess dirt out so the bug man can do his termite treatment tomorrow- fairly involved: injections of potent pesticide all around the inside of the foundation footing, including four feet down at the deep end.

Lj

[submarinesailor]

termite treatment tomorrow- fairly involved: injections of potent pesticide all around the inside of the foundation footing, including four feet down at the deep end.

Lj

LJ,

I don't know about the state of Mississippi, but here in Virginia about the only thing they can use is the same thing used in Flea and Tick collars.  And according to Orkin, it is only good for about 5-12 years.  Don't ask me how I know all this.  About $3,000 to $8,000 in termite damage - again.  This is the 3rd time they have gotta into one of my homes.  Sure do miss the GOOD OLD STUFF.

Bruce

[ljmathias]

I'm not sure what's legal here either, but we'll find out tomorrow at 4 pm... and frankly, doesn't really matter to me as long as the company stays in business and honors their warranty.

Finished up "flattening" the fill dirt inside the foundation. In fact, first picture below shows about one-third of the "extra dirt" that was inside the stem walls.  I will have to get my volume measuring eye calibrated again (or maybe wear my glasses more often when I'm working outside, although then I break them).  Oh, well, what's a little hard work... for three days... leaving me with rubbery arms so weak I can barely type.   :-[   



Next picture shows the "added" drain pipe for the lavatory: good thing my brain made me aware we'd forgotten to put this in on Sunday because it's a REAL PITA breaking up concrete with a jackhammer to do it after the slab is poured, although I guess we could always have just cut a hole in the side of the house and let it drain out onto the ground... not! :D



Last picture shows the finally and really finished view of all the pipes roughed in and ready for the pour on Tuesday... oh, did I mention we're scheduled for Tuesday now? 



Termite injection on Thursday, all weekend to put in plastic, rebar, remesh and finalize forms, and we should be good to go.  Got my favorite cement finisher lined up and I've contacted two different ready-mix companies to check availability for then, plus the weather is supposed to be perfect... which means it will probably pour cats and goldfish, or whatever.  Keep your fingers crossed and I'll add pictures as we go.

Lj

[ljmathias]

Saturday update

Well, I was tied up working when the bug-man came so my daughter got to supervise that aspect, and I forgot to have her ask about what treatment chemicals were used... oh, well, I'll try to remember to call and find out.  Made progress after that and before and after work on Friday- this is the kind of back-breaking progress that you love "having done" more than "doing," if that makes sense.  While I like doing both, it's especially satisfying when the two come together and you enjoy doing it as much as getting it done.  Which leads me to something I was thinking about yesterday, about why I take such great pleasure in building structures, especially houses: each component of the project is a well-defined, specific task requiring a unique set of skills and often a unique set of tools.  Oh, sure, the skills carry over from one segment to the next- things like measuring accurately and being able to visualize the final product through all the rough digging, dirt and mud.  There's also that continued process of re-thinking each step as you're doing it to make sure you're about to do the right things in the right order.  Of course, there's also those "ah, ha!" moments when your subconscious lets you know you forgot something important.  The more exciting of such "light bulb!" flashes (watch "Despicable Me" with your kids or grandkids to find out about that one) are the ones where you suddenly realize how you can do it more efficiently, more easily or more cost effectively (cheaper:   ).  I usually get those just after I did it the hard way or the wrong way, but there's always next time, if I can just remember it for then... and memory is always the second thing to go.   ???

Back to the basics of the process: we've come to the part of foundation building which is not quite as back breaking in some aspects and leads to rapid rewards of the kind "Whew!  Now that's done."  Seems like it's been a long time getting footings dug and poured, getting block stem walls erected, filling with red clay to bring it up to level, all with a really great storm in the midst that raised the possibility of "block blow-out," a disaster of monumental proportion if it happens.  Fortunately, it's not happened to me (yet) and this time I took the block layers advice and braced the walls while filling the inside.  Then there's the painful (and really back-breaking) job of leveling: as far as I know, this can only be done the old fashioned way, with pick and shovel and lots of arm-power.  My son told me about using a "grade string," so I didn't have to resort to the board-and-level method I'd used last time.  One of the big hurdles in this process is bringing the fill down (or up, as the case may be) to exactly level or a little below the bottom of the L-block bottom layer.  You want to have at least 4" of concrete plus reinforcement in your slab, but with the ever-increasing price of ready-mix, you don't want to use any more then necessary.  This is easy right next to the stem wall, but harder as you move away: the eye (at least mine) is notoriously unreliable for gauging "flatness" when digging and shoveling tons (literally) of dirt.  The answer is to use a brick and block layers favorite tool: a piece of string.  I had a couple of the string holders for this (with a notch in them to hold the string and slightly-slanted notch to hook over a block or brick; picture below).  Bricklayers use these to keep their rows straight and level.  In a grading operation like this, you dig a flat spot all the way across as best you can, stretch the string from one lower edge of the L-block to the other and you have a perfectly flat guide to follow.  This was such an obvious and easy fix to measuring all the time the way I used to do it: lay a 2X4 down with a level on top.  Another nice thing about it is cost: almost none.  And last, it's very easy and quick to re-position for the next area to be brought to level.  The result of all this, about 7-8 hours of really hard, tedious work, was a flat surface that will contain just the right amount of concrete (picture below).




