Welding

While we were getting the initial foundation footing ready we discovered that it was quicker to weld the pieces of rebar together than it was to use traditional rebar ties. 

Now that the perimeter footer is in place we have turned our attentions to the footers needed for the 7 piers and the fireplace.  We chose to weld these rebar sections also. 

 

The plus side of this is that John got to practice his welding skills too.  In the picture you can see that John is welding the fireplace rebar and behind him you can see the pad and uprights of rebar that will go in each pier.  We hope to have the piers and fireplace footings poured in concrete this weekend.

Research ~ Research ~ Research

We fully believe that research is the key to making the right decisions.  We don't go buy a new car without doing several months worth of research on different brands and models (although we usually come back to Ford and Mustangs are a family favorite), we just feel more secure in our choices if we have studied them to death.
At any one time we are researching and learning about several different topics, this week our list toppers are ...
1) The size of a fireplace so that we can determine the size that we will need to pour the fireplace footer.
2) Different types of metal roofing; with a top runner being Interlock Slate Roof.
3) How to make your own rock for the fireplace, foundation wall and around the porch posts. These "rocks" are made from colored concrete in a mold, it is a lot more time intensive but we project the cost savings to be HUGE! (over $5000 saved)
4) How to lay cement blocks.
Of course we will post links to the companies that we choose to work with, when we make the final decision.
Since we need to know the size of the fireplace footer before this weekend that one had to take priority, and next will be the block laying and we have to make sure that we get it right. (You-Tube videos are GREAT!)
Even though we won't be needing the roof or the rock for quite a while, it is good to have a game plan.  I have estimated that if I make the rock myself I will be able to make about 24 rocks per day and it will take me about 3 months to make all of the rocks that I need, but I can wait for warmer weather to get started on those.  The roof seems to be one of the hardest decisions for us; we like metal roofs but we want to do something different than all of the other log homes out there.  Most log homes that you see have a hunter green standard metal roof, and while we agree that this is a great look we are trying to figure out how much of a statement we want to make. (also how big of a statement our bank statement can handle!)  We may end up with a standard metal roof and just choose a different color or we may find something else along the way that is unique and affordable.

So grab an extra cup of coffee (our favorite is Kona from The Bad Ass Coffee Company) and get ready to Google your fingers off.

Pouring Concrete

The concrete footer is finally done!  With the three of us and some help from Randall, Glenn and Ray we were able to get the entire footer done.  We had no choice but to do it over a span of a few days so we had to make some cold joints in the footer, but it all worked out OK.

Lisa and John did the mixing, we used a premixed sand and gravel from our local gravel pit mixed that with water and portland cement and ta-da...we have concrete.  (side note...if we can do it, ANYONE can do it)





 
Ken put the mix in the forms and smoothed it out making sure that the cold joints were in the right places according to the prints and making sure that the mix was in and around the rebar for the best compaction.

With the help of family and friends who came over on various days we had them run the tractor back and forth between the mixer and the forms.

 

We still have a few more things to pour, but they are small.  We have a total of 7 piers inside that need to be placed and the footer for the fireplace.  The toughest part of that is going to be the fireplace, we don't know which one we are going to use so it is hard to know just how big to make the footer.  The print calls for 6" in each direction in addition to the size of the fireplace unit, so at this point we have looked at several companies online and we have chosen the dimensions of the largest one and we will add our 6" to that figure; it may end up being overkill, but we don't want to guess too small since adding concrete later would not be an option.

 

Although no one likes mixing concrete, try to get as many friends or family to help you as you can get...you will NEED them!

Our Final Prints Have Arrived

At long last we have the final prints from the architect in hand!  They were nice enough to provide us with the foundation plan quite some time ago so that we could go ahead and get started on the dirt work and the rest of the foundation, but now we have all of the prints and it is signed and sealed by the architect and the engineer.  (Imagine that you now hear a huge sigh of relief!)  We don't want to bog down the site by posting the entire plan but here is the drawing of what the front of the house will look like.  If anyone would like to see the rest of the prints please email us and we will send you an e-mail version.

Ready to Pour Concrete

Just before the concrete went in the forms.

This is what our site looks like just before we began pouring the concrete. 

Rebar is bent and welded in place...bring on the concrete!

The forms are in place, the rebar is welded in and we are ready to go!  Our plans called for rebar to be horizontal in the footer area and to have upright pieces every 32" on center.