Bethy's birthday present: Walls!

Today (which happens to be my birthday :-) ) we began building WALLS!

We began by laying out the bottom plate (PT 2x6x16) and the top plate (2x6x16), and the studs (2x6x8, pre-cut to 93") on 16" centers. The areas where studs are currently missing are where windows will go. One of the window headers (a sandwich of 2x6's and plywood) is visible in the above picture.

The picture above shows a framed in window. Jack studs, which span the height from the bottom plate to the header, are first nailed to the sill (using the cripple stud for correct spacing on each side). One of the jack studs is then nailed to its adjacent stud, and the header is put on top. The other jack stud is aligned with the help of the header, and a king stud is put in next to this jack stud. The top cripple stud is measured, put into place, and everything is nailed together.

After all of the studs are nailed in, we sheath the wall with a plywood board. We first nail it in a corner in the center of a stud. We then square up the top and bottom plates along the edge of the plywood. We square everything up to within 1/32 of an inch, and then nail the sheathing to all of the studs (which have been marked on the plywood with the help of a chalk line), headers, etc. We then use a router to cut out the window opening.

Technically the router bit we are using is for cutting laminate, but it was inexpensive and is working well so far. Since we already built the window frames, all we need to do is follow them around with the router and we get a nice, clean, precise window opening.

Voila! Our first complete wall panel. We then mark along the bottom where the J bolts will align. We are very careful to measure correctly both length and width-wise on the bottom plate. We then drill out holes so that we can stand up the panel right onto the J-bolts and drop into place.

We modified the tractor bucket with some custom-made "tusks" to scoop up the panel between studs and do the heavy lifting for us.

We started out with two tusks but later found it was easier to work with only one.

We built two panels (the other one will have an 8' sliding glass door in it) so that they would help stand each other up once raised. The process of getting them in place was a bit hairy, especially because the wind picked up and was catching the panels quite a bit! After some pretty stressful moments, we successfully got the panels into place, tied down the J-bolts, and nailed in bracing. Although the process was challenging (and for me, nerve wracking), we didn't have any major mishaps or errors - though the sill seal kept wanting to blow away...

As a final reassurance, we used the tractor to help hold up the wall since there are some pretty major storms and winds in the forecast for tonight. Here's hoping all our hard work holds firm until we can build more walls tomorrow!

I am really enjoying doing the framing. It is pretty amazing to watch a pile of lumber come together to form real walls and start to make the house take shape! I can stand inside and already envision what the view will be out my windows. It is very exciting! Plus I enjoy all the measuring, sawing, nailing, and drilling, and the pattern of steps we take each time we build a wall panel. It is like a big precise puzzle coming together, all with the work of our own two hands (and some handy tools). Oh, and although I was scared the first couple times I used it, I am in LOVE with the pneumatic nail gun! (And my regular hammering is getting a lot better, too.) Looking forward to building more tomorrow; I think this will actually go pretty quickly!

It's Looking a Little Grave....ely Out Here

Monday afternoon (~1pm) the gravel arrived to set the base of our slab.  Matt had to work until later in the afternoon so it was Bethy operating the tractor and starting to spread the gravel.  To help keep the dust down we obviously planned on doing it on a rainy day (hahahahaha noooot); the rain was consistent but not heavy, so the work continued. 

Bethy moving the gravel!

Al was working on the sewer pipe layout that would be installed under the slab. The toilet flange, utility room drain, and bathroom shower drain all needed to be glued up and buried in a trench before we laid gravel and poured the slab. Bob showed up and helped with digging for the sewer pipes and spreading the gravel.  Just before the final truck load of gravel showed up, Matt arrived and took over tractor duties so that Bethy could get back to work. 

Matt takes a turn on the tractor

Josh arrived shortly thereafter and helped dig for the sewer pipes as well.  As Matt continued spreading and starting to get an even edge, the pipe was being glued up by Al, and the majority of the trench for the sewer pipe was dug by Josh and Bob.  