You can also see on the left side of the picture the area formed up for the back porch, which will be a slab with footings all around to support the posts that will support the roof that extends all the way over both front and back porches.  I really like doing porches this way for two reasons: they make great living space for our lifestyle here on the farm, plus it's fast and easy to build the structures integrated rather than adding porches after.  We had put rebar into the footing sticking up for tie-in to reinforcement that will be in the slab, so I had to bend these over to put them within the top of the soon-to-be-slab: they'd look awful funny sticking out of it and I'd have to cut them off anyway.  Next picture below is after the termite treatment: doesn't look any different even up close, but let's hope the $400 for the treatment and $150 for annual inspection and re-treatment as needed is worth it.  The company is a national one with a full-replacement guarantee, so if termites do get in somehow... well, let's not go there.   :



Next picture shows the plastic down and cut to size- without someone else to help hold it tight on the other side, it's hard to cut to fit exactly so I ended up with some gaps here and there... but it's close enough I'm not concerned: the goal is to reduce moisture migration up through the concrete slab and further discourage termites from trying to get in.  Wish it would work as a water barrier- rain predicted for Monday and we don't pour till Tuesday, so if it does, the water has to go some place and that could be a problem- block blow out.  I did have braces all around to help prevent this but had to take them down to dig and form the footings and slab for the front porch.  This will actually be a slab under the porch itself which will be at about 4-5' above grade.  On my house, we just left this dirt, and the water dripping through the decking gradually washed the dirt away and made for problems under the deck on the house, problems such as rotting support boards and exposed footings- you can ask how I know this but I won't tell you as that's the other project I'm working on right now... >:(




So the second picture above shows the footings I dug yesterday just before dark- somewhat challenging on the low side of the house what with slope and trees all around, but got it done.  First thing this morning: smooth the trenches, put in rebar and form up the outer "walls" for the pour.  We'll do this as a slab-on-grade where the concrete and rebar/remesh flow from the slab itself down into the footing.  This is also called a monolithic slab, as it's all one piece.  I'm over-doing on the reinforcement, in case you hadn't noticed.  In fact, the cement finisher I lined up was surprised when he asked "Rebar, remesh or fiber?" so he'd know how many crew members to bring.  Most people use one of the three, some use two together, me?  I'm using all three.  I figure you only get to do the foundation once (just the thought of having to do it over sends chills up and down) so why not do it so it'll last?  Rebar is to prevent major separations of the slab when the inevitable cracks form (my understanding anyway)
while remesh helps hold things together on a more local scale.  "Fiber" is really just glass fiber, same stuff used to make boats and some car bodies: it's to stop the cracks from even starting (I'm told) and if it works, this would solve all the problems associated with concrete cracking.  Problem is, it doesn't stop all of them, hence the other two types of reinforcement.  Oh, well, it cost more now but should save a lot of heartache and problems over the decades and centuries to come (not that I plan to live that long... but who knows with modern medicine?)  So first step: get the rebar in place and tied to rebar that is placed down the columns in the stem walls.  (Last picture below although hard to see).  If you remember, I went ahead and put these in before I put the fill dirt (clay) inside, and filled those columns with bags of pre-mix I mixed up in the bucket of my FEL.  The idea was to help hold the walls from blowing out; well, now I'm counting on them to do that again as I form up the lower slab below the front porch.  Pray for no rain!  Oh, and I did manage to get the rabar in the main portion of the upper slab, cut and tied in place.  Kind of a pain to bend the rebar over that I'd pre-cemented into the stem walls: it has to bend over so it's below the top of the soon-to-be-slab, and better yet, in the bottom third of the slab for maximum benefit.  Can't see any way to make this easier right now- can't pre-bend it when I put it in as that would make using the tractor inside the stem walls impossible and might cost an eye or two...  :D  Oh, well, there's always next time to figure it out.  Off to finish the lower footing prep, get rebar in everywhere and start the remesh install- PITA for real!

Lj

[ljmathias]

Saturday update April 9

Busy day, but one of those days where you feel like the kid you used to brag about being... you know the one, "I walked to school everyday, uphill both ways."  Usually there's snow and rain and wolves involved also.  Can't say any of those apply, but mosquitoes, now that's another question: they've come roaring into our little neck of the woods like hordes of invading... well, something really hungry.  Went out this morning and little swarms of them hovered and attacked all the way up the hill to the knoll where the new house is going in.  Just to prove a point, the two pictures below show first uphill to the house we live in (Nana and Pop), and uphill again to the knoll: told you, uphill both ways, and with mosquitoes to boot!





