Congrats Thomas. keep posting as the project progresses. And post lots of pictures too.
Member
Congrats Thomas. keep posting as the project progresses. And post lots of pictures too.
Marshall
---------------------------
A Stickley fan boy.
[OP]
Member
The end of the first full week of construction is done and it was a productive week. The lot was cleared and the foundation laid out. The basement was excavated. The septic tank was set. Brush was burned. The electrical power pole was set. After I left about noon on Friday, the excavator was still working. He may have finished digging the trench for underground conduit from the pole to the transformer. The transformer box may have also be set. The next job for the excavator will be to dig the drain field. It seems like a small army of workers would be needed for this much progress but it was just Gary and his excavator and skid steer. Dirt moving may not be your thing but it gives my spine a tingle to see so much progress. Here are some pics. We will just pick the best 8 and be done with it.
Here is the general contractor, Ken. People must like working for Ken. When he calls, they show up the next day and work until the job is finished. I have never had that happen when I call people.
KenAndFoundationStakes.jpg
This is Gary, the excavator. He did all the work seen in 4.5 days. On Monday morning, he had to pick up the repaired fuel pump for he track hoe from the CAT service center in Knoxville, drive to Norris and install it. That is some dedication.
GaryTheMightyExcavator.jpg
Dig a hole big team, dig a hole. Took less than a day to dig the basement.
BasementExcavation.jpg
Basement excavated to approximate level.
CornersDugtoGrade.jpg
This is the septic tank and chambered drain field. They got me the larger tank. I think they may be telling me something.
SepticTankAndChamberedDrain.jpg
Septic tank buried
SepticTankPlaced.jpg
My power pole. This is "my" pole in the sense that I paid for it and it just serves my shop. I also will have "my" transformer that I will also pay for. The utility guy informed me that it is all mine until someone builds on the adjacent lot. Then they get to tie in for free. Crazy how that works.
MyPowerPole.jpg
We had a good rain on Thursday night. They had a good day to burn off all the brush. This is about noon and it is almost all gone already. We did not burn the larger logs so the brush should be consumed by dark. There is a ministry in Campbell County that distributes firewood to the needy. I will get them to come help me cut and split the logs for heat for the poor. It we cut and split it now, it should be seasoned by next fall.
Bonfire.jpg
That is all for now. This little documentation effort took 2 hours to upload from my phone, convert to jpeg, and write the drivel. I hope people enjoy it.
TW
Contributor
Thanks for the update Thomas. It does take some time posting these builds, doesn’t it? Keep me coming.
Moderator
I just realized I'm not far from your lake house. Our place is between Clinton and Lake City (Rockytop). Hey, we have a lot on the river below the dam if you want some river frontage too! On River Road, trout fishing paradise.Originally Posted by Thomas Wilson
That's going to be a fantastic space. Adding a living area is a great idea and will likely increase the resale value. (I don't even have a bathroom in my shop, although it's planned.)
I love timber framed buildings. I didn't build my shop that way but my house is. A friend down the road designed and had a timber frame house built and it was fascinating to watch it go up. Those crews really know what they're doing!
There is little more exciting than a new building! Is this up toward Andersonville Park or towards Blue Ridge park? I'll wait patiently for my invitation to visit. If you get a free moment, come visit the farm, see my shop, take a llama for a walk. Bring small children! (We have peacocks too, and miniature donkeys, horses, alpacas, turkey, guineas, chickens, beehives...)
JKJ
Last edited by John K Jordan; 04-06-2019 at 6:53 PM.
[OP]
Member
Howdy neighbor,
Wonderful! What a menagerie! Invitation extended. You may wish to wait until the roof is on, but you are within 20 miles. Come soon and then often. I have grandchildren. This could be really good.
TW
Contributor
The smell of fresh dirt like that is a good thing! I built a spec house on lake lots every year for 33 years that looked a lot like that. Every one of them had a daylight basement.
