tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37494950351577587852024-03-14T07:02:52.593-07:00Castle On The CheapMy experiences in building a breathtaking home for as little money as possible.JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-28466459314574423472011-01-30T13:09:00.011-08:002022-11-30T23:19:44.772-08:001. Getting Started<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">This will be a blog about my experiences in building my dream home. It will concentrate on techniques I have discovered (or hope to discover) on how to get the maximum visual impact for the least amount of money.</span></div>
<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ever since I was very young, I've had a mental picture of my Dream Home. Set on a hill overlooking a green valley, the house would be a castle on a large lot, with a winding driveway leading up to it. There would be a quaint little town nearby, and a slightly larger city a bit farther away. What I settled for at the time was a cabin on a 1/4 acre lot in Lake Arrowhead, California. True, after 30 years of remodeling, it took on a castle-like appearance, but I always knew that this was not where I wanted to spend the rest of my life.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.serenescreen.com" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.serenescreen.com" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="292" data-original-width="294" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWyUuRtyv_5UmI8OUEpTRLCdMWlGlMRucuDOa4--H1Uk6RqmWtFcHCmcdo41DmKPSibCBDMF2g2JXnsdQDleN6tx9q9usgoPYznY-gdvmidMQs3OpR5EtGCQxbl3N1Ol4tpOe8C2pRZq9S8WiSRn1q2n0Mkku2_bHulKXyxVJM7tX3pzJnUA3pm6Bp" width="242" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The SereneScreen Aquarium</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></a><a href="https://www.serenescreen.com" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><br /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">Thanks to a modest income from a computer screensaver I wrote and my wife's job as a nurse, we could afford to buy a lot and build a house. The question was -- <i>where</i>? It was obvious that our money would not go very far in Southern California.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">So, my wife and I traveled around the country on vacations, always looking for the <i>ideal spot</i>. After several years, I began to get very discouraged. From the California Sierras to Colorado to North Carolina we saw some nice lots, but there was always some huge <i>downside</i> to every location. Too expensive, too run-down, too remote, too crowded, too steep, too flat, too prone to natural disasters. Whenever I talked to people, I'd always ask them where they would live, if job or family constraints did not exist. Very often, the Pacific Northwest would be mentioned. I had never really considered settling there, because my impression had always been one of endless cold, gloomy, depressing days.</div>
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<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then I read an article in Newsweek magazine which recommended the Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon as one of the best places in the nation to retire. Protected by surrounding mountains, the area gets lots of sun, and only about half the rain of Portland or Seattle. So, we took a trip up here and were immediately sold on the area. After a few months of property-hunting, we were able to find a 10-acre view lot for only about half as much as any other comparable lot we had looked at in California or Colorado. I finally had a lot which fit all my criteria - a gentle uphill slope with a great site for a house, a full-time creek, sections of forest and meadow, and a magnificent view.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2MeSyqAd28CvQtHA4trUQ1QTehcVCW8kJUwz4rXdWzbosVOM2Alnfk62_ahTE8PjBHwFfhD7Ho-9nQqZ9e2s-r2x70GpsfavjXK5w9cxxIEbPNymU7Vz8BjtF276fU4owNqV1H_QMHS8/s1600/pano7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="101" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2MeSyqAd28CvQtHA4trUQ1QTehcVCW8kJUwz4rXdWzbosVOM2Alnfk62_ahTE8PjBHwFfhD7Ho-9nQqZ9e2s-r2x70GpsfavjXK5w9cxxIEbPNymU7Vz8BjtF276fU4owNqV1H_QMHS8/s400/pano7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">That was in 2002. The next few years were spent designing my Dream House. I had concentrated on Architecture in school, but went into the Air Force straight out of college, and never really used my architectural training except in working on my own projects. Now I was faced with designing the last house that I ever plan to build, so it must contain everything I've ever dreamed of. A theater, library, greenhouse, gameroom, castle tower, gym, gourmet kitchen, elevator. I had been hoping to keep the size of the house down to about 4,000 square feet, but the design quickly ballooned to 9,000. I kept paring down the size of the rooms, and ended up with about 7,000 square feet.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">It was at this point that I realized a major truth about saving building costs. The size of the building footprint has a lot more effect on the final cost than the size of the house. In other words, it's a lot cheaper to build UP than OUT. Every house needs a foundation and a roof, no matter how many stories are in between. Since a foundation is needed anyway, digging it down another 10 feet for a full basement adds very little to the total cost, but doubles the number of square feet. Likewise, adding a second floor is a lot cheaper than adding a second wing. So, my final design has a full basement and two above-ground stories, with a footprint of 2500 square feet.</div>
</span>JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-26283712013122527662011-01-29T21:53:00.013-08:002022-11-29T18:32:59.485-08:002. The Design<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">One of the primary requirements for this house is that it needs to be nearly maintenance-free. I'm already 61 years old, and I don't see myself up on a ladder 20 years from now re-roofing, or touching up fancy detail woodwork. I've always been drawn to European architecture, but the level of detail can be very costly to build, and high-maintenance later on. So, I came up with what I call "Modern Bavarian" - a style which attempts to maintain the basic European shapes, while doing away with half-timbering or fancy filigree detail common in Alpine architecture. Materials would be stone, stucco, and a slate roof. With almost no wood, the exterior should be fireproof and extremely low-maintenance.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/OakAquarium.jpg" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIuZ07jngGttk7WldWLNWu251QKX5C2YEWLDWXShsGuAfVjX-FYxj7FUpPdA3E8GSG0qquBYDJ06fd_eitJoeMvBqYymdxlIFAIJE-1ie6_zQkjot4Jww4pa192PRK0tGKVyT2FnNmxpCdqujP0b185L2CVipflZGZs2blBdbPnQWuuu9WyLhLNRC8" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="229" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIuZ07jngGttk7WldWLNWu251QKX5C2YEWLDWXShsGuAfVjX-FYxj7FUpPdA3E8GSG0qquBYDJ06fd_eitJoeMvBqYymdxlIFAIJE-1ie6_zQkjot4Jww4pa192PRK0tGKVyT2FnNmxpCdqujP0b185L2CVipflZGZs2blBdbPnQWuuu9WyLhLNRC8" width="116" /></a><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/OakAquarium.jpg" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I had actually come up with this style about 30 years ago. I was going to use it for the additions to my house in California, including the interior furnishings. The best example was an aquarium I built of oak which contained all the styling elements I was going for: a steep roof, tall windows with octagon-shaped tops, and an indented base. I couldn't wait to apply this style to the new house.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>So I set about drawing up the house plans, first with sketches, then on the computer. At first I used inexpensive architectural software by Better Homes and Gardens, but after a few months I switched to the semi-pro version by the same developers, </span><a href="http://www.chiefarchitect.com/">Chief Architect</a><span>. While great fun to use, home-design software can often be infuriating. You can spend hours creating a section, only to have it inexplicably disappear. My only advice is save, save, save. One of the neatest things about these home-design programs is the ability to see a 3D-view from any angle. Here are a couple of early renderings from different angles:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78Qm6D-Zio8h5syfySJSnskK7u-QL4BYv5Z1dJ7aOlI4y_EAy6ATeOdCCD4MdqComnk5V35mziMDhMMfedy02xxHGbSu8WiGZkLpPRdPKf4jIAj_FjFcu2DnmevyCVtmL7y-rJEhV_9cDbKVt_c9oPJcGDDsVGyEp4ujnkbXYjZfjWlQfRN-DkZQu/s512/Rendering2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="512" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78Qm6D-Zio8h5syfySJSnskK7u-QL4BYv5Z1dJ7aOlI4y_EAy6ATeOdCCD4MdqComnk5V35mziMDhMMfedy02xxHGbSu8WiGZkLpPRdPKf4jIAj_FjFcu2DnmevyCVtmL7y-rJEhV_9cDbKVt_c9oPJcGDDsVGyEp4ujnkbXYjZfjWlQfRN-DkZQu/w200-h150/Rendering2.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKwz6ydKdqEM8gJ-YjO6qAI-ygUVGi4vt6CTCXRXOtwTqyz3PrOAm-QfZP6Mi1KaKXdUPfgSrIA3KBLRZvnwX4nMGKUy4fVOZ8OkYWTfga-BfTXmqmmrpvTIJMhanVKtBmDiMq436K05NfmIjTuoLucgPIrtIwWjqpfZAnuGI6FVo7Ypq_WF_Iya2M/s512/Rendering1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="512" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKwz6ydKdqEM8gJ-YjO6qAI-ygUVGi4vt6CTCXRXOtwTqyz3PrOAm-QfZP6Mi1KaKXdUPfgSrIA3KBLRZvnwX4nMGKUy4fVOZ8OkYWTfga-BfTXmqmmrpvTIJMhanVKtBmDiMq436K05NfmIjTuoLucgPIrtIwWjqpfZAnuGI6FVo7Ypq_WF_Iya2M/w200-h149/Rendering1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;">I spent about a year designing the house on the computer, then contracted with a licensed Oregon architect to bring my design up to Oregon code. I also needed an engineering firm to work out some of the structural challenges. My design was rather complex, and after two more years, the architect still had not been able to finalize the plans, especially the way the roofs would flow together. I decided that the only way to properly convey my ideas was to build a model. I had built several architectural models before, including a couple of very detailed ones with landscaping and interior lights. This time, all I needed was a quick-and-dirty model of balsa wood to get the basic point across. Well, that took a month, but was MORE than worth it. After I presented the model to the architect and engineers, they quickly had the plans done and submitted to the County. Over the next couple of years, each major contractor would take the model home for a few days to familiarize himself with the design. I can't count how many arguments were solved by simply referring to the model.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; height: 489px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 211px;"><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi53nFAAmWp8x78mwDOdL8G8iCLnIkOAljWMUU-ZgmFi6peGwvX4-RCPEOW1Q36hylAhFHi6iigZ3fdhJAyUIQgfAiCr8W4kH0rrbNrfN-OOzjKuwXzGkULAKwV8uPOHGKPWddvgE9WaG76W0znB-7X5jGrYXmyD5s9bIsYfDBTBetvmKIaGNdGbNJy" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="461" data-original-width="614" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi53nFAAmWp8x78mwDOdL8G8iCLnIkOAljWMUU-ZgmFi6peGwvX4-RCPEOW1Q36hylAhFHi6iigZ3fdhJAyUIQgfAiCr8W4kH0rrbNrfN-OOzjKuwXzGkULAKwV8uPOHGKPWddvgE9WaG76W0znB-7X5jGrYXmyD5s9bIsYfDBTBetvmKIaGNdGbNJy=w200-h150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTYab7Py4gkpwjv5EnGRPbZ0alC8lk2L6WE8FMNHP8eAOr35E1R-UayvbqSaBjzDMJZr3B_4be1mHmxG1zIPx_sVaulEBjVFExmv2_Y9OJon090Rble9oEoH2mtYpBDJCQdC5yM2IJYK0yMJxhPw-YLiMXWM54JbfS3OTQoJjRW1SnufiHr_J1zMZf" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="461" data-original-width="614" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTYab7Py4gkpwjv5EnGRPbZ0alC8lk2L6WE8FMNHP8eAOr35E1R-UayvbqSaBjzDMJZr3B_4be1mHmxG1zIPx_sVaulEBjVFExmv2_Y9OJon090Rble9oEoH2mtYpBDJCQdC5yM2IJYK0yMJxhPw-YLiMXWM54JbfS3OTQoJjRW1SnufiHr_J1zMZf=w200-h149" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLf3MC-TcGYxmfZ33faJnEPALaGAPwi6Q3YcUjZX2P39EBW2vrA8JdGSb8GZPzePM3SKx-x4KvSWVBGRz3LyXzfsdoB-xVBhb8sRPaKf3Vmpv3Ph4W_yaA7FmDiqKm8uNkNsBtPID32qP5ccuqaCJ-5fejvtyfZ9dtbgXo0AmTuP0_Zwhz9nxw0jpR" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="461" data-original-width="614" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLf3MC-TcGYxmfZ33faJnEPALaGAPwi6Q3YcUjZX2P39EBW2vrA8JdGSb8GZPzePM3SKx-x4KvSWVBGRz3LyXzfsdoB-xVBhb8sRPaKf3Vmpv3Ph4W_yaA7FmDiqKm8uNkNsBtPID32qP5ccuqaCJ-5fejvtyfZ9dtbgXo0AmTuP0_Zwhz9nxw0jpR=w200-h150" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/ModelBasement.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/ModelBasement.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/ModelFirstfloor.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/ModelFirstfloor.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br /><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/ModelTopfloor.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/ModelTopfloor.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br /></div></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">The basement would contain the gameroom, gym and theater. The main level would consist of the living room, library, dining room, kitchen, pantry, bathroom, laundry, storage room, and garage. The upper level would be comprised of three bedrooms and baths, and offices for my wife and myself. The highest point is a castle tower with a cupola on the top.</div></span>
<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I built each floor of the model directly on a copy of the plans for that floor, so the scale is the same as the plans - 1/4-inch = 1 foot. Each level pops off to expose the lower floors. I then mounted the whole thing in a base of styrofoam which I carved to approximate the contour around the house.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>This is probably as good a time as any to mention the number-one cost-saving item in building a house: LABOR. If there's anything you can do yourself, do it yourself. I know that some of these tasks may seem intimidating at first, especially in this age of specialization, but most of them really aren't that hard. After a couple of days at painting or plumbing or installing drywall, you'll seem like an expert to a casual observer, and your friends will be in awe of you. The most important thing is </span><span style="color: black;"><u>Divide and Conquer</u></span><span>. Can you plumb a house? No? It takes a couple of minutes to learn how to drill a hole in a stud, run some PEX tubing through it, and squeeze on a connector. Do that enough times and you've plumbed a house.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>It would have cost several thousand dollars to have someone else build this model. My cost? About $20 worth of materials. Balsa wood is easily cut with an Xacto knife, and Super Glue bonds the walls to the floor almost instantly. Yes, it took a month to build, but here's the most important thing I've learned about time in my old age: After about 30 days, that month would be gone </span><em>whether or not I had a model to show for it.</em><span> I could be watching TV at night, or I could be working on the model. Usually, I was doing both. :)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUJKNsNzDJ58VpkLU0dj_GEmXDe3FoQNgjkvCEtnV_ORF0gr-zAJJEpL8HLUijkXdjBDtvi7tXkoCjxXZMslVCvkyUy8uRSuhffZo6fFerD9hpEoD8PJpVPq_YyqIRdAxpet0yMXU1RLM1Dz2a-TI5deRki0MbT8PhsTa8_U3DoXhNQyjojQbLw9jw/s614/ModelRoof.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="614" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUJKNsNzDJ58VpkLU0dj_GEmXDe3FoQNgjkvCEtnV_ORF0gr-zAJJEpL8HLUijkXdjBDtvi7tXkoCjxXZMslVCvkyUy8uRSuhffZo6fFerD9hpEoD8PJpVPq_YyqIRdAxpet0yMXU1RLM1Dz2a-TI5deRki0MbT8PhsTa8_U3DoXhNQyjojQbLw9jw/w400-h300/ModelRoof.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span><br /></span></span></div>JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-6124625828290893152011-01-28T23:57:00.007-08:002023-10-06T22:32:47.336-07:003. Breaking Ground<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyQhsOGTLVpxhI6Gs8ZaCL24GuRznnk7Qp15HEOjApKTKO6kh20-v-fVU3HBVUOlCgesZ06h01nndnnIaGHf2caF7WYetzsX8IYqlIVtsrcWZ8fHrdkq6-Q9wYxXsjOyerzVHhqC82LmNQfSC1IUROHVceuFI8TtVETp7bzawZu3r48rFy_xElcmdc" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyQhsOGTLVpxhI6Gs8ZaCL24GuRznnk7Qp15HEOjApKTKO6kh20-v-fVU3HBVUOlCgesZ06h01nndnnIaGHf2caF7WYetzsX8IYqlIVtsrcWZ8fHrdkq6-Q9wYxXsjOyerzVHhqC82LmNQfSC1IUROHVceuFI8TtVETp7bzawZu3r48rFy_xElcmdc=w213-h160" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With the plans approved, it was time to start building. Now, I had not exactly been idle while waiting for the approval process. I had hired a road grader to cut in a looped driveway through the property and compact a deep layer of gravel onto it. Eventually the driveway will be concrete, but in the meantime a couple of years' worth of construction vehicles rolling over it should compress the roadbed nicely. The driveway crosses a full-time creek, so I built a bridge over it. For this, I used an aluminum box-culvert kit from <a href="https://www.conteches.com/Bridges-Structures/Plate/Aluminum-Box-Culvert" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Contech Construction Products</span></a><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;">, which took me about a week to install, working alone.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDkwyq2qN8QGDKdZgVNRP6NijQrdzYRO-h7nye7e--fDobDTruqBfCKzj3iEevrYuZhYnQOFUrA6YD9x7JG4fthpyuJE4VHmVrOsIqbGWNmfY-rETXC1H3NUQsTUVytOB_arsa5j2CD85iTxKFsZ2zESNW2G_VPX2m4Oclr2wy-rOMqMXaTK9B7WEc/s979/Culvert.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="734" data-original-width="979" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDkwyq2qN8QGDKdZgVNRP6NijQrdzYRO-h7nye7e--fDobDTruqBfCKzj3iEevrYuZhYnQOFUrA6YD9x7JG4fthpyuJE4VHmVrOsIqbGWNmfY-rETXC1H3NUQsTUVytOB_arsa5j2CD85iTxKFsZ2zESNW2G_VPX2m4Oclr2wy-rOMqMXaTK9B7WEc/w351-h264/Culvert.jpg" width="351" /></a></div></span><span style="font-size: large;">All this was pre-recession, and I was still in pretty good shape </span><span style="font-size: large;">financially. My Marine Aquarium program was the most popular screensaver in the world at that time, and it was providing a steady income. The point is that I was not as frugal as I could have been when we started construction (as my wife is always eager to remind me). I hired a General Contractor who was known for extremely high-quality homes. If I had it to do over again, I might have acted as my own General Contractor, but being new to the state I was unsure how things are done in Oregon, which sub-contractors to trust, etc. I'd heard some horror-stories, and was more comfortable with someone else riding herd on all the subs. (I ended up with a horror-story of my own, but more about that later.)