So to carry the analogy to its logical end: worked like crazy all day and felt like climbing uphill the whole time.  Dang, but shovels are hard work, but then so is putting in rebar for footings, laying plastic, putting in more rebar in the back porch slab area, putting in remesh there as well, and then starting on the remesh in the front porch form.  Lasted till 5:30 and my arms wouldn't work anymore, so I called it a day and walked back home (you got it: uphill!   ;D)

Last picture in my last post showed the roughed-in trenches for the footings for the front porch.  First picture below is after about 4 hours of forming up, carving off excess dirt and generally making it flat and clean (sort of anyway, after all, it is mostly dirt).   8)  Next picture shows the plastic down (under a porch?) plus rebar in for the footings and the first three pieces of remesh at the far end.  Got 6 more pieces to cut and lay down, then wire tie it all together so it's ready for the pour. 8) 8) 8)





Now back to the back porch: got the rebar in (what I had left- only enough for four rows across the slab, none perpendicular, and no time to run get more.  Well, remesh will have to carry the load in the middle, and after all, it's a porch, right?  Daughter showed up and helped with the remesh for the back porch: wow, it goes a lot easier with two people to manhandle (girl handle?) a 36' long piece of sharp and unwieldy wire mesh that gets caught on every stake and corner on the way to it's final resting place.  Daughter is tied up most days packing and moving stuff into the carriage house so she can get her house on the market and hopefully sold: we could sure use the equity to help finish the house!  First picture below shows the back porch formed up, plastic in, rebar on top, and remesh on top of that, all tied up nice and pretty with wire ties!  So the back porch is ready, the front porch almost ready, and the main slab waiting for help to haul in and place nine or ten pieces of remesh 26' long... as I said before, the fun never stops!



Still a 40% chance of rain on Monday: let's hope it misses us so we don't lose all that bug spray soaked into the fill dirt in the slab areas.  I'd sure hate to have to postpone a couple days and get it sprayed again...

Lj

[fishpharmer]

LJ, I'm just trying to catch up on your thread.  Nice fish, nice snake.  Mostly, what a nice Dad and granddad you are.

Keep up the good work.

[ljmathias]

Thanks, James- some things you work hard at and some things are just plain fun...

Last week or so we've had unseasonably dry weather, at least somewhat below 90% humidity, but I went out this morning at about 7 and by 8 I was soaking wet.  Yesterday, changed clothes twice and ended up taking three showers by bedtime.  It occurred to me that we have the opposite situation weather-wise that exists up north.  Used to live in Michigan while I was in grad school and they used to speak of the seasons as being spring, summer, fall, locking in, winter, unlocking and repeat.  We actually have it a little simpler: fall, winter (such as it is), spring, and "sweat."  Summer doesn't really have any meaning other than how it affects your ability to do stuff- and sweat the way we have it here is pretty inhibiting.  Oh, well, actually did get some work done after church, which was a special occasion: our newest grand-daughter, Lucy Rosalie (my mother's name was Rosalie) at 2 months was christened which means they have to keep her now, no sending her back.   

On the new house prep work, got all but one 8' section of remesh for the front porch slab, and four of seven 24' sections for the main house slab.  Three more of the long ones in the morning plus the last 8' section and we'll be ready for ready-mix... if the rain holds off or isn't too heavy, that is.  Just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings, like always. 

Lj

[ljmathias]

Monday: done

Got started at daylight and Jessie (my daughter) joined me shortly after.  First picture below is her hiding behind a bush- game she used to play when she was just a youngster oh, those many years ago- if I can't see you, then you can't see me, so hide and seek was just covering up your eyes.  Be nice if some of our problems today would disappear if we just covered up our eyes.   :-\



Here are pictures of Jessie and I fastening the wire ties that holds all the rebar and remesh in place.  You can tell what the worst part of this job is: bending over all the time- duh!  By the end of the day, back muscles are so sore that just sitting down or taking a shower becomes a chore almost not worth doing.   :-\





And here's a close up the actual process using a fantastic little invention, the hand twister she's holding, that makes the whole process tolerable if not great fun.  Second picture shows a close up of a finished wire tie, for what it's worth.  Last picture is added just for fun: our latest granddaughter, Lucy, at 2 months and already smiling at how well the new house construction is going... or maybe just smiling for the fun of it cause Jessie is smiling and cooing at her?







And here's Jessie showing off our work, doing the old "Vanna White" routine... gotta love her.    You can see that the slab-to-be is now as ready as it will every get to becoming a slab-in-fact: all the rebar and remesh are down, wire tied together and supported by small pieces of broken up cement block.  Ideally, the rebar should be in the bottom third of the slab but not touching (surrounded by concrete if possible) with the remesh somewhere about in the middle, although in an imperfect world, with bent and twisted wires, that will be plus or minus the thickness of the slab. :D  We do our best, but that's not always good enough so we live with the results anyway.



Another couple of pictures of the ready-to-be-poured slab area with all the rebar and remesh in place.  Sure was great having Jessie help, as it took less then half the time I was spending for each 26' section to unroll, flatten as well as we could, lift into place, and tie it down to the remesh already there and the rebar below.