A clean pipe is a happy pipe

However, as we were just starting to see real progress, the skies opened up and the rain became so heavy that we had to call it for now.  We waited in our cars for a short while, but when the rain hadn't stopped we called it a day.

About how we left the site the first day

Tuesday afternoon, with a relatively dry forecast, Matt and Al got back to work.  Matt continued spreading gravel and starting to achieve final grade with the help of some string lines and a level on a stick.

Not too level yet, but we're getting there.

Al continued trenching and gluing up vent stacks.  Bob arrived as well to help with the trenching and cleaning/gluing the pipes.  The pipes were finally all set when we realized that the inspector would need to come out and see them before we buried them, so we gave him a call and he arrived later in the day.

North wall waste lines

Nice Pipes!!

Once we got the OK from the inspector we began to bury the pipes under dirt, taking care to tamp down in small layers.  We then got out the compactor which we borrowed from Matt's uncle Ace (Thanks, Ace!!).  We got it up and running and tested it out to see how much compaction we would get and thus what level we really wanted to be at before running it. 

Testing out the compactor.

We didn't get done completely leveling the gravel, but we like the results with the compactor, so that work will continue later this week. Looks like we'll be working through the holiday!


Updated budget:
+ $320.09 for various plumbing supplies
+ $988.20 for 3 trucks of #1 gravel, 14 yds each
TOTAL SPENT SO FAR: $46,638.80

Literally in the Trenches

Yesterday, Thursday June 20th, we finished the last little bit of digging (~18ft on the west side) the trenches.  It was just Matt and Al, leveling the bottom of the trenches and beginning installation of the concrete forms.  The trenches are approximately 1ft wide x3ft deep, but the total footer without slab is supposed to be 42in, hence an additional 2x6 above the trench.

Our design for the forms was to have a tall post in the trench every 4 feet that holds the outer 2x6 at the correct height. The 2x6 is then braced by a stake towards the inside of the house, to give the correct outside dimensions and level of the house. Off of the brace we then hang another 2x6 to form out the top of the footer.

The insulating foam board (that we wrapped like presents) is then  installed behind the long posts, under the outside 2x6.  Later on we will add an additional 1ft piece of foam outside the forms for a total of 3ft x 2in of foam below grade.

We used a string held taught at the 4 corners to gauge our height and width.  The corner marks were based off of our first level sighting using the water level.  Having done many second checks we found the strings to be right on the money.

We knew, despite the water in the bottom of the trench, that we were on firm ground because when we went to drive in the first few posts that hold up the forms they only went in about 2in.  Given that the post only has to hold up the form we figured this was good enough.  Once we put in the first full 16ft length we seemed to get in a rhythm and got about halfway around the house before the day was getting long. 

Northwest Corner, halfway there...

Matt's satisfied with the progress

Looks nice and straight too!!!

Today (Friday, June 21st), feeling a little worse for wear on Matt's and Al's side of things, we got to work finishing what we had started the day before. This time Bethy was down too so we knew we could finish the whole thing.  We all got hard to work and the work passed swiftly.

A little after 3, as the end was in sight we decided to call the building inspector to have him come down and take a look at our progress and give the go ahead to pour the footers.  We finished up, did a little cleanup (including getting out more water) and waited for him to come around. 

Bailing water out of the trenches.

We got him down there and his first words were 'It's too clean looking', always good to start off on the right foot.  Again he wasn't too concerned about the amount of water we had. He took a walk around, asked a couple questions about the dimensions and then signed a paper saying that we could proceed to the next step. 

All done!

Unfortunately we were slightly unprepared for the finished state of the forms because we had not yet called in for concrete.  Oops.  We quickly learned that everyone was already booked for the weekend and the next soonest would be Tuesday.  (We also learned you may as well book concrete and then cancel the morning of, rather than ever wait again).  So great progress but not so good foresight.

