Foundation

The concrete crew was back at it again today and completed the installation of the wall forms and soon there after did the pour. The concrete came via a two-step process: concrete comes from typical delivery truck which then feeds into a pump truck which has an delivery arm that can extend up to 90 feet. This truck is run by a man who has a remote control unit strapped over his shoulders to direct both the arm of the truck as well as the flow of the concrete through the supply tube. Its amazing to see this efficient process in action.

All the while there is one guy walking along the forms directing the flow of the concrete into the forms while two guys follow behind with a vibrating machine that, well, vibrates the concrete to settle it way down in the forms.

Once the pour was complete, the crew then went around and firmed up the walls to make sure they were straight and true, leveled everything to their batten board, and then inserted the anchor bolts.

It was a big day, and exciting once again. So far so good. Tomorrow the forms come off and then were on to sealing and installing the perimeter drain.

Fun stuff.

Moving along...

Today the footing was poured. Its just amazing to see a drawing turned into reality. It's like, "Hey, I drew that!" and then the next thing you know, a hardworking crew of concrete guys comes along and makes it real. It seemed so distant in the design process and now here it is being laid out and poured as a matter of fact.

For example, I labored over whether we should include a radon vent in the house. The conventional wisdom around here says unless you are over bedrock you shouldn't have a problem. On the other hand, a good friend who had a house in Barre said they had their place tested and found very high levels of radon. I decided that we should go ahead and install the vent pipe in the event we ever find we need it. Today, when the crew was setting up the forms I ran down to town, grabbed some pvc pipe and laid it in place. The cost was negligible, the effort to place minimal, and now its there. It was hardly worth thinking about in the end and I'm glad we did it. I guess I'm just dwelling on the transition from concept to reality and how that transition happens.

Back to the process: The footing was poured today, and tomorrow, if weather allows, the forms go up for the walls. Every step is exciting, but I think seeing the wall forms going up is notable for its dramatic thrust into three dimensions - up from the 2D of the footings.

Finally!

Today we broke ground. Or should I say, a giant earth mover broke tons of ground. At around seven this morning Nancy and I were sipping our coffee and tea respectively and starting to think that it wouldn't be happening today... it was raining, damp, and calm and just didn't feel like anything active was going to happen. Then, at maybe 7:04, two white trucks show up and within minutes, the digger was coming down the drive way. After a short consultation about depth and site markers the project was suddenly made manifest by the powerful combination of hydraulics, steel, and human attention.

I asked Anna and Nancy today if they could imagine anyone being as fascinated with watching them do their work as it is to watch a skillful backhoe operator going at it. I swear, Dave, the operator could pick up a plate of fine china with his machine if he wanted. He could also crush a car. He reminded me of a limber skier as he turned, retracted, lifted, dumped, pulled, pushed and piled the earth.

Digging went smoothly and I was greatly relieved to see how much fill we were accumulating throughout the day. One of the harder elements for me to envision throughout the design process has been how the landscape will pan out. A good part of that is dependent on how much fill we have to work with. It looks now that we'll be in good shape to structure the landscape without any abrupt or sever drops. Phew.

I had called DigSafe last week in preparation for this work. They came and located the main power line coming to the existing garage with spray paint on the ground. Dave was aware of the location and was working away when suddenly the power went off. It turns out there was a loop of wire outside the marks on the ground and he hit it. Except for some lost time, there was no serious damage. Green Mountain Power came and got us back in shape in good time.

By the end of the day we were left with a massive, gaping hole in the yard. Its just so impressive to see what a powerful machine can do and also to see the empty space where the house will go. It is so exciting.

The countdown starts

We have scheduled the earth work to begin a week from tomorrow. Who hoo! In a sense, it feels like the project has already begun with all the prep work we've been doing in the last few weeks, especially with moving the yurt last weekend.