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></div></span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiV0LsU5kQqxTZ2Bc8J2k-Iy3Qxqtje0pPYlNy_ZxvAV3pu1moHAhCZZ_UHZ2NRK2TVc4UyvSdRmo3nxvVig3jqv82EUPQB1klgAkqXWH0g9xP5wSJyVsBKGrcejT2SLoTWQctOHeZOcwdKhT3hS9iSGwhko-ST3-Ze81n5PJa0-iQrGs-PLbJkPa6/s768/Excavator.jpg" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiV0LsU5kQqxTZ2Bc8J2k-Iy3Qxqtje0pPYlNy_ZxvAV3pu1moHAhCZZ_UHZ2NRK2TVc4UyvSdRmo3nxvVig3jqv82EUPQB1klgAkqXWH0g9xP5wSJyVsBKGrcejT2SLoTWQctOHeZOcwdKhT3hS9iSGwhko-ST3-Ze81n5PJa0-iQrGs-PLbJkPa6/w150-h200/Excavator.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">It was exciting to finally break ground. Giant earth-moving <span style="text-align: justify;">machines were digging out for the basement, and it was DEEP! The theater has 3 levels of stadium seating, and the lowest one is 5 feet deeper than the rest of the basement. Then we had to dig even deeper for foundations and drainage pipes. The primary excavation contractor was an amazing fellow who had lost the use of his legs in a accident a few years before. Undaunted, he rigged hand controls in all his machines. He would park his truck beside an excavator, use his well-developed arms to make the long climb up into the cab, and for the rest of the day he would move mountains.</span></div></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhiLX9lvKmbir4SipYX6m5AsSI4cvE33G2AIngP7p74BiCmSZZD8iBygG0p5EmYTa7ICMsahK66LTBOAdRJsVVAcGA0nqZVQI-_iAKqHcQdrfcM8byXXsP-bMrG5-fs1ks2pge6GJMv3fvAIi1WsZ7QIzPn87jBrFYkn_ivmAEvLWqmQP7UIibSKpwy" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhiLX9lvKmbir4SipYX6m5AsSI4cvE33G2AIngP7p74BiCmSZZD8iBygG0p5EmYTa7ICMsahK66LTBOAdRJsVVAcGA0nqZVQI-_iAKqHcQdrfcM8byXXsP-bMrG5-fs1ks2pge6GJMv3fvAIi1WsZ7QIzPn87jBrFYkn_ivmAEvLWqmQP7UIibSKpwy=w200-h150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhc_nqpasbpPmqZ183S5OHM9r3jxMNvsaGGXmrovedDRtSM9OBfg0SNMSojnHso595Sv430PSFrrYrpNsPtkw0B_Y0QSPlJXkFb4anQC4LUxkhDokECpUlo9iMUgc9CIM4sqJUbqWD61N4y-YPXwarPKPbO5JlYGQO32aYLx660YGRxQ6Qq9FqgZdA2" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhc_nqpasbpPmqZ183S5OHM9r3jxMNvsaGGXmrovedDRtSM9OBfg0SNMSojnHso595Sv430PSFrrYrpNsPtkw0B_Y0QSPlJXkFb4anQC4LUxkhDokECpUlo9iMUgc9CIM4sqJUbqWD61N4y-YPXwarPKPbO5JlYGQO32aYLx660YGRxQ6Qq9FqgZdA2=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Also during this time I was having an electric line installed from the street to the building site. This consisted of a large junction box at the street, a cable which was plowed 4 feet into the ground, a meter and huge transformer near the house. I'm glad I went underground, as there won't be any visible wires.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"></div></span></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhk8pZNescP9_qIeXam9yTg6fUwJz_bz_b3Wpqt7Pnxo5H6KGrECu_1VnizOP6eLS1LICr4nwk_ymsOsv8yZ-X105mHP9WsvPjrCyoziNFJYhClO7avxgelSM9EcB9fSn4_DDXqcS6hppT1nJryUWePmrKJcMARGcqebfoBwyk19VazJHxzX5uQPtZd" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhk8pZNescP9_qIeXam9yTg6fUwJz_bz_b3Wpqt7Pnxo5H6KGrECu_1VnizOP6eLS1LICr4nwk_ymsOsv8yZ-X105mHP9WsvPjrCyoziNFJYhClO7avxgelSM9EcB9fSn4_DDXqcS6hppT1nJryUWePmrKJcMARGcqebfoBwyk19VazJHxzX5uQPtZd=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's the model on the freshly excavated house pad.<br />Wouldn't it be nice if I could just sprinkle some water on it and have it grow to full-size? :)<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-61682381687374870072011-01-27T16:21:00.002-08:002022-11-30T00:33:05.150-08:004. Foundations<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLucPBRqIVdeE3vaTa7us1YnEQUMsgAykWovFPINv5eCDClfbg_aJSVOIw2viFnEQWMxObPKXjbwr2H_XSXwPybQQ51KCSgMAUiBNK6p4DW8OGXtXgjGv7zTvlMt1pR-vtw_12LlHMu1trHELU27R4twmF65OoDLUXo6tEplTJxQw5ZF8fcUi6oxtb/s768/Excavator2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLucPBRqIVdeE3vaTa7us1YnEQUMsgAykWovFPINv5eCDClfbg_aJSVOIw2viFnEQWMxObPKXjbwr2H_XSXwPybQQ51KCSgMAUiBNK6p4DW8OGXtXgjGv7zTvlMt1pR-vtw_12LlHMu1trHELU27R4twmF65OoDLUXo6tEplTJxQw5ZF8fcUi6oxtb/w200-h150/Excavator2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">The story of the cement work on my house should serve as a cautionary tale about choosing your contractors carefully. My first concrete crew had just done a very large commercial building, and apparently lost a lot of money on it. They saw my project as a way of getting back into the black. This was just the first example of what has become a recurring theme - contractors assuming that someone who is attempting to build a house like this has unlimited resources. Anyway, a large crew started work, and it was only when I got the bill a month later that I found I was being charged $60 per hour for each of those guys. Now I have nothing against workers earning a decent living, but why would anyone ever become a policeman or fireman or teacher if they can earn $60 per hour carrying rebar? Our resources were being drained at an unsustainable rate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDxvKUNxZq_MiBaAxsl5hP3mxCtiDTnQvBkGxs_lxoxXEYiO8z4-74dPEXx0JV-t0vemQi364BuZMtPtDoQSSkZDsRGiF6gBSovFtfQbxEf-kgDK3_H9evAta9ny5-TojrSMczkfWYUnGEjLjbV6cbRVOKbAOdwsDf_Dq_P3-RkTyFPY3NNeKnFnf/s639/TreeRoots.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="639" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDxvKUNxZq_MiBaAxsl5hP3mxCtiDTnQvBkGxs_lxoxXEYiO8z4-74dPEXx0JV-t0vemQi364BuZMtPtDoQSSkZDsRGiF6gBSovFtfQbxEf-kgDK3_H9evAta9ny5-TojrSMczkfWYUnGEjLjbV6cbRVOKbAOdwsDf_Dq_P3-RkTyFPY3NNeKnFnf/s320/TreeRoots.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">But that's not the worst of it. The crew spent a couple of weeks building the complex forms for the foundations around the front part of the house, and it was almost time to start pouring concrete. Luckily, my General Contractor had a soil engineer test the ground under the footings. Well, his 3-foot probe practically fell into the ground. "You can't pour foundations on this stuff, it's all just fill and tree roots. Your cement contractor should have known about this!" </span><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, all those foundation forms had to be dismantled, and the ground had to be dug down another <em>8 feet</em>, to solid bedrock. The forms were then rebuilt. I suppose it could have been worse - at least it was caught before any cement was poured. The concrete work for the rest of the basement went smoothly, but when I found that the cement contractor was unwilling to refund <em>anything</em> for the mistake, I fired him. I later found out that many people in the area had similar stories about the guy. He has since left the state.</span></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Contractors like to work on a time-and-materials basis, but that essentially means a blank check from the homeowner. I learned my lesson - get at least a ballpark figure for each job, and ask for references. The second cement crew had good references and much lower prices.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja54wpqhpugVW0WvpPllrLc2lATgCpU7fXMhxAEt0Xm_sCITFvRW4dwL5WqlRcLCPbF0Y-KHqYpGtN5mEZG1KV3CHHVbck0Ob2Z3oyeniUgepQg2XajEs84xNvn83jLRVpuoV2MAEium4lDIRGzS1IaMdGOxt22u26jnVFRAN1gxsyPsqVz1_3TZhd/s768/Foundations2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja54wpqhpugVW0WvpPllrLc2lATgCpU7fXMhxAEt0Xm_sCITFvRW4dwL5WqlRcLCPbF0Y-KHqYpGtN5mEZG1KV3CHHVbck0Ob2Z3oyeniUgepQg2XajEs84xNvn83jLRVpuoV2MAEium4lDIRGzS1IaMdGOxt22u26jnVFRAN1gxsyPsqVz1_3TZhd/s320/Foundations2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The way I'd always seen foundations done before is to dig trenches, build the edges up with wood, add rebar and pour the trenches full of concrete. Not so, here - there were no trenches. Instead, large areas were scraped flat, then topped with a foot of compacted gravel. The forms for the footings were then built on top of this pad and rebar was added.</div></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJc1jV5Cl0tdYlumOH6rtaLtv5PQIf94zJz242xCdBY5Y0HDREZR2wPRjQrBP3PAue0HgdgolGTAIgZTfGdB5vNrG40J4-cWRTnvhH8iJJMtLF5jB4Txr9dDW5Pz5slfMTWKXFapxjQwWrSZ_dO-od8E9xfrUWnWfjJTgFy_P6qx9cW5cPFIL_jaTU/s768/Foundations1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJc1jV5Cl0tdYlumOH6rtaLtv5PQIf94zJz242xCdBY5Y0HDREZR2wPRjQrBP3PAue0HgdgolGTAIgZTfGdB5vNrG40J4-cWRTnvhH8iJJMtLF5jB4Txr9dDW5Pz5slfMTWKXFapxjQwWrSZ_dO-od8E9xfrUWnWfjJTgFy_P6qx9cW5cPFIL_jaTU/w200-h150/Foundations1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After the foundations were poured, the forms were removed and the areas in between the footings were filled with gravel, which was compacted before pouring concrete floors on top of it.</div></span><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fIX53gy1lGrylWXRtfbenx0wzm9EtHXWk2ZCO7ugTs2gGGExn_ZeynLXPq4rWoyB9d2Elr1IKqoJqfMxzmx7aHU9VN5Z8MSOfMeYLOQoRWwdBunIBrAdsN-Tb8rN-v1VaxqKtpaNYlNzbP6wKSdapKQRciJ7I_I6jmiZZW7APg6KEDPNEAOg4mMA/s768/Foundations4.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fIX53gy1lGrylWXRtfbenx0wzm9EtHXWk2ZCO7ugTs2gGGExn_ZeynLXPq4rWoyB9d2Elr1IKqoJqfMxzmx7aHU9VN5Z8MSOfMeYLOQoRWwdBunIBrAdsN-Tb8rN-v1VaxqKtpaNYlNzbP6wKSdapKQRciJ7I_I6jmiZZW7APg6KEDPNEAOg4mMA/w150-h200/Foundations4.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Here's the wall that was necessary to bring the foundations from the footings back up to ground level after the front of the house had to be re-excavated. Remember, the top of this wall just gets us up to the level of the <em>basement floor</em>. These walls are about 8 feet high, and 18" thick. It's almost like building a whole house which will be buried and never seen again. With the new cement crew, we were back to forward progress, but our finances had been severely depleted by the first crew. It was no longer assured that we'd have enough money to finish the house.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8prKsvPo_lrV8E38AW23FBPTod_vpnR0C4RiSrrCATUELmhCNoVTkbK6a4734b8iWs77hHAScQNeCi6CAUsdPdmnaPj_Z_FeyNWSBwczsqNn3-euHWDSECuVYfgzCRkkF93kKQJ1BgdNs7YRzGODBUf_CBI_fH2GJ__7qKqOi3GrQschxq5PLOBP/s768/Foundations5.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8prKsvPo_lrV8E38AW23FBPTod_vpnR0C4RiSrrCATUELmhCNoVTkbK6a4734b8iWs77hHAScQNeCi6CAUsdPdmnaPj_Z_FeyNWSBwczsqNn3-euHWDSECuVYfgzCRkkF93kKQJ1BgdNs7YRzGODBUf_CBI_fH2GJ__7qKqOi3GrQschxq5PLOBP/w300-h400/Foundations5.jpg" width="300" /></a></div></div></span></div></div>JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-66331067586311103752011-01-26T16:07:00.003-08:002022-11-29T18:30:55.082-08:005. Basement Floors<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Foundations6.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdflNVcQsCtSh6H6lIFNdAw6TzLC31ab65ki1LfaJyGPn-Cqa6wneQyZMuuxRAw0FNOqOaDVYokj5IY_fUZtvLtT6_PJLt5-PQNwQ8X4hkHPnkd086a347nk6OgVl9_J6eQU9YLrT-pxr84s-F8lsNh7onTpxS1O9zB6VqE-3Rc2rsM3e4Vhkq2FL0" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdflNVcQsCtSh6H6lIFNdAw6TzLC31ab65ki1LfaJyGPn-Cqa6wneQyZMuuxRAw0FNOqOaDVYokj5IY_fUZtvLtT6_PJLt5-PQNwQ8X4hkHPnkd086a347nk6OgVl9_J6eQU9YLrT-pxr84s-F8lsNh7onTpxS1O9zB6VqE-3Rc2rsM3e4Vhkq2FL0" width="180" /></a><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Foundations6.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Our old house in California had a lot of problems with water-seepage during rainstorms, so waterproofing is a big priority with the new house. The exterior foundation walls were coated with a black rubberized plastic material, then a layer of pink styrofoam was added to protect this membrane. It still seems like the waterproofing contractor went a bit overboard by doing this on walls which were all going to be <em>below</em> the basement floor, but he would not guarantee the job unless it was done.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgix4XeAcCAkTF9eINx9AJc5nP3dxhe0c74qgod25_P-hWVqkDdlzfUiJjT-U4r_FXcXoC6kwTh-2QWfMi3669iBSK8J0SRKsBoPdA-c118SZTNTC8ThVQwdt9ykndDe_dMpYTcENLexAVgNp0oJf4WhVsOSKxtb1qoj4O0zx1RuvblObE3G4f6-Zha" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgix4XeAcCAkTF9eINx9AJc5nP3dxhe0c74qgod25_P-hWVqkDdlzfUiJjT-U4r_FXcXoC6kwTh-2QWfMi3669iBSK8J0SRKsBoPdA-c118SZTNTC8ThVQwdt9ykndDe_dMpYTcENLexAVgNp0oJf4WhVsOSKxtb1qoj4O0zx1RuvblObE3G4f6-Zha" width="320" /></a><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/GravelShoot.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The empty space inside this perimeter was then filled with gravel, which was compacted every 6 inches of depth. The gravel was "shot" into place by a special type of gravel truck. This truck has a large hopper which feeds gravel onto a fast-moving conveyer belt. By positioning the truck on a hill above the work area, the gravel stream can be aimed very precisely and shot about 60 feet. The cost of this service is only a little more than the price of the gravel alone, and it's <em>far</em> more efficient than dumping it in a pile and moving it with skip loaders.</span></div>
</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/HeatingTubes.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEji2_chwswqQBi1noMK1VK53PG-DaVBaCxQHB0OoK9FhYZ46sk7fdLcNjtroMXhnIgkdPHMCjqLr7UeCV6A-HAcWhgbX4bo-7Rjmm350RJ1NhMpvIhDZZyLSFsRPkCemtAAUSvvds7tf0AsZ-9vZ8vglh6s3z1IEhT3qGPG-OZ3lrSvgh7mZLUSkhQn" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEji2_chwswqQBi1noMK1VK53PG-DaVBaCxQHB0OoK9FhYZ46sk7fdLcNjtroMXhnIgkdPHMCjqLr7UeCV6A-HAcWhgbX4bo-7Rjmm350RJ1NhMpvIhDZZyLSFsRPkCemtAAUSvvds7tf0AsZ-9vZ8vglh6s3z1IEhT3qGPG-OZ3lrSvgh7mZLUSkhQn" width="180" /></a></div>The floors in the basement and main level will be stained concrete. This can be a huge money-saver, as no floor covering (tile, wood, carpet) is needed. The downside is that cement floors can get pretty cold. So, we embedded heating tubes in the floors. When the full system is in place, water (with a bit of anti-freeze) will flow through these tubes and connect to a geothermal grid in the ground outside. A heat-pump will keep the floors warm in the winter and cool in the summer. This scheme has become quite popular around here, and homeowners report that very little additional heating or cooling is required.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHfxabQjGfismGKFvuvf90zHsUy684Gi3qp6Fpjlw2YUJtaszmV8bOLoV7wZCoDpgoFX6s5F6cd8wIxmdC-Ns4DR3qi7gXCufY6zWbfwx9z2zx6B2dZrceLToPDFqBibcRGgpD0GPl24P0oiW8u9xSe8Z-JFnvxUwK5FqVfTtDpBfzzO2ISXAGy8ph" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHfxabQjGfismGKFvuvf90zHsUy684Gi3qp6Fpjlw2YUJtaszmV8bOLoV7wZCoDpgoFX6s5F6cd8wIxmdC-Ns4DR3qi7gXCufY6zWbfwx9z2zx6B2dZrceLToPDFqBibcRGgpD0GPl24P0oiW8u9xSe8Z-JFnvxUwK5FqVfTtDpBfzzO2ISXAGy8ph=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiC_itXx3wqkPuPYi5UAzb7A5ZpVoCP7oM-dcV60fORimQBmvOXCU2TkXCTdDWDbypzSwds7s0uGSvc_IlgqeGFRDc3cQwrxR5kgvaHXsJKeSfG3RSPnMuGeDE5_NMsCNWfMkDpK2DNuJp2CX0Rp8dmurIpGWHJn0JMmAa0UYswi2yGkJra_H9BGZwW" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiC_itXx3wqkPuPYi5UAzb7A5ZpVoCP7oM-dcV60fORimQBmvOXCU2TkXCTdDWDbypzSwds7s0uGSvc_IlgqeGFRDc3cQwrxR5kgvaHXsJKeSfG3RSPnMuGeDE5_NMsCNWfMkDpK2DNuJp2CX0Rp8dmurIpGWHJn0JMmAa0UYswi2yGkJra_H9BGZwW=w200-h150" width="200" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">With the heating tubes and rebar installed, it was time to pour the basement floors. The floors needed to be poured up against the basement walls, so the first couple of rows of Insulated Concrete Forms had to be put in. I'll talk about the ICF walls in the next chapter, but I thought I'd just mention them now because the blocks are visible in these pictures.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFqcXb7nN3kZAYKv0f47HytjdmIqczBxJBhH2erCnahUlxKkkrkQ2foMBIB9r7d8i803P8Gebj3UIqeSZtBeWSfgrcEWwQ7NN-s-pfQh6GetVss2G95yYaLkq76vlSSrx82anLa3n8pvKY5RWl9jrfcqTwPnvtmvLcV9bbJj2kGX9oK0dOU3zgJr6b" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFqcXb7nN3kZAYKv0f47HytjdmIqczBxJBhH2erCnahUlxKkkrkQ2foMBIB9r7d8i803P8Gebj3UIqeSZtBeWSfgrcEWwQ7NN-s-pfQh6GetVss2G95yYaLkq76vlSSrx82anLa3n8pvKY5RWl9jrfcqTwPnvtmvLcV9bbJj2kGX9oK0dOU3zgJr6b=w200-h150" width="200" /></a>Pouring the floors was a very large job, so it was done in several sections over a few weeks. Expansion joints are scribed in, forming 3-foot squares. The concrete will be stained to simulate the look of large Italian floor tiles. The day after pouring each section, the cement was covered with plastic so that it would cure slowly. A couple of weeks later, the whole basement floor was covered with plywood to protect it from wear-and-tear during construction. The concrete would not be seen again for a year.</div></div></span></div></div></div>JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-7606781714201232952011-01-25T21:39:00.014-08:002022-11-30T00:53:53.281-08:006. Basement Walls<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/ICF1.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/ICF1.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEV7IGS257JApdN0onbKPi1gHVuobpxEOzIuGZYOxQEFz6PSNh_C5aKaac7CI2C008SrWfwmwzqGp8ebRhcFJExrrl9zppvVr0aB0ERhHOpoWWm5NF7lzsyyRFE-C0zoOeCO40QwxwvW4nMWT0k8ZXl9h_Y1dJjrDpUF7eJyFEPcXgYAcCZJdBWGMw" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEV7IGS257JApdN0onbKPi1gHVuobpxEOzIuGZYOxQEFz6PSNh_C5aKaac7CI2C008SrWfwmwzqGp8ebRhcFJExrrl9zppvVr0aB0ERhHOpoWWm5NF7lzsyyRFE-C0zoOeCO40QwxwvW4nMWT0k8ZXl9h_Y1dJjrDpUF7eJyFEPcXgYAcCZJdBWGMw" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEV7IGS257JApdN0onbKPi1gHVuobpxEOzIuGZYOxQEFz6PSNh_C5aKaac7CI2C008SrWfwmwzqGp8ebRhcFJExrrl9zppvVr0aB0ERhHOpoWWm5NF7lzsyyRFE-C0zoOeCO40QwxwvW4nMWT0k8ZXl9h_Y1dJjrDpUF7eJyFEPcXgYAcCZJdBWGMw=w320-h246" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We decided to use Insulated Concrete Forms for the exterior basement walls. This is a fairly new technique for building concrete walls, but is catching on rapidly. They are large blocks consisting of two 2"-thick Styrofoam sheets separated by plastic ribs. They are stacked up like cinderblocks, then poured full of concrete.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>There are several wall thicknesses available, determined by the length of the ribs. For the theater area, we used blocks with a 12" concrete core for a total wall thickness of 16". Walls in less critical </span><span>areas were thinner.