Break Time

4.19.12

Some photos of the property.

The new access road starting about 1,300 feet from the road and going to the electrical transformer, which is about 1,800 feet from the road.

This is the entrance about 400 feet in from the road.

Looking back toward the county road.

Roughly 600 feet in, there is a fork in the road. This is the western road.

Looking back on the western road. The house is about 300 feet behind where this was taken.

Another view from the top of the hill. This will be the northern view from the front porch.

Looking back on the new access road. With new access to sunlight, the oak tree in the center should start to branch out over the road. I will add some fertilizer to help it along.

A large live oak about 1,000 feet from the road. I'll clear the brush from underneath and plant some St. Augustine grass.

Another live oak.

The same live oak from the north on Drunken Monkey Drive. The name of the drive is from Gerald's comment about the pine trees. They seem to have been planted about twenty years ago. They are not in rows, and there is no rhyme or reason to the layout. To paraphrase Gerald's comment: "A bunch of drunk monkeys could have done a better job planting these trees."

Top of the hill, porch view to north again.... this time with sunshine.

Top of hill, porch view, looking south. There are some beautiful live oaks hidden in the brush ahead. I will try to clear out some smaller trees to allow a better view. Look! The first course of block has been laid, and we are almost ready to pour the basement floor.

Preparing for the Basement Floor

4.18.12

To keep the basement dry and ground pressure from pushing over the exterior walls, drain tile has been installed around the interior and exterior of the footer. Washed gravel backfill and a coarse sand bed will provide a path for water toward the drain tile and away from the house.

Mr Wildes is backfilling sand inside the footer and making room for the block that is soon to be delivered. Draintile is already installed and covered with sock and geotextile fabric.

Black plastic has been placed over the drain tile and rock to protect it from the block mason's excess mortar. Gerald and Derick marked the footer with a stringline as a guide for the mason. Notice my home-made rebar safety caps (plastic bottles with insulating foam). Sand is compacted with a plate tamp.

The block has arrived! The well driller hasn't been able to fit me in his schedule yet, so I've had to haul water to the site and put in the blue drums for the mason to mix the mortar.

Draintile exiting the foundation. Its covered with rock and plastic to protect it.

Gap where the future garage door will be...

This is what happens when you haul 200 gallons of water with a 1/2 ton pickup truck. Thankfully it was empty, and I was driving relatively slow when it blew out. Only some minor damage to the fender.

The Footer:

4.01.12

I was so happy to finally get something built. Everthing up to this point was just preparation. It's nice to see something concrete (pun intended) come to fruition.

With the help of a borrowed laser level, we were able to get the base relatively flat with a 6 inch drop from front to back to allow plenty of fall for the drain tile that will keep the basement dry and cozy.

Normally footers are dug as a trench and simply filled with concrete. Since I want to drain water from under the basement floor to relieve hydrostatic pressure and keep the footer dry on the outside of the house, I had to form the footers on a flat surface. Again, I relied on Gerald's expertise (and labor) to get the forms properly placed, level, and square. Thankfully Ted and Jason were able to help, as this can be frustrating work. I mostly watched and spread some sand around to keep the clay from sticking to everyone's boots.

Here, you can see the finished forms with a 6 mil plastic moisture barrier under the footer with 1/2 inch rebar placed for reinforcement. Time to call the code enforcement building inspector to have the footer design checked and the temporary power meter inspected.

After inspection, Gerald and I took a day off to pour the footer. It was a tight fit for the concrete truck, but he was able to masterfully back into the gap in the form where the garage door will be so the concrete chute could reach the far back corner.

The concrete pour went exceedingly well. Gerald did all the work while I guided the chute. We did however learn a good lesson. Surveying stakes with roofing nails are not strong enough to withstand the sheer weight of the concrete. The footers are 24 inches wide by 12" to 18" tall. That is a lot of pressure, and many of the spreader boards popped loose and allowed the concrete to push apart the form boards at the top. This is great for the block mason to follow, but required extra concrete. Next time I will use 2" x 3" boards with 16p nails or 3 inch screws.

I was surprised that my concrete quantity calculations were dead on. I had ordered one extra cubic yard of concrete as a safety factor, and that is what was left over. I had the excess poured in a slippery spot in the access drive. Everone should have good traction there now. If we had had time, we would have made some forms for the AC units and other miscellaneous things for future use, and used the extra concrete there.

The power company came and trenched in 1,800 feet of underground cable from their primary power line to my temporary meter. Overhead power lines would have cost just as much due to tree clearing labor, and wouldn't have been very attractive. We have power !!! Thanks to my friend Stan, I was able to get a meter base that would also work as the permanent meter once we tansfer power from the temporary pole to the house. Money saved.

Ted was able to come shortly thereafter and remove the form boards and stack them neatly under a tree to act as a break room/table/chair. Every work site needs one.

Now it's time to install the drain tile and prepare for the basement floor installation...