Garage & Second floor

Before laying in the floor beams for the second floor, the garage framing was done and the sheathing put on. The early morning chill prompted a nice fire from scrap wood – we just needed some marshmallows to complete the effect.

The most important part to starting the second floor was assuring that all sides were straight and true. It was necessary to walk the top to assess position and then secure the floor cross-supports into position prior to laying down all the floor beams. The result gave us a feel for how our 9 foot first floor ceilings would appear.

The trickiest part was creating the beam to support the front edge of the second floor loft which will overlook the living room and cathedral ceiling. 4 laminated beams were nailed together to provide the strength for the support, linking the outer wall to the corner post of the basement stair entrance.

Oatmeal and interior framing

The second phase geothermal well team was out to finish the installation. An “oatmeal-like” brew was piped inside each of the 2 well shafts to completely encase the 2 geo-pipes. This assures that for the full 225 feet there are no air pockets or any other debris that could impact the efficiency of the system. After they dug trenches to connect the 2 wells at a junction box and then fed 2 lines into the foundation walls of the house.

Only one exterior first floor wall was left to build, but this one was the most challenging. Since it had 5 window headers and the fireplace header as well, the guys couldn’t lift the wall as they did the others. They just happened to have a super fork lift to strap on and do the lifting for them. “That was easy”.

By the afternoon the interior walls were being completed. This included the first floor bedroom and closet, bathroom and linen closet, front hall closet, location for the refrigerator and pantry, the laundry room and utility closet, and doorway entrance to basement.

First floor framing

The day started with an assortment of necessary odds & ends. The dirt in the garage was tamped down and then filled over with gravel. The front porch foundation cavity was filled with gravel, as well as the basement stairway, the patio, and under the rear screened-in porch; even the porta-john was cleaned.

While all that was happening lumber was being cut to proper lengths to layout the framing pieces for the front and rear walls. The frame was nailed together, sheathing covered the walls, and a moisture barrier added. The front wall was raised first, including the front door and all the front windows for the living room and front bedroom.

The rear wall was raised next including the rear windows and French door entrance to the porch. The side wall was also framed and nailed in place with placements for the 3rd bedroom window and garage entrance to the home office at the rear.

Oh well.

The well drillers were back again today, in the rain, to drill our two geothermal wells. These are the wells that will support our geothermal HVAC system. Each well is 225 feet deep and has a loop of PVC pipe that connects at the bottom to give each well 450 feet of pipe. This is the needed length to properly support a very efficient geothermal system for our house size.

With the first well complete and its loop in the ground, the second well is drilled a short distance away. Ultimately it has its own PVC loop. The two loops join together between the 2 wells at a junction box, and then two lengths of PVC enter the house to the geothermal heat pump.

So now we have 3 wells on our property. The first one, along with a water conditioning system, will provide us ample drinking water. The second and third will provide us wonderfully efficient, some say “free”, heating and air conditioning.

Eureka, we struck water!

The well drillers were out today, and likely the next day or two. Today was the water well. They started with the largest drill bit to go down to about 80 feet. Twice they encountered limestone in 6 to 10 foot veins; lots of white dust & debris from those.

Next they installed two 20 foot casings at the top of the well and added a wall sealant to prevent anything from infiltrating the pipe. When that was done, they were able to begin drilling with smaller bit. By the time they got to 90 feet -- water.

Then it was a matter of adding on more and more of the 20 foot sections to extend the depth of the well. By the time they got to 320 feet they had enough reservoir depth to accommodate all our family water needs. Next will be the 2 wells for the geothermal heat system.

Stairs, Patio & Grading

The masons were here early today to put in the basement stairway walls, the foundation for the patio, and footings for the screened porch and garage. They quickly defined the wall position for the basement stairs and laid down courses of cinder block.

Along the way they linked in the patio foundation, which will support the stamped concrete patio. By early afternoon the walls were the proper height, and they were smoothing the walls out for a nice finished texture. Eventually the patio walls were complete as well.

While all the masonry work was occurring, our heavy equipment guy was delivering load after load of dirt to fill in around the house and in the garage. It’s amazing to me how light a touch he has dumping and positioning tons of dirt with the heavy equipment. In the end, the property is nicely graded and ready for the framing tomorrow.

Footings

Today the footings were poured for the rear screened porch, the connected patio, the basement stairway, and the garage floor.

The first step defined setups for the location and height of each footing; then careful pouring and tamping.

It didn’t take long for the cement truck to position itself for each pour and tamped level and smooth in place; ready to support the porch, patio and stairway.

Next week the framing begins and the house will really start to take shape quickly.