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></div></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAeIe7VJmrlzNw1ZP6ZBPuAxDb6SJKTfGfDkLZsE1Sd2Zv4MLp2FO3eC1h9wxVK3FVxomyGp0MpNEPu-ekgT9RpJLijCyn3lJKBGNMuk8N4QC8ZM3sP9AMVrwaoSjp2Aqf9kTv6EfZ69dr541VH_YneGg6CU22Kvl6M-xXR0yU8xfnr_iwx3oO6T5f" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="614" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAeIe7VJmrlzNw1ZP6ZBPuAxDb6SJKTfGfDkLZsE1Sd2Zv4MLp2FO3eC1h9wxVK3FVxomyGp0MpNEPu-ekgT9RpJLijCyn3lJKBGNMuk8N4QC8ZM3sP9AMVrwaoSjp2Aqf9kTv6EfZ69dr541VH_YneGg6CU22Kvl6M-xXR0yU8xfnr_iwx3oO6T5f=w200-h150" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKy-DcE4v4rcSrPDinZ9yyuAgTbxKsFQojhTemKHVvXKaCqdomYT7niBEgpi9fY5TJOnGQf_Ie9i23IShYg4Sb8SuyxQULCsO88FVznfOmyvkKhAk0HWT9ccKv50s3kX_H5OzIN7Q9KeyljteAVSYZAe3MOp3bpdtwPdQq5B8UQVIFh8M1S7yZBbC2" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="614" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKy-DcE4v4rcSrPDinZ9yyuAgTbxKsFQojhTemKHVvXKaCqdomYT7niBEgpi9fY5TJOnGQf_Ie9i23IShYg4Sb8SuyxQULCsO88FVznfOmyvkKhAk0HWT9ccKv50s3kX_H5OzIN7Q9KeyljteAVSYZAe3MOp3bpdtwPdQq5B8UQVIFh8M1S7yZBbC2=w200-h150" width="200" /></a>Blocks were stacked, and lots of rebar was inserted, both horizontally and vertically. Wooden bucks were made for places where openings were needed. These will remain in place, and the window and door frames will screw into them later. Metal braces and plywood hold the walls straight and vertical during pouring, which can get pretty violent.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieR-qlbyydSU3oorVohi-YVla7AcuJ_WLAYyK90-X1kaULU26BJdGUErWwdWPWmOFfRINA0wJaDCDMF5_9kaqT2jYBXo26QKbBP3LF1CxtMxkIP1EyLMmTAGQANtBBbf_WG-pHczX65q7AhFuoyR1EvuW__IfOMY0n5RSqJH1IKhDp903CIQNkAv2T" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieR-qlbyydSU3oorVohi-YVla7AcuJ_WLAYyK90-X1kaULU26BJdGUErWwdWPWmOFfRINA0wJaDCDMF5_9kaqT2jYBXo26QKbBP3LF1CxtMxkIP1EyLMmTAGQANtBBbf_WG-pHczX65q7AhFuoyR1EvuW__IfOMY0n5RSqJH1IKhDp903CIQNkAv2T=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div></span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We used Eco brand blocks, because our contractor was familiar with them, but if I had it to do over again, I might have chosen a different brand. Eco Blocks work fine on straight sections and 90-degree corners, but nearly all my corners were 45-degrees. The corners all had to be hand-cut, then held in place with plastic sleeves. These were a weak point during cement-pouring, and some of them buckled slightly. Other brands of ICF have pre-cast 45-degree corners which should eliminate this problem.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLSTq4xwKVbbO02roXidFE3QkCtyWyO5-pEov0AjWDyVL9A2E6-oERFH4tvbyIMjGQT_KQQ-HoT0NtqcPwzueTbY9XLeUZDNJHBV_C7ZeH1EVaM5evZd694I3YxozLwl0_0EN2mxwyvsEdbV4y5r5orpgKW2ceRcQJ3CSuqlOzryRqt-mHJqdB2Qlb" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="614" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLSTq4xwKVbbO02roXidFE3QkCtyWyO5-pEov0AjWDyVL9A2E6-oERFH4tvbyIMjGQT_KQQ-HoT0NtqcPwzueTbY9XLeUZDNJHBV_C7ZeH1EVaM5evZd694I3YxozLwl0_0EN2mxwyvsEdbV4y5r5orpgKW2ceRcQJ3CSuqlOzryRqt-mHJqdB2Qlb" width="320" /></a></div>The concrete for the walls was pumped in using a crane pump. This is a little more costly than using a regular hose pump, but not much. It's practically vital for pouring the fragile ICF blocks, and allows the cement to be placed with great precision. Concrete vibrators are inserted into the wet cement to ensure that it flows into all the nooks and crannies. </span><span style="font-size: large;">ICF blocks simplify construction in several ways. They can be put in fairly quickly by a very small crew (often just one guy!). They have a high R-Value, and no further insulation is generally needed. The exterior is smooth and can be waterproofed fairly easily with a peel&stick membrane. The interior is ready to take drywall - just screw it into the plastic ribs, which are spaced every 8 inches and hold screws extremely well. It's easy to cut holes and grooves in the Styrofoam for switchboxes and wiring.</span></div></span></div></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/ICF6.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjb3nGmaRbkGnKygX2DmDHeQL62AnjPocBXbEs-KY-BtLmy5Kbo_zJB_rvYyPHPgwsKO7vVwEUv57fKBUbMLTVCwPew6a58dvFQPX_od2rLtU3BGG0XH6RUtVGUEYep4FkAqjnWAKKB0cnXLeRTOuEYi4kzyu-523c_cv-wsdiRBH0oJF9X-g7lVkjb" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjb3nGmaRbkGnKygX2DmDHeQL62AnjPocBXbEs-KY-BtLmy5Kbo_zJB_rvYyPHPgwsKO7vVwEUv57fKBUbMLTVCwPew6a58dvFQPX_od2rLtU3BGG0XH6RUtVGUEYep4FkAqjnWAKKB0cnXLeRTOuEYi4kzyu-523c_cv-wsdiRBH0oJF9X-g7lVkjb=w200-h150" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/ICF6.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">While the ICF walls were going up, work was also being done on the interior walls of the basement. These are all just 8"-thick concrete, but the wooden forms were fairly complex and slow to build. There were also electrical conduits which had to be embedded in them.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">These walls were also poured with the sky crane pump.</div></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKab-90Drws4U5JTc2RIjzy2tH5QfyLPfzVL_BoE-HjLfbMobuZKW_itLOUb89WCrYJhl_j-fM7Pzp7_Uy-pV5SfdspNVTXdfmYlwO_0A2jbrARELnQV7Lq1-Vs4olSw8jr5gfsvHH6Rbg-OZLCtmluPmJtYVnyWHzvr-HOdvT4oPzX2DDHUuvGxMb" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="773" data-original-width="660" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKab-90Drws4U5JTc2RIjzy2tH5QfyLPfzVL_BoE-HjLfbMobuZKW_itLOUb89WCrYJhl_j-fM7Pzp7_Uy-pV5SfdspNVTXdfmYlwO_0A2jbrARELnQV7Lq1-Vs4olSw8jr5gfsvHH6Rbg-OZLCtmluPmJtYVnyWHzvr-HOdvT4oPzX2DDHUuvGxMb=w171-h200" width="171" /></a></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/ICF7.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">At the same time, the remainder of the floors were being poured. With the different levels for stadium seating, the theater floor was a bit of a challenge, and took a <em>lot</em> of concrete. There were times when five cement trucks would be lined up on the driveway, waiting to deliver their loads.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></span><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdHTdlKX9IgkxsTgz2I8PL5ebJe79T-p-f8t0xiWirTQmVy0kt_x8wp7RNpsA9lW-af5T3rSa9QcIHr5uEvgfEEV75UIi7blzk7HfkX_KEN6u3X8pLV-akmXc3q1hazte08WO1ma_8ur2WCbnFhKXABiiyG3u6E649QAkSYhL7SsDVLRxDP5Ipk6GJ" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="614" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdHTdlKX9IgkxsTgz2I8PL5ebJe79T-p-f8t0xiWirTQmVy0kt_x8wp7RNpsA9lW-af5T3rSa9QcIHr5uEvgfEEV75UIi7blzk7HfkX_KEN6u3X8pLV-akmXc3q1hazte08WO1ma_8ur2WCbnFhKXABiiyG3u6E649QAkSYhL7SsDVLRxDP5Ipk6GJ=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div>Like nearly everything in this house, the ICF work stretched the knowledge and abilities of the contractor to the limit. In addition to the 45-degree corners, there were other highly unusual features like this round metal buck for a future underwater window in the gameroom.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi21_KJQCBD3ZVEAH-Zgcu_RtQ-MjnFdeS4DTj7OoqvI0tdAtnxedS-P88wgFl7Wy-w3YwuyD-tg2-mWTXf_xxvtkZJdHyvh6xvgm5vjLXvLSiWtMj2brTjom9W5xuiKxK13DNiX0Y5Kzglt4rmjvESUyd4OOODwJPkdGKXSuC32Ma4Jp5vH7bV9djE" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="983" data-original-width="737" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi21_KJQCBD3ZVEAH-Zgcu_RtQ-MjnFdeS4DTj7OoqvI0tdAtnxedS-P88wgFl7Wy-w3YwuyD-tg2-mWTXf_xxvtkZJdHyvh6xvgm5vjLXvLSiWtMj2brTjom9W5xuiKxK13DNiX0Y5Kzglt4rmjvESUyd4OOODwJPkdGKXSuC32Ma4Jp5vH7bV9djE=w242-h320" width="242" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Finally, all the basement walls were up, and we could start on the main floor.</span></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/ICFDone.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-77403983878113788542011-01-24T23:55:00.010-08:002022-11-30T00:52:31.705-08:007. Insul-Deck<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Insuldeck1.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Insuldeck1.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixdnzNv57vd01y0bnbXLwBAohvUCUJ6tGezrGVYruTd4gyaa2P8pspGMlQm5zuIwTwwLVu73ao0dS6ORPal6wSiYMcfV8ztH83FwtsLFpjQzH4KqIFsrzfCxCdFxKEp7wkYelJxTDy8PrIn9uLiO2T2jI2Ouis_g_vcmJ4Sv1GuQNmNCNvUglfnTPY" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="922" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixdnzNv57vd01y0bnbXLwBAohvUCUJ6tGezrGVYruTd4gyaa2P8pspGMlQm5zuIwTwwLVu73ao0dS6ORPal6wSiYMcfV8ztH83FwtsLFpjQzH4KqIFsrzfCxCdFxKEp7wkYelJxTDy8PrIn9uLiO2T2jI2Ouis_g_vcmJ4Sv1GuQNmNCNvUglfnTPY=w320-h240" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">For the structure of the main floor, we decided to go with <a href="http://www.insul-deck.org/">Insul-Deck</a> lightweight concrete forms. Like the ICF blocks we used for the basement walls, these are pre-cast Styrofoam forms for pouring concrete and also provide ceiling insulation for the life of the building. In our case, the architect and engineer carefully measured each piece which would be required so that the lengths could be pre-cut (to rough measurements) at the factory. They did a pretty good job at these estimates - even with all the angles there was very little waste.</div></span>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">There are several brands of these overhead lightweight concrete forms. Insul-Deck was one of the first, and was readily available through my local material supplier, so we went with that brand. Since that time, other types have come on the market which might have a slight advantage for some building situations. Embedded within the Styrofoam are metal "ribs" which keep the form stiff during construction. These also act as ceiling joists later on, providing a firm anchor for attaching drywall, ceiling lights, etc. My engineer went with a different brand on later projects, primarily because they had heftier "ribs", and did not need as much shoring to support the wet concrete. Other than that, the Insul-Deck forms have worked out extremely well for me.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFKlUJqeab-L2RPcA3nSPuGH-mnOZhRi36wQneLRzwYP4idn-rzcz-jj1hxGi8ai5y0y6MBBwz1pfnMX0BVGjXFz_eDGUmcW74tGsm7TCdsza3gkyKRyl1nQTSym7napprOhpp0MEfGMl7VoYrZ2-O_Q4hVYVsSnrpZ8OxNaKb6uiOEKSe_yihInv8" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFKlUJqeab-L2RPcA3nSPuGH-mnOZhRi36wQneLRzwYP4idn-rzcz-jj1hxGi8ai5y0y6MBBwz1pfnMX0BVGjXFz_eDGUmcW74tGsm7TCdsza3gkyKRyl1nQTSym7napprOhpp0MEfGMl7VoYrZ2-O_Q4hVYVsSnrpZ8OxNaKb6uiOEKSe_yihInv8=w200-h150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLeOJogM7BAORqzBfnC5gx9FCbG9gOsymVaVSGxH-V250QLBQx-iFP-A1M4SYL_Cp00NQdO6kanS8LBrl3j_yi6tNomBETZ31Z3EPX8ApU0R5HyoKDoL5otiM2UggULNG8JIP31KCAe__VuNFCcki0Mg0ZAUagbwbfgFLJMzjpy4NJGZMGDsS7bHaq" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="751" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLeOJogM7BAORqzBfnC5gx9FCbG9gOsymVaVSGxH-V250QLBQx-iFP-A1M4SYL_Cp00NQdO6kanS8LBrl3j_yi6tNomBETZ31Z3EPX8ApU0R5HyoKDoL5otiM2UggULNG8JIP31KCAe__VuNFCcki0Mg0ZAUagbwbfgFLJMzjpy4NJGZMGDsS7bHaq=w200-h150" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj2fhMZGIWBjrm5zk-JLzNCZKgrVH1p9WHSH98k4RLgvZsZXM6aOwnPVrXshuc9AUlriu_JhJUBJXBETif5gsyibD1YUnYJ1WQoZnRE18JIB-aOslTrh9vAPCm8CLClqKgIj0YyNdHxaZkZa30pp2qfSMiDU1a4x5_cR5WYLRNbrhd_fNr2jOF3UY1E" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="749" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj2fhMZGIWBjrm5zk-JLzNCZKgrVH1p9WHSH98k4RLgvZsZXM6aOwnPVrXshuc9AUlriu_JhJUBJXBETif5gsyibD1YUnYJ1WQoZnRE18JIB-aOslTrh9vAPCm8CLClqKgIj0YyNdHxaZkZa30pp2qfSMiDU1a4x5_cR5WYLRNbrhd_fNr2jOF3UY1E=w200-h150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-VS2mekdrnlWsoU2m6-eGQm3yB-kao-Gzi-AcnxBLA4HiYFkio-fTdbpUVxu_4gBmpG6RIYqjBu2MpnXyWwXgfEd3DyCTDA0mtOwo40EOoVB1oMFPa5EUCyKFG-19WgFkE_sIIPiC-YLbYxukACL3DtY7s8DQLlt2SzbM5ggVOSFs0RmZx_4oL2Nb" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-VS2mekdrnlWsoU2m6-eGQm3yB-kao-Gzi-AcnxBLA4HiYFkio-fTdbpUVxu_4gBmpG6RIYqjBu2MpnXyWwXgfEd3DyCTDA0mtOwo40EOoVB1oMFPa5EUCyKFG-19WgFkE_sIIPiC-YLbYxukACL3DtY7s8DQLlt2SzbM5ggVOSFs0RmZx_4oL2Nb=w200-h150" width="200" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Construction is fairly straightforward: Install a plywood "dam" around the perimeter, build temporary 2x4 walls to support the forms from underneath, and start laying the forms across them. The bottom edges of the forms touch each other and form a nearly-waterproof seal (it's surprising how little leakage comes through when you pour the cement on top). The forms are plenty sturdy enough to walk on while placing the steel and pouring cement. They have two large hollow tubes and four small ones running throughout their length. These spaces can be used to run water tubing, sewage pipes, and electrical lines. You can also chisel out as much of the Styrofoam as necessary from the bottom side to insert flush-mount ceiling cans for light fixtures. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The amount of steel used was engineered for the clear span over the room below, but I still had the cement contractor put a 1" crown in the center of the garage floor. I'm glad I did, because two years later the floor is virtually level.</span></div></span></div></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieoTutOWphsm4Yta7kxsFpMXTcTp6rI1klQyOZ0rQkrmrrLjfwcOf6vwoee0Qkebid5A_MBq0Y6gCHKWQWJAd7CMi6lS_WGZoUzEstNGuFu-O8ncvDebrKKIzuYoG3I6abp93zsPZV8GCTCTgE0ydtpSWQFNr8uPXlxjRg6SjiJ5J_C8TXVOAjT1Ni" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="682" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieoTutOWphsm4Yta7kxsFpMXTcTp6rI1klQyOZ0rQkrmrrLjfwcOf6vwoee0Qkebid5A_MBq0Y6gCHKWQWJAd7CMi6lS_WGZoUzEstNGuFu-O8ncvDebrKKIzuYoG3I6abp93zsPZV8GCTCTgE0ydtpSWQFNr8uPXlxjRg6SjiJ5J_C8TXVOAjT1Ni=w181-h200" width="181" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We started by pouring the garage floor. It was the easiest section, because there were no heating tubes or expansion joints. We used a regular hose-pump for the floors, not the crane. It took about an hour to fill the section with concrete, then the rest of the day to finish it off. No power floats were used, all the leveling and smoothing was done by hand.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIG2LMCr9nyRh-HTbD7ddSZAWgsBTbk5h-5p_Zz242ItuWhdpKRjbSD5DH4YRxqvia6WVT1T9h8XG7wrkX_1If_MiD30fm19ZJemUfqzVjRL9zvO69ltmC5PN6DTVMIlLW9DLFJ4zfTDaWjy4FDXlNhLM_dOoslmFnMi0TE4OYFaJRu632G2YoRhiy" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="682" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIG2LMCr9nyRh-HTbD7ddSZAWgsBTbk5h-5p_Zz242ItuWhdpKRjbSD5DH4YRxqvia6WVT1T9h8XG7wrkX_1If_MiD30fm19ZJemUfqzVjRL9zvO69ltmC5PN6DTVMIlLW9DLFJ4zfTDaWjy4FDXlNhLM_dOoslmFnMi0TE4OYFaJRu632G2YoRhiy=w181-h200" width="181" /></a><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">If I had this part to do again, I might have put expansion joints in the garage floor. Now (over two years later), a lot of hairline cracks have appeared in the floor. They won't show, because this part will be covered by an epoxy coating. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Tubes.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Tubes.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNoBLXZzzucMecvkfJa8TDaCUKBxo_tUGktVBElCZd6uSLqx9zC-WvlWuvg5aaBEreJzS2boo-kpyHHdmTtQ4jKw90-Fann8Zg3BlocNs4lQb1-Dv8MqkpNm19upusOz61RViUlAKhuCREQ_W7DSH2F9B4MwhsB5wr65U9NAJQ05x-xvhCP4EfI43S" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNoBLXZzzucMecvkfJa8TDaCUKBxo_tUGktVBElCZd6uSLqx9zC-WvlWuvg5aaBEreJzS2boo-kpyHHdmTtQ4jKw90-Fann8Zg3BlocNs4lQb1-Dv8MqkpNm19upusOz61RViUlAKhuCREQ_W7DSH2F9B4MwhsB5wr65U9NAJQ05x-xvhCP4EfI43S=w200-h150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkLvPqGSUb9XtsVUE6Xm1xelH1odvs1qY1jXGgwY5c_4VqYiABVsTdn6JNbmbf10yy4BdbycKT2B1soAbrvZIcHOmcAwB42lILcHRdAnRx-p1IxpXoVA5rFCdZKxn1HfxS3x7O5F5hA4u_jEidVzXa0W75OKxRTw9eRonKnSxMC2H7n8erRQb0Qdcu" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkLvPqGSUb9XtsVUE6Xm1xelH1odvs1qY1jXGgwY5c_4VqYiABVsTdn6JNbmbf10yy4BdbycKT2B1soAbrvZIcHOmcAwB42lILcHRdAnRx-p1IxpXoVA5rFCdZKxn1HfxS3x7O5F5hA4u_jEidVzXa0W75OKxRTw9eRonKnSxMC2H7n8erRQb0Qdcu=w200-h150" width="200" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>It took several weeks to pour all the sections of the main floor. Most of this level has heated floors, so there were a lot of heating tubes to install. Care must be taken to keep them away from future walls, because it's easy to drill into the tubes when putting in wall anchors. When all the tubes are in place, the system is pressurized to 100 PSI. After all the walls are in place, you know you haven't punctured anything if it's still holding pressure. </div></span></div></div></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">With the final section of floor poured, we just had to keep it wet for a few days so that it would cure slowly.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Watering.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Watering.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgtYChrGuvzUXidA6UiIvpvo_-IzOwpxQ5XAWzNs0yK12Vg2knA4N5D0w0y0zCx-T36hNa4xKpL9N75lr8CpOGDofbR2r8TvrXnqJU4imXq-0KGerAny7I2pCDjhoQl8JGThxWbOnu9r7spAPAzHVlly8lbvSlchLFpZE3_jbd6ph9s7uy0HbKCHJwv" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgtYChrGuvzUXidA6UiIvpvo_-IzOwpxQ5XAWzNs0yK12Vg2knA4N5D0w0y0zCx-T36hNa4xKpL9N75lr8CpOGDofbR2r8TvrXnqJU4imXq-0KGerAny7I2pCDjhoQl8JGThxWbOnu9r7spAPAzHVlly8lbvSlchLFpZE3_jbd6ph9s7uy0HbKCHJwv=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-60431269068497178502011-01-23T02:26:00.010-08:002022-11-30T11:44:12.226-08:008. The Tower of Terror<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Tower1.jpg" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Tower1.jpg" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNnwff4XaBi_91moCn1xG6yZo7309AcL5TJfgaimKw545vqDd818KS2mGKdUJvogIQ9aafuFgxesnnJwSsYo1z-QGoY1uLKS4v9mLyJ4iojcwI9K-8mg92r6akx52IeIfvfgJPkx77RnOAar-j76wQ6DhccuaPlexJ6bQEsrHxtPUpwYSpG_0ni0Bj" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="702" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNnwff4XaBi_91moCn1xG6yZo7309AcL5TJfgaimKw545vqDd818KS2mGKdUJvogIQ9aafuFgxesnnJwSsYo1z-QGoY1uLKS4v9mLyJ4iojcwI9K-8mg92r6akx52IeIfvfgJPkx77RnOAar-j76wQ6DhccuaPlexJ6bQEsrHxtPUpwYSpG_0ni0Bj=w200-h148" width="200" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">There will be a spiral staircase leading from the basement to my office above the garage. This will be housed in a concrete-block tower, which will be topped by a cupola. Work on this tower was started soon after the garage floor was poured, while the other floor sections were still under construction.</div></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;">
