The walls rise, and the overhang closes in

Well, the walls got moved. Scott had the walls taken back down and lined up where I had wanted them.

Now being built where they were supposed to be.

They worked on getting the walls put up, and getting them inspected as they went. Here are some pictures of how each wall has been going...

While they have been building walls, I have been working to get the overhang all sealed up, and closed in. Some of the challenge is just from trying to get something like this, very well insulated, and then waterproofed, and then still having a good way to attach the finish materials to the outside. The other challenge, is in dealing with the "as built" structure. For instance, every other joist was supposed to have a metal plate on the end, where we could attach materials to. Well, the way the joists were installed, we have a change in the pattern.

They changed the pattern of where the plates were!

So, now I need to sit down, and figure out where I am going to put seems and details in the finish materials, so they look good on the outside, but are also securely attached. I want the design to be symmetric, but the attachment points are not.

Adam came over, and worked on moving the dirt around to work toward the final grade. He is working the ground around the walls quite well. With the insulation and furring strips on the front, it is getting closer, to being fully closed in.

Now Marcus has his own ideas of what I should be doing. He gave me an artist's impression of what the hole should look like.

I'm afraid, that if Marcus wants a round door, he will have to build his own Hobbit Hole.

The Hole has doors!

Last Thursday, Mike came out to install my garage door and front door. I was finally going to be able to close the place up. This will keep out the larger animals that tend to wander through.

Scott's crew started to work on the retaining walls as well. This looks like it may be a drawn out saga.

I took a day off of work, so I would be there in case there were any questions. When I got out to the property, Scott and his guys were there. He was still having issues getting the proper blocks delivered in the quantity he needs for my wall. They had some of a block with a straight front. We were going to use blocks that have an angular cut across the front. Scott said that he could use the straight block on the first couple courses which will be buried when final grading is done, and I put in my gardens. So they were going to start using the blocks he had. That way they didn't have to delay starting my walls any longer. Meanwhile, he was telling the block company they better have the blocks that they promised delivered by today.

The blocks they are supposed to use, you can see how the side on the left has a beveled front, rather than going straight across.

Scott and I went around to the buffer boards and looked things over for each wall. He had already marked the height where each course should come to. Now he wanted me to decide where the front of the walls should be. These walls will be almost completely vertical, so we just needed to mark on the boards where the front face of the wall was supposed to be (this is an important detail for later). We marked each set of boards. The ones by the garage had some flexibility. However the ones at the ends of the overhang, have to be out far enough, that I can get the ends of the overhang properly finished, and have a little space left between the overhang and the walls.

The landscapers spent the morning getting materials and equipment set up. Around lunch time Mike and his son made it out to start on the doors. We looked over the selection of wood that I still had available from all the framing lumber. We found that all the pieces that were needed for the garage door were on hand. However as Mike looked over the situation, he saw that he was going to need some serious anchors to tie the wood to the concrete in the wall. He gave me a couple options to look for. He felt that he already had screws (Tap-cons) that would be long enough to attach the front door. I went and had some lunch and then went to Lowe's to see what they had for anchoring the wood, and to look for a lock set for the front door. I found a lock set that I thought would fit well with the rest of my design. Then I went to look at the anchors. I saw some anchors that looked like what Mike was asking for. So I got checked out, and headed back. I was almost back when the phone rang. It was Mike. He asked if I was still at Lowe's. I told him I was almost back to the property. He told me we would talk once I got there. Well, it sounded like we hit another snag.

When I got back, I saw that the landscapers had been busy. They had gotten the trenches dug for the walls beside the driveway. They will put in stone chips and dust in the bottom of the trenches for the wall blocks to sit on.

The trench to the left of the garage.

