Codes

So we have the inspector over, basically 12 hours before we're to start backfilling the foundation for the next phase. We have half the subfloor on. I say, "Well we don't want to violate any codes." And he says, "You already have," and chuckles.

Of course we're quietly freaking out.

Turns out that foundation inspection is supposed to be done before any framing is done. But of course we put off the damp-proofing and installing the French drain because we were too doggone busy. We figured that as long as it wasn't backfilled, we were ok.

But he was a good guy about it, and patiently schooled us in how things were to be done in a certain order. Inspection passed.

Building "Up"

Man o man we needed that vacation. Hey, we know we're not going to get done before school starts, so might as well make the best of it. Here's what greeted us on our return.

I don't think we really did any work that day. Some moments are meant just to enjoy.

Aug 12: Back to reality. We've got a number of joists in place, and have started to load 3/4" T&G decking onto the platform. There's a house comin' out of that hole!

Julie using the nail gun to fasten a rim joist. Check out those muscles.

The mason had finished the parging (in 4 hours!--money well-spent). Here you see the bituminous damp proofing applied to one outer wall. Note that the grade line is about 12" below the framing.

Aug 18: We're really hustling. "Panel day" is tomorrow! Robin & Terry Loughran from Bridlewood Builders are coming to unload and start erecting the first floor walls with us. much of the foundation needs to be filled in, so while Eric worked on subflooring, Julie worked on building the French drains. The thin orange marker driven into the gravel marks the end cap of the well access tunnel, seen in an earlier post as coming up thru the concrete slab on the northwest side of the crawlspace.  

Here's a completed section.

 

Here's 4" slotted pipe emerging from the lower end of the northeast side.

When installing decking for the walls, the tongue has to exceed the edge of the rim joist, because the panels have to sit on a solid 3/4" of decking. Stagger joints in each run. Bring on the building inspector!

Some updates

Ok, we're behind, but to give you a sense of where we've been...

July 26th: the mason grouted the holes in the block every 48" and sunk a 16" J-anchor. Jeb & I drilled and bolted down the pressure-treated mudsills to cap the block wall. The Monday after, this is our first lumber delivery.

These are the "LVLs"--laminated veneer lumber. Essentially giant plywood beams. These things weigh a ton. At 16' & 24', it took 4 of us to carry them over and place them inside on temporary block columns.

July 29: We are getting close to our vacation in Cape May and we're not quite where we want to be. (somehow we'd imagined the house would be under a roof by then)

Props to Jeb. He drilled 39 1/2" holes 6" into the concrete pads (I drilled one, just to try it). Tip: hammer drill of any size beats big half-inch rotary drill! Julie's workin' the Styrofoam (see previous entry).

July 30: Beams are in but yet leveled for the floor joists.

Beam pockets of my own design. J-hooks mortared into the holes and bolted to heavy duty angles, with beam thru-bolted. Concerned about getting the beams positioned just right, I designed something super-strong but with room to "adjust" for any errors (which, we, learn, are inevitable).

Pressure treated lumber base with 1/2" pine shim to bring level with the mudsills (top left).

August 2: Eric & Jeb decided to try parging the outside of the wall. Meant to protect the block and mortar from moisture and mechanical damage, and provides a substrate for the damp-proofing. This was 45 minutes and small mixes of mortar. Once again, I'm thinking of a certain mason...

Meanwhile...

We installed level lines in 3 places across the beams.

Here's a close-up. Then, we're told, take a 2x4 piece and slip it under the line as it crosses each beam. If the beam's low, there will be a gap between the wood and the string (which must be bar-tight). If the beam's high, it'll push up on the string.

The joists in the background...first I did some layout. Here's a close -up:

This, we're told by our builder-consultants, is best done by one person--minimizes errors. The right-edge mark is 15 1/4" for the sill edge. X marks the joist, so it sits 16" on-center. This had to be done on 2 sills and all beams. Ok, maybe this seems like everything was going on at once that day. It was.

Under the steel columns note the little thin black composite shims to bring the floor level. Composite is preferred over cedar shims, which are too soft and still a little moisture prone. 3 of the columns were too high. Concrete block temporary columns were placed, and the long columns were unbolted and sent back to the steel fabricator for shortening.