The good news is that every thing's ready for tomorrow's pour.  I'll call the cement finisher and ready mix company and confirm getting started first thing in the morning.  Of course, that's the eternal optimist in me assuming the 85% chance of rain now predicted for later today will actually not happen.... but then the eternal pessimist in me spoke up, "what if?  What if it pours buckets full, what then?" so in response, we put down a plastic 'rain coat' over some of the preped area, not that it will do much good (last picture above).  If the wind doesn't blow it off or away from the edges, then we still have the problem of the water has to go somewhere.  Got a small hole in the wall near the north-west corner, so maybe all the water will just flow there and exit the main slab.  The one I'm really worried out, though is the front porch slab- deep trenches for footings for the monolithic slab mean "bathtub!" for rainwater.  And if they fill up, dirt walls will collapse, making mud in the bottom that will most likely cover the rebar in there for the footings.  Now the hard question: do we pour anyway, if this happens, hoping the concrete will somehow seep under the mud and cover the rebar to make a good, solid footing, or do we take the rebar out, shovel out the mud, and start over?  Good question there; sadly, I don't have an answer now, and won't till after we see how bad the damage is.  Which could mean I call the finisher and ready-mix company and get a delay for a day or so...

Great walk back from the work site, uphill of course, but what a beautiful day, in any event, full of soft winds and lofty promise.   

Lj

[WDH]

LJ,

Good luck with the monsoons and the tempests  ;D.  Looking really good!

[ljmathias]

Great news: the storms seemed to have missed us!  Now I won't be able to sleep in anticipation of getting the slabs all poured and the first third of this new house wrapped up... and then on to framing, the really fun part.  I think working with wood is the ultimate enjoyment anyway, and using wood in a house, making it into a structure that people will live in for years and years, is just about the best there is.  Anyway, on to morning...

Lj

[ljmathias]

There are two types of blessings we get from God.  One is when He says you need to be tested some more so here and we have to face difficult situations... and that comes under the category of "what doesn't kill me makes me stronger," I guess.  The other kind is when you wake up in the morning and check outside to see what the weather did, and the stars are scattered across the sky in white-on-black beauty with little evidence of rain on the ground and your plans can move ahead on schedule despite your worst fears.  

Seems the thunderstorms that went from 30% likely a week ago to 100% for part of the night last night ended up splitting into two bands that skirted us right by us here in Purvis: what a fantastic occurrence!  So this morning, I worked on 'work' some, ate my favorite oatmeal breakfast and three cups of coffee, and was on the knoll before light.  Tried to take a picture of the formed up slab but it was too dark even with the flash.  I started taking off all the 4 mil polyethylene we'd used to cover the main slab and protect it from rain- didn't need it as it turned out, but that's the way of insurance: you're betting you'll need it and the insurance company is betting you won't, but if you need it and don't have it. ouch!

I hired a concrete finisher and his crew to do the heavy lifting on this part.  Several reasons involved: I don't have all the tools needed, especially the 'whirly gig;'  I don't have all the skills needed, although I've poured slabs for barns and the sawmill shed, they haven't been poured with precision; I couldn't line up enough people with enough skills to do the job for free; I didn't have the time to wait anymore.  That doesn't mean I was totally useless all day.  For starters, while waiting for the finishers to arrive (boss called at 7 for directions, got lost anyway...), I had a couple things to do: pull off all the plastic rain protection, get the boards and dirt out of the way (missed a pile that I had to move with the FEL later), and get the water hooked up.  Seems when we originally put the water in, there was just a little fall out of the meter box into the ditch, such that when I was packing the dirt back in with the tractor, I 'accidentally' cracked the PVC at the junction.  Didn't show up right away, but about a week later I get a call from the water company that they were reading the meter and happened to notice water just gushing out of the box- pretty observant and thankfully, pretty timely!  Water running full blast for anytime is wasteful and our little mistake cost us $140 for the month.  Son helped out night before the pour: we dug out the ditch, re-connected and let the PVC glue dry.  Tuesday morning, the other end of the water line had to be fixed: when we put it in, we set the upright hose bib away from the house footprint so as not to interfere.  Bad idea, as we put it right where the dirt truck had to drive to dump a bunch of loads of dirt into the foundation.  I ended up cutting the pipe off below grade, putting a rock over it and covering it up while we finished work on the foundation prep.  But hey, I realized the day before the pour, "You need water to rinse off tools!" So while it was still dark, dug up a trench from where the main will connect to PEX going into the house back to where I'd cut off the main line, cut the pipe (which I damaged with the back-hoe so had to cut off an extra couple of feet), laid in new pipe, glued it up, and back filled to have a place for the concrete trucks to back up to the slab.

Back to the main story: crew finally got there around 7:30 and the first truck full of ready-mix got lost on the way- one of the problems of building out in the woods is that you're, well, out in the woods and hard to find.  First few pictures below are of the first truck finally sneaking up on us, the crew starting the pour and the first really wet concrete slipping down the stem wall block columns and beginning to fill the form blocks.  Finally!  It was almost anti-climatic, working and waiting for weeks to finally see the actual process start.  It was wonderful, I have to admit.