I showed Mike the concrete anchors I had gotten. We did some figuring and decided they were not going to go into the concrete far enough. OK, so I would need to go back and get longer anchors. Mike then told me about the other problems. The front door couldn't be set quite where we had talked, because he wasn't going to be able to put an anchor far enough back from the surface of the concrete to be sure it would have a good hold. So the door was going to have to sit back into the opening further than we intended. OK, that can be dealt with by doing a bit more trim work. The other problem, was that the Tap-cons that Mike had were not going to be long enough to properly anchor it. He didn't want to anchor it just to the V-Buck which wraps the opening, and is embedded in the concrete behind it. He wanted to go through that and tie directly into the concrete, but the V-Buck was thicker than he had thought, so the fasteners weren't long enough to reach through it, and secure into the concrete. We needed longer fasteners for this as well. Well, I was already headed back to Lowe's to exchange the concrete anchors for the garage, and thought I had seen longer Tap-cons as well. So while they worked on getting the garage door parts prepped for the install, I went shopping again.

I looked over what they had, and was concerned that Mike wouldn't have the right drills to secure them, so I called him to check. I needed to get a bit to drill into the concrete because the anchors were larger than the bits that he had. The Tap-cons came with their own bit, so I didn't need to buy one for them. I headed back with my new purchases, hoping there wouldn't be any more complications. Mike and his son worked to get the front door installed. They still had a problem that the bit that came with the Tap-cons almost wasn't long enough to make the proper depth hole. It seems that building a highly insulated concrete walled home, presents all sorts of unexpected little challenges to typical house construction techniques. The screw heads were a little large for the hinges, so they don't quite sit flush, but the hinges were made with a bit of extra space, so they fit OK. They got the front door in, and its frame is anchored to the concrete in the walls, so it should be quite secure.

Mike drilling holes to anchor the hinges to the concrete.

They got the door mounted, and then they used spray foam to seal all around the opening. It should be very good at keeping air from leaking around it.

A front door on the house. Yes!!

It was getting too late to get the garage door done that day, and Mike didn't want to leave it only part way done. So he told me he would come out the next day and get it installed. I was going to a couple family reunions over an extended weekend, so I was hoping there weren't any questions on the garage door, since I wouldn't be there to look over the situation.

Scott was going to have his crew also working on Friday and Monday when I couldn't check in. While I was traveling with my mom and dad, I couldn't even be sure I would have decent coverage for my phone.

Scott called me on Friday, as were headed to the first reunion. Well, the ran into a snag. When we marked the location of the wall to the left of the garage, we hadn't taken into account where the drain was coming out of the foundation and tying in. We had the blocks sitting on top of that which was not going to work. He needed to move the wall location back a bit, and wanted to know if I wanted to do something about the marks we had made on the buffer board with permanent marker, as that was now going to be exposed. I told him to just move the wall, and not worry about the marks. I was pretty sure they would wear off over time.

Scott called me on Monday, asking how I wanted to handle an issue with the drain tile. He had found that the tile that runs from the front of the house, was lower than the tile in front of the garage, and so water was going to have to run up hill to get over to the daylight drain. We decided to run a second drain line out behind the retaining wall, and it will need to be taken over to drain out to daylight with the other drain line that we installed previously.

Since we were driving near the property on our way home to my folks place, we decided to stop, to see how things turned out. The garage door turned out very nice.

The door looks good, it still needs trim work around the opening.

The landscapers had started building the walls on the front of the house. So we took a look. My dad and I noticed that the walls weren't quite lined up with the lines that Scott and I had marked. It was getting late, and it had been a long day, so I didn't try to reach Scott, but thought it might be good to do so.

Today, Marcus and I went out and I took a better look. The walls were off by a few inches, and I was not going to have enough room for insulation and the siding materials on the sides of the overhang. Marcus was wondering if the wall was going to tilt back so that by the top of it would be over enough. I remembered that Scott said that with these blocks the walls would be vertical and not tilted.

The board in the middle, is marked with a line, and a note "Front of Block"

I called Scott to ask him about them. I told him what I had seen, and my concerns. He said he would head out there to check them. Later he called back and said they were going to have to move the walls! I am glad I went out at lunch to check on things.

Well, at least the doors are on. It looks like the retaining walls are going to be a battle to the very end.

Mud wrestling a house

Sorry for the lack of updates, but the work on the house has gotten in the way of documenting the work on the house.