We've got the concrete company lined up as well, and if the weather works in our favor and there are no major hic-ups, Joe and I should be able to start on the first floor deck right about August 1. Its way later then we had hoped, but it still works for us and we'll make the best of it. I envision running the woodstove once the real cold sets in in order to do the wiring and plumbing with a measure of comfort.

(If you look closely in the photo, you'll notice that the gable end overhang has been cut off the end of the garage. That was done to make way for the bucket arm of the digger, since the new foundation will be very close to the existing building. The cut off parts were part of the fire.)

Getting Ready

For the last few weeks, as time has allowed, we have been slowly clearing up the site in preparation for the site work to begin. We've cleared the remains of the big tree we felled a couple months ago, we've stacked four cords of wood we had delivered (into a good location relative to where the yurt will go), and we moved the sugar house structure. Its been good to create order out of all stuff that is happening around here; the wood is all in one place, the kindling is on the deck, and so on.

Along with that we've been continuing to work on the garden, which seems to always provide opportunity to do more. This is the year of "zero tollerance" for weed and grass incursion into the garden. That means we've been heavily mulching paths and perimeter's with wet cardboard and then loads of wood chips. I see it as an investment of time that saves double the time later when we only have to weed the beds, not the paths!


I've continued to refine details on the house, and sometimes feel like I'm worrying a little more then needed. That could be but I doubt it, there's always more to go over. I'd rather over double-check or over-think the items I'm not sure of. We are ready to start when we finally get our permit, which, count our stars, will be soon.

Amazingly, our little old tractor was able to pull the sugar structure. Its new location is proving to be an unexpected delight. It feels like a new building and I expectantly look forward to coffee each morning on the deck looking out at the garden and the bees.

Update

Wow. Its been over a month since the last posting.

In the meantime we've continued to refine our plans. It is a process of moving to ever greater detail about everything. I used to work for an architect and my experience of the design process in that setting was was a steady, but not rapid, progression from one stage of design to the next. There hasn't been the same breathing room in our process, or to be a little more accurate, we've had to jump around a bit and do some pricing while still working elements of the design out. Its in the last week or two that I feel like the two are more realistically in sync.

I've struggled a bit with working out the details of the site plan. I can easily see, feel, and mentally experience the house, but when it comes to representing and "feeling" the contours of the site, I find it a bit harder. I built a model today, but it wasn't as revealing as I'd hoped it would be.

We area still waiting on confirmation of our septic plan. We hope to get that in the next week or so. With that in hand, we'll be able to move pretty quickly with scheduling and beginning work.

The photo above is of a rest area on I-89 in Williston. Its captured my attention for a number of years and I recently stopped and snapped some pics.

Slow and Steady

The last couple of weeks have had lots of ups and downs. After arriving at a settled plan, we dove in once more, revamped, simplified and came out the other end with the next iteration. Feeling a little worn down from the process and not trusting the last bit of work I'd done, I put down my drafting tools on a Friday afternoon and decided that I needed to forget about the house for a bit. I spent the next day and a half building bee equipment, cleaning bike parts, and puting Nancy's bike back together. I needed a little distance. It took a while, but I DID forget about the house and it was good to have done so. On Sunday night when we came back to plan our next moves we looked at the plans and we were both struck with a sense of "Hey... that's it... its good." Further refinements have transpired, but at this point we're around the last corner design-wise and it feels very good.

On the other hand, the septic issues have been rough. Our ideal siting for the house is not feasable given the resulting location of the system and the soils underneath. That pushes the house back up into the site a bit more then we'd like. Its not perfect, but I think we both feel like we can go with it. More to come this week.

Also, we're clear now that a slab-on-grade will not work here, so guess what? We're gonna have a basement. That's great from an extra space point of view, but increases costs. On the whole, I'm actually pretty glad about it. We can now do a root cellar, we'll have semi-c0nditioned work space in the winter... nice stuff.

What, you may ask, is happening in the picture above. Well, after cleaning my bike chain, I cooked it in a mixture of parafin and some of our beeswax. The connection? You know; getting away from the house project and all. Thinking about something else for a little bit.