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Tower2.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Tower2.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZVbsuXa99s2rtOldxaTPEsx05c08cajc2ejSC5UndHY1Fn5obz0P7dM4w0KETi7W2amsniSECjJqW771S0jOoTo_rqac6BFVRJH_-KPF2STDTctS-dE805LN4cn5tZ06LKETuY5tlQ0JyYXVr271Ia95DTMycJS4k4GMdXn3mhxpFRZ9KgnVkokC2" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="691" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZVbsuXa99s2rtOldxaTPEsx05c08cajc2ejSC5UndHY1Fn5obz0P7dM4w0KETi7W2amsniSECjJqW771S0jOoTo_rqac6BFVRJH_-KPF2STDTctS-dE805LN4cn5tZ06LKETuY5tlQ0JyYXVr271Ia95DTMycJS4k4GMdXn3mhxpFRZ9KgnVkokC2=w150-h200" width="150" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">There was already a hole in the garage floor leading down to the basement, and this tower would just extend that up another 20 feet or so. Blocks were laid in "lifts" consisting of 8 courses each. Each lift took a day, then rebar was added, and the lift was filled with concrete, usually the next morning. Then the next lift was started immediately.</div></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Tower3.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Tower3.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaRto-tRCIJgq09naIrpaB2hNrNLq36oTpRI2NO9Yi1lelb2fw5-VqzWbYGaf2k1iwq9kwQaCDRDYXVbIhFq1lXejKs2WdE7GqSFqk3Reio8g6rmT7DLhatUlGmD3sLh12oRhLpq84HGDJPE1-aT87Ao3EUxVQES1bjbtvRFjzWXKJHxRKvx3Pl1Xj" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="737" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaRto-tRCIJgq09naIrpaB2hNrNLq36oTpRI2NO9Yi1lelb2fw5-VqzWbYGaf2k1iwq9kwQaCDRDYXVbIhFq1lXejKs2WdE7GqSFqk3Reio8g6rmT7DLhatUlGmD3sLh12oRhLpq84HGDJPE1-aT87Ao3EUxVQES1bjbtvRFjzWXKJHxRKvx3Pl1Xj=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">The masonry crew worked quickly, and the blockwork was fairly inexpensive. Of course, unlike Insulated Concrete Forms, the exterior block walls will need a layer of insulation later, and that will add to the expense down the road.</div></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Tower4a.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Tower4a.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKXFSdKHVwvihOibFdpI9n_7dVz2zkdFchMcClAOKLONOzkXMVRCxQl_z0ozxGhd2Cmq80-MZnFPMAYiqFf5Po2k6Oig_NOFJt_jOvxKbl_aMtGeYRBtSx6aNVzx3dc_zLIsj-h_detH9ovdqdlDxorwSIC3JjUxO38KWDOvccbFztAsJdUUer_t2t" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="922" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKXFSdKHVwvihOibFdpI9n_7dVz2zkdFchMcClAOKLONOzkXMVRCxQl_z0ozxGhd2Cmq80-MZnFPMAYiqFf5Po2k6Oig_NOFJt_jOvxKbl_aMtGeYRBtSx6aNVzx3dc_zLIsj-h_detH9ovdqdlDxorwSIC3JjUxO38KWDOvccbFztAsJdUUer_t2t=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">The tower quickly grew to impressive proportions. The doorways and small turret-style windows were framed in with wooden bucks, which will remain permanently.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSBpVdYDcjtB7ieNbvvsI_5b37WUylB58lUJVTUkOw-6N9cltVbZ-LrxY1uEqCIGVI5TdWwWgNbSP7GKaCEmROOC8DY4ugznIdXAS5hsPoxUqA4-ijpegaR9fcisfmEwiVGWZS5nzklrJa1BaoZlAK1YtYx9onzOC47y431M3OMTLKWTFrdC4ILkOv" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="915" data-original-width="686" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSBpVdYDcjtB7ieNbvvsI_5b37WUylB58lUJVTUkOw-6N9cltVbZ-LrxY1uEqCIGVI5TdWwWgNbSP7GKaCEmROOC8DY4ugznIdXAS5hsPoxUqA4-ijpegaR9fcisfmEwiVGWZS5nzklrJa1BaoZlAK1YtYx9onzOC47y431M3OMTLKWTFrdC4ILkOv=w150-h200" width="150" /></a></span><span style="font-size: large; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;">By the time it reached its full height, the scaffolds made the whole thing look more like a missile-launch gantry than a stair well. </div></span><span style="font-size: large; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFxN3yWsmn-l6YYkPDtFKUll4N3_Elk0iKg0naEOl8zf10-cMngr26aLV-ifhjhGqrOvjAna12duPgDEgBsxzX6z0SOXlwMPL51NFjDq4y6bIO8zF45lz1oLZzWNv6LCBhPMbxoFNraKHSKKEbKtmrOUnxnaf6kYfEfHVxY2jxoXunVLUNQ5HmOlV_" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="691" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFxN3yWsmn-l6YYkPDtFKUll4N3_Elk0iKg0naEOl8zf10-cMngr26aLV-ifhjhGqrOvjAna12duPgDEgBsxzX6z0SOXlwMPL51NFjDq4y6bIO8zF45lz1oLZzWNv6LCBhPMbxoFNraKHSKKEbKtmrOUnxnaf6kYfEfHVxY2jxoXunVLUNQ5HmOlV_=w150-h200" width="150" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When the block crew was finished, it was my job to add a platform on top of the structure. This would cap off the tower for now and form the floor of the cupola later. The workers had neglected to add anchor bolts to the top course of blocks, so I had to climb up there, drill holes, and epoxy the anchor bolts into the blocks. This is when I started referring to it as the Tower of Terror. I don't really have a height phobia, but the top of that tower was a LONG way up, especially when looking down the center of it at the basement floor far below. The scaffolds had all been removed by that time, so it was just me and an 8-inch wide block-edge to balance on.</div></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;">
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Tower6.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Tower6.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoUB2mEkcUE7ZMKAg1sYR3Sl9Cg_vQvzyKR-pM0rH-1ognN6dOkWyVIDxM_jW_D3eJ1lvXvmQ6GmlkLbw4s3874e0dCaPA5WEG5HtqJvYNfvyAGSO839aZZC4KQ3gVFrW3hbF9zqiB6eqDzJ5FPWZUbFIrsmZSqfJirf5ZwYWB-J2ngaOHb2vmG7MX" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="922" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoUB2mEkcUE7ZMKAg1sYR3Sl9Cg_vQvzyKR-pM0rH-1ognN6dOkWyVIDxM_jW_D3eJ1lvXvmQ6GmlkLbw4s3874e0dCaPA5WEG5HtqJvYNfvyAGSO839aZZC4KQ3gVFrW3hbF9zqiB6eqDzJ5FPWZUbFIrsmZSqfJirf5ZwYWB-J2ngaOHb2vmG7MX=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It seemed like nearly every hole just happened to be over a hidden piece of rebar, and when the drill would catch these it would try to hurl me violently off the tower.</span></div>
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<br /><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgc37sncYVR59Q0tin-MCpKHQraCUehwJSVlKOf7kwlFntmQcIZy7m_1Yvdmh7u9-S4v2ZLYfjSqecfdcRgjm4ChTiJdcLWl6Ijs5gZrvaX2VOQEqDnSH7uj1Z3oEGhgTqWZFbY9RjCrgeVF77i8lAEjVcLFB4q1c5Abgywsw1-oZX5Xea-t-715kF4" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgc37sncYVR59Q0tin-MCpKHQraCUehwJSVlKOf7kwlFntmQcIZy7m_1Yvdmh7u9-S4v2ZLYfjSqecfdcRgjm4ChTiJdcLWl6Ijs5gZrvaX2VOQEqDnSH7uj1Z3oEGhgTqWZFbY9RjCrgeVF77i8lAEjVcLFB4q1c5Abgywsw1-oZX5Xea-t-715kF4=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Things got a lot easier when I started to put the actual floor on, and had a bigger place to stand. In addition to the spiral staircase, my daughter has convinced me to install a climbing wall inside the tower. There will be an automatic-belay harness system attached to the ceiling.</span></span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"> </div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJe-iYdO3zD3IWHruVVhW7aW0RtlaiCTL1P6ewNEXWpLscebSH7iNcg7u1-H0HgX8-YRUmlc7PVRHr2-paSTX40RSOhliL6_ktZgJgJe56iEflyjGqAm9Oiobc7t1_aLvDIYawKI4tkcECHC8yWyIoXkg8do3LeI1h7Zz_ljewC_Rdsp_nzhB-TTCQ/s922/TowerView.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="922" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJe-iYdO3zD3IWHruVVhW7aW0RtlaiCTL1P6ewNEXWpLscebSH7iNcg7u1-H0HgX8-YRUmlc7PVRHr2-paSTX40RSOhliL6_ktZgJgJe56iEflyjGqAm9Oiobc7t1_aLvDIYawKI4tkcECHC8yWyIoXkg8do3LeI1h7Zz_ljewC_Rdsp_nzhB-TTCQ/w400-h300/TowerView.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-large;">Click on "Older Posts" below for newer posts.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(Yes, I know. It's a Blogspot thing)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div></div>JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-33459922063120073192011-01-22T22:26:00.017-08:002022-11-30T11:55:00.515-08:009. Garage Framing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Garage1.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="919" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij5LcCG9j477VjscZ5Z1n4eD4xSm8aVzdi0B2_-N4TJ5ctwNMLbqk5vtzKir0kxxRhvy2bgGin34Hd6CDNGt095-wjSo8nU_-sSdzP2f20G0jSPHX89Izh_ltXXUHsmj30i3gdWmpfvtL14y1pbvEjmQIO9eul02JlDcRGquYPXQkD85SSRdAWqjAm/w628-h256/Garage1.jpg" width="628" /></a><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Garage1.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: left;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cGwCddM4xXfK5jODDKOodGhWHZOa_bqW5rasd6SiZrL3SIJW3A8mimbmkQ9fcr8oaMLxrt2qNfPNh_842cEevfYOLD9OVnGtFVMUXpACWXLkqx5YSC40uPPNckwjK-lqmAz1BhmpPkVFqEzxu-Gz-R3XWWO8Dj5IdDfUDC_fq0C8M1NVb_HOvzIQ/s900/Garage2.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="900" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cGwCddM4xXfK5jODDKOodGhWHZOa_bqW5rasd6SiZrL3SIJW3A8mimbmkQ9fcr8oaMLxrt2qNfPNh_842cEevfYOLD9OVnGtFVMUXpACWXLkqx5YSC40uPPNckwjK-lqmAz1BhmpPkVFqEzxu-Gz-R3XWWO8Dj5IdDfUDC_fq0C8M1NVb_HOvzIQ/w200-h151/Garage2.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6tCmmSPORw_NWaIs2WA4xckoUv6kMM0VakIr-kZoRrb-QGe3JbNpRTctmlThmzHK_hS7c1FFlYtP0-v_ziAZgXGajOJCYgwRCCPT8VGWUeWtJ45r2KogTS-pUTqf9gQC3wU-E_YeFrCK33nvaRSUADzwjE-RhZB1kaikVHCtomzn7_uiy74K_04kI/s922/Waterproofing1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="922" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6tCmmSPORw_NWaIs2WA4xckoUv6kMM0VakIr-kZoRrb-QGe3JbNpRTctmlThmzHK_hS7c1FFlYtP0-v_ziAZgXGajOJCYgwRCCPT8VGWUeWtJ45r2KogTS-pUTqf9gQC3wU-E_YeFrCK33nvaRSUADzwjE-RhZB1kaikVHCtomzn7_uiy74K_04kI/w200-h150/Waterproofing1.jpg" width="200" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">As soon as the stairwell tower was done, work was started on the main-floor framing. While that was going on, the waterproofing contractor was coating the outside walls behind the basement with a peel-and-stick rubberized plastic material. This is the most important part of the waterproofing process, since the hill behind the house will cause a lot of hydrostatic water pressure against this wall. Styrofoam sheets were then glued on to protect the membrane from damage by jagged rocks.</div></div></span></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Backfill3.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Backfill3.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRYTGlUO_uSySIulfsxBJSd4xguDQcga3pSR8vW9LUV2iTXAA4eh-B0mPVaXu3DpxEgUD27_p7dWTF17w82b8rGD4ub4U94K2fonfcJwdSilDMdvRZQ119acuaXh6HsXGxyUFux9bHYEuQWxs2xk_OMh9tGvc_G4m8VoSn2HDh_1a0BODtTqW1ZtYc" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRYTGlUO_uSySIulfsxBJSd4xguDQcga3pSR8vW9LUV2iTXAA4eh-B0mPVaXu3DpxEgUD27_p7dWTF17w82b8rGD4ub4U94K2fonfcJwdSilDMdvRZQ119acuaXh6HsXGxyUFux9bHYEuQWxs2xk_OMh9tGvc_G4m8VoSn2HDh_1a0BODtTqW1ZtYc=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinZ3lCXSHwgGl0yxPLG_o7AoovLY8YYhirxBqnaK6T2uPV9vJpD2d_OG0d1L2xS4DQJ5efTnkUFsGcJQcINPLEntztDj3eTm-apfNuVFQFrfTJ9UyVX1sx555cf0MgemT16qlGwsU-p4lPLOm6769G6My_9Rh7-1Fj2a4OeE_0rlSx30cqj8DgqZJD" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="851" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinZ3lCXSHwgGl0yxPLG_o7AoovLY8YYhirxBqnaK6T2uPV9vJpD2d_OG0d1L2xS4DQJ5efTnkUFsGcJQcINPLEntztDj3eTm-apfNuVFQFrfTJ9UyVX1sx555cf0MgemT16qlGwsU-p4lPLOm6769G6My_9Rh7-1Fj2a4OeE_0rlSx30cqj8DgqZJD=w200-h161" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;">The small framing crew (just two men) made quick work of the garage. The 16-inch-deep engineered floor joists over the garage were delivered by a crane truck and set on the garage walls. This made things a lot easier on the framers, as they didn't have to carry the beams up there. All they had to do was space them out and nail a floor onto them. All the plywood subfloors in the house are 1-1/8" tongue-and-groove plywood. This is much more substantial and solid-feeling than the usual 3/4-inch plywood used in most homes these days.</div></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXOU2Hm-MWxJ7leFpR0iz0I_aug5u6aAxOLWTVsu3coKyelSg4iTrKG7nNMNhAbffQRWFBlFE04SSfXhjQyHey1f13wuoEj1Mc3RtRaeEu1aPvQch-nevJ8EQp3nX7f_fxZiOdecDklcIJo2AFo83asS4bsZ0WJMqmyCSHf40DeIJ8jeDE2zPR4G5F" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="717" data-original-width="955" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXOU2Hm-MWxJ7leFpR0iz0I_aug5u6aAxOLWTVsu3coKyelSg4iTrKG7nNMNhAbffQRWFBlFE04SSfXhjQyHey1f13wuoEj1Mc3RtRaeEu1aPvQch-nevJ8EQp3nX7f_fxZiOdecDklcIJo2AFo83asS4bsZ0WJMqmyCSHf40DeIJ8jeDE2zPR4G5F=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">After the basement waterproofing was done, we could finally start filling in around it with gravel. It took a lot of truckloads, but gravel is fairly cheap. This was an exciting time for me - I could finally see the driveway and garage entrances taking shape. I designed the garage as a drive-through, with two garage doors at each end. With the looping driveway, you can either drive through the garage or around it - there's no need to ever back up!</div></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdsffwAr0YQ204lSbOBtERr16JoHdsozO6rmwkPBugcCDLa9VF5g2Pu75lstFdHZN5x-9wFMIdhVkssIxr9-S7hmAnAKkjTGJoV0Q88yAGU2RLFeffP0vl0__iMSp2UnfdTVzdVs0bpzBxSSXCMKsRXqnNkxf-JmmADlUT0nEwFfG8q3OXAtEU4t23/s800/Backfill4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdsffwAr0YQ204lSbOBtERr16JoHdsozO6rmwkPBugcCDLa9VF5g2Pu75lstFdHZN5x-9wFMIdhVkssIxr9-S7hmAnAKkjTGJoV0Q88yAGU2RLFeffP0vl0__iMSp2UnfdTVzdVs0bpzBxSSXCMKsRXqnNkxf-JmmADlUT0nEwFfG8q3OXAtEU4t23/s320/Backfill4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My truck is in the garage for the first time!</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><span style="font-size: large;">As it turned out, the garage was the only part of the house to be framed-in in 2008. The extra cost of the foundations had finally caught up with us and we were out of money. So, we had to shut down construction for a year.</span><br />
<div></div>JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-69811139130960290412011-01-21T00:19:00.017-08:002022-11-30T12:26:06.886-08:0010. Well and Septic System<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Wellpump1.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Wellpump1.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8nTSRt50fxjkpkELhvE74lAP_RHwI3wMOG-qdiIqEJao3UNxcYjCR7y-uaNExrUAsO4HC7mV7zJzV53RTRDhFrQWs2EMmUxjF_F4UPYcaqugD2Fiwp8bIzCx_DhgzhEzQI1snOJEFWYfdje4T7uSZZpOBXLRX4z--hmKSaPSejt09AkVvfy3mC6z4" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="975" data-original-width="732" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8nTSRt50fxjkpkELhvE74lAP_RHwI3wMOG-qdiIqEJao3UNxcYjCR7y-uaNExrUAsO4HC7mV7zJzV53RTRDhFrQWs2EMmUxjF_F4UPYcaqugD2Fiwp8bIzCx_DhgzhEzQI1snOJEFWYfdje4T7uSZZpOBXLRX4z--hmKSaPSejt09AkVvfy3mC6z4=w150-h200" width="150" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">There is no public water service to my lot, so we had to dig a well. The neighbors on both sides of our lot were always bragging about how their wells were only 150-180 feet deep, and produced over 100 gallons-per-minute. Naturally, I figured that if my well were halfway between theirs, surely I'd be in the same aquifer. I picked my spot and contacted a well-drilling company. When the contractor arrived with his rig, he said that my chosen location was a bit too far up the hill, and suggested a lower spot which would make it easier to get his truck into position. So they set up and started drilling. All morning. 200 feet, 300 feet. 400, 500, 600, 700 feet. Mid-afternoon, the contractor said he was sorry, but it looked like that site just wasn't going to produce anything. He felt bad that he didn't use the site that I had originally chosen. We agreed that if we didn't hit water by 800 feet, we'd try a different location. (Of course, I'd still be charged for the dry hole.) But we didn't have to, as about 50 feet later we had a gusher. It pegged the flow meter at 100 gallons per minute, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Wellpump2.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Wellpump2.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhATMpg5qwh99RE0mtks0oFzMbBLBHEQBwEDp22ZT4fpJrJ_ktJF1lM8zvCcPhDGLfL28CoWrgVlvcBoTNEnQxvmIVrXvgnnuQ-InEv2wK1ZNfprqB_8FVa-K8bDSCvZLYjCNmZUMHBm2eBbgPL1eO7yenmhVL8c_dBVj16woHXG2tekTsXzt0rXg-H" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhATMpg5qwh99RE0mtks0oFzMbBLBHEQBwEDp22ZT4fpJrJ_ktJF1lM8zvCcPhDGLfL28CoWrgVlvcBoTNEnQxvmIVrXvgnnuQ-InEv2wK1ZNfprqB_8FVa-K8bDSCvZLYjCNmZUMHBm2eBbgPL1eO7yenmhVL8c_dBVj16woHXG2tekTsXzt0rXg-H=w150-h200" width="150" /></a><p>For those who aren't familiar with wells (as I wasn't), a well is known as <em>artesian</em> if water constantly flows out of it without being pumped. That's what we thought we had at first. It's not really an ideal situation, because the constantly seeping water makes a permanent swamp around the well-head. But after a few hours our water level settled down to about 14 inches below the surface, which was perfect, according to the contractor. We capped it off for the time-being.</p></div></span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDnZQCYAf22hYh3uk5kcK0WCVZ62n57l3HuxUj5Pt9vJyJuDxLQyFEcpcbjvbBQIsRGj0CUOnXsGR93Egqyhb3waXgyF-rRQEc4nIDrFQkB79xielerCHIXaghqiA_knmjWp5Ha-KvVsZ6EDUBzRRwpjp1suc_0cJaoT30PhF4HF9gQNVEoc4J-0Uo" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDnZQCYAf22hYh3uk5kcK0WCVZ62n57l3HuxUj5Pt9vJyJuDxLQyFEcpcbjvbBQIsRGj0CUOnXsGR93Egqyhb3waXgyF-rRQEc4nIDrFQkB79xielerCHIXaghqiA_knmjWp5Ha-KvVsZ6EDUBzRRwpjp1suc_0cJaoT30PhF4HF9gQNVEoc4J-0Uo=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div>About a year later I had a pump put in, a monster 5-horsepower variable-speed job. A year after that, I hooked electricity up to it for the first time, and started pumping water. At first the water had an overpowering sulfur smell, which diminished to merely unpleasant after flowing for a few hours. I've been told by water-quality experts that I can get pure, odor-free water from the well, but I'll need a powerful filtration system. Great, more unforeseen expense.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_go3OD-73D4UrVBYpG2L9UqCNqHw1zHDjiL5vyzwXsh0gGBh4sZOmC-o9LQhDzx3Y4mgXckLT4EN5wEv3KMMvezBRYMM8MTpgrVuTXHeB859mQ9i30_qDkH6O5v7nqBQRwiWTf6F7d3_1PZqI58d3vVTgXI-RMiFblKy-gHpo6tEByD3VuGj_Eag7" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="922" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_go3OD-73D4UrVBYpG2L9UqCNqHw1zHDjiL5vyzwXsh0gGBh4sZOmC-o9LQhDzx3Y4mgXckLT4EN5wEv3KMMvezBRYMM8MTpgrVuTXHeB859mQ9i30_qDkH6O5v7nqBQRwiWTf6F7d3_1PZqI58d3vVTgXI-RMiFblKy-gHpo6tEByD3VuGj_Eag7=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sand filter, before burial.