November 3 - This is the view of the job site looking south down the road. The temporary drive is on the right. The final drive will be farther down the road.
November 3 - The temporary drive is defined by split rail and barrier fencing to keep traffic off the other parts of the lot. It has gravel to minimize the mud. The fence and gravel will be removed when the job is concluded.
November 3 - The garage has been formed and partially filled. This coming week, the house footers will be poured. While blocks are being laid on the house footers, other foundation workers will begin work on the garage slab. This is a large home. Notice the batter boards in the distance.
November 3 - Each footer has three 5/8 steel rebar in it. There are also a number of vertical rebar which will tie the block foundation walls to the footers.
November 3 - A number of vertical rebar are visible in this photo.
November 3
November 8 - The footers are ready for concrete. The first truck is pouring in the background. The red rebar is for electrical grounding (per code).
November 8 - The footers are poured and troweled to smooth the surface. The vertical rebar will tie the block walls to the footers.
November 8 - The footers are stepped due to the lot slope. The block wall to the left of the form board will have one extra block added to it. This prevents the footers from being dug deeper than necessary on the higher spots on the lot.
November 8 - This is the very last of the tenth truck. The footers were made of 100 cubic yards or 200 tons or 400,000 pounds of concrete. They will give the house a solid base.
November 8 - At a glance, it does not look like 100 cubic yards of concrete, but that is what was poured. 100 cubic yards would make a block of concrete 14 feet wide, 14 feet long and 14 feet high. A shipping container like you see pulled on the highway holds about 100 cubic yards.
November 13 - Blocks that were scheduled for delivery on Thursday were postponed due to the rain. They are here now. Notice the muddy ruts the fork lift left as they spread out the blocks.
November 13 - Blocks were spread around the perimeter of the house to minimize the distance they have to be carried.
November 13 - The block walls are going up! The weather looks clear for the next week or so we should have a lot of progress.
November 16 - Seven dump trucks of fill dirt were delivered to the job site on Wednesday. This will go under the slab of the guest house.
November 16 - More blocks are being laid.
November 16 - The master side of the house still needs blocks. The water on the left is from the mason's mixer, not rain.
November 16 - The footer on the left will have blocks on it when the masons are finished.
November 16 - Here is a view of the dirt from in front of the house. You can see the forms for the guest house on the left side of the photo.
November 17 - The job sign is now in place near the road.
November 17 - The flat area with forms around it is the guest house.
November 17 - Here is the guest house fill from in front of the main house.
November 17 - The worker is running a 'jumping jack' to pack the fill in the garage.
November 17 - More blocks are being laid. As soon as the block laying and necessary inspections are complete, the blocks will be filled with concrete making a very strong foundation.
November 20 - The plumber (blue shirt) is laying out the under slab drain pipes in the guest house. The step down in the foreground will be the guest house porch. If you look carefully, just to the right of the right yellow bucket you will see the electrical conduit that will feed power to the guest house.
November 20 - This is the garage. Two conduits have been brought under the forms. They will feed power to the garage.
November 21 - The plumbers are on site and laying out the drain plumbing for the guest house. The black box in the foreground is for the tub connection. The large pipe (in front of the plumber's shovel) is for the toilet.
November 21 - Block masons are still laying block. The fresh blocks have dark mortar (it has not cured yet). They are working on the Master Suite end of the house today.
November 22 - The plumbers completed their drain work on Tuesday. The pipes are uncovered for the inspectors review today. The black on the pipes is where they penetrate the (soon to be poured) concrete slab (per code). The tall pipe on the right is filled with water to expose any leaks in the joints. It is temporary and will be removed once the inspection is complete.
November 22 - Still more blocks are being laid. Once the blocks are all laid reinforcing steel (rebar) will be placed in the blocks. They will be inspected and then poured solid. This will create a massive foundation for the Quirch main house.
November 29 - Footers have been dug inside the garage forms. This slab will be poured in the next day or two. The guest house will be ready in a day or so. They will be poured together.
November 29 - The last of the house footers have been poured. Block laying continues.