Some Surmountable Problems, Erecting More Steel and Garage Panels

Bill and I were erecting the 24 x 18 West annex and having a good time.  We got the center beam and the end arch up.  I went in to rest (haha).  Bill stayed out and put away tools, etc.  Among the etc, was a time of contemplation and enlightenment.  He noticed that the beam was 6 ft short.  In this picture, you can see it readily.  His brother, Tom, came over and helped us out, and suggested that since we had that beam and arch secure, and since we found out from the fabricators that they were going to add to THAT end of the beam, he thought that we should try to walk the arch and beam down 6 ft to where it shows in this picture.  Much better than disassembling and reassembling.  AND, he helped put up the rest of the arches!  Only the beam extension and end arch to go!

 A view from our driveway.

Here you can see in the foreground, the 6 x 18 tunnel which actually is a dead end and will be used as a wine cellar/pantry off the kitchen.  It will be a cooler room due to some extra insulation on the walls near the house and less insulation as you go further into the pantry.  So the soil should keep it cool and at a relatively constant temperature. In the background, you can see the 24 x 18 west annex arches.  And in the middle, securely lashed down are some of the 40 x 66 arches and in the distance on the left is our driveway.  I should note here that the other problem that we found was that the 2 beams that make up the 66 ft beam get bolted together.  However, the inventory sheet did not specify any bolts that size.  So they are being sent to us by the fabricators.

 A view from our driveway taken the day before the steel erection above was one.                                                                          

A Week's Progress

The BIG EVENT occurred Monday and Tuesday.  A pumpcrete truck arrived early Tuesday morning.  8 concrete trucks also contributed to the effort along with about a dozen young men.  We now have a concrete floor in our new house.

On the garage, we added some more panels so that we only have 3 more to put on.

Today, Greg and Carson came and erected the four tunnel arches with Bill and Kim, but mostly on their own; and set up two sets of scaffolding so that the steel arches in the west annex can be erected next. But, another day.

Rain Delay, but Progress too!

This picture shows the whole project site.  The center right is the garage slab with steel erected.  Above and to the left behind the truck is where the house will be. The cameraman, Bill, is on a hill of dirt in our field.  This whole area used to be trees with the old farm house above where the garage is behind those trees.

 Deep in thought, about all kinds of worries perhaps, Bill is looking over our house site with its numerous plumbing and earth pipes.
The weather has delayed the pouring of the slab until early next week.  The plumbing passed inspection at this point.  We have one more earth pipe to put in, but it will be done while the slab is being poured.  It is closer to the surface and we don't want it crushed by concrete trucks.  It is actually our dryer vent which should heat up our bedroom floors quite well.  We will have to keep it lint-less.

Today's progress! Bill and I put the first row of mesh panel on the garage along with two panels of the second row (in the back).  We, mostly Bill, also put in some horizontal rebar. I sunk down about 8 inches in mud.  And it is pretty slick in spots.  This part of the job was slow going.  We are thinking that the upper row and top row will be even tougher.  But as we learn how to do it, we hope it will go faster.

The Sterrett crew had poured our sunken area's floor a day or two before this picture.  Here, they are bringing the walls up to the floor of the main house.  We hope to put a modular, transportable spa in this area.

Wonderful SunShine!

We have had about a week without rain.  The Sterrett Co has been here off and on working on the preparations for the slab - footers.  They also poured the floor of our sunken area.

The plumbers, namely Glen and Mark, have been here Wednesday thru Friday, and done remarkably putting in our 13 of 14 earth tubes.  One more to go.  And they will come back Monday to do the last one and get the actually 'plumbing' (water drain stuff) installed.  Then on Tuesday, the footers will be poured.  And Wednesday is scheduled to be the BIG day where the slab will be poured.  Mr Sterrett said they would be here from 4 am until 5 pm.  So everything has to be ready for them.

Only problem is that there is a 50% chance of rain Tuesday night.

Erecting Steel and Incorporating French Drains and Bobcat

Oh, my achin' back!  And I am not contributing that much manual labor. Perhaps if I did it on a more regular basis, my muscles would get used to it.

The steel arches of the garage are raised, tightened, straight and secure. This is a great sense of accomplishment.  We do have a lot more to do.  If you notice, we are facing South and the back of the garage is a dirt wall that is 14 ft high (where the camera is).  It feels like an oven in that hole when the sun is out and you're working.  There are tabs about every 18 inches on those arches which needed to be bent 90 degrees to hold some panels on, which is the next step in the process - getting those panels in place. Thanks to Tom and Bill for doing those tabs and getting the arches tightened.  Thanks to Junius for helping raise the roof! 

There is a gravel ditch around the slab.  With all the rain, the french drains are being partially installed as time permits, and then checked to see that they are OK before progressing further.  At this point the socked corrogated pipe is in but it is not covered with gravel.

Yesterday, we got a new used toy - tool.  A bobcat loader arrived and today, Bill was driving around learning how to drive/steer.  He noticed the loader is operated with the feet, and that is going to take some getting used to.  He thought I might like to learn how to operate it.  I wouldn't mind as long as I don't get carried away and take out any buildings.