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then there was the septic system. Once again, I hired a well-known local contractor, who proceeded to install a rather complex system. This consisted of two 1000-gallon concrete tanks, a pump, a sand-filter area, and a leach field. There were various delays, so this took a few months to complete. Eventually, everything was installed and buried. Except for the inlet opening into the first tank and a couple of plastic manhole covers, you'd never know it was even there. All that was needed was a quick inspection before I could make the connection to the house.</span></div></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well, nothing is ever <em>that</em> easy. The inspector found that the inlet into the first tank was about 2" <em>higher</em> than the sewer outlet from the house. We all know what doesn't flow uphill, so there were two options. First, we could do some major excavation, removing both giant tanks, dig the holes a little deeper, and re-bury the tanks. The contractor was barely getting by as it was, and that kind of effort and expense would have probably driven him out of business. I just couldn't do it to him.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/FoundationHole1.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaK3n0bPfNx0aNdhstMkXpZ5yeS0Ndr5fOU6fBW2IyOWeLXvoQEuCJfEFTlMfIp4kQ3HfqyqYapEBjvK86e8JRjzzHvrVLQFQfppK61igPSQRJAsogMa0BcyoEqgbJ9k_LK0wasxwQckCbpzLO4lBIJOV_4PnX8Mg1QN_K3jGnIOdCOkCDaXs3F9fM" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="922" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaK3n0bPfNx0aNdhstMkXpZ5yeS0Ndr5fOU6fBW2IyOWeLXvoQEuCJfEFTlMfIp4kQ3HfqyqYapEBjvK86e8JRjzzHvrVLQFQfppK61igPSQRJAsogMa0BcyoEqgbJ9k_LK0wasxwQckCbpzLO4lBIJOV_4PnX8Mg1QN_K3jGnIOdCOkCDaXs3F9fM=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div>The only other option was to chip out the foundation wall to expose the sewer line, rework the pipe to exit the house about 6" higher, and pour new concrete around it. So that's what I did. It took a couple of weeks to jack-hammer a hole big enough to work in, cut and re-route the sewer lines (There turned out to be two of them), and repair all the damage to the concrete wall. I managed to do it without cutting any of the horizontal foundation rebar, but working through those little holes felt like building a ship in a bottle. </div></span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/FoundationHole2.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/FoundationHole2.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuuv-b9ErIdn_f4eUdyqgFQMBBHeZqEhs05ZOjwPom1s7U2NBg3Jv7ZWmieNIX08fWSuE17qJALextLfuEGMOvFI6Et4mhfG7wS9RcHsmgraD6Hn4B_rAj-iqyO-RA5valXlS5baS3e7YfBWDMWVpXID1Yq5Q72g3HNCDzISg7K3QoWW6WmhAq6eVg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="691" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuuv-b9ErIdn_f4eUdyqgFQMBBHeZqEhs05ZOjwPom1s7U2NBg3Jv7ZWmieNIX08fWSuE17qJALextLfuEGMOvFI6Et4mhfG7wS9RcHsmgraD6Hn4B_rAj-iqyO-RA5valXlS5baS3e7YfBWDMWVpXID1Yq5Q72g3HNCDzISg7K3QoWW6WmhAq6eVg=w240-h320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">The new angle of the line from the house to the septic tank inlet is more than adequate to allow normal flow. It was a lot of effort, but everything is working fine now.</div></span></div>JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-15400334486802871402011-01-20T00:08:00.024-08:002022-11-30T13:42:49.835-08:0011. Removing the Braces<div class="separator" style="border: currentcolor; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Maze.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Maze.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjjh8lqdtSIChQN9X-_3zC3yC-yLRNFUenB-iTxX8ay6dVb3wuCJ0IQi1LRIhIxRHqw8DBl3vcnWrcf9dsHrPv_h5e7nBu3qbHqMNfWe-3jSsHmUVP_N86HNV1xI0agT1yhd49W1qS6YsWSoqda3V6ZS33Dg_u9YKooDGlHxouXv8IsofQXWLAkPPEO" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="922" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjjh8lqdtSIChQN9X-_3zC3yC-yLRNFUenB-iTxX8ay6dVb3wuCJ0IQi1LRIhIxRHqw8DBl3vcnWrcf9dsHrPv_h5e7nBu3qbHqMNfWe-3jSsHmUVP_N86HNV1xI0agT1yhd49W1qS6YsWSoqda3V6ZS33Dg_u9YKooDGlHxouXv8IsofQXWLAkPPEO=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div><br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">After the slabs over the basement had cured for about 60 days, it was time to remove all the bracing that had been holding them up. The entire basement was a dense maze, which you could barely crawl through.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><div style="border: currentcolor;"><div style="border: currentcolor;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhn5lAJrr8_-7JqEZyPT-0yQrufc6bK8v_MKCBdrMRanPz_fNLb-rd2b1RqqmLedw1fFcc1vs0SUP7BW3FSO2JL7MclC980w5Jr__TfK6PXlbSekn4fbIfOrmkoXwEgqoobn6eDMIdRJ7wQvqeFDfOqGkxRHF_sncLexSBuW5hg-pEvdKr2CQbVpDYl" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="922" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhn5lAJrr8_-7JqEZyPT-0yQrufc6bK8v_MKCBdrMRanPz_fNLb-rd2b1RqqmLedw1fFcc1vs0SUP7BW3FSO2JL7MclC980w5Jr__TfK6PXlbSekn4fbIfOrmkoXwEgqoobn6eDMIdRJ7wQvqeFDfOqGkxRHF_sncLexSBuW5hg-pEvdKr2CQbVpDYl=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="border: currentcolor;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhugQRZy0-hYGWhDP-g-odE6Ibcs2CfKnmIx8du-2jBBxvnD7Vd6QvicshckcjFan8_WrgZvY_Yo3cthJgFKe7s459UNW3OaE4CXRAEgNl9ADmLU8lH1z08SKItFJv2uwOzPYIGM4xjU65fi9fgQB4qc2P84u2UsFs5R4Fa-43tQuozpc6ut3QabYYl" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="598" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhugQRZy0-hYGWhDP-g-odE6Ibcs2CfKnmIx8du-2jBBxvnD7Vd6QvicshckcjFan8_WrgZvY_Yo3cthJgFKe7s459UNW3OaE4CXRAEgNl9ADmLU8lH1z08SKItFJv2uwOzPYIGM4xjU65fi9fgQB4qc2P84u2UsFs5R4Fa-43tQuozpc6ut3QabYYl=w200-h150" width="200" /></a><span style="text-align: justify;">Luckily, my daughter was home from college and available to help dismantle the bracing. With walls every two feet, this was really a tremendous amount of lumber, and took over a month to remove. Everything was fastened together with screws. We stacked the best of the boards for later use, and hauled the rest to BioMass, a local electrical plant that burns scrap lumber in a state-of-the-art furnace to make clean electricity.</span></div><div style="border: currentcolor;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div style="border: currentcolor;"><br /></div></span></div></div>
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<a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/ClearingTheater1.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/ClearingTheater1.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh5_FRva6sKtqSDE8BnRXXX0_dHdMN8exuMBbADHjg1go52K_S0Bq7Bp94WkGPKRSrRAvkdXmV1oJge_4jrAid5A4cErlAbkpjfgSCNeH3_S3fSnacAYPkjRshP2KsjjCXJWbldXriwiHRwg0RkOmyvXYqlt7j2bixIyHIKvEe1avesA7XbreRovKLS" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="922" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh5_FRva6sKtqSDE8BnRXXX0_dHdMN8exuMBbADHjg1go52K_S0Bq7Bp94WkGPKRSrRAvkdXmV1oJge_4jrAid5A4cErlAbkpjfgSCNeH3_S3fSnacAYPkjRshP2KsjjCXJWbldXriwiHRwg0RkOmyvXYqlt7j2bixIyHIKvEe1avesA7XbreRovKLS=w200-h150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPqzk9yr6f9U6rlzsONldM4xHiuFkMzXGhcdXdO2M_Irjxaq0r7WfUphJRlELkEucR5pJE1K9lOkcVpK_RB97vB_Pa0ilQs7-FkuduAnyVmibDJxoao2Cmyp_dBaRVY9-okBqhA9wQGbYYhhqNH73ySIdwioFuCK5-WndoEYZ8f4yoDlBILXaYzFTj" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="794" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPqzk9yr6f9U6rlzsONldM4xHiuFkMzXGhcdXdO2M_Irjxaq0r7WfUphJRlELkEucR5pJE1K9lOkcVpK_RB97vB_Pa0ilQs7-FkuduAnyVmibDJxoao2Cmyp_dBaRVY9-okBqhA9wQGbYYhhqNH73ySIdwioFuCK5-WndoEYZ8f4yoDlBILXaYzFTj=w200-h151" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEghv3mdJVTOwrxYi_quGmUVzSnZBy4DojwKCiIwQg9yNgVbVO5zcUtkizJ9FR4f2XccNqTCfPfKmMLG69uJE5wZZcehNPfrsFC9ACM6V3xG6udDgdS1IstCr3iXGnvD0q8t2oqxd4N9pW2toP9-WWslW_XnW0CZ0Vb2PCLYfZ40cbpfpjspXtXbj2Tw" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img alt="" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="823" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEghv3mdJVTOwrxYi_quGmUVzSnZBy4DojwKCiIwQg9yNgVbVO5zcUtkizJ9FR4f2XccNqTCfPfKmMLG69uJE5wZZcehNPfrsFC9ACM6V3xG6udDgdS1IstCr3iXGnvD0q8t2oqxd4N9pW2toP9-WWslW_XnW0CZ0Vb2PCLYfZ40cbpfpjspXtXbj2Tw=w200-h151" width="200" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>The three pictures at left were all taken from the same position before, during and after lumber removal. The carpenters had built a false floor in the theater, so that the temporary bracing walls would all be the same size. The structure of this floor consisted of 12" engineered wooden I-beams which would be used permanently later for the upper floors of the house. It was great to finally see the true dimensions of the theater. There are three heights of stadium-seating, with 24" separation of height for each section. The entrance is at the left rear, with steps running down the left side of the room. Some day this room will be outfitted in full 1930s Art Deco movie-palace style, with red velvet drapes and crystal chandelier.</div>
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<div style="border: currentcolor;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="border: currentcolor;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcodJkJaNUBDT4P-C2LEfDIl31bcVjoCzRJ3NUt6EcgYL6AfEC1V4PxBIEmXaNRq5cAESf3YBGR1rPd04pFYyXvi6ruV6IjDVXXo2xHZX8lhq5wdEBCOUAmVW_5_MK6QycpIEFrLdaUtPuTj-UIj6zj-a7_X9l1zAj9XoOXnJNwq0nozAe_FsW2MO3" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="922" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcodJkJaNUBDT4P-C2LEfDIl31bcVjoCzRJ3NUt6EcgYL6AfEC1V4PxBIEmXaNRq5cAESf3YBGR1rPd04pFYyXvi6ruV6IjDVXXo2xHZX8lhq5wdEBCOUAmVW_5_MK6QycpIEFrLdaUtPuTj-UIj6zj-a7_X9l1zAj9XoOXnJNwq0nozAe_FsW2MO3=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div>Here's the view from the opposite direction once all the debris was hosed out, looking towards the back of the theater. It's designed for 17 seats, plus (maybe) a balcony on the right side with two smaller seats.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div></span></div>
<div style="border: currentcolor;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentcolor; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaTYUhjJXj9A2OIbX_2iylFGuAhE_EpBxn0QB3M7LY3-hXrBrW6QpBzzvqyXVTerNg6VvKYpmbvcqal_cCfepLfCGBHhU-F9VlMzQbyg-UoTewPZUKTgssogV4p06f4CurVEDvjOCouDcPNTMB1AaWopO-9kbYbC5XjIY_SsQyW60qGAXysOhMV8yX" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="1229" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaTYUhjJXj9A2OIbX_2iylFGuAhE_EpBxn0QB3M7LY3-hXrBrW6QpBzzvqyXVTerNg6VvKYpmbvcqal_cCfepLfCGBHhU-F9VlMzQbyg-UoTewPZUKTgssogV4p06f4CurVEDvjOCouDcPNTMB1AaWopO-9kbYbC5XjIY_SsQyW60qGAXysOhMV8yX=w302-h227" width="302" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="902" data-original-width="1203" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg66UCJw3WOX8J9bnXY1jnGgGbWemHNw4Ggaok2qMP1_zwYYirHRriIZI3F9fBdtYeIrCDr0cLfXcv3n23gpeOxfxcajdlkYDeJp7IgREa9WYQ8IYNN8vKXewveiI8wig1MTcUkidhyv4xYqzLCuEzbMBI328xKK4Mk_ry4OpEzSfMbukuSI1s16qo7=w303-h227" width="303" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The main part of the basement is the game room. This will contain a pool table, air-hockey board, foosball table, dart board, card table, area for board games, ice-cream bar, and more. The game room will be outfitted in Jules-Verne style, like the interior of the Nautilus from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". There's even an underwater window. This Victorian-mechanical motif is becoming popular, and even has its own name - "Steam Punk".</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div></div></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRtSu9DmkLPqzMFtnpDGtYyCu8ONEQ2tMj_tpq7JQTOfJJbMmBWXi0C6Im_fR55QZHasqg01X6Xw262TsTptRR3cFJxXRjiyPv9ByVEJyjOsoujasuVqHC8Cc5SDBhbjltLA4K_oLIA9AOwzQolhCLvzsi7eRzS-0NuRlQyaAuUHLlrrOhRsNHTwlf" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="983" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRtSu9DmkLPqzMFtnpDGtYyCu8ONEQ2tMj_tpq7JQTOfJJbMmBWXi0C6Im_fR55QZHasqg01X6Xw262TsTptRR3cFJxXRjiyPv9ByVEJyjOsoujasuVqHC8Cc5SDBhbjltLA4K_oLIA9AOwzQolhCLvzsi7eRzS-0NuRlQyaAuUHLlrrOhRsNHTwlf=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the underwater window that will someday look into the deep end of the pool (If my wife lets me build a pool!)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />
<a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/ClearingTheater3.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span><br /></div>
JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-28097020084996063722011-01-14T08:40:00.011-08:002022-11-30T16:53:59.735-08:0012. Prefab Walls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhBTSbgZUoK8ShTFYjryPRflqYdVSPgDQwo3tnKG4RK2udoXDvfMf1oqcsGmaX1PkgT4Ip4feam0XChHep75L3K3wQ5uBnc8Q0FElnNxiUoQy9CY7VOOvxBPRDw01qbcXsGXuHC98uEXGXb_sv5aCAIejDiiTZLii4ltThgMjLXPzlE_olLXEge0XMJ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="1229" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhBTSbgZUoK8ShTFYjryPRflqYdVSPgDQwo3tnKG4RK2udoXDvfMf1oqcsGmaX1PkgT4Ip4feam0XChHep75L3K3wQ5uBnc8Q0FElnNxiUoQy9CY7VOOvxBPRDw01qbcXsGXuHC98uEXGXb_sv5aCAIejDiiTZLii4ltThgMjLXPzlE_olLXEge0XMJ" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Construction on the house was dormant for nearly a year due to lack of money, but in 2009 we sold our other house and had a little equity to begin work again. The basement was in, as well as the main floor slab, so the next order of business was to start framing the walls. After pricing stick-built construction, I decided to go with pre-fab walls. A local company called <a href="http://www.pacificwallsystems.com/">Pacific Wall Systems</a> had established a very good reputation for providing high quality walls for less than I would have paid for the lumber alone.</span><span style="text-align: left;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiUwEjWCuGOGu91ay9P_-lfTjEcDtrbimTDy0f9iLd1rjmDqeBXkfDIJYiniCa5SiNYDa4npCN5-FjNZULcJxDWp3Zd3oso-AkX60i5k5lkK5JuOWBJnXVqxgKIMfLcxWw6do7GfU8iGOPkC-008nlS1IcEbFYRY3qIbmE8AIXnkc24brVxDAZh8W_s" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="208" data-original-width="350" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiUwEjWCuGOGu91ay9P_-lfTjEcDtrbimTDy0f9iLd1rjmDqeBXkfDIJYiniCa5SiNYDa4npCN5-FjNZULcJxDWp3Zd3oso-AkX60i5k5lkK5JuOWBJnXVqxgKIMfLcxWw6do7GfU8iGOPkC-008nlS1IcEbFYRY3qIbmE8AIXnkc24brVxDAZh8W_s" width="320" /></a><span style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;">A framing crew would still be necessary, but only to place the walls and fasten them together at the edges. Pacific Wall Systems would put me in touch with a crew, and also coordinate the building of roof trusses. I gave them a set of plans and lent them the balsa-wood model of the house. Within a few days, they had the plans entered into their computer and were ready to start making walls. Their operation is extremely precise, with laser-line guides projected onto the work tables, and everything is cut by computer.</div></span></div></span></div>
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/SteelFrames1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/SteelFrames1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirduKqo3MN-vmPTtaoQ0nBx1xA9VR5eCg_dua4w2xuLbDu-xomAGjRVjCVelqMWiGJnYsG0Gxv2cWEG6ETVZJ053z-wrcKjQMBU1Zo5qjkdtTDXIb3NmM3WVG6TspUAte3kvvFaAkn23ifx9WwqX30xUjMcIuUlR3vpzHPSlat6WILPgHz9mHqKnbk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="2160" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirduKqo3MN-vmPTtaoQ0nBx1xA9VR5eCg_dua4w2xuLbDu-xomAGjRVjCVelqMWiGJnYsG0Gxv2cWEG6ETVZJ053z-wrcKjQMBU1Zo5qjkdtTDXIb3NmM3WVG6TspUAte3kvvFaAkn23ifx9WwqX30xUjMcIuUlR3vpzHPSlat6WILPgHz9mHqKnbk=w400-h106" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">With the walls being built off-site, it was time to install the large steel frames which were needed to stiffen the window areas of the dining room and library.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgklaeXf8n-e194lmzBHgoZvh4IRaDqnCNM9e7_WmzTHwsO-3zPwZ4ExszgYLxgJ65z6Z87QZ6gOtOuyhdOAp0urLqOqiubNPVuPi4PSLJToKBm4Ev6Z-5T4NWxJYPRL40DLH0yjnI_uDBM2Ur_YtOcsW8jyxqcNnE6W-WIKOc0lSh0vC-3RgkF74Jn" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="900" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgklaeXf8n-e194lmzBHgoZvh4IRaDqnCNM9e7_WmzTHwsO-3zPwZ4ExszgYLxgJ65z6Z87QZ6gOtOuyhdOAp0urLqOqiubNPVuPi4PSLJToKBm4Ev6Z-5T4NWxJYPRL40DLH0yjnI_uDBM2Ur_YtOcsW8jyxqcNnE6W-WIKOc0lSh0vC-3RgkF74Jn=w320-h240" width="320" /></a></div><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/SteelFrames3.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTiMU8AptEmL-9dPrg_dQWzUt-i067jj3_5yBcCvn28qPHpNp9r1XNP8BkJD37ZVfEm4KtZpOP7wthBJlHFzVgEr7pqB5e-8uhiMN0wWMn0jZafULkcG7XttJpoug9LoSousAKvFDjdMXtFKuzNsFLRpsPE3GXF_6NUGr76Eonzkm2tvC9CK1HhTtB" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="860" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTiMU8AptEmL-9dPrg_dQWzUt-i067jj3_5yBcCvn28qPHpNp9r1XNP8BkJD37ZVfEm4KtZpOP7wthBJlHFzVgEr7pqB5e-8uhiMN0wWMn0jZafULkcG7XttJpoug9LoSousAKvFDjdMXtFKuzNsFLRpsPE3GXF_6NUGr76Eonzkm2tvC9CK1HhTtB=w320-h240" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/SteelFrames3.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">These are called <em>moment frames</em> and are engineered to allow the house to withstand hurricane-force wind loads and earthquakes. (Neither of which have ever been much of a problem around here.) The frames had already been built by a local fabricator, so we just had to crane them into place and try to get the floor bolts to line up. It took a little work with a cutting torch, but we got them installed. With a wall-thickness of 3/4-inch, these things are HEAVY! </span><span style="font-size: large;">The frames were temporarily braced with 2x4s until they could be welded together a few weeks later.</span></div></span>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Walls1.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Walls1.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9LZiKJyy51_Y4BOlV9chAns9ah3s7pWUOwARTLci5OtJs_kWnit7pgeOl_aHpmoIGPZ8dRA75s_gvCBw_E83qbtkBJOyyBBvibcRBDmhRjPL_z9_4uu44alypl7NMtRMG2SwCwm6hco5obyzkESQC1ChSLSBG9PGzgczjF90movE0RuGKHAjYUh1C" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1025" data-original-width="911" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9LZiKJyy51_Y4BOlV9chAns9ah3s7pWUOwARTLci5OtJs_kWnit7pgeOl_aHpmoIGPZ8dRA75s_gvCBw_E83qbtkBJOyyBBvibcRBDmhRjPL_z9_4uu44alypl7NMtRMG2SwCwm6hco5obyzkESQC1ChSLSBG9PGzgczjF90movE0RuGKHAjYUh1C=w178-h200" width="178" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Within a couple of weeks, Pacific Wall Systems had the first-floor walls done and trucked them out to the lot on a large flatbed. Then a crane truck lifted each section into place while the framing crew drilled holes for the foundation bolts to slip through, and nailed the walls edge-to-edge.