Cellar Holes, Footings, and the Beauty of Concrete

08/24/2006

These are all stitched-together photos of the building site, from cleared land to finished hole. I would have included a picture of the land before it was cleared but it really just looks like a bunch of trees. That huge boulder in the middle of the cellar hole was too big to be removed and had to be blown up, which sounds a lot more exciting than it actually was.
 

08/27/2006

A game of inches

Met with the excavator yesterday at the site. We talked about window placement, and decided to not bother with windows on the south side since we are building a deck there eventually. Also some confusion on the actual width of the foundation, allowing for a 2” foam insulation on the outside. He is used to shrinking the foundation 4” to allow for the extra 2” all around. This seemed to make sense, but the closer we looked at the plans, the more it seemed he needed to do a full pour. We called J. at First Day and left a message and hopefully will hear from him. At any rate, we need to figure this out before Monday.

Why Monday? Because they are coming to pour the footings on Monday. Then the walls Tuesday. Then they prep the floor for a pour, and we install the radiant heat over the weekend (which is Labor Day weekend, so we get an extra day to finish). Then they pour the floor next Tuesday (5th), and the house kit arrives Thursday. All in all, full speed ahead.

08/28/2006

Gray is this year's black

These guys had the forms built and the footings poured by 11am. Rock on, fellas! 

4/2/12

It is amazing to look back at these pictures now, to see the real beginnings of this house we have lived in for the past five years. What is most striking is how small it looks. And that was one of the most interesting parts of the building process--the way the size of the house would seem to change as we completed different steps. At this stage it seemed tiny, when the walls were poured it seemed cavernous. Outside walls framed--small again. Interior walls done--spacious. The eye and mind get tricked so easily. Perception is a fickle mistress.

The other thing that strikes me is at this point I had no idea what I was in for. The whole adventure was laid out before me and I was starry-eyed and blissfully ignorant. Ah, youth.