And finally, a sleeve of 6" drain pipe, set in place at a slight downward angle with hydraulic cement. This was taken before the outside was filled.

A particularly busy day. And then we left for Cape May (Yay!)

The Styrofoam Puzzle

Anyone who knows me well knows that I care a great deal about the environment. Hence, I mostly avoid using Styrofoam when I can. I realize it has many wonderful uses, but I believe we use it way too casually. It is not a good candidate for recycling, even if you can find a place to do so. So we drink our take-out coffee and take home our doggie bags, while our landfills fill with plastic puffy stuff that will outlast all of us. In order to do my part to reduce Styrofoam use, I go to the extreme of carrying my own containers to restaurants to take my leftovers home. A little eccentric, but satisfying.

Why am I telling you this? Well, let me start at the beginning. Many months ago, when Eric started making a list of supplies we would need, one of the things he listed was sheets of 3-inch Styrofoam. This was for insulating the inside of the crawlspace wall. One layer of Styrofoam and one layer of drywall. We need insulation because the crawlspace will be heated/air-conditioned (since the ductwork and some of the plumbing will be there). We chose the Styrofoam/drywall solution based on the lower cost, as many of our decisions for this project are. Of course, my first reaction was Styrofoam!? But I bowed to the wisdom (and thriftiness) of the choice.

Way before we started construction, we started scanning the paper and Craig’s List for used items. Last year Eric discovered someone selling second-hand Styrofoam from a factory demolition. How could I refuse! It was half-price, thus saving us even more money. Plus, we wouldn’t be using any new Styrofoam. Yay! I could use it with a clear conscience.

However, transporting it wasn’t easy, so we tied it up in the back of the pickup truck (did we tell you we bought a junker pickup for $1100? We call it Mr. Rattles). Unfortunately, as you know, Styrofoam is very light, and on the way, some of it got caught by the wind and blew off the truck. We collected it all, but by the time we got to the storage locker, some of the pieces were broken and some had been run over by passing vehicles, so had tire marks on them.

Fast-forward to July. It’s time to glue the Styrofoam in, and the broken pieces have to be fitted back together, and we have to figure out how it will fit around all the walls. Eric said, “This is a perfect job for you,” because I like to do puzzles, and he doesn’t. So Ms Anti-Styrofoam spent a week organizing, carrying, cutting and gluing Styrofoam. Probably more Styrofoam than I have saved, pound for pound, in my entire life! (Which made me question the value of my anti-Styrofoam activities) Actually, it was kind of fun. Most of the pieces were intact, and it was just a matter of cutting them to fit the walls.

The whole pieces were eight feet long, but much higher than we needed, so I had to trim them to fit. (Got a nasty blister on my finger from cutting them!) And there were shorter and broken pieces, too, as you can see.

I spent one morning mixing and matching the broken pieces until I could see where they fit together. Once I figured out where each piece was going to go, I started gluing them up. Unfortunately, it’s been a rainy year. So I’d glue some down, go away till the next day, and it would rain. When I’d come back the next day, some of them would’ve fallen down. Arrrrrgh! I finally got them all up, with the backers nailed into place.

Ah…the backers. In between the pieces of Styrofoam you have to put wooden backers, so you’ll have something to nail the drywall to. And how, you might wonder, do you nail pieces of wood into concrete blocks? With a Ramset. A Ramset is an awesome gun that shoots nails into the wall. You load a nail onto the end of the gun, then you put a (small) bullet into a little chamber. Then you position your gun and hit the end of it sharply with a hammer, and BAM, your nail gets forced into the wall. Very noisy (yes, I wore ear protection), and kind of tedious, since you have to load each nail and bullet separately, but very cool. This project is constantly reminding me of how clever people are for thinking up tools to do specific jobs perfectly. Forget “There’s an app for that.” My new phrase is “There’s a tool for that? Cool!”

So the Styrofoam is up, and here’s a picture of a finished wall. It’s braced until the glue dries.

 
We will put the drywall up after the house is under roof, so that it won’t get wet. Of course, this means we’ll have to nail the drywall up while sitting in a 36-inch crawlspace. Oh, well. There are lots of tasks where you think, “I don’t want to do that,” and then you do it anyway, because you have to. I’m glad this one is done!