Stemwall

Well, we've got the stemwall mostly done. We have to finish levelling it and gluing it to the concrete still. If we pass our inspection tomorrow(prayers please!!), then we'll be filling them with concrete on Friday. Then we'll be ready to level out the dirt inside and start on the underground plumbing. We didn't get as much done as we wanted last weekend since I hurt my lower back (not quite sure how!), and we ran out of the spray foam that sticks the blocks to the concrete. We are going to try to be out there all day tomorrow to catch up so we can stay on track!

Nathaniel helping Dan in my place!!

Those corners were tricky!

The popout on the left is my dining room window. The indent on the right is where the french doors to the back porch will go!

It looks so small from here!! I can't wait till we get the walls up!


These are the polydeck forms.
More on that later. . . .

We made some more progress today. We started putting up the blocks for the stemwall. Again, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, the stemwall is the outside edge of the concrete foundation for the main floor. Usually it is just framed up with boards, but since we are using the polysteel blocks, ours will be made up with the first layer of blocks. After they're up, we will fill inside of them with dirt, gravel, and the underground plumbing, then pour the foundation over them to the top of the blocks. This is the hard part because we have to make sure everything is completely square, level and straight. Then once the foundation is poured, we can start adding the rest of the blocks for the walls. We got all but the back wall done before we ran out of blocks and had to quit for the day. We will try to get out there this week and finish them up. The polydeck (the stuff that will cover up the basement) should be in this week so we can get that put on, too. I'm not really sure how that works yet, so we'll see what we see! Forgot the camera AGAIN! Sorry! Will post more pics later this week!

Footers are done!!

Hooray, the footers are done!! For those of you who don't speak construction, the footers are basically the outside edge of the house. You have to dig them 2' wide and 1' deep (into native soil!), then fill them with concrete to support the walls. You have to fill them with rebar to strengthen it somehow! We had to put the upright rebar in so it will extend into the block walls and tie everything together when all is said and done! It was quite a project, but it's all done. Very nice to be back on track again! Here are some pics to update you!

This is our original rebar design. They failed us because all rebar must be surrounded by at least 3" of concrete on all sides or it will rust. Not sure how, since it's not exposed to any air or water!!

This is how we re-did it. Those little blocks were a pain in the BUTT because they kept falling over and weren't very sturdy. I still think our way was better, but at least we passed!!

Dan with his helpers pouring the concrete. We used a pump truck with a 4" hose to pump the concrete to where we needed it. That hose was so HEAVY! I smashed my finger trying to move it! : ( But it was way easier than using the chute on the truck!

All finished!! Isn't it pretty! Now we're ready for the stemwall!

FINALLY!

Hooray! We FINALLY passed the rebar inspection! I do think it makes a difference if we are there in person, and we will definitely always be there from now on!!

I somehow convinced Dan to take last weekend off to regroup and relax a bit so we'd be ready start again. He was rather reluctant to do so, but I think it was worth it! So now we are back on track and ready to go. I will post more pics soon. We are planning to pour the concrete in the footers on Friday. Until then. . . . . .

The good, the bad, and the ugly!

ARRRRGGGHHHHH! We failed the inspection AGAIN!!!! Different inspector this time, same stuff, and also a few new things. When we called for the inspection on Monday, they called and told us that since we have had 2 failed inspections, we would have to drive to Bisbee (about 35 min away) and pay a $75 re-inspection fee. So, if there's a monetary incentive there for them to fail us, why would they pass us?????? I went and paid the extortion (I mean fee) and had them put us on the schedule again. So the guy came out today and failed us. Since we weren't there, he just left a nice note with a bunch of vague reasons. Dan left him a message so we can clarify just exactly what it is we need to do to pass next time. If he doesn't call back, we are going to call again for Friday and wait until he shows up so we can deal with this one (I'm sure it will be ANOTHER guy) directly.
In the meantime, please check your messages in case we require help with bail. . . . . . . .

p.s. Dan says I shouldn't post the negative stuff, but unfortunately, it is the reality of building a house. So I'm sharing it with you anyways!!

Good news and bad

Okay, good news first. We finished the rebar overhaul today! It wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be, and I'm glad it's over. Now we just have to pray super hard that we pass the re-inspection!!!

Bad news--we had the well drilled this weekend and it didn't go so well. We went down 500 feet and we're only getting 3 gallons/minute. We would like to be getting between 10 and 15 at least. But at $19 a foot, we are way over budget here. We had planned to spend around $6000, and we're at nearly $10,000. Dan says that thankfully we can still make this work, we will just need an extra storage tank and the pump will have to work more to keep up. So we will probably have to put the well on solar to keep the electricity costs down.

So, it's been an up and down weekend! I forgot the camera again, so no new pics. Sorry! I'll try to take some this week!

House plans

Thought it would be nice to post a copy of the floor plan so you can see what the whole house looks like! Not sure how well you can see it, but there it is. The back of the house faces the mountains. The girls share the front bathroom while Nathaniel's will double as the pool bath! I LOVE this house and can't wait to be living in it!!!

Small Setback

Sorry I'm a little behind with my updates, we had a little setback this week that really bummed us out! We got our footers all dug and the rebar put in, but we failed our inspection. The inspector said we need to be at least one foot below the native soil, and the south wall is only 8 inches below. Plus we filled it with some gravel to level it out, so now we have to dig another foot down! That is a 45 foot wall!!! Plus, there's one other area Dan wants to dig out just to be on the safe side. Which means we first have to take OUT all the rebar we put IN, then dig it out with the tractor and put all the rebar back IN again! UGH!!! We could have it tested by an engineer to see if it's strong enough as it is, but that will probably cost in the area of $2000, so we've decided just to tough it out. :( I'm adding some pics anyways so you can see what's going on! At least the basement stairs are done! The other wood in the basement are supports for the poly-deck ceiling and will be removed later. Hopefully I'll have more by the end of the weekend!

This is what the rebar looks like. We have to have an upright one every 4 feet.

The footers before the rebar!

The stairs are done!! At least something got accomplished!

The moon came up as we were finishing!