The guy having to replace something on an excavator is probably a fairly typical day in the life for him. Ken looks a lot like me. He probably pays quickly, like I always had best luck doing. Once the hole was dug, I did everything else myself with two helpers.
Moderator
An architect friend loved to come and play on my tractor - he called it "dirt therapy".
It's amazing what you can do with a backhoe attachment, FEL, and yard box. I'm fortunate to have an old skidsteer as well - makes moving dirt, cutting roads and such a lot easier!
roots_hackberry.jpg
When I built my shop I was able to clear and level a spot by the barn and build the shop myself with a crew of me. (everything but pouring the concrete and setting the trusses with a crane) I tell people I built it with my bare hands but I lie - I used tools. It's incredible how much one can save when the labor is free!
Clearing_2012-08-09_19-32-4.jpg posts_AA042_2012-11-16_16-1.jpg
No basement, but I would have added one if I'd built it on the hill.
I can't wait to see the Wilson shop construction. It's close enough I could make a pest of myself.
JKJ
[OP]
Member
Week 2 saw a bit of progress and a lot of mud. On Monday, Gary got the conduit from the pole to the box installed. We are standing at attention, waiting for inspection, sir.
PoleWithConduit.jpgInsideTheBox.jpg
Tuesday brought rain and mud. We got 1.36 inches at nearby Norris Dam from Monday night to Tuesday morning. No work Tuesday or Wednesday. We also got 0.27 on Friday with more forecast for Saturday and Sunday. So far Norris Dam has had 2.04 inches in April.
Mud.jpg
Thursday, they got in a good day leveling the basement to final grade and marking for footers.
FinalGradeandCorners.jpg
They finished the digging the trenches for the footers later that day. This is probably a wasted effort because severe thunderstorms are forecast for Saturday and Sunday. We will probably have trenches full of mud on Monday. Awaiting inspection. They did not put in the steel yet so that the mud can be scraped out.
TrenchesForFooters.jpg
This is the site of of a future drain field. Following the theme of the week, this painted stripe is awaiting inspection.
FutureDrainField.jpg
Lest you think I am complaining about inspections, I am not. I believe inspections provide protection for the owner, but this week's work requires building, utility company, and health inspectors to come from adjacent counties, it is the busiest time of the year for builders, and it is the rainy season. I want to keep things moving. On the other hand, Gary probably got to go fishing.
Last accomplishment was a temporary power pole. The utility company has to inspect and then hook us up. We will put in a temporary hose bib when the water meter goes in. It is just handy to have water on site.
TempPowerBox.jpg
Next week will involve a lot of different people having to coordinate, but then it starts do get interesting. We will go from digging dirt to forming walls and pouring concrete. Practically everybody around the lake uses poured concrete foundations. The concrete trucks can stay on the road and off the steep drives. The pump gets concrete up or down the hill. They don't use a concrete boom. They use a mixture of manually moving the hose and good old-fashioned wheel barrows. We hope for dry weather until the concrete is in and then two weeks of steady drizzle to keep the concrete wet as it cures. Then, it will begin to look like a building. Stay tuned.
[OP]
Member
We have had a lot of rain. The rain last weekend wiped out Monday. Tuesday saw work completed on the footers. No work on Wednesday because they could not get concrete delivered.
Here are the trenches and bulkheads for the footers.
TrenchesandSteel.jpg
BulkheadforFoundationStep.jpg
Here is the concrete pump. These devices have revolutionized foundations at the lake. Three guys waited all day on Thursday for concrete that was supposed to be delivered at 8:00 AM. It finally arrived around 3 pm. Last delivery was after 5.
ConcretePump.jpg
Here is the pour. They came up a couple yards short and had to call for a little more after this. You can seen the retaining wall footing in the lower right is not filled.
ConcreteAlmostDone.jpg
The concrete truck rambled up the driveway. This is the last load. I thought they would pump uphill from the street. He had no problem going up the hill on gravel. I did not know that was possible.