Didn't take long and that first truck was empty, washed out and on it's way.  Second truck pulled in a few minutes later with the third truck right behind- way to fast for my taste but these guys were ready and quickly finished filling up the main slab and moving onto the front porch: series of pictures below...  The third and fourth pictures show the process of "screeing off" which means taking a long, flat and strong board (I use a 2X4, they use an aluminum '2X4' which works a lot better and costs a whole lot more).









Picture below shows final pour for the front porch slab: this will provide support for the columns for the deck and all the way up to the roof trusses, and will give a clean, smooth and dry storage area, 4' high but 8 feet wide and 36' long.  We'll use treated plywood for the deck so it's rain proof and finish off the outside like the house with rough sawn siding.  On thinking about it, I should wire it with lights so it's more usable...



Now the main slab and front porch are poured and one or two of the crew will work on those while the back porch is poured... Two pictures below show that just starting and just about finished.  Took a fourth truck load to get to this point and the finisher had it pegged pretty close when he estimated how much we'd need to fill the last of the front and back porch forms, but we had about a yard left in the truck: dump it or use it?  I hate to waste anything, so we worked like crazy for ten minutes, everybody helping out including the boss and the truck driver, to form up a landing for the front porch steps coming down to grade: 6X8 form of 2X4's with dirt packed around to keep the concrete in, and we had just a little left after that... so I still hate to waste, and had him put the rest around the culvert ends of the driveway we'd built way back when we started- seems like months ago, and guess what?  It WAS months ago! :D






What's beautiful to watch and so hard to emulate is the skill and coordination of a crew like this that knows what they're doing and how to do it.  While part of the crew was putting ready-mix in place, another crew member would be smoothing or setting anchor bolts or doing any of the hand-full of steps involved at just the right time in terms of cement hardening: start too early, and it doesn't "take" but start too late and it doesn't happen.

First picture below shows the main slab poured, looking rough around the edges (cause it was) and waiting patiently for some of the crew to 'float it' and do initial troweling.  "Floating" uses a tool called a bull float and I just realized I don't have a picture o this unique piece of vital equipment: it's a flat piece of board or metal attached to a really long handle.  You push back and forth across the surface, raising and lowering the handle to keep the leading edge up so it doesn't dig into the wet concrete.  This back and forth action smooths and flattens the surface in preparation for final finishing which occurs in several steps.



The second-to-last step involves the "whirly gig," which only the boss operates, either because of his years of experience or so he doesn't have to do all the tool clean up, or both probably.  :D  It's good to be the boss!  I call this thing the whirly gig although it looks like a big box fan laid down without it's safety cover.  The blades spin slowly, powered by a gas engine, to pull up cement and spread it over the surface.  Don't forget there is lots of sand and rock in this mixture, but on the surface you want mostly just the cement, which is the strong 'glue' that holds it all together.  You push the aggregate down (rocks and sand) and pull the wet cement up using this device.  


Last is the final troweling, down on hands and knees and bending over, sweeping back and forth, back and forth, from one end of the slab to the other.  This is usually done by just one person while the others work on different parts of the slab or at different steps:



Oh, and somewhere near the end, but before the concrete sets up too much, one of the crew sets anchor bolts which hold the house down to the slab in case of high winds or earthquakes (can anyone say 'hurricane?'). These are placed about every 4' or so, and within a one foot of corners and door openings, and hopefully not where a stud or post will fall, although you don't really know where those will be right now so no sense measuring for them.  However, you DO have to set them precisely for the front and back porch posts: 6X6 treated posts that will hold up a major part of the roof and second floor truss weight.  I use metal supports on the bottom that are held down by the anchor bolts (so those have to be put within a half inch or so of where the center of the posts will be).  These supports hold the posts up so water can't wick under and rot the wood.  They also hold the post down with nails or screws driven into the bottom of the post.  We put posts at 6' centers on the back porch, and 4' 11" centers on the front.





Final pictures are 'what it's all about:'; getting a concrete foundation that is square, flat and smooth.  First picture is a side view of the main house slab showing just that- it really pays to have an expert do this since this IS the foundation and the base for all flooring material: "If the foundation is true, everything else is easy to get square, plumb and flat."  Last few pictures show completely finished slabs, with main slab as smooth as possible and front and back porches having 'brushed' surfaces for traction that are made with, you guessed it, a brush!  In this case, they use a big push broom, carefully pushing back and forth, kinda like they did with the bull float, to just score the surface but not raise up mounds of cement.  Oh, and that's me in the second to last and last pictures, acting like I actually did something, but in any case, extremely happy that things turned out so well.  The last picture shows hand prints of the future occupants and owners: daughter and grandson, who came and went during the process as they worked on other stuff to get ready for the framing, finishing and move in steps to come later.









What an adventure building a house is!  Sometimes things don't work out like you planned, sometimes they seem to work out even better.  In this case, the weather cooperated perfectly, the temperature and humidity were excellent, the crew and concrete arrived on time, and everything went perfectly, including getting an "extra" landing for the front porch steps- truly a blessing!  And to top it all off, James (fishpharmer) stopped by just after we finished up the pour and the crew had left.  I'd planned on working till three or four but everything went so well, we finished by 1:30, so I had time.... James and I spent an hour or so looking at the slab, the ponds, talking about his Lucas and my Woodmizer, looking at lumber I'd cut and stickered and at pictures on his phone of some of his recent adventures in sawmilling, and of course, fish and farming fish... but I'll let him tell you about that.  Had supper, went to boy scouts with the oldest grandson and collapsed in bed a totally happy human.