Things have been progressing quite well. We needed to get the drainage material and the rest of the buffer boards in place, so Adam could start backfilling, and so Scott could start building my retaining walls. I talked to the inspector, and found, that I needed to put filter fabric over the gravel, that was over the drain tile. Not a problem on the south or west sides. On the north side, I knew I would have to dig out some dirt that had fallen in. The east side was a completely different story. I knew a lot of dirt had fallen in on top of the gravel, so it was going to call for getting some equipment in, and someone who could operate it. Adam, its time to rent the excavator again. I got a two for one deal from the rental place, I rented on Saturday the 17th, and only payed for a one day rental, but didn't have to have it back until Monday morning.

I drove the excavator in while Adam parked his truck.

Adam and my dad discuss how we will dig out the east side.

Adam worked along, excavating down to the footer, where the gravel came up to. I watched, and removed the dirt clods and mud that remained, that I thought might be a problem for drainage. Adam did not like having the excavator up on a somewhat unstable piece of ground next to my house. He did an excellent job though.

When we finished, the trench looked pretty good.

Adam also dug the trenches for the daylight drain for the foundation drain, and the trenches for the ventilation, solar, and well connections. He also put more gravel around on the south and west sides so they would have proper drainage.

After Adam left, we worked on getting the waterproofing straightened out on the north side. We still had furring strips up holding the blue tarp on.

Dad removing the furring strips

We lifted the waterproofing out of the way, then removed the furring strips, then put the waterproofing back down.

Sunday the 18th, Adam and I started pretty early. He worked on loosening up and moving some of the dirt around, that was originally excavated out for my house, so it would be ready for use in backfilling. He also worked on getting the ground dug down, where the retaining walls will go.

I worked on getting the filter fabric laid down on the east side, so we could put more gravel on top.

Filter fabric in place.

Then I started unrolling the drainage material in the trench against the wall. There wasn't much room to work with it, and it was bulky. Imagine yourself wrapped in a tortilla and set in the oven. I got it mostly in position, before my dad got there. I went for lunch, and he and Adam got the drainage sheet in place. We fastened it to the wall, it took all three of us to man handle it until we got it partially attached. We anchored it with long screws through Trex blocks. Once it was in position, Adam started dumping gravel in the trench.

Backfilling the bottom with gravel.

At that point, we had a bunch of mounds of gravel in the trench. So Monday the 19th, I went out, and smoothed it out.

Smoothed out, ready for inspection, and backfill.

Then I went out, measured, cut and drilled the Trex for the buffer boards on the south east corner. Dad and Matt helped me that Thursday the 22nd with getting fresh plastic in place for the waterproofing, getting the buffer boards put up, and getting the drainage material hung on that corner.

Waterproof

Well after dark, we had it all done.

Now we had to get the north side finished up for the drain tile inspection on Monday the 26th. This proved to be a battle with mud. 60 feet of mud, and concrete chunks with rebar in them, and then hauling gravel in. All of it by hand, since Adam had not been able to reach this area safely with the excavator. 60 feet of mud, sweat and tears.

Finally, mud, and concrete are out, and gravel is in.

I went out Monday afternoon, before the inspection and worked on laying down the filter fabric and putting more gravel on top. The inspector was satisfied with what I had done, and I passed inspection. Time to start backfilling. Adam, what are you doing Monday night? Backfilling a house.

Now I can walk onto my roof!

Starting to come together.

Now the retaining walls should be getting started today, and tomorrow, if all goes well, I will have the garage and front door installed.

Solar equipment, and buffer boards

Well, I guess it is about time I fill everyone in on the goings on at the Hobbit Hole. We have been having some very good weather for doing outside work. I have been taking advantage of that, and have been getting a lot done, using all the hours of daylight I can get.

I got a number of things delivered, the front door, Hardie panel, Trex, and pipes for the fresh air intakes. My garage got quite a bit put in it, and the rest was out on the driveway. I worked through the week to drill more holes in the roof, and I trimmed down a path around the house, through the plants that have been growing like weeds ;-)

Some places had quite a bit of water!