Updated budget:
+ $523.79 for 12, 2x4x8 Dow Scoreboard footer foam
+ $59.99 for a 100' roll of 12' wide black plastic (used to wrap the foam)
+ $27.82 for 2, 5lb boxes drywall screws
+ $124.00 for 50, 8' 2x2 stakes
+ $373.76 for 32, 16' 2x6 boards
TOTAL SPENT SO FAR (plus applicable taxes): $41,941.47

Trenching, No it wasn't supposed to be a Moat

Thanks to the ridiculous amount of rain we've gotten right after we got our building permit, we have been very slow to get started and have been put about two weeks behind our desired schedule at this point. Thankfully we finally had some decent enough weather over the past few days to make some progress.

On Sunday the 16th, the weather broke mid-way in the afternoon and we were able to hang some strings along our leveled plane. We used kite string for this purpose, as it was fine enough not to sag too much under its own weight but strong enough that it could be pulled tightly. We added 2 inches in each direction (so, overall dimensions of 36'x68') so that when we dig the footer trenches there is space for 2" insulating foam and 2" wooden forms around the perimeter of where the house will be sitting (as these materials are not structural and therefore should not bear any load). We then spray painted over the string to create outside lines to dig the trenches along.

After this, we prepped the rigid insulating foam for installation. The boards started out as 2"x4'x8', which was twice as wide as we needed, so we used the scoring on each board to split them in half to 2' wide. The engineering drawings stated that the foam was sealed in plastic, so we purchased a roll of black plastic sheeting and wrapped each of the 24 boards like they were presents.


On Monday the 17th we got the tractor to the site and started trenching at the North-West corner of the house. You can see the 5 pictures below.  Digging was pretty easy as long as the centerline of the tractor was lined up with the trench line.  Problems started to arise within the first 30 minutes, the water level in the bottom of the trench was increasing.  We got most of the way along the back wall and then decided to stop for the day, because we were having some issues with dirt slumping back in the hole.   We tried to bail some water out but it definitely was coming into the trench.  All told it did not take that long (~3hrs) but with the wet ground and water issues we decided to level the bottom and hold off until another day. 

The Trench Begins

We have to go down 3ft and luckily the shovel reaches

Bucket of Dirt

Hmmmm it may be a little wet

Yep, definitely wet, this is what we got done for the day

So we skipped Tuesday and went to work..... :/  Our friendly foreman Al (Bethy's Dad) went to the trench and bailed water out.  It seemed to not be too deep (3-4" at most) but also didn't seem to really be subsiding either.  Hopefully it will dry out before we fill it with concrete.

On Wednesday the 19th we decided it was dry enough and hot enough to continue the trench.  we got to the North-East corner which also necessitated our first attempt to get the tractor over the trench (and hopefully not ruin the trench or end up with a tractor in there either!).  It was a little hairy at times but ultimately successful on both counts.   So we rounded the corner and kept going.  

Some slumping evident from Monday

Our First Corner!!!

And what a nice Corner it is!!!

About halfway through the day we got a random visit from our friendly Town Building Inspector Gerry.  He was glad to see us all hard at work with no slacking going on.  We showed him a bit of our continuous water problem but he actually said that it looked fine and that if it were a foot or more of water he would be worried, but 2 or 3 inches is nothing to worry about (cue sighs of relief).  So on we went and got close to the end before we finally called it a day with just a few more feet on the west side to go.

Getting Stoned

Well I probably jinxed it with my last post, because of course our stretch of beautiful weather broke and we got rain right when we were scheduled to get gravel delivered. And, it was a lot of rain, so of course that area near the road that I was afraid would get all muddy got hopelessly soggy and slippery. The gravel truck arrived last Thursday and before pulling in, the driver walked over to express his doubt on account of the weather. (He also took a moment to doubt the ability of our tractor to effectively spread out the gravel between deliveries - "You're going to do it with that?! Oookaayy...." - Needless to say, we did not appreciate this unnecessary negative sentiment.) However, we figured with his heavy truck and huge tires, he ought to be okay. He pulled in and dropped off one load, and based on how that went, we figured we'd go for a second. Unfortunately, on his way out he got stuck in the slippery mud, and for a few moments were were concerned that we would have a huge truck stuck at the entrance to the driveway. Thankfully after gently rocking forward and backward enough times he eventually made it out. Matt got to work with the tractor while my dad and I used shovels to help spread the gravel, obviously concentrating on the puddles and extremely muddy areas first. For having ordered 4" bank run, a lot of those cobblestones were considerably larger than 4"...