Lj

[Qweaver]

Nice narration and pictures!  It's just great that everything went so well. 
I've never been around for this kind of slab pour.  Does the concrete fill the block cavities?  It seems like it must at least partially fill them and that the concrete must be mixed pretty wet to get it to flow into the blocks.  Filling the blocks would consume a lot of concrete.
The last concrete that I poured was $100 a yard last summer in WV.  How many yards did you use?
Quinton

[ljmathias]

Thanks for the comments and questions.  Yes, the concrete fills the wall cavities- that's what makes this such a strong and durable foundation.  And yes, they water it down some so it flows better, but even then, I noticed some air trapped inside: I was placing one of the anchor bolts and it almost slid in when the "bubble burst," just like a dot.com... Sorry about that, but couldn't help it.

Cost: $80/yd and we used 32 yards total.  I over-dug the footings on the front porch slab and probably was way too conservative in the main slab in making sure we had at least a full 5" of concrete... but then again, you only get one chance to pour your foundation- no cheap or easy way to fix it if you don't do it right. >:( ;)

Went out this morning to "water the slab," and it looks great.  Discovered something after last load yesterday that I regret now- I'd ordered "fiber" to be added to the concrete and the dispatcher forgot, so instead of triple reinforcement, we only have double with the rebar and remesh.  Let's hope it holds. 

Got a few "lessons learned" I'll post later- amazing thing is that no matter how many times you do something like this, you always learn something new or realize there's a better way.

Lj

[WDH]

I like to see the work signed by the artist!  Very impressive to say the least.  Your daughter has to be very happy. 

[ljmathias]

Ok, took a couple days off to actually do some "real" work, the kind you get paid for, but it's weekend so back at it.  Amazing how fast you get anxious to start the next phase once you finish one- I think of building a house (or most any building) as a three-phase process (not the same as three-phase electricity which I wish I could get but can't- way too expensive).  First is the foundation and slab (if there is one)- takes roughly one-third of the overall effort even though most people think of it as a trivial part of getting started.  I spend as much time on this as anything else for the simple reason that if I screw up the foundation, I have to work a whole lot harder to make the house square and plumb... plus the house might shift, settle and crack...   :'(

Pulled out some of the SYP I'd cut roughly into 2X4 and 2X6 dimensions.  Been airdrying a month or two, and I was pleasantly surprised at the weight and color- still looked nice and yellow- no blue stain- and it was down to a reasonable density, although a few of the boards were like heart-pine: dense and hard and that marbled with that rich, deep brown that indicates lots of sap dried to resin.  Could have been a pine that was struck by lightning maybe?  Anyway, while some of the boards had bowed or twisted some, most were in pretty good shape, so checked dimensions: most were within a sixteenth or so (I'd cut them oversized by about that much or a little more to allow for shrinkage) but a few were still oversize.  This gave me a chance to make some sawdust, although not much- stacked them on the mill and trimmed them flat, at least on one side.  I figure a flat interior wall is the key in this house-- outside will be covered in OSB and then live-edge siding so small imperfections there won't matter.

I had sawed a mix of "a little long to allow for trimming of studs" to "whatever the log would give" in length- paid off as I needed top plates that were as long and straight as possible.  Took a load of roughly 8-9' 2X6 boards over to the worksite, set up the chopsaw with a block set at exactly 92 5/8" and trimmed a bunch to length for studs- slow but hey, the wood was free, kind of.  Forgot I needed PT for the sill plate, make a run to Lowe's with the grandson, and then laid out the first wall- most complicated one with multiple windows, a door, three intersecting walls into the interior, and three pipes sticking up for plumbing.  Took my time to think it through and get it right, then cut to length, drilled holes for anchor bolts, notched or hole-sawed for plumbing, and marked out stud and intersection locations.  Was thinking about it over coffee this morning and realized something I hadn't taken into account: I'll need to leave one section of this wall open to allow tractor or forklift in to raise the single bent that will hold up the loft and trussess.  May re-think this: why not use a hoist or pulley tied to one of the many trees nearby to lift the bent?  Or I could just ask a dozen or so friends to come do a hand-raising...

Problem is going to center around timing: get most of the rest of the walls up so I can tie the bent in and finish up stairs (which will also attach), flooring for loft and trusses.  I'll need about two weeks lead time (says the truss maker) but don't want to have a pile of trusses sitting around, getting wet and mildewy while I get the frame ready for them... challenges again!  Having only made a few bents before, and a sawhorse, I'm not able to estimate how long it will take for me to cut, fit together, raise and lock in place the two-story bent.  Well, first things first: get accurate measurements on heights for the loft beam and top beam, pull logs from my Katrina stash of air-dried SYP, cut the 8X8 lumber out and sized to length, then start cutting braces, and all the joints I'll need.  Won't be using TF for the loft floor joists or roof joists so that makes things a lot easier- maybe a week all told?  Another plunge into the unknown- what keeps life interesting.