</div></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjnRgFHfernosrp1mAavwSRqrIhzDNgUBXrytKD1rZYsi-vP-3vwSdyghVPeyH7C2lA_CQU6cn9p43KpMHv-ryDMTOhbsCxrn6wtWSe2YcDfbtM8sArcba2H-NTLmG-P3v9zdajH40FuZGGWYsNpDcNn4zKRpEWvC8ww4LsGI0ps2d0PvXmLYYjLU2" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="922" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjnRgFHfernosrp1mAavwSRqrIhzDNgUBXrytKD1rZYsi-vP-3vwSdyghVPeyH7C2lA_CQU6cn9p43KpMHv-ryDMTOhbsCxrn6wtWSe2YcDfbtM8sArcba2H-NTLmG-P3v9zdajH40FuZGGWYsNpDcNn4zKRpEWvC8ww4LsGI0ps2d0PvXmLYYjLU2=w320-h240" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8ftNl2_j_ZqtyNT9Mxm1ecqXzqLG-103FkuqSvTF-_TMAnO_kYs6HcfX4DX2RxEk7JitlZ58x-0apTnrOF7ySEx9mLlcd5QcJdYhHJv_tBV65XrPlq1kfz5FbCTHvosL77voIXFtQfUmx0w7qvfxXpgkqROy74aBQ2U1UolermlL1udhdm96HXQKO" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="922" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8ftNl2_j_ZqtyNT9Mxm1ecqXzqLG-103FkuqSvTF-_TMAnO_kYs6HcfX4DX2RxEk7JitlZ58x-0apTnrOF7ySEx9mLlcd5QcJdYhHJv_tBV65XrPlq1kfz5FbCTHvosL77voIXFtQfUmx0w7qvfxXpgkqROy74aBQ2U1UolermlL1udhdm96HXQKO=w320-h240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Usually, the truckload will contain all the walls needed for that level of the house, which can be finished in one day. But, because of the size and complexity of this place (there is only one rectangular room in the house), the crane operator quickly got ahead of the framing crew. A lot of the foundation bolts happened to come up right in the middle of a stud, so there was some custom-cutting. Since we wouldn't have the crane for a second day, we ended up just stacking most of the walls as near as possible to their final destinations.</div></span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhphH0U0qa9BN46zsTSpsd40IqYZJy5uoG6Z-PROhzrwQTpj8wlZYvzhjtZCrZG_WaLkTO7L-w1ltWHBO3Jzf1iL_voqTBhJnTFjR6uCKx80ZLNgrRiRuy3txN2-m6N4yrAPoy6fjd0lK_5vifixbz0xliFuGFjVFfqplVJy-14BkrLxMAphkhb-0lt" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="983" data-original-width="737" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhphH0U0qa9BN46zsTSpsd40IqYZJy5uoG6Z-PROhzrwQTpj8wlZYvzhjtZCrZG_WaLkTO7L-w1ltWHBO3Jzf1iL_voqTBhJnTFjR6uCKx80ZLNgrRiRuy3txN2-m6N4yrAPoy6fjd0lK_5vifixbz0xliFuGFjVFfqplVJy-14BkrLxMAphkhb-0lt=w300-h400" width="300" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">The smaller walls could be tilted up and fastened in place by hand. Luckily, the framing contractor had a telescoping forklift, which we were able to use as a makeshift crane to lift the larger wall sections. The framing crew would put in 6 or 7 wall sections per day, then I'd put in another couple after they went home. In about a week, the first-floor walls were up.</span></div></div></div>JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-29404609212789159172011-01-13T11:47:00.015-08:002022-11-30T22:41:51.801-08:0013. Top Floor<a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/FloorJoist.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/FloorJoist.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div></span><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmXDDF6KJnKzhW-CEwRlF8V39B4-wVPy0vgqba7B9MVguWO6P0wDrKVa-r6PreNdsatSKpJKY4x0TIILRVp51UsUqygIuP3TXA7Zed-eFoKW0OkL_13fhREAuV91RPtNAAbb5CQeZEKnGkuH6zhUdiX8Z9KXhpsYCocV7jj0Ax1ESEASqhZ421DARv" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmXDDF6KJnKzhW-CEwRlF8V39B4-wVPy0vgqba7B9MVguWO6P0wDrKVa-r6PreNdsatSKpJKY4x0TIILRVp51UsUqygIuP3TXA7Zed-eFoKW0OkL_13fhREAuV91RPtNAAbb5CQeZEKnGkuH6zhUdiX8Z9KXhpsYCocV7jj0Ax1ESEASqhZ421DARv=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7uFr_CgbULRQq0GSULDfWOSJMvwTXAUn73poQ4nTk94K0LFggDJCanhl-swcJ46FYZr9bmXTw0TJHhoIanVBTWAc2q-m6ES0HpAv0b1BGKlg1d8dP5ez3SzrjSJJHgwOQ7QR1ngZiIZc8fV5yUl6BOtJAn66ibmLQxN2qnqX8eoJn63cYTTQkimjK" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7uFr_CgbULRQq0GSULDfWOSJMvwTXAUn73poQ4nTk94K0LFggDJCanhl-swcJ46FYZr9bmXTw0TJHhoIanVBTWAc2q-m6ES0HpAv0b1BGKlg1d8dP5ez3SzrjSJJHgwOQ7QR1ngZiIZc8fV5yUl6BOtJAn66ibmLQxN2qnqX8eoJn63cYTTQkimjK=w200-h150" width="200" /></a>With the walls for the main floor in place, the framing crew started on the top level. The floor itself was simple - floor joists were laid across the top of the walls, and sheets of plywood nailed down on top. I don't like springy, squeaky floors, so I spent a little extra money and used 1-1/8-inch SturdyFloor plywood instead of the flimsy 3/4-inch sheets that are commonly used these days. Adhesive was also applied between the joists and plywood to further eliminate squeaking.</div></span><div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Framing1.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Framing1.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgwPO8KBkmDuWNzGT_mrqeQlJHLW3fne0--F2irimpl_KX694SeL7tUKJBYOzoaAonzyEDY5kCxKzXlaIyfZl5__I4McgzxhzumqeFQfAY9gUd3me2BhuUpKC9NpBntLksPO-p_JvchdX4lm7pCoTyl2p2pgfGSZB838eWysgf3UQhQzDOeubxuVOPK" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgwPO8KBkmDuWNzGT_mrqeQlJHLW3fne0--F2irimpl_KX694SeL7tUKJBYOzoaAonzyEDY5kCxKzXlaIyfZl5__I4McgzxhzumqeFQfAY9gUd3me2BhuUpKC9NpBntLksPO-p_JvchdX4lm7pCoTyl2p2pgfGSZB838eWysgf3UQhQzDOeubxuVOPK=w150-h200" width="150" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">The upper set of pre-fab walls were craned in and stacked on the deck. Most of these were plain stud walls with no sheathing, so they were quite a bit lighter than their lower-floor counterparts. This meant that they could usually be tilted up into place by two or three men, so installation only took a few days. There were also several walls that had to be hand-built on the site.</div></span><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Framing2.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Framing2.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-y22MwBv4c952s0seZmkrTwNvX9bXdZ8os-OwzCSjt5s1_RkQYqhYhpl7dqDiSJe8xSm8GBBJMjfFydy3GODCsGRLoCzvTemyUJOLGkxEmMjBvb8YYvfvmY4rADbQinQ3y0bjdRYnyL7npA8e7dS3p06djH2N58ZAQKr47iw4uwaAn6T5Mp4-Idey" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-y22MwBv4c952s0seZmkrTwNvX9bXdZ8os-OwzCSjt5s1_RkQYqhYhpl7dqDiSJe8xSm8GBBJMjfFydy3GODCsGRLoCzvTemyUJOLGkxEmMjBvb8YYvfvmY4rADbQinQ3y0bjdRYnyL7npA8e7dS3p06djH2N58ZAQKr47iw4uwaAn6T5Mp4-Idey=w150-h200" width="150" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">As the walls went up, the pre-fab roof trusses for each section were placed on top of them in groups. These would then be moved by hand to their proper spacing and nailed or bolted in place. Almost immediately, another part of the framing crew would start nailing the roof sheathing onto that section. This locked the trusses in place and stiffened up the whole structure.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiUemzj6IVNTqITvfzojFVIwZQC3FOQmle_fR2DTJin8Ep--xoL7Pd09Ms7qCQHBRwUjRaWJnfnx4lWBJPrbsyBY0qkm_oxHsCNwGxHaGeoTLCMnFUF2vcVXmNkpZBENESYubYBzh3404Y1IE_8AdrGqir1iyNQC_WDFKP3BgssXI8cCbGDaXhUWfoB" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiUemzj6IVNTqITvfzojFVIwZQC3FOQmle_fR2DTJin8Ep--xoL7Pd09Ms7qCQHBRwUjRaWJnfnx4lWBJPrbsyBY0qkm_oxHsCNwGxHaGeoTLCMnFUF2vcVXmNkpZBENESYubYBzh3404Y1IE_8AdrGqir1iyNQC_WDFKP3BgssXI8cCbGDaXhUWfoB=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: right;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhtZpZ0vyuixqCIRx3aLpRObv90YSU3aCHNp-A63mRSX2FOSqAqrCcIVUbOuuiv01HcTi3xLLpmMVmknYS2Wmw3QwUC135S6-pC_cLtYA480u0ZkT_Z3bHu5lxpyVFRp5YTOphEuDUXMCGtBgTqrzSgPIs7e7oJ0TVgf1RmJkE2oRbE4Ra6Q74ov42" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="800" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhtZpZ0vyuixqCIRx3aLpRObv90YSU3aCHNp-A63mRSX2FOSqAqrCcIVUbOuuiv01HcTi3xLLpmMVmknYS2Wmw3QwUC135S6-pC_cLtYA480u0ZkT_Z3bHu5lxpyVFRp5YTOphEuDUXMCGtBgTqrzSgPIs7e7oJ0TVgf1RmJkE2oRbE4Ra6Q74ov42=w200-h133" width="200" /></a></div>My framing contractor had talked me into using TechShield 5/8-inch roof sheathing. TechShield is a good product, which has a layer of aluminum on the underside, designed to reflect radiant energy back into the house. This is ideal if you are going to have an attic with an insulated floor, but I plan to have all the insulation in the roof itself, with a room-temperature attic. This is known as an unvented or "hot" roof, and is done by spraying expanding foam insulation between the rafters, right up against the roof sheathing. I found out later that TechShield does not recommend their product for this application, because the foam has a hard time adhering to the shiny aluminum while it's hardening. <i>Note: A few years later I had the spray-foam applied, and it seemed to adhere just fine.</i></div></span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: initial; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Framing3.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Framing3.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiTyi-oBn8Ig4_ol1XorZhyaedZK42LFvgayMfZgaZPhSTdtQfDQAH9NF8XP5y2e8owm4_z09hSstDWGmcwSg8Id-OkA_FgtKiqmlJr53NucIHhSfg9_v8lH72G7vGwdJbK8fbqutRVuAKwaDCJtSjd-P-2SDZIwOmbtwOtiDx8y5XFfanrhicDra6b" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiTyi-oBn8Ig4_ol1XorZhyaedZK42LFvgayMfZgaZPhSTdtQfDQAH9NF8XP5y2e8owm4_z09hSstDWGmcwSg8Id-OkA_FgtKiqmlJr53NucIHhSfg9_v8lH72G7vGwdJbK8fbqutRVuAKwaDCJtSjd-P-2SDZIwOmbtwOtiDx8y5XFfanrhicDra6b=w150-h200" width="150" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">By this time, the vaulted ceilings in the dining room, library and bedrooms were starting to look rather impressive. The framing crew was fearless, scampering across the great spans to nail on the roof sheathing. Even with safety harnesses, it was scary to watch them. Once all the exterior sheathing was installed, the house looked great - clean, fresh wood!</div></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Sheathing.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/Sheathing.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWwfIMaYgyQizIKfFNtorSUCGlRVPdCyXnqsVha46ubsCDXUdocVZDZX5h5-LMCVB0k70SBPYiQmEcsKCo8fsn9ExglAacsGOiN1datsUv6NicYzr9uOo2SG9y3MGPGBUiWwt9WCWvH2LU4WWsSoVPBuLhaOFwLmOfbyE4_1FJHmNCjf0o57fn0Cmm" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="1229" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWwfIMaYgyQizIKfFNtorSUCGlRVPdCyXnqsVha46ubsCDXUdocVZDZX5h5-LMCVB0k70SBPYiQmEcsKCo8fsn9ExglAacsGOiN1datsUv6NicYzr9uOo2SG9y3MGPGBUiWwt9WCWvH2LU4WWsSoVPBuLhaOFwLmOfbyE4_1FJHmNCjf0o57fn0Cmm=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div></div></div></div>JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-78598376767667475142011-01-12T17:08:00.000-08:002013-04-05T23:46:18.560-07:0014 - Windows<div style="border: currentColor;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-VhXAnXbdbG5koGEKc8CHWkqc2XQSZnDE-YSw0AfPWbapKspsXimtJSNA_tjWJdfOwRoBuN5T7HihZMB2loXwopjRjaqXn7Xxh3uWcFU98sV6i_1EVGUmP9p3xEiT15oXPZzgvduSl1k/s1600/Snow.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-VhXAnXbdbG5koGEKc8CHWkqc2XQSZnDE-YSw0AfPWbapKspsXimtJSNA_tjWJdfOwRoBuN5T7HihZMB2loXwopjRjaqXn7Xxh3uWcFU98sV6i_1EVGUmP9p3xEiT15oXPZzgvduSl1k/s400/Snow.JPG" unselectable="on" width="300" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">With the framing done and the sheathing on, it was time for windows. Of course, they had all been ordered months ago. I already had the basement windows, which had been built two years prior to this, so I installed them while waiting for the rest of the windows to be completed. The basement windows are Jeld-Wen, which is a company located just 60 miles away. I like to support local companies whenever possible, but the price was very high for those 9 basement windows, and the Jeld-Wen estimate for the remaining 86 windows was astronomical. So I </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">decided to go with Sierra Pacific windows, which saved me about a third on the price. The only compromise was that I couldn't get oak for the interior wood, and had to settle for fir.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kvEqgSFZNms/TverkAIzp5I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/9ZxCJHXAo5s/s1600/BasementWindow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><br /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kvEqgSFZNms/TverkAIzp5I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/9ZxCJHXAo5s/s1600/BasementWindow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kvEqgSFZNms/TverkAIzp5I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/9ZxCJHXAo5s/s200/BasementWindow.jpg" width="146" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One thing that added to the cost of the windows was the custom nature of the design. I wanted a round top for all the windows which would be set in stone walls, and octagonal tops for all those which would be set in stucco walls. Anytime you deviate from standard straight-top windows, the price goes up. Installing the basement windows was easy, since they were small and easy to reach.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F-dqoJgXtVU/TvexufKczaI/AAAAAAAAAFw/t8lqH6oATws/s1600/Window2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F-dqoJgXtVU/TvexufKczaI/AAAAAAAAAFw/t8lqH6oATws/s200/Window2.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k8CsTHiy3JQ/Tveu-p92ZiI/AAAAAAAAAFk/x8rOF340rHw/s1600/Window3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k8CsTHiy3JQ/Tveu-p92ZiI/AAAAAAAAAFk/x8rOF340rHw/s200/Window3.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k8CsTHiy3JQ/Tveu-p92ZiI/AAAAAAAAAFk/x8rOF340rHw/s1600/Window3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F-dqoJgXtVU/TvexufKczaI/AAAAAAAAAFw/t8lqH6oATws/s1600/Window2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But when the first batch of the main windows arrived, it quickly became apparent that installing some of the bigger ones was going to be a major undertaking. I got a couple of inexpensive winches, bolted them to the roof, built some temporary scaffoldings, set up a couple of ladders and <em>slowly</em> cranked the windows up into place. Working alone (as usual), this was an agonizingly slow process. I would climb up to one of the winches, give it a little crank to raise up that side of the window a couple of inches - <em>tink, tink, tink</em>. Then climb all the way to ground, cross to the other ladder, climb up to the other winch, and do the same thing - <em>tink, tink, tink</em>. For <em>hours</em>. Each of the larger windows took at least a whole day.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gWLjDksTeU0/Tvey4z6HUeI/AAAAAAAAAF8/EDAJXu76nMk/s1600/Window5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" rea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gWLjDksTeU0/Tvey4z6HUeI/AAAAAAAAAF8/EDAJXu76nMk/s320/Window5.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">These windows were very heavy because of the thick double-pane glass. The tension on the pulley straps was very high, and I was always a bit afraid that one of them might let go, swinging the window like a pendulum and hurling me off the ladder. But everything held together.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZfZ9ZhX9SMk/Tve2uCQBf0I/AAAAAAAAAGI/H2n4A5AWBZA/s1600/Boom3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZfZ9ZhX9SMk/Tve2uCQBf0I/AAAAAAAAAGI/H2n4A5AWBZA/s400/Boom3.JPG" unselectable="on" width="400" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZfZ9ZhX9SMk/Tve2uCQBf0I/AAAAAAAAAGI/H2n4A5AWBZA/s1600/Boom3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After installing a few windows this way, I decided that a boom-lift was the only way to go. Prices for renting one were in the $200-per-day range, plus the cost of trucking the thing in and out. Realizing that with the windows, roofing, stucco, etc., I was probably going to need a lift for about a year, I started looking into buying a used one. I found one on Craigslist in Bend, Oregon, about 200 miles away, and my wife and I drove there to look at it. A contractor was going out of business and had a (very) used 66-foot Condor for $9500. He was even willing to deliver it to my jobsite, so I couldn't pass it up. I figured I could use it for a year, and probably sell it for about the same price I paid, saving thousands of dollars in rental fees.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you've never been on one of these lifts, it's quite an experience. For one thing, it doesn't <em>look</em> like it could possibly extend all the way out without tipping over. The cage is supposed to hold 500 lbs, fully extended. Of course the first thing I tried was loading it up, extending it out all the way horizontally, and bouncing up and down. The base stayed firmly planted on the ground. However, the cage sways <em>a lot</em>, and I wouldn't recommend it for those prone to seasickness. The lift worked great, and suddenly I was putting in four or five windows a day, instead of just one. By attaching the windows to the outside of the cage, I could insert them into their openings with surgical precision.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fD81miQ8ZGg/Tve-YTcu6vI/AAAAAAAAAGs/7pbb0dQyrFA/s1600/Engine.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="238" rea="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fD81miQ8ZGg/Tve-YTcu6vI/AAAAAAAAAGs/7pbb0dQyrFA/s320/Engine.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The boom-lift engine in mid-repair.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After about a week the engine in the lift suddenly started making a horrible clanking noise. I thought it had thrown a rod bearing, so I took off the oilpan and checked all the bearings. Nothing wrong. I put the bottom-end back together and took off the cylinder head. There was a small bolt embedded in the top of one of the pistons. It had come out of the engine governor, and got sucked into the intake. I got the engine back together, but the governor didn't work at all, so the engine revved uncontrollably. Unable to find the exact part I needed, I found something close on eBay (evidentally a governor from a WW2 tank), and was able to adapt it. Everything worked perfectly, and the engine has been purring ever since.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HHPT43KA8Lg/TvfABLAHD_I/AAAAAAAAAG4/t4Pp1kcj0Tc/s1600/RoofHatch2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HHPT43KA8Lg/TvfABLAHD_I/AAAAAAAAAG4/t4Pp1kcj0Tc/s320/RoofHatch2.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HHPT43KA8Lg/TvfABLAHD_I/AAAAAAAAAG4/t4Pp1kcj0Tc/s1600/RoofHatch2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">About this time, I also installed a roof hatch on top of the house, which allows access from the cupola to a "Widow's Walk" over my office, a 100-sq.-ft. sun deck with an iron railing. It's the highest point on a tall house, so the view is terrific. I ordered this water-tight hatch online, and it was pretty easy to install. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oOoM8R1gCdw/TvfBE7hIK3I/AAAAAAAAAHM/INePc0pi95U/s1600/Roofladder.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oOoM8R1gCdw/TvfBE7hIK3I/AAAAAAAAAHM/INePc0pi95U/s320/Roofladder.JPG" width="239" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The access ladder was slightly more difficult. I ended up with an accordian-type unit, which folds up against a trap-door. The whole thing is counter-balanced with springs, so it hardly takes any force to raise or lower it. I got this system through Home Depot. It's only available by mail-order, but it only took a few days to arrive. Guests really enjoy climbing the ladder and popping out the "submarine hatch".</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L8-4bUGeTQ8/TvfDEaRJX3I/AAAAAAAAAHY/gzAAPBr-v20/s1600/Owl.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L8-4bUGeTQ8/TvfDEaRJX3I/AAAAAAAAAHY/gzAAPBr-v20/s320/Owl.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L8-4bUGeTQ8/TvfDEaRJX3I/AAAAAAAAAHY/gzAAPBr-v20/s1600/Owl.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For several weeks I was greeted by a large barn owl in the house when I arrived each morning. I had to spend about 20 minutes trying to show it where an open window would allow it to get out. It was very cute, but messy - not a good pet. A different one has been back lately.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After several weeks of installation, all the windows were in and looking good. With the elimination of the wind whistling through the place, I finally felt there was a difference between "inside" and "outside" the house.</span><br />
