Home to Texas

Les and I are in Texas for 2 weeks, Stay tuned for more house construction soon

More foundation and some plumbing

 The foundation work continues...

Since we posted last, the Fox blocks were all assembled, tied together with miles of 1/2 inch rebar, and a couple cases of duct tape. The gaps are all filled with foam from a can, and a million wire ties are inserted to keep the whole thing standing up.

                                     It's kind of like a huge Lego set.

The walkout basement insulated panels will be backfilled to match the slope, and will be below grade when all is finished

 

After the panels are all tied together, they get reinforced and braced to hold the weight of the concrete that gets poured into the forms.

                        36 cubic yards of concrete gets poured into the forms, that's 4 truck loads for most people :)

After the concrete dries and cures for a couple of days, the black waterproofing is wrapped and sealed. The green pipes below are vents for the drainage pipe that is installed to keep any water seepage out of the basement.

 

Almost 30 trucks of sand are delivered and used to fill the forms to the level for the concrete slabs to be poured.

Compactors are used to level everything.

 

After everything is backfilled and leveled inside the forms, the surrounding grounds get cleaned up a little.

 

Electrical

Homer Electric Authority showed up a week ahead of schedule to set the transformer, and installed the meter. Unlike in the lower 48, this is the last time we will see the electric company, no permits or inspections, we are free to energize the house when it is ready, and use temporary power as needed until then.

 

The plumbing has started

Sewage lines were installed for under the slab, as well as the floor drains for the garage areas. We also had all the necessary underslab piping done for the water catchment system that will be installed.

The driveway got started, with 10 truckloads of gravel getting installed over the plastic underlay.

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In between we find time to hike

One of our favorite trails goes along the Kenai river.

We got a travel trailer

We picked it up in Anchorage, and will drop it on the property next Monday. We will sleep in it once or twice a week to cut down on the current commute we have from Soldotna every day. When we get a few days in between contractors, we will take the trailer and go explore some of the state.

Foundation

Foundation work was done today for 5500Sq.ft

You can see the "Fox blocks" in the background. They are Styrofoam forms that get poured with concrete and rebar, all tied together to form the basement and insulate the house below ground from the ground frost. 

The house is two levels, with the garage and main living areas above, where you see people standing. The basement, where there are two guest quarters, the mechanical room, the cisterns for the the water, and another garage area, are the lower area. The two guest areas have walkout access to the property and their own views of the bay and glaciers.

The black pipes in the left corner are the beginnings of the septic system that will be installed slightly below the basement grade and to the east of the house

And finally the pump truck shows up so we can get some concrete into those forms

 

This sure beats paying an army of guys with wheelbarrows. 

 

In this picture, you can an idea of the differences in the elevations of the house.