Ok, here's a question for you all: I'm building this house to last a hundred years or more, in an areas without earthquakes but with periodic hurricanes and tornadoes.  I'll use hurricane ties at the stud-to-sill and stud-to-top plate connections, and glue-and-hurriquake nail the OSB siding on, but I'm toying with screwing my frame together rather than using a nail gun.  This would be a whole lot slower, but would the greater holding power of the screws be worth the effort, or is this way overkill?  Any opinions out there?  I've got the time to do it this way (although daughter and grandson are getting anxious) but not sure it's worth it...

Forgot to take pictures yesterday but I'll get some today after dinner-on-the-grounds at church, followed by our Easter egg hunt- they won't let us "older" children participate anymore; said we hogged all the eggs, darn it!  Oh, well, guess we'll have to content ourselves with watching and taking pictures...   

Lj

[ljmathias]

Sunday evening, April 17

What a great day! Combined church service (great sermon and music), dinner on the grounds which meant we all had to sample too many dishes and ate too much, then the easter egg hunt which didn't actually involve hiding anything for the little ones- 2-5: just scatter the candy-filled-plastic eggs in the tall grass of the back field and let 'em go at it!  Of course, with the sun out, all the chocolate candy was melted... and don't ask how I know this.  ;D

Got home finally after a stop at Lowe's to pick up the PT 2X4's I forgot yesterday.  Seems I can't get any of the PT trees to grow on my land, darn it!  Where do they grow those things anyway?  Oh, and to finish up the slab section, we all walked over to it the day after and rejoiced... as you can see by the pictures below- two of the younger grandkids just dancing for joy, and the oldest happy as could be with his future house.  Wouldn't it be great if we adults could throw off our inhibitions and do the Snoopy dance for joy when something comes out right?









And now the last picture of the slab before starting the framing process: this was the same day as above but shows the wet surface of the slabs after I "watered them."  Water a slab, you might ask?  I thought you wanted them to dry, no?  Well, actually, no: it really surprised a few years ago (don't ask) when I learned that concrete doesn't dry out to harden, but hardens because of a chemical reaction between the cement in the concrete mix and water.  The water actual makes the cement into rock again, but it takes time, and the less water present, the longer the time.  If you wet the surface everyday, or even twice a day, the water is absorbed and speeds up the reaction.  You have all heard that you shouldn't work on concrete right away, you have to give it time to cure enough to get hard enough... well, general advice is meant to be adapted, so in my case, I was out the day after it was poured to unscrew all the form boards and braces, and break everything free.  Did I mention that I have stopped nailing form boards and stakes now, and only use screws?  Sure it's slower assembling them but taking them apart is a breeze, and you get back your boards AND your screws.  In fact, I used most of these today in making walls...



Ok, so I did some trimming of air-dried pine I'd cut a month or so ago, then carried the boards over to the worksite, trimmed them down to 92 5/8" on the chop saw with a stop that I carefully adjusted to just the right position and screwed to the saw table made out of 2X stuff that the chop saw was also screwed down to- works great, fast and easy way to make the same cut over and over.  Only problem was weight: the pine isn't completely dry yet, which means it will probably shrink more in the walls- oh, well, we'll just have to live with that.  It also means that these boards are HEAVY!  Just flipping them end-for-end to trim first one end, then the other cut to length was a workout.  So, managed to cut enough to start assembly process.  First thing (top picture below) is lay out.  Cut the PT sil plate and first top plate to exactly the same length, then position the sill plate exactly as it will line up next to the anchor bolts.  Mark position of the bolts, and any pipes you might need to cut around, then measure from the edge, and make an X where each bolt hole will be, then drill with a 5/8" spade bit.  If you stop before going all the way through, flip the board and finish from the other side- clean holes and no tear out.  Cut out pipe holes or notches, then try it for fit; if it's good, pull it out, lay it next to the top plate and start marking.



I always try to lay out my windows, doors and side-wall connections first.  I measure carefully from the corner I picked to start with, kinda like the reference edge in working a timber: even if you're off on the slab by a little, all the changes will occur in the walls farthest from the one you start at.  This means you want to choose based on any roughed-in plumbing that is already set in stone: you can't move it now, so work with it instead.  The corner I picked was where the master bathroom is: the bathtub drain, the lavatory and the toilet waste drain are all locked in now: if you measured right when you were getting ready for the pour, everything should work out fine.  I forgot (don't I always?) two things: the added storage area on the back porch which removes a window and would have moved the toilet over a few inches so the window wouldn't be so close to the wall of the storage room; plus the vent pipe position.  Since I had planned on moving the window, I told the plumber (my son) to position his vent pipe exactly where the window is on the plans- dumb three times!  Here's the problem: the toilet position is set in concrete; can't be moved.  The partial room where the toilet is has two walls, one full and one partial on each side, so since the toilet can't be moved, neither can these walls.  To move the window, I'd have to move the walls... duh!  Which means I can't move the walls or the window.  Talked to son today: we'll jog the vent pipe over into the stud wall next to the window and up through the roof; not an elegant solution but since all that will be moving in the vent pipe is vent (air), bends and twists don't matter; just a pain to stack it out after the frame is up.

