Delays Due to Technical Difficulties

We have been having some great weather, along with some rainy days.  We took this time to dig some ditches and bury some pipe. We have engineers working on two fronts currently.   One need addressed the framing plans for the 4 exterior walls that will be exposed to the elements, whereas the rest of the house will be 'underdirt'. And along with that, they are looking at wind load - making sure the wall will withstand the wind force that will be applied to it especially in a storm.  The framing plans are done at this point, but the wind load has still to be factored in. We want a seamless appearance for the retaining wall and the framed wall, so we had thought stucco.  With the wind load, and the possibility of the framed wall moving and cracking the stucco, we are looking at other alternatives.

And the other engineering problem has to do with the second floor and the structural integrity thereof.  See photo.  There is very little for the 39 ft I-joists to sit on and they need to be 'trimmed' beyond what the manufacturer recommends. The tape measure shows the 11 7/8" height of an I-joist and where it would be cut (5 inches would be cut off where the I-joist is supported by the side steel beam).  The engineer  that engineered the structural drawings said, "I am aware that the joists are trimmed back over the steel beam supports. This is a tried and proven method that has worked well for many years.  It is not conventional, but neither is the structure in which it is used."   Other engineers and building experts are not so glib.

The other problem we are addressing has to do with that ridge beam we had problems with before.  It is still too short, but this time on the other end.  We will be looking into getting a local welder to see how he can fix it rather than contacting the company that supplied the kit. This picture shows the end of the ridge beam of our 24 ft west annex where it should attach to our 40 ft main structure.  We still have to get the annex precisely plumb and measure  how much off it is, but it appears to be about 7 inches. 




 We have also ordered additional materials we will need - 6" PVC Schedule 40 pipe and fittings and insulation for our earth tubes, and a culvert pipe.  The culvert pipe serves two purposes, it protects the earth tubes from road traffic, and serves as a heat exchanger.  Our windows are ready to be delivered!  So we need to clear out an outbuilding to store them until WE are ready to install them - after the shotcrete process. 

There is plenty to do to keep the site from eroding while we work through our current issues. We have been putting some rebar on the garage, and we will continue to do that until we can get more help with it. Bill has kept busy doing work on the house project and keeping up with work around the farm that needed to be done.