I needed to get the gravel dug out from beside the footers, around where the retaining walls would meet the house. I needed to do this so that we could set the Trex boards all the way down to the footer and protect the foam for the whole wall height. I started on the north west corner, where mud has filled in over the drainage. The mud that has washed over from the excavation, made it quite challenge. I also decided it was time for the concrete in front of the garage to be "cleaned up". This made for a good work out.

Dig out gravel under the waste concrete, then hit the concrete with a hammer to break it up. Rinse and repeat.

Concrete chunks will probably just end up in the backfill.

Front of the garage is cleared.

July 4th weekend was very productive. First we worked on the parts of my battery box. We are constructing it out of wood which will get painted to protect it from any battery acid that gets on it. This will enclose my batteries and protect them and protect people from them.

One of the ends of the battery box.

July 4th, we installed the first solar equipment...

We needed to dry some clothes, well may as well use the sun and wind.

Although it is a convenient location, I am not sure that the clothes line will stay in my front yard.

My dad helped me, and we got some of the Hardie panel (that stuff is heavy) and Trex boards moved over into the kitchen area, out of the weather for now, and closer to where they will be installed.

Dad noticed that my green roof was already starting to sprout.

A rooftop volunteer. Although the roof isn't quite ready for residents.

We spent the afternoon getting foam boards cut and attached on top of the front wall. The area above the concrete walls, and between the joists had been open up to this point. We had the blue tarp covering it, and keeping the weather out, but we needed something more solid to put the waterproofing and drainage material over. This will eventually be buried, so it needed some good support. We attached pieces of the Nudura ICF that was left over from building the forms for the walls. Then we added another sheet of foam board that was left from other insulation that had been ordered for insulating under the floor.

Adding Nudura blocks to the top of the wall.

On the way back to mom and dad's home, we saw fireworks light up the sky all around as we drove.

July 5th, we got a whole day to work. We were working on the west side of the south west corner. We needed to cut Trex boards to fit in next to the window, then install the Trex boards that would protect the foam where the retaining wall would sit, and finally we needed to attach the drainage layer material over the waterproofing.

Dad trimming the Trex to fit.

First buffer board (as we decided to call them) being installed.

The two buffer boards were installed, now we were working on securing the top drainage layer.

Dad and I didn't have as many hands as we needed. The drainage material was stiff, and trying to secure the pieces of Trex to hold it in place, required more than two hands. I pushed against the Trex with a board, while dad put a screw into the wall to hold it in place.

We got the top layer secured.

We needed to attach a second piece under that one so we would have a drainage layer all the way down to the gravel around the footer. We worked until it was quite late. As I drove home, I got to see quite a fireworks display, put on by one of the local cities. I was driving through just as people were leaving to head home. It was like rush hour. The next evening I got this photo showing what we had done.

Its pretty well secured to the wall, and then we put some boards up agains it just to add some insurance.

Through the week, I got more gravel dug away from the foundation. I moved a number of the Trex boards on my own. Then the next day, I asked Marcus for some help moving them. Marcus came over and helped me move a bunch of the Trex. Adam started working on getting the driveway by the garage graded down to the proper level, helped me move some more Trex, and bush hogged the field.

Last weekend my dad and I continued to work on the waterproofing and drainage for the south west corner. This time on the south side.

Additional layers of plastic were put in place and attached.

A second piece of drainage material was attached under the top one coming down from the roof.

Last Saturday it was very late when we left. We set up work lights so we could work until well after dark.

We got the buffer boards up, and put a piece of Trex in next to the window.

We secured a bottom piece of drainage material. On the top edge and on the vertical corner, we also put some heavy waterproofing tape that is normally used around windows. It is fairly thick and I wanted some extra protection for those corners as they get buried. The south west corner is now ready for the retaining walls to start being constructed. We still have the other two locations where the retaining walls will be installed that we have to do before Scott can start building them. I am hoping that by the end of this next weekend, we will be ready for the retaining walls to be built.