The slab is 36' wide at the wall I started with, and because of the several pipes in the wall, it was easier to break the wall into sections that ended/began at these pipes.  Most only affect the sill plate, not the top plate, so we don't loose much strength, and don't forget, these are 6" walls so we'll have lots of extra support.  First section of wall, closest to the master bath corner, is shown in stages below.  First are the two plates with markings for studs (on 16" centers making sure to measure from the outside of the wall that the end of the plates will coincide with: this puts a stud (or rather half a stud) where a 48" piece of siding will fall, allowing the adjacent sheets to be fixed to the same stud.  Second picture shows more of these markings.  By the way, you mark them bottom of sill plate up and top of top plate up.  You do this so you can see the markings from the outside of the frame as you position and then nail in the studs and units- clear?  This means these two boards will flip up and away from each other, then moved out to allow studs in between to start the assembly process.  I always leave the sill plate laying as marked and flip up the top plate to start fixing studs to- easier to read than scrambling over it to see the markings on what will be the bottom of the sill plate.  You could do it the other way just as well, first fixing your studs to the sill and then flipping up the top plate and nailing.  First board on one end you square up carefully using your speed square (or triangle, if you follow the Jim Rogers convention).  You also use this tool to mark your anchor bolt positions, pipe positions and stud positions across the two boards: with 2X4 stock, a normal square goes across both, but with 2X6 stock, it doesn't quite make it, which is why I bought an oversize square years ago when I built our house.  Had it on the site two days ago and now it's vanished- raccoons ate it I guess, or I buried it while moving dirt around?





The next picture below shows a connection box for the end of this wall section to be tied into from the end of the 90 degree east wall going south (did I mention I was working on the north wall first?).  I use a C-shaped box, with the flat part between the two studs facing the adjacent wall which will also have a stud facing back to be joined together in holy matrimony to live happily ever after... wait, got my ceremonies mixed up.  This shape gives extra strength to the connection in both directions.  There's been lots of discussion in various "green building" sites and magazines on how to use one less stud to make the connections- saves some lumber for a whole house, but did I mention we live in hurricane country?  Saving lumber is not nearly as important as resistance to racking and sway.



Which brings me to my quandry: do I nail as I've always done, using an air gun that makes building walls and framing super fast, or do I use the much stronger binding screws?  Both are galvanized or coated so rust isn't a problem, but pull out strength is: screws don't, ever, even when you want them to because the head is stripped and you can't get it to unscrew.  Nails are softer, can be "shifted" a little one way or the other with a few blows of a hammer to get studs and walls to line up properly during raising, but did I mention they pull out easier?  One of the reasons to "glue and screw" sheathing on (OSB on the wall frames and roof rafters) is to stop the initial pull out that gradually leads to nails coming out and things going south... wait, I already live in the south!  The glue plus screws (rather than nails) I've read increases the lateral strength of walls by a factor of 4: popular mechanics did some tests on this approach years ago, but I can't remember when or which issue.  Just think, though: it's 4 times harder to get a glued and screwed house to start falling down.  Of course, once you break the glue bonds, it falls down just like a nailed house except it doesn't: screws resist pull out much better, so the boards don't separate as fast or as easily even after the glue breaks.  Well, I'm thinking, if screws work so good in OSB sheathing, why not in framing?  Wouldn't they offer the same increase in strength, the same resistance to initial and ultimate failure? 

My guess is yes, so now the question comes down to time and money (just like always): is it worth the extra time, like a dozen times slower screwing each fastener in rather than "popping" it in with an air gun?  And screws cost a lot more than nails, although I haven't calculated out the actual difference.  Even if there isn't any different in cost, time is money, or at least it's always "time" which means it will take a whole lot longer to get the house done.... but having said that, one hurricane in my daughter's lifetime that DOESN'T blow the house down would make it worth all the trouble?  So which is it?

Ok, I chose to compromise: I'm assembling the frame first with one nail from the airgun in the middle of each stud.  With a 2X6, recommended number of nails for tying studs to plates is 3; 2 for 2X4's.  With three, I figure the middle one doesn't experience racking forces (like the middle of a beam doesn't help much in carrying load which is why you put your mortise there rather than on top).  I then go back and put a screw top and bottom using an impact driver- fast, but certainly not as fast as a nail gun.  I'd appreciate any comments or references to technical articles on this subject... I'm hoping NOT to be around for the next one-a-century hurricane like Camille and Katrina; hold that, maybe I would like to after all, and why not?  Storms are fun if you're in a wind-proof house, no?

Sorry for the ramble- it's late and I need to get sleep.  Last pictures are of two exterior wall sections for the north wall and one connecting wall 40" long that will separate the bathtub from the toilet, although why you need to do this is beyond me- it's in the plans and daughter says, "Keep it."

Lj

[WDH]

Your lumber looks good!  Apparently your County does not require that framing lumber be grade stamped.