After about 45 minutes we had the first load spread out, and we were left waiting for the next load (take THAT, non-believing truck driver!). While this load was delivered much more effectively than the first thanks to the new layer of gravel we had just leveled out, the driver was not confident that we would have continued success, and told us we should wait until the weather improved and things dried out. Drats. We leveled out the second load and called it a day, and once again we were left waiting.

The rain eventually tapered and we were able to schedule the remaining deliveries for today. This time, instead of dumping all of the gravel in one pile that needed to be spread out, the driver started at one end of the driveway and slowly dumped while driving. The hatch of the truck had a chain on it that only allowed the door to open so much, so that the flow of the gravel was rather controlled as the truck rolled along. This left very little work for us to then have to do, other than some minor leveling out and a whole bunch of driving back and forth to help pack the gravel down. And by "us" I actually mean Matt and my dad, as I was unavailable, so it's a good thing that there was less work to have to do this time.

So now we have a driveway!....mostly. We still don't technically have an approved site plan, so we still can't get the driveway permit that would allow us to complete the driveway where it meets the road. But for now, at least we have a "paved" pathway that will allow us to drive in and out from the site without getting stuck in the mud anymore. Progress!

Updated budget:
$370.00 - Rush Gravel Corp. 2 trucks of 12 yds #3 gravel
$555.00 - Rush Gravel Corp. 3 trucks of 12 yds #3 gravel
TOTAL SPENT SO FAR: $39,253.29

Driveway Prep

Although our site plan isn't yet fully approved, and therefore we cannot get an official driveway permit, we have gotten to work on the driveway (just not in the area near the road). Using the tractor we got recently, we have been scraping away the topsoil along a 10' wide path that we outlined using stakes and string (just from eyeballing). After laying out the path, we measured it to be about 350' long! So scraping away the topsoil has been a rather long process. Matt has manned the frontloader for most of it while I have used a shovel ahead of him to cut away the edges cleanly. My manual effort has been a real pain because we are realizing just how many rocks there are just underground! It seems like every other time I break ground with the shovel I hit a rock.

I tried to get a picture of the driveway, but as you
can see it doesn't really look like very much.
It's tough to get a high angle.

Now that we are pretty much ready, we have put in an order for gravel for this Thursday. Here's hoping the weather cooperates, because the area near the road (which we can't even work on until we get a proper permit) can get really muddy!

We bought a tractor!

After receiving quotes for a driveway, site excavation, trench digging, landscaping, and other various diggy work, we were surprised to see that prices were high for jobs that seemed like they could be easily accomplished with some heavy machinery. Sure, there are costs such as time, gas, and maintenance, but for the price of all those quoted services, it wouldn't actually cost that much more to buy a small tractor for ourselves - and instead of just giving that money away, we would have a vehicle of our own. We did some research and determined that a small tractor with a frontloader and backhoe would be able to get the jobs done (albeit more slowly than a larger tractor or contractor). After shopping around a bit we checked out the inventory down the street at Lakeland Equipment, and they had a lightly used John Deere compact tractor available with a frontloader, mower deck, and backhoe at a fantastic price. We took it for a test drive, slept on it, and decided - let's give it a shot!

John Deere compact tractor 2305

Breaking ground!

Yes, they gave me a pink JD hat.

Backhoe.

Easily removing one of what will surely be many large rocks. 

So far, so excellent. We think this little machine is really going to come in handy. Besides, it comes with the land, right?

By the way, it runs on diesel - so we would really like to use biodiesel if possible (how cool would that be?). If anyone knows where we can get some, please comment. Google searches haven't turned up anything very promising.

Note: We decided not to include the tractor in the budget, as it is not specific to the house and will either be sold or will continue to be used after the house is built. We regard it as a separate investment.