Basement Closed In

Thursday and Friday were busy days on the house. They framed in the south and east basement walls, set the steel I-beam, put the floor trusses in place and put on most of the floor decking. Expecting snow this weekend, they covered the openings with visqueen, covered the main floor with tarps and even put on a temporary plywood door.

Northeast corner.

Plastic window covering.

With the OSB sheathing in place and the "gangplank" leading up to the door, it almost looks like we are ready for extensive rains rather than just winter.

Anyone seen Noah?

Ready for snow.

It is a good thing they were thinking ahead. As I look out my window on Sunday a little after noon, I see a lot of snow blowing. We probably have 8 inches already and it is still snowing.

Framing Started

This week they frame the basement and put on the main floor trusses and decking. On Wednesday we visited with most of the kids (Heather, John, Becca, Alex, Rob and Pete). We watched them swing a little steel and walked in the woods.

Some of the wood framing is in place.

They had a crane on site to lift the steel I-beam pieces. We watched them pick up one.

Lifting the beam.

Guiding it over the house.

We were expecting the beam to be put in place, but no, they just laid it on the basement (dirt) floor. How anti-climatic!

Lowering it to the floor.

We availed ourselves of the opportunity to take a walk in the woods. This was the first time John had seen the property and only the second time Pete had.

"Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland"

12/7 - Rough Plumbing for Basement

On Friday the rough plumbing for the basement was installed. Again, there is not much to see, but certainly an important step.

Work proceeds even with the light snow covering.

Burying the pipes.

12/5 - Foundation Walls Backfilled

Work has been progressing on the house, but not in especially visible ways. The basement and foundation walls have been backfilled somewhat. On Wednesday the drain tile was installed in the footings.

Installing drain tile.

Drain tile partially in place.

The front entrance to the house will be on the west side of the house. Under the foyer we will have an unheated root cellar. We plan to use this as an actual root cellar for the produce that we hope to grow on the acreage. In front of that is the porch. In the next picture you can see the foundation for these.

Future porch and root cellar.

12/1 - Foundation Walls

Saturday we spent the day cleaning the gutters, raking the leaves and tilling them into the garden at our old house. We had to get the outside work done before winter set in in earnest. It was not fun chipping the frozen leaves out of the gutters. They came out in chunks of ice a quarter of an inch thick. Once this was all done we headed up to check on progress on the new house. We were hoping to leave earlier, but the work needed to be done.

Darkness fell as we drove the twenty minutes. As we drove up to the house site, we could see foundation walls! With the headlights illuminating the site, we took a few pictures and and then headed back home.

West end of south basement wall.

The foundation and basement walls that will be below grade are Superior Walls. These are insulated, pre-cast concrete walls. They brought them in on a truck, used a crane to set them on the pea gravel in the footing trenches and then they were bolted together. The walls are almost a foot thick.

North end of east basement wall.

There will be a steel beam running down the center of the basement to hold up the floor trusses for the main floor. They placed small concrete pads on top of pea gravel. The posts that will support the beam go on top of these pads.
Post Support Pads

Our builder was concerned about the gravel freezing before everything settles, so he covered the footings with tarps.

Jim covering footings.

11/25 - Stuck in the Mud!

Sunday after Thanksgiving we decided to do some trail maintenance, mainly mowing and cutting brush so we could cross-country ski this winter. I spent Saturday afternoon getting the mower deck in shape and ready for installation in the field. Marlene raked leaves while Norah and Kitty played in them. Sunday afternoon we hitched up the trailer and headed north. When we got there, the cul-de-sac by the house was deeply rutted. I decided that it was likely we would get stuck if I tried to turn around using it. The ground to the west of the cul-de-sac looked decent, so I swung off the driveway on that side, got turned around and was making my way back to the driveway. I hesitated a bit trying to decide which way would have firmer ground. Once my momentum was broken, I was lost. Trying to get going again just resulted in burying the wheels deeper. Fortunately we had the camera with us so Marlene was able to record these auspicious moments for posterity.

I unhitched the trailer, but still could not get any forward progress. I got out the jack and we grabbed some nearby boards and started digging out. After jacking up the front and placing boards under the wheels, I succeeded in moving forward a few feet. Once the wheels slid sideways off the boards, they sank into the mud again.

I opened up the trailer and got the shovel out. I dug the chunks of clay out from where I needed to place the jack.
Digging Out

I quickly discovered that the jack was sinking into the mud faster than the car was going up. I put a wide board under the jack and got significantly better results.
Board needed under jack.

I jacked up each side and placed the boards under the wheels again. This time I got the tractor out of the trailer and the 50' length of rope that I keep in the car, which I used as a tow strap.

Handy to have a tractor along.

With Marlene on the tractor on the firm driveway pulling and me driving the car while trying to keep the wheels from spinning, we made some good progress even after driving off the end of the boards. This lasted until the left wheel hit the edge of the firm driveway. Instead of driving up onto the road, the right wheel started digging in.

So close...

At some point we took break and carried our picnic lunch over to the snow-covered picnic table. We didn't even bother clearing the snow off the table. We found a couple of dry spots on the bench and proceeded to eat a quick lunch.

One more round of jacking up each side and placing boards under the wheels. With the edge of the driveway so close, the boards were slanted upwards quite a bit. And the slick mud had coated the tires thoroughly. Even with Marlene on the tractor and me giving the car as much gas as I could without spinning the wheels, we could not get going. Finally Marlene revved the tractor all the way up and the car popped forward and out onto the driveway.

I took the tractor and dragged the trailer up onto the driveway. We hitched up the trailer, put the tractor back into the trailer, threw all of the muddy gear into the trailer and headed home. It was starting to get dark by this time. Two and a half hours of getting out of the mud and we had had enough. No useful work was accomplished today.

Messy Stuff!

11/23 - Walkout and Foundation Trenches Dug

The builder and his team are trying to get enough done before the freeze sets in that they can keep building through the winter. The day after Thanksgiving they were hard at work digging out the walkout in front of the basement and digging the foundation trenches.



Anyone care to go wading? Winter is coming as the ice on puddle shows.
Walkout Excavated

The shallow footing trenches have been dug and filled with pea gravel. The foundation and basement walls will rest on the gravel.
Footing Trenches