Author: oaknmeadow

March 2016

We finally have the roof deck in place. We had to put all the rest of the decking up on top, then set the final joists in place. Last step is to install the remainder of the decking.

The last of the month, our son came for a few days, and helped with the final steps of the roofing. We put a layer of rigid foam on top of the deck, then a thin plywood on top of that. We have set the rolls of roofing up on top (with the help of a rented lift), and the six buckets of adhesive.

We have also put the insulation up into the roof area. We are insulating the roof since the attic space (there isn’t very much of that) will be part of the conditioned space of the house, same as the crawl space area under the bedroom and the west half of the house.

February 2016

We’re putting up the rest of the joists and the roof deck. We’re using 5/8 Zip system decking, and taping all the joints thoroughly. Hopefully that will eliminate most of the water on the floor that seeps through underneath.

Putting up joists is an interesting experience. We have two sections of scaffolding on wheels that we can move around where needed. We prepare the joist, and lift it up across the 2 sections, then I get up on one end, and Denise on the other, and we set it in place and screw it to the top of the wall. Then we come down, prepare the next one and do the same thing again.

After we have enough joists in place, we use our panel lift, and put some pieces of the roof decking up on top, move them into place, and fasten them down.

Then back to joists, and more decking.

January 2016

We have the roof materials now, and we will start putting part of the roof up. That will clear space for assembling and raising the rest of the walls. After that, the rest of the roof can go up.

We did notice that Google earth finally (after almost 3 years) did post new images taken the very last of the month, and it shows the house with half the roof in place.

December 2015

We have rented a tractor with a bucket, and are putting the gravel base into the solar mass area. We also have a compactor, and we’re compacting it very hard, since the concrete blocks and the slab will go on top of the gravel.

We have the concrete blocks laid in place, and our contractor is coming to pour the concrete slab over them. Once that is done, we can start with the next steps of the process.

Our daughter is coming for the holidays, and she will be able to help put up some walls with us.

We have the rest of the north wall, the west wall, part of the south wall, part of the east wall, and the central wall put in place at the end of the month. The only wall area still open is the area around the slab. We’ll get the roof joists and decking delivered and have them put it directly onto the slab.

November 2015

The rains have continued, and we are trying to keep the water out of the solar mass area. We’ve put a plastic sheet down in the space, and are collecting most of the water.

We did put up a section of the north wall, having it well braced so that the winds won’t push it over.

More later.

October 2015

Finally finished putting all the floor joists in place, and we have started putting down the subfloor. These 4×8 panels are hard to move into place and to get them to fit together. The tongues don’t want to go into the grooves.

My thumb was the first casualty of the process when I hit it with a 2-1/2 pound hammer. Ouch!!

The rains have started, and naturally the floor is far from water-tight, so we are getting a lot of water on the ground in the crawl space. Since we have already put down insulation and plastic sheeting, there is a lot of water standing in there. The space for the solar mass floor also is a big pool of water.

September, 2015

We have now started putting up the framing for the floor. These 20-foot long 2x12s are heavy.

The first part of the process is to install the beams that will support the floor joists. Then we can start installing the subfloor deck.

July and August are supposed to be the hot months, but it is still hot.

In the middle of all of this process, we have decided to rearrange the living space. Originally the living room, dining room and kitchen were to be in the eastern half of the house, and the bedrooms and bath in the western half. Now the living, dining, and kitchen will occupy the southern half, and the baths and master bedroom the north. We will also have a workroom area in the northwest corner, with the back door entering there.

 

August 2015

We are building the foundation walls now. When they are up, I will fill all of the voids with concrete, and we will use a fiber cement plaster on the inside and outside of the walls.

Have started the concrete now. Mixing 2 sacks of cement at a time is a long, hard task.

165 sacks of concrete later (2 at a time), the foundation walls are now ready.

July, 2015

We have started the house. We had a contractor come and pour the footings for the foundation wall. Then about 3 weeks later, I began laying concrete blocks for the foundation. It will enclose the perimeter, and also the solar mass slab. The space inside the slab area will be filled with dirt and rock, then gravel and the concrete blocks for the air channels. Then a slab will be poured over the top of the blocks.

May 2015

We finally have figured out what the house will mostly look like, and some idea of the interior arrangement. It has turned out to be over 1700 square feet.

We have also determined that we are going to set up a passive solar capability for the winter months. We will build a solar mass into about 1/3 of the floor. This mass will be designed so that there will be an air channel running from one end to the other below the slab. This channel will allow air to circulate through the mass, and warm the area. Our hope is that it will minimize the need for supplemental heat in the winter. It could also be possible that this mass will stabilize the temperature in the house in the hot summer months, and reduce the need for air conditioning. We will see how the experiment works.

We also have a rainwater collection system started, with 4000 gallons capacity. We are gathering water from the roof of our storage building at this time.