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JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-54660127124186162222011-01-11T09:39:00.000-08:002012-02-19T09:44:46.142-08:0015 - Stone Work<span style="font-size: large;">The exterior walls of the basement and towers will be faced with stone. The rest of the house will be smooth stucco. Most of the stone masons around here like to use 4"-thick stone, because it's easy to stack and goes up pretty quickly. But at 25 cents a pound, stone that thick was not an option for me. By using 1-inch-thick stone instead, the cost per square foot of wall facing would only be 1/4 as much.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh54q-j86IR2bUd2FN0KK13LxA6JxaVLrU18xzh9rNNqbeEXE1WaQ1EqL2SGz23zUIk3vhYamyWb32P-y7Izxmx2_kTwvOWtrzSN0SnRkJElZBw_73ssvel317WoZqQjldGl3rcFXWmBw4/s1600/FlatRocks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh54q-j86IR2bUd2FN0KK13LxA6JxaVLrU18xzh9rNNqbeEXE1WaQ1EqL2SGz23zUIk3vhYamyWb32P-y7Izxmx2_kTwvOWtrzSN0SnRkJElZBw_73ssvel317WoZqQjldGl3rcFXWmBw4/s200/FlatRocks.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">But I still wanted to give the impression that the rock was thick, so I studied the look of a thick-stone wall. I found that I could mimic the look fairly well by laying the stone mostly horizonally, and when not possible, at least have the grain running horizontal. I was able to find thin rock at the local stoneyards, and it even had a "grain", but it took a lot of hand-picking to get suitable ones.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The only problem was the corners, where the exposed edges were a dead give-away of the true thickness. </span><span style="font-size: large;">So, how to hide the corners? In European architecture, it has been common for centuries to have columns of thick, smooth stones at each corner of the structure, then fill in between them with smaller, rougher rocks. These cornerstones are usually staggered for strength. Perfect - that look would fit in nicely with my design. But what to make the cornerstones out of?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBN7stEF209y27W7H0mXLGrvCEkEvterlvFrfPhaz1MuglDOr_jahtwClg6QsQ703Y_8Wgpx-etlcf_9gRudsh5Au-S28t3asV2HhyW4ELwYwBlZVFaQxDX3TuChW0AJcZYQMz2WOL-Qs/s1600/CornerForm1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBN7stEF209y27W7H0mXLGrvCEkEvterlvFrfPhaz1MuglDOr_jahtwClg6QsQ703Y_8Wgpx-etlcf_9gRudsh5Au-S28t3asV2HhyW4ELwYwBlZVFaQxDX3TuChW0AJcZYQMz2WOL-Qs/s200/CornerForm1.jpg" width="150" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">There are some Engineered Stone products (Robertson Stone, for example) which offer pre-cut corners of real stone, but the cost would be prohibitive for me, and they only make 90-degree angles, not the 45-degrees which all my corners would require. So I decided to cast them myself from concrete. This turned out to be fairly easy. I built 5 forms out of plywood, added some rebar and a metal strap (to help secure the finished corner to the wall), and poured quick-set concrete into them. It was a fairly hot day, so within two hours there were 5 finished corner pieces.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj173SXfJcsfVcTNHr_T4BLOJZ6mwgV-foPrRSe5fbQ48Cj3bT5DX4Xfw_jGnteJBq7qXxOKXTSgJj_OPhKRnoIzEmIUQVk_XRQ21NXug7CjOQM2X-IYOtIxW1md1qqPAy5xe8Ad83_BJI/s1600/CornersFilled2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj173SXfJcsfVcTNHr_T4BLOJZ6mwgV-foPrRSe5fbQ48Cj3bT5DX4Xfw_jGnteJBq7qXxOKXTSgJj_OPhKRnoIzEmIUQVk_XRQ21NXug7CjOQM2X-IYOtIxW1md1qqPAy5xe8Ad83_BJI/s200/CornersFilled2.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">The molds were held together with screws, so it was easy to take them apart, release the finished cornerstones, then screw the forms back together. I sprayed a light coat of Pam cooking spray on the forms each time, to act as a mold-release.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWbOk8Be-9sK37at_0wUWWmoUVHP_LQt3gPsOP1C9cOmhfv5bgqH2IqHBjW0ylPR9Bqy9HB-p8cjpajW-elHSp0E-FTXJGkO2IdBx9jMvzgqGY1SWPFAOKol3b5vcVlDMsghAnbokXvy4/s1600/CornerStack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWbOk8Be-9sK37at_0wUWWmoUVHP_LQt3gPsOP1C9cOmhfv5bgqH2IqHBjW0ylPR9Bqy9HB-p8cjpajW-elHSp0E-FTXJGkO2IdBx9jMvzgqGY1SWPFAOKol3b5vcVlDMsghAnbokXvy4/s200/CornerStack.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">My daughter and her boyfriend helped with making the corner pieces, and in a couple of weeks we had a stockpile of about 150 of them. This will probably be about half of what I'll need, but it's easy to start up the production line again when I've used up what we've made.</span><br />
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<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO1-TThNbcF0Tb2xCq8XPTYeOV3yS_Y33frn4D73sBjx3lFLrLrIiSxh-LTIIovXqZi4hgoOX7QhE_YNfVXwwPHWU7xducgRQ3zImTm_CCY_EI3UheANCFccgw1852uXY27tTqVwvG9PM/s1600/FirstCorner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO1-TThNbcF0Tb2xCq8XPTYeOV3yS_Y33frn4D73sBjx3lFLrLrIiSxh-LTIIovXqZi4hgoOX7QhE_YNfVXwwPHWU7xducgRQ3zImTm_CCY_EI3UheANCFccgw1852uXY27tTqVwvG9PM/s200/FirstCorner.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">Attaching the cornerstones to the walls is time-consuming, but not very hard. First, I coated the ICF block with a waterproof membrane (I use Blue Max, but there are many available), and put on lath (chickenwire). Then I just screwed the stones to the wall, using the tabs I had cast into the stones. I used Tapcon screws which were long enough to go through the 2" of styrofoam and into the concrete core of the wall.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlaeSau5DJfd95ZyKAzP1YTl_33IM2kTyk6D9t5wtONmJ7y5Ox3KyvDZPyWQoZZOGC5Uhn0nvdEMslpiFDTuD-lm95i4s1KCii0ScwWml2yJttLVwlm8NBNv1VUSCyRYHswmSEeNwkig8/s1600/FirstRockWall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlaeSau5DJfd95ZyKAzP1YTl_33IM2kTyk6D9t5wtONmJ7y5Ox3KyvDZPyWQoZZOGC5Uhn0nvdEMslpiFDTuD-lm95i4s1KCii0ScwWml2yJttLVwlm8NBNv1VUSCyRYHswmSEeNwkig8/s320/FirstRockWall.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">The next step has been a bit controversial. I injected a spray-foam adhesive behind the stones, filling in all the gaps. This is a black outdoor version of the popular yellow foam, and is typically used to hold rocks together in landscape elements, like waterfalls. When I hired a stone mason to do some later walls, he insisted on using the traditional thin-set morter construction. It will be interesting to see which method holds up best in 50 years (when I'm 112).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now, how to deal with the round-top basement windows in the stone walls? At first I was going to cut the stones around those arches, but then I thought that a concrete trim would look nicer, and match the corners. I asked a stone mason about this, and he thought commercial trim for those windows would be about $100 each.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGpEfGf1Y3uEKU58rD3hH09gPZUrVqZC4yug_lzkZk3zXOmbAT5TqrpMlkvZxzlS7PMSSu119cXuszqUCoWQPpnNFWeWQWX53wXG73Z49_4BeTeHbfDKEBL8bxSdTQOgWc0hGb5dV8ouw/s1600/CurvedForm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="97" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGpEfGf1Y3uEKU58rD3hH09gPZUrVqZC4yug_lzkZk3zXOmbAT5TqrpMlkvZxzlS7PMSSu119cXuszqUCoWQPpnNFWeWQWX53wXG73Z49_4BeTeHbfDKEBL8bxSdTQOgWc0hGb5dV8ouw/s400/CurvedForm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">Wait a minute...if I could cast the cornerstones myself, wouldn't it be just as easy to make window trim? Yes, it turned to be quite easy. I used masonite to make curved forms, which were tacked down to plywood. Straight sections for the window sills were even easier. I added two pieces of rebar in each section, and the result was total success -- great-looking trim for about $4 per window!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNEKFMZDHsVX0JG7oH17Q7aVZIsdLfr3klfe2uJWIYDfrHB0nJMRdnBErRCAuI4KYMlktaON7rgM5hoGwCHEvl6rmsA4A_A_uoKFw9sqE7n5lQ9DJ5CT3ZZNQpTKBAMsgYjsKThf3NSxQ/s1600/FirstWindowTrim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNEKFMZDHsVX0JG7oH17Q7aVZIsdLfr3klfe2uJWIYDfrHB0nJMRdnBErRCAuI4KYMlktaON7rgM5hoGwCHEvl6rmsA4A_A_uoKFw9sqE7n5lQ9DJ5CT3ZZNQpTKBAMsgYjsKThf3NSxQ/s320/FirstWindowTrim.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">This is as much of the stonework as I have done working alone. I tend to over-think each piece, which makes the work extremely slow-going. I hired a stonemason to do several more walls, but he was only about twice as fast as I was, and the labor costs were a little too high. I'll tackle this again in the spring, perhaps laying out the stones for each wall on the ground first.</span></div>JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-87125566529078366492011-01-10T23:00:00.006-08:002023-10-06T23:32:35.519-07:0016. Roof<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">I try to buy all my building materials locally whenever possible, but sometimes it just can't be done. I've always loved a green slate roof and planned to use it on my new house, but when I looked into the local pricing I got a bad case of sticker-shock. It looked like the materials alone would run about $50,000, and up to a year for a roofing team to apply the labor-intensive tiles. Well, there's no way I could afford $100,000 for a roof, so I began looking at alternatives. Fake slate has come a long way in the last few years, but to me it still looks fake. The colors and patterns are too uniform, and the plastic tiles have been known to curl after a few years in the sun. After doing a lot of research, I decided I really wanted real slate - only cheaper.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">My slate, ready to ship from China.</span></td></tr>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">I finally found some slate companies in China that claimed to have first-class stone at rock-bottom prices. I calculated what I'd need, and sent for a quote from the Alishan Stone Company. Within a few hours I got my answer. Enough pre-drilled slate tiles to do my whole roof would run $8500, plus $4000 shipping. So, for less than the cost of a cheap asphalt shingle roof, I could have my slate roof (as long as I did all the work myself). Alishan offered several color choices, and I decided on a 50/50 mix of green and black (dark gray) tiles.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTQ5_6c8x6Ae9Ht0osC4RneTPp4Fsgl1AhTCM4JwMTZ6WBAXh4qdNBQf29ZiE624ISFfDCmsEd6n5826Fn5VugEasEmu8PZB-XprUBDx0Eg0ATHKs0oHT5mO-bUdf_TYsMReqbq_mFmgM/s1600/SlateCrates3.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTQ5_6c8x6Ae9Ht0osC4RneTPp4Fsgl1AhTCM4JwMTZ6WBAXh4qdNBQf29ZiE624ISFfDCmsEd6n5826Fn5VugEasEmu8PZB-XprUBDx0Eg0ATHKs0oHT5mO-bUdf_TYsMReqbq_mFmgM/s320/SlateCrates3.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: large;">I must admit that I was quite worried about the company's requirement of full payment before the ship would leave the dock. But then I looked at it from their point of view, and decided that it was probably a pretty safe bet. I'm sure the Chinese government would take a dim view of one of their companies causing the nation to lose face by cheating an American. So I wired a money order, the ship brought my two cargo containers of slate to Portland, and they were trucked here to Southern Oregon all without a hitch.</span></span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">I had covered the roof with Feltex underlayment, just to keep the rain out while waiting for the slate to arrive. The slate was beautiful, and I was eager to get started. I hired a roofer to show me the ropes. He had just finished a slate roof on a 21,000 sq. ft. house, so he was quite experienced in using the material. I bought an inexpensive tile saw, which makes cutting the slate very easy, but the downside is you have to measure and cut them down on the ground. The roofer preferred to use a hand-held Skillsaw with a masonry blade, while he stayed up on the roof. My boom-lift was a necessity for this job. After a few days of working side-by-side with the roofer, I took over. My year-long roofing job had begun.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcgAxQZbfmT5TNGJ0BEAmNkuxod-OSumWQyGu5tMicg6Z8qPFsyr2uekqJ9_2UJUOBOqivUznkzFLIRBywrKmR3ff6y1smuFgfM20YTgA1ns0gd9LkQAVgP_-DNBlyAACZ1Iat2qU3Pp4/s200/ShingleTest.jpg" width="200" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">A test patch of tiles.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiECh8mlX1qZrr8azsarFin9eWXbP1dhsWtEyA9L6_vNWbj-vZYqjAL9zfGMJcdkqml3gYnT7LokOKKReozrRAT3F3qPd6ejtRju0kR1hkguYfpKqyfkcBjwXx-CcitWQJD4iDh3S135Lg/s1600/TileCloseup.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiECh8mlX1qZrr8azsarFin9eWXbP1dhsWtEyA9L6_vNWbj-vZYqjAL9zfGMJcdkqml3gYnT7LokOKKReozrRAT3F3qPd6ejtRju0kR1hkguYfpKqyfkcBjwXx-CcitWQJD4iDh3S135Lg/s200/TileCloseup.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">Doing a slate roof is a painfully slow but satisfying process. You lay out chalk lines (allowing for the proper overlap) and start nailing on tiles. It has to be done by hand, as nail guns might break the thin tiles. Two copper nails per tile. By the way, copper nails are <em>very</em> expensive now, but I got a good deal on eBay. If overlapped properly, no underlayment is actually needed - the tiles and gravity will shed water and keep the plywood sub-roof dry.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3sEXCSOnH01C__lxDuMyNMCLzBOF-H90REi4nnXzZFQ5hYjYxeOb2j_M9erAfDJRShEgeLnl_2I4xKtA5273BotvnVAsUMucFxey28jLdDUHpz3BmPS_piD1FCrOnOCMGGNLNEqxtuKA/s1600/GarageRoof.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3sEXCSOnH01C__lxDuMyNMCLzBOF-H90REi4nnXzZFQ5hYjYxeOb2j_M9erAfDJRShEgeLnl_2I4xKtA5273BotvnVAsUMucFxey28jLdDUHpz3BmPS_piD1FCrOnOCMGGNLNEqxtuKA/s320/GarageRoof.jpg" width="254" /></a><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">If you want a roof that will literally last a thousand years, slate is the only way to go. Though it's brittle and will break at a blow, it's totally impervious to the weather. In Europe, workers strip centuries-old tiles off ancient houses, then use those same tiles on new houses. It's also fireproof. Traditionally, no waterproof underlayment is needed; the overlapping tiles should be able to shed water.</span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">There are a lot of individual surfaces on my roof, and an average-sized surface took me about two weeks to cover. The copper flashing required in corners, valleys, and drip edges was also time-consuming. I didn't enjoy the sheet-metal work, but nailing on the tiles was fun, especially long straight runs. Each section was so beautiful when I would get it done that I couldn't wait to start on the next. My neighbor would text me, saying how great the roof was looking from their house. I still have to finish some corners and do the cupola roof, but other than that it's done. Eventually, there will be a copper ridge on all the peaks, and copper chimneys at the corners.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCPnMvfHvTkGBSmiYHA68RmX1_YytrEajwIIMa3Er_ybBGlfsHtRZevwsee1mgfcxQhRnj9AxbvmW5IUNCI-LMai1tGC7Bxo4CYRNzSFizKMAT1v6ePEa9Y3ZZ6RGDGGLSEPXNAnaaqFo/s1600/RoofAlmostDone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCPnMvfHvTkGBSmiYHA68RmX1_YytrEajwIIMa3Er_ybBGlfsHtRZevwsee1mgfcxQhRnj9AxbvmW5IUNCI-LMai1tGC7Bxo4CYRNzSFizKMAT1v6ePEa9Y3ZZ6RGDGGLSEPXNAnaaqFo/s400/RoofAlmostDone.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Added Sept. 2014:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">I have added the copper ridges to the roof. I 'antiqued' the copper by using a chemical called Liver of Sulfur. This gel is readily available from hobby shops, but I got mine on eBay. You just mix a few drops with water and brush it on the bare copper, which instantly turns a dark bronze, like an old penny. A second brush stroke turns the copper black, but it's easy to bring back some copper color with steel wool.