ConcreteTruck.jpg
I also ordered some lights online. I ordered one of each type I plan to use. I wanted to see the quality and brightness. My lighting plan calls for four warehouse pendant lights arranged in a square around the central truss. I will have barn lights around the perimeter. Both samples are Warehouse-Lighting.com. This is my first experience with this company. I am pleased with the quality of the lights. The warehouse pendant light has a massive aluminum heat sink and a staggering array of LED's. The warehouse lights are rated at 150 actual watts and 21,000 lumens. This would be like looking at the sun. The dispersion angle is 120 degrees which gives a 20' circle of direct illumination from the planned 13' mounting height. Here is the ever cooperative Janicewhokeepsmehumble holding the warehouse light.
WarehouseLight.jpgWarehouseLightLEDs.jpg
Here is the barn light. It is 14.5 inches in diameter. It mounts on a 14" gooseneck. I will mount one over each window or door (total of 8 around the perimeter) or two on either side of the doors and window (total of 12). I can adjust the perimeter brightness with the bulb wattage. The bulbs are standard A19. The fixture is rated for 200 watts and has sturdy components. I would not use the word sturdy to describe many of the light fixtures I have bought recently. I had planned for recess lighting for ambient light when the shop is not being used, but I think will switch to track lights. It will save on boxes and give some flexibility with directional illumination. I am not a lighting designer.
BarnLight.jpg
Contributor
Footings are a good start. Hopefully, it will be dry for a while now.
Thanks for posting about the lights. That's some useful information.
[OP]
Member
Not off to a good start for dry weather. Two inches of rain today. I console myself with the idea that the footings will cure exceptionally hard.
I really like these lights. I will put temporary plugs on them to actually see the light output. I do not have a good feel for relationship between the numbers and the brightness.
Contributor
Yeah, we had a couple of inches yesterday, from that storm front, in about 10 minutes. Fortunately, it went through really fast. I expect you had similar, but with a few sunny days, hopefully it'll dry out fairly fast enough to get back to work shortly.
[OP]
Member
Hi all,
The joinery has begun. This is the biggest progress this week. They will keep on my job until my job is all ready. The timber frame is ahead of schedule . At the job site, despite the rain, we are pretty much on schedule to erect the frame in May. The photo credit for these shop photos goes to the office manager at Homestead Timber Frames.
TW
4.23.19 5.jpg
4.24.19 2.jpg
4.24.19 4.jpg
4.26.19 3.jpg
4.26.19 4.jpg
4.26.19 5.jpg
Contributor
Looking pretty cool Thomas.
[OP]
Member
A few job site photos too.
The utilities are nearly in. We are tied into the city water and should be getting bill any day now. My water line is not connected up. They will install an outside spigot in the basement wall after the concrete goes up.
This is not huge progress but three different crews had to show up to get the work done. That is a lot of phone calling for the builder. The builder came by this morning to update me. He thinks we are pretty much on schedule for the delivery of the timber frame on May 20 despite the rain.
WaterMeter.jpg
We have electricity. The wire is tied in and the transformer and temporary power pole are connected.
PowerConnected.jpg
TransformerAndTempPowerPole.jpg
The septic drain field is installed. The lines were covered while I was away. The builder gave me a printer paper copy of a picture he took. He told me the new inspector got out his transit to check the levelness of the drain lines. The inspector said he is two weeks behind. I wonder why. Here is the covered over drain line.
SepticDrainInstalled.jpg
The big job that was supposed to start was the foundation forms. Here is a small pile of plywood that the concrete guy dropped off. That is all we got done on the basement walls so far. Builder said the concrete guy is planning to work Saturday. If he does, I will be very pleased to update the post. The builder says he is both good and fast so no worries.
SomeFormMaterial.jpg
We talked about basement wall height and floor system. I am a little bit concerned about my floor loads. The floor system was designed by the timber framer. The builder was not concerned about floor loads. We may talk to the truss manufacturer locally to get a second opinion.
Stay tuned. This job is about to get interesting!
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote