December 4 - The footers are finished. The vertical stands of rebar are where piers will be laid. The rebar ties the piers down to the footers. Once the pier blocks are laid, they will be filled with concrete. The dirt under the home will then be smoothed.
December 4 - With the exception of this small place in the front (where the front door will be located), the exterior walls are up. This area was left open to make access to the center for laying piers easier. When the piers are finished, this wall will be finished. The interior walls are up with the exception of the fireplace foundations.
December 5 - Piers are up on the left half of the house. Most of the piers are below the foundation walls because load bearing beams will be supported by them. Several of the piers are flush with the walls. These piers and the block walls will be filled solid with concrete when the block laying is finished.
December 5 - A small opening is left in the rear of the home for access to the crawl space. (It is outlined with a red line). The top of the opening will be poured when the blocks are filled with concrete.
December 5 - Footers are being dug around the guest house slab. The box just past the large white pipe is for the bath tub connection. We have a good deal of rain forecast for the next three days, so the footers will have to be touched up before we pour. We will also have a soil compaction test, treat for termites and lay poly and steel before we pour. We had hoped to pour this week, but the weather may not allow this.
December 12 - The rectangle right of center will be the foundation for one of the fireplaces. Tomorrow, the dirt under the house will be smoothed.
December 12 - The second fireplace will be built on the foundation near the center of the photo. Beams will rest on the piers. All of the blocks will be filled with concrete in the next few days.
December 12 - There are two brick walls just inside the front door. There is a double row of blocks on either side of the foyer. The inside row is to support the brick walls.
December 12 - The rain washed the footers on the guest house. The ground is being fixed and prepped. Tomorrow a soil compaction test is scheduled followed by termite treatment.
December 12 - Footers are being dug inside the perimeter per the engineer's plans. This will strengthen the slab to support loads.
December 12 - Footers are being dug inside the perimeter per the engineer's plans. This will strengthen the slab to support loads.
December 15 - The guest house has footers around it which extend down to the undisturbed soil. Notice the steel rebar in the recessed area which will add extra strength under a load bearing wall.
December 15 - The garage is also being prepped for a slab. The porches on both the garage and guest house will be tabby concrete with a brick border. The square hole on the left is where a support post will be. Thickening the concrete gives this area extra strength.
December 15 - The dirt inside the main house foundation walls is being leveled. This is partially done. A thin layer of concrete will be poured over plastic under the main house to seal the crawlspace. Beams will be placed on the piers. The block walls and piers will be filled with concrete once they have passed inspection probably in a week or so.
December 18 - Two loads of fill dirt arrived. This will be used to fill under the service yards in a few days.
December 19 - The garage and guest houses are ready to pour. There is steel rebar in the footers per the print. Dirt under the slab has been treated for termites. It has been tested to make sure it was solidly packed. Plastic was put down then a steel mesh was placed on the plastic. There is a thickened portion on the left side of the photo where there will be a load bearing wall.
December 19 - Locations for anchors to be placed in the slab before it cures have been marked. Each anchor (J bolt) will be connected to a steel rod that goes to the top plate to make sure the structure is solidly held in place. The locations are marked with a black line and a 'J' and set off with red paint. The red arrows in the photo show examples of the marks.
December 20 - Forms are installed for the brick border of the garage (in this photo) and guest house porches.
December 20 - The first of the concrete for the slabs is being poured. It will take about 60 cubic yards (approximately 120 tons) of concrete to pour the guest house and garage slabs.
December 20 - The garage is being poured. The forms are in place for brick borders in front of each of the auto bay doors.
December 20 - The garage concrete has set and is being troweled with a power trowel. The tabby porch has not been poured yet.
December 20 - The guest house slab is nearly poured (about 12:30 pm).
December 20 - The portion on the right edge of the guest house has yet to be poured. The chute of the last truck is behind the worker.
December 22 - The forms have been removed from the garage slab and the dirt leveled in preparation for framing.
December 22 - The porch of the garage (and guest house) is tabby (concrete with shell). The porch will also have a brick border. (The tabby is dirty in the photo - we had rain and now have mud on the site.)
December 22 - This is the material for the garage. It is on site and covered in case we have rain.
December 22 - The framing lumber for the guest house is also on site. Framing will begin Tuesday if all goes according to plan.
December 22 - Forms are being taken off the guest house and dirt is being leveled.
December 22 - Tall forms are being removed from the side of the guest house. The site will be ready for the framers on Tuesday. The foundation sub will also be working on finishing up the main house foundation.
December 27 - This shows the higher wall in the guest house sitting room. Most of the ceilings in the guest house are flat and 10 feet aff (above finished floor). The sitting room is vaulted from 12ft6in to 19ft2in aff.
December 27 - This is the east corner of the guest house. The porch is on the left edge of the photo. The three windows (over the right sawhorse) are in bedroom #2.
December 27 - This shows the porch and entry door on the right. The two openings (center and right) will be windows (center one in the tea kitchen; right, bath #2).
December 27 - The northeast side of the guest house shows the three windows in bedroom #2. The room over the truck hood is bedroom #1.
December 28 - The guest house is going up. The high ridge beam shows how high the guest house will be. Plywood sheathing is going on the walls. Note, the openings for windows have not been cut into the plywood yet.
December 28 - The front door opening is visible on the left side of the guest house. The bottom 2 feet of plywood is dark because it is treated to prevent termite and rot problems. Code requires about 8in or so. We put 24in.
December 28 - This is how the guest house will look from the north service yard. The front porch is on the right side.
December 28 - The foundation subs are smoothing the dirt under the main house. We have added more dirt to fill low spots. Two more loads of fill have been ordered.
December 29 - The guest house is taking shape. This is the east side of the house.
December 29 - More fill dirt to be placed under the main house has arrived.
December 29 - This dirt will fill low spots to avoid water puddles under the home. The garage framing material is in the background ready for the framers.
December 29 - This is the sitting room of the guest house. The main house is on the right edge of the photo.
December 29 - One load (the third load total) of dirt has been put inside the foundation walls.
December 29 - It will be carried to the low spots with wheelbarrows and smoothed.
December 29 - When the foundation sub is finished everywhere under the house will be smooth like that in the foreground. A thin (2in-3in) 'rat slab' of concrete will be poured under the house to contain ground humidity and insure rodents don't get under the home.
December 29 - This should be the last load of fill for under the house. Several loads will be needed to fill under the north service yard.
December 29 - The lot is very spacious. This is how the guest house looks from the garage.
December 29 - This is the side of the guest house that will greet visitors when they arrive. If you look closely, you can see the triple window (in bedroom #2).