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUdB0wVQrJiBYeOPYnpk2_ITyS9rFdh3eCWR4HZOiF_qoQUQzipDGydifYUHasEGzulK7JFx-5kYhNcEkhZ1VkCbqnHis1GT0WMBlu3udbv2qsBw7YdHJqwEbXZOhxg0rPEaaxomb0hN31CryAHyhYlOIVct7k11t7kZ6UGvlZ9Gw1RtlpjusRe9t3t3k" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="353" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUdB0wVQrJiBYeOPYnpk2_ITyS9rFdh3eCWR4HZOiF_qoQUQzipDGydifYUHasEGzulK7JFx-5kYhNcEkhZ1VkCbqnHis1GT0WMBlu3udbv2qsBw7YdHJqwEbXZOhxg0rPEaaxomb0hN31CryAHyhYlOIVct7k11t7kZ6UGvlZ9Gw1RtlpjusRe9t3t3k=w200-h137" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgY6uU2i4zR3e_SaKQpv0OLWZLGwlg26w6Pp7ZAjtZZcW-gQo52Irh48zZt9TAocRl20jlLtWUxBb4_a2pcEKgwkAxUYW9q2KitHjdL5KSBQRAd_UkfcRSjFKmZJRl0R4xkDImpRkB5FvZETL7OYDLzFNd1uIX2D7rBC7S-qb_vD-NNLyLv8JP7f6c6clU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="347" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgY6uU2i4zR3e_SaKQpv0OLWZLGwlg26w6Pp7ZAjtZZcW-gQo52Irh48zZt9TAocRl20jlLtWUxBb4_a2pcEKgwkAxUYW9q2KitHjdL5KSBQRAd_UkfcRSjFKmZJRl0R4xkDImpRkB5FvZETL7OYDLzFNd1uIX2D7rBC7S-qb_vD-NNLyLv8JP7f6c6clU=w200-h139" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgwx95qJ0Ib15VrEsgdevgPWjtkDCEkHDqxvqKKxgwaCltc2z7qshFgMcQ36uWgYsPdxNi7PJzNmsha5RTvUmtG7odxVxn-teHGl2nGZnpDES_eyFm8viVT5bkiDk9vkbBxek7Shg_bikUSbLWPU5OVGQ=" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixkpU5V97xH9R3dmFmexHAqTmh1esQUZOc0YnNGvxQXmxk0-B_Pn49uAOPlzD4Ads6_QaEl_vLFCPWftZeL9JItxVRd6ZHfWsKEoF9rPSaNK3OzViAE5ixdpsLP7GYLru7Gv89N4rVaVAWTIgMICwz3G4RCnP1vrtbqNRiTlR3mMGJFI-e33-xjVIWMiQ" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1632" data-original-width="1224" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixkpU5V97xH9R3dmFmexHAqTmh1esQUZOc0YnNGvxQXmxk0-B_Pn49uAOPlzD4Ads6_QaEl_vLFCPWftZeL9JItxVRd6ZHfWsKEoF9rPSaNK3OzViAE5ixdpsLP7GYLru7Gv89N4rVaVAWTIgMICwz3G4RCnP1vrtbqNRiTlR3mMGJFI-e33-xjVIWMiQ=w240-h320" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.fish-byte.com/images/BronzeOwl.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">I had been having trouble with woodpeckers damaging the few wooden parts of the house, so I decided to mount a fake owl on the peak of the roof over the dining room, in an attempt to scare off the other birds. I found a life-size fiberglass owl on eBay, painted it bronze and mounted it on the roof. A few nights later, I heard a commotion overhead, and looked out a window to see two <em>real</em> owls having a party on the roof. One is actually sitting on the head of my fake owl, which I considered downright disrespectful! :)</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLoeamRKNnf2dAWdtY7a8sgR5jIMFYILvhA-qqGMx5A_MMxyEg_y-vzHP5fjKIqNRKeT2DNaJmjMyPyjuj5l3tcFQWX-N-3yJlVKNLfuZLgkSIFKPfXXsUVxgPTt6S64wB3MVWj2gX9g/s1600/HouseFromNW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLoeamRKNnf2dAWdtY7a8sgR5jIMFYILvhA-qqGMx5A_MMxyEg_y-vzHP5fjKIqNRKeT2DNaJmjMyPyjuj5l3tcFQWX-N-3yJlVKNLfuZLgkSIFKPfXXsUVxgPTt6S64wB3MVWj2gX9g/s400/HouseFromNW.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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House from Northwest</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR4Rh4NZ1woCf_UvbLR-pPCuBaLxgHJ1EiBMjLo0NDSETAurR5bDUflWqJTb9HUiS9U13ITTYyhFO8PEKhNqDoUHvNqeZ2NZQN7pdgB0q7-Bwy-vmlFVWUrCcSQi8-jjmwlSTcmcZhfgw/s1600/HouseFromNE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR4Rh4NZ1woCf_UvbLR-pPCuBaLxgHJ1EiBMjLo0NDSETAurR5bDUflWqJTb9HUiS9U13ITTYyhFO8PEKhNqDoUHvNqeZ2NZQN7pdgB0q7-Bwy-vmlFVWUrCcSQi8-jjmwlSTcmcZhfgw/s320/HouseFromNE.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">House from Northeast</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Well, it's January of 2016, and I see that it's been quite some time since I made an entry so I thought I'd spend a chapter bringing everyone up to date. While I continue to do most of the work myself, I hired a retired contractor to do odd jobs whenever I can afford him. This guy is my age and we have a lot of the same interests, so it's great to have someone to bounce ideas off of.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I spent the majority of the year doing drywall, but I plan to devote the next chapter to that, so I'll skip it for now.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaszDOjtA-X1mnqxN2rDI5uUCU0cU7p6cv8Av3NClAkGq7gppklHm5WYSPcP8I1tR2xNfP2MVpF_hFBNBYuC802mzwwOUUwll_uFIk-7oCOdHonSQhw9hRqun5p47J0n8AP5cLRSvu-I/s1600/RearDoors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaszDOjtA-X1mnqxN2rDI5uUCU0cU7p6cv8Av3NClAkGq7gppklHm5WYSPcP8I1tR2xNfP2MVpF_hFBNBYuC802mzwwOUUwll_uFIk-7oCOdHonSQhw9hRqun5p47J0n8AP5cLRSvu-I/s1600/RearDoors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One major addition has been the garage doors. If you recall, there are doors at each end of the garage so that you can drive straight through. The rear doors are seldom seen except in your mirror as you drive away, so I bought inexpensive steel doors for that end.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaszDOjtA-X1mnqxN2rDI5uUCU0cU7p6cv8Av3NClAkGq7gppklHm5WYSPcP8I1tR2xNfP2MVpF_hFBNBYuC802mzwwOUUwll_uFIk-7oCOdHonSQhw9hRqun5p47J0n8AP5cLRSvu-I/s1600/RearDoors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaszDOjtA-X1mnqxN2rDI5uUCU0cU7p6cv8Av3NClAkGq7gppklHm5WYSPcP8I1tR2xNfP2MVpF_hFBNBYuC802mzwwOUUwll_uFIk-7oCOdHonSQhw9hRqun5p47J0n8AP5cLRSvu-I/s320/RearDoors.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">These were under $500 each, but the supplier wanted to sell me a door opener unit for each door. The openers I wanted are the type that mount on the wall above the door and directly wind the roll-up shaft, instead of the usual ceiling-mounted chain-and-pulley type. Being a fairly new invention, these cost about 3 times as much as the old-style openers. Besides the price, the thought of 4 units with 4 remote-controls was simply unacceptable. I saw no reason why a single opener at each end of the garage couldn't open two doors simultaneously. The supplier was against this, but since these openers can handle a single double-wide door, I saw no reason why they couldn't handle two single-wide doors. After all, the coil springs carry most of the weight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So I bought two extra collets on eBay, mounted the opener units between the doors, and connected the wind-up shafts going out both directions. They work great! Each set of doors goes up and down in perfect unison. A single remote control has separate buttons for the front and rear sets of doors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Since the front set of garage doors are much more visible, I decided to splurge and get handsome fiberglass doors for that end. Though the outer surface is weatherproof fiberglass, they are wood-grain, and most people are fooled into thinking they are actual wood. My supplier had one of these doors in his warehouse, where it had been gathering dust for the past few years, so he let me have it for half-price. I then ordered another identical unit for its twin.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6qiQlUsplPiXR6E3CJK3XD-Z2S0-9JqacEOHb7Wn9_7zRGK0buOe5gSmFBiXD2pfrXDuRutf40sqPKpHyuhxtxlOawATD7DBJu8ys20aZp46P8fqLNMV801NtDrw_SmZ8c6FQmMB283E/s1600/GarageDoors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6qiQlUsplPiXR6E3CJK3XD-Z2S0-9JqacEOHb7Wn9_7zRGK0buOe5gSmFBiXD2pfrXDuRutf40sqPKpHyuhxtxlOawATD7DBJu8ys20aZp46P8fqLNMV801NtDrw_SmZ8c6FQmMB283E/s320/GarageDoors.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGoY7F0tg9X1WVtosHOtau0AXUJRMAQEqelw0PQREyL8L6riHMD2YbldbyfRL_Rmqe7LXikuVzgW_mszpusYkoTk_i5I2X-4iEzkOncXyrEWqp-7A09eYdWv1DQiukHkFPslFJH2u1C3E/s1600/DoorsAtNight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGoY7F0tg9X1WVtosHOtau0AXUJRMAQEqelw0PQREyL8L6riHMD2YbldbyfRL_Rmqe7LXikuVzgW_mszpusYkoTk_i5I2X-4iEzkOncXyrEWqp-7A09eYdWv1DQiukHkFPslFJH2u1C3E/s320/DoorsAtNight.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The second door took about 8 weeks to come in, and when it finally did it had <i>no windows</i>! So my supplier had glass cut to the right sizes locally, but I still needed fiberglass frames. We ordered those, but they sent the wrong size. On the final try they sent the right size, but the wrong color. At that point I decided to just give up and paint them. After cutting window holes and mounting the glass and frames in the door they ended up looking great, but why can't anything <i>ever </i>be easy?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The roof is now done, except for a few trim pieces. One word of caution when doing a slate roof - watch out for iron deposits in the slate. I've got a few rust streaks running down the roof from tiles with bits of iron embedded in the stone. I noticed some of these when putting up the roof, but didn't think anything of them. The rust can be taken off with rust-removing chemicals, but I'm still looking into ways of preventing the streaks from coming back.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3749495035157758785.post-20223980261800604822011-01-08T21:36:00.010-08:002023-10-12T15:19:23.258-07:0018. Drywall and 2023 update<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Hey, it's been a while. I'm still working on the castle, all alone, every day. At 74, the old body and mind are starting to slow down, though. We've been living in the house for a couple of years. The kitchen, all 3 bedrooms, and 4 bathrooms are done. The living room just needs carpet. The basement theater is also nearly done (a chapter on that later). Still left to finish: our offices, theater lobby, gym, and "Nautilus'-themed gameroom. So I've still got several years of work ahead.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">This is a big house and it took a lot of drywall -- over 1000 sheets. Most of it is standard 1/2-inch gypsum board, but some of it had to be 5/8-inch (for ceilings), and I was also able to get some sound-absorbing sheets.</span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_89C0MTqqFoF8BYPqKKBcubGg5P3HBaMDiLD8I5rH1gDGyMtvVd5H8iaAJBygSDrywJTXUeCZkcUrjwxdJDC0E1QPFD9HR3eIfl8an3NhZhhxl6dBFyhyphenhyphenK-l1lh2WyPl1EB9eHEkzk1etLs73WWj1ha1a1RRa98_z3pZBgKsndp2jPR4NYkJu9fTZtsA/s816/Insulation.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="612" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_89C0MTqqFoF8BYPqKKBcubGg5P3HBaMDiLD8I5rH1gDGyMtvVd5H8iaAJBygSDrywJTXUeCZkcUrjwxdJDC0E1QPFD9HR3eIfl8an3NhZhhxl6dBFyhyphenhyphenK-l1lh2WyPl1EB9eHEkzk1etLs73WWj1ha1a1RRa98_z3pZBgKsndp2jPR4NYkJu9fTZtsA/w150-h200/Insulation.JPG" width="150" /></span></div>But before the drywall goes up, you need to put in insulation. For most of the exterior walls, I just used the standard fiberglass batts. My walls are 6 inches thick, so I used R-21 insulation. I hoped that modern-day insulation would keep my heating bills within reason, and that has proven true after living here several years. </div></span><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh9IFEgBOvSPxtWssRqTOS_K94ozd-t4HY1mbhE1r5DkMbHURs-5PBvUiijkP7xfEDSh66XBhvt4RX50iuD6BilYfY3C-MpXBntcX-FLpccWCt9lgfxH0z_4_TBQYsqC_4STlqRQ4A6rMPpIq66BMPYNX397AbqWoNgG5_qrSY-sJdQzXsXRXqzCqBrPA/s816/Denim_Insulation.JPG" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="816" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh9IFEgBOvSPxtWssRqTOS_K94ozd-t4HY1mbhE1r5DkMbHURs-5PBvUiijkP7xfEDSh66XBhvt4RX50iuD6BilYfY3C-MpXBntcX-FLpccWCt9lgfxH0z_4_TBQYsqC_4STlqRQ4A6rMPpIq66BMPYNX397AbqWoNgG5_qrSY-sJdQzXsXRXqzCqBrPA/w200-h150/Denim_Insulation.JPG" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;">For some of the interior walls, I used a denim material, which is much more satisfying to handle. Th<span style="font-family: inherit;">is is made from old denim jeans, which are shredded and formed into 16-inch-wide batts. It's more expensive than fiberglass, but it's easy on the skin and tears easily to the right length. I used this in walls between rooms to help with sound insulation.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkszTC2L3vcnJ7-2s-uz5HBl05Xct_k9MMKaUL3q8G8A4AZlB8wQU0xDG8fZwQ66BxRl2WLJUrlrGlWwh_fi4LgiJwVdQVXEtSi6uXP0-vjppL3U1x7MzcTeDzLH7xeqv42ea8q058uYQjDfONLyoBn9qzNbJWPZ9jv5swlbZXNFSWgLrOtvHimF8qQlY/s1202/SprayFoam.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="1202" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkszTC2L3vcnJ7-2s-uz5HBl05Xct_k9MMKaUL3q8G8A4AZlB8wQU0xDG8fZwQ66BxRl2WLJUrlrGlWwh_fi4LgiJwVdQVXEtSi6uXP0-vjppL3U1x7MzcTeDzLH7xeqv42ea8q058uYQjDfONLyoBn9qzNbJWPZ9jv5swlbZXNFSWgLrOtvHimF8qQlY/s320/SprayFoam.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>For the ceilings, I decided to go with a spray-on expanding foam insulation. This completely seals the space between the rafters, creating what's known as a "hot roof". There is no roof ventilation, and all the heat from the sun is either reflected or absorbed by the roof. The advantage of this is that the attic space is the same temperature as the rest of the house, which means the A/C equipment, water pipes, etc. do not have to live in the harsh environment of the typical attic. This type of insulation is expensive, but I'm very glad we did it this way.<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3WiRm-T-JAX9gvmEp8E2o4ztB2hM_QkwBI1F4SXEF4t1akHGx8_wpLdIbnTZbNwkN7_w760MuIvwfACwY77Ez5d-DUSIxL3Lz-7miNUqMgvg990ptRRnk9ANMvWXIET2zosKo-LPme6OQTK4ZS5qnJoeRkGORCIw14fohboSZLZaPdHK-rjgfwJgz0Bs/s408/LiftExtended.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3WiRm-T-JAX9gvmEp8E2o4ztB2hM_QkwBI1F4SXEF4t1akHGx8_wpLdIbnTZbNwkN7_w760MuIvwfACwY77Ez5d-DUSIxL3Lz-7miNUqMgvg990ptRRnk9ANMvWXIET2zosKo-LPme6OQTK4ZS5qnJoeRkGORCIw14fohboSZLZaPdHK-rjgfwJgz0Bs/s408/LiftExtended.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5sMe-whZ0i46Pj2RnVJeYcTDOOhsVcPXDnLcpopWtJMyVKT6-9BoGRKszUlNhR_k2ZhyphenhyphenjhonggcTNR01MYnNV0sCCIbvo7DEXL9EvR1TNrEoEB8ty_Z-kybw9uE1nDrv25eKKjDXbG-h5vQgOASCFqP6LcFqrKbMHiROz5gFTUthJOhakMAErAjEu5Uo/s816/HandyHerman.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="612" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5sMe-whZ0i46Pj2RnVJeYcTDOOhsVcPXDnLcpopWtJMyVKT6-9BoGRKszUlNhR_k2ZhyphenhyphenjhonggcTNR01MYnNV0sCCIbvo7DEXL9EvR1TNrEoEB8ty_Z-kybw9uE1nDrv25eKKjDXbG-h5vQgOASCFqP6LcFqrKbMHiROz5gFTUthJOhakMAErAjEu5Uo/w150-h200/HandyHerman.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><span style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I'll take a moment to mention one of the best investments I've made regarding equipment. I found this "Handy Herman" lift on eBay, and it has proven to be invaluable. </span><span style="font-size: large;">When you take a long time to build a house, renting lift equipment can get extremely expensive. I was able to buy this thing for less than a month of rental cost for a scissor lift, and I can always sell it for the same price I paid.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQO5kXN-JQ-SO6mAG1yTNBNgSE1Ts0nnxRu_xSVOJpn8kRltcu-9s6zCQ1-CSpRfUoEDbwPluE5Fkg2oNfETPJnQHwtNCXdPsb6fPsUFH_lnSD-ia-Ap_MXBDUTH32VjMlmFTbgfDdtuobFIQ6kdqDDG190_zu6BNu7fILCDRPEZ81z-S8qQ4lL5_bd6Y/s408/LiftExtended.jpg" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="306" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQO5kXN-JQ-SO6mAG1yTNBNgSE1Ts0nnxRu_xSVOJpn8kRltcu-9s6zCQ1-CSpRfUoEDbwPluE5Fkg2oNfETPJnQHwtNCXdPsb6fPsUFH_lnSD-ia-Ap_MXBDUTH32VjMlmFTbgfDdtuobFIQ6kdqDDG190_zu6BNu7fILCDRPEZ81z-S8qQ4lL5_bd6Y/w150-h200/LiftExtended.jpg" width="150" /></span></a><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It has outrigger struts for stability, and goes up <i>amazingly </i>high. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The spray-foam operator used it for almost all of his work, which saved me the cost of him having to set up scaffolding. I was also able to use it for drywall placement, taping, and painting, As well as window installation and trim. I've had it nearly a decade now, and will have a hard time letting it go!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">On to drywall. There's not much to putting up the sheets -- you just nail or screw them to the studs. I bought a manual drywall lift for raising the sheets to the 10-foot ceilings, and of course I've got the Handy Herman for the higher locations.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMyR7hBcQtRbPlVfQI23q0oDOciFsAScagzNOoiPGmG9s7ML96jhV12YI2gZW0EfyZGp6Zwwo1_2OmhMCU3gCuGxok-raIddEbZK7uUtZ3eCObyd9oB0nTsnNOE7VwqRMAFEBgwOqK27HKrSF5LAtofSbdYzCNkDSPkCgjPFncipUET9ZCUxsxS5cpB4U/s1836/DrywallLift3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1836" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMyR7hBcQtRbPlVfQI23q0oDOciFsAScagzNOoiPGmG9s7ML96jhV12YI2gZW0EfyZGp6Zwwo1_2OmhMCU3gCuGxok-raIddEbZK7uUtZ3eCObyd9oB0nTsnNOE7VwqRMAFEBgwOqK27HKrSF5LAtofSbdYzCNkDSPkCgjPFncipUET9ZCUxsxS5cpB4U/w400-h178/DrywallLift3.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Taping and "mudding" drywall is dreaded by many DIYers</span><span style="text-align: left;">, but I don't really mind it. I use fiberglass tape on the joints, and a minimal-shrink, low dust, type of drywall compound. I use two passes of compound on the joints, a day apart. Even with "low shrinkage" compound, the grooves between the sheets still recede on the first coat. I try for a smooth finished look on the second coat, requiring little or no sanding.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;">After the taped joints have cured, it's time for my trademark "Sachs texture". This consists of nothing more than dipping my hand in the bucket of drywall compound, slapping it on the wall, waiting about 5 minutes, and knocking it down with a wide drywall blade.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6zOMThuU1EqYpRb0igv3yw8uQk_BEx9KKyrzOUkc4CdVJEKgXv4YdLEJFeSwuyy2UF7vJDNTkErh5himhl6bqceoV9CicAXt6DhSLqC8Mws4kLReLmXNM34gUWLgFcrcX87FxnE59ptnAIL6wbhskGy3KlSdBWDmqdbALE61ZW6o1QjzdpSJT_vXeR4/s1836/DrywallTexture.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1836" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6zOMThuU1EqYpRb0igv3yw8uQk_BEx9KKyrzOUkc4CdVJEKgXv4YdLEJFeSwuyy2UF7vJDNTkErh5himhl6bqceoV9CicAXt6DhSLqC8Mws4kLReLmXNM34gUWLgFcrcX87FxnE59ptnAIL6wbhskGy3KlSdBWDmqdbALE61ZW6o1QjzdpSJT_vXeR4/w320-h142/DrywallTexture.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">The tricky part is trying to have no obvious patterns as you slap it on with your hand. (Such as hand-print shapes!)</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5YY-FZ1MUml0WxY1_9OrudpqlxowRpqcCAfom9yTcusRS_9vgx9DppqPt6HYxGKClep6RcYneCj3eA2bkuD-fbXH6YbFOEtvMMasoDG4ARHih8PUkmEYa1gqGW0PT34aIvPG-gUTRii06WNbJnm8s5zKNjMaLRSC8Y686VKh0y0BItMNxFIK8Giu-esM/s2125/EdisOffice.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2125" data-original-width="1195" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5YY-FZ1MUml0WxY1_9OrudpqlxowRpqcCAfom9yTcusRS_9vgx9DppqPt6HYxGKClep6RcYneCj3eA2bkuD-fbXH6YbFOEtvMMasoDG4ARHih8PUkmEYa1gqGW0PT34aIvPG-gUTRii06WNbJnm8s5zKNjMaLRSC8Y686VKh0y0BItMNxFIK8Giu-esM/w225-h400/EdisOffice.jpg" width="225" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">People seem to like this effect a lot more than the machine-blown spatter that you see in tract homes.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Here's my wife's office all textured and ready to paint.</span></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div></span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div>JimSachshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02360679433809522789noreply@blogger.com1