It's Official!

UPS brought it today. I guess I'm officially Master Jamin now.

Electronic Toy

At the Christmas party tonight Caleb got this present. It is called Electronic Toy, and the sticker on the side says Full Function Battery Operated Toy. I'm not really sure what it is... besides an electronic toy...

Structural Insulated Panels

The SIPS for our walls were delivered today. The roof is supposed to be here tomorrow. Basically, SIPS are a sheet of styrofoam sandwiched between two sheets of oriented strand board (chipboard). They are joined with splines and expanding adhesive. When the shell of the house is completed it is better insulated, more airtight, and more structurally sound than a standard two-by-four constructed house. A standard built SIPS home is comparable in strength to a hurricane reinforced two-by-four house, and is more energy efficient so that the house can use as little as half the energy of the same house if built with two-by-fours. If you would like to read more about it, go to the SIPS Association website.
John says he is having difficulty getting people to work, with it being the holiday season and all, so he is aiming to start erecting the SIPS after the new year.


SIPS stacked and ready to be erected


Close up detail of the SIPS

Crawlspace and Garage Floors

They finished the insulation of the crawlspace and poured the slab. So here's how it works. The pink foam is about 2 inches thick and really dense. That was glued to the block and attached to the bare ground. Then they poured a 2 inch slab over it. This will insulate the bottom of the house. It is planned to put a couple of A/C ducts down into the crawlspace to diminish the possibility of mold and mildew.


They also poured the garage floor today. It helps me to envision the final house a little better, now that I know where the floor will be. It looks really nice, and makes me wish this whole process would hurry itself along.
The floor beams and trusses were also delivered today. John says they can start installing them tomorrow. That will make it possible to put up the panels, which are supposed to be here tomorrow. The walls will be here tomorrow, and the roof on Thursday or Friday. It's starting to come together. The dream is becoming a reality!

Decorating the Tree

Since we're in this little apartment, we really don't have room for a Christmas tree. So we went over to Leah and Larry's to help decorate their tree. Due to "extenuating circumstances" they didn't get a big tree either.
The boys had a great time putting all of the ornaments on the tree. Since all of the "real" ornaments are in storage, I got the honor of making the angel for the tree.

Blockwork: Day 3

They finished the masonry yesterday. John measured everything and said that none of the measurements are off by more than 1/8 of an inch. I am very impressed with the work that the masonry crew did. The foundation insulation should be here tomorrow, and the cement crew will be working on Saturday morning to level the dirt inside and lay the insulation. After that, they will lay the slab inside the crawlspace and in the garage.

Looking into the garage


Inside the crawlspace- dining room fore, boys bedrooms in the back corner


Looking at the front of the house- The porch is in the foreground

Blockwork: Day 2

They ran short on blocks and had to order some more. The mason said they would be finished tomorrow. Right now, the only thing lacking is the garage, and 1 course on the back wall.

Looking from the driveway at the garage


Looking at the back of the boys' bedroom and the service entrance to the crawlspace

Block Work

The masons got started this morning and made an impressive effort at getting the foundation wall started. The Mason-In-Charge told me that they might even be finished tomorrow, Wednesday at the latest.

View from the back of the house into the boys' bedrooms

Outside, Caleb is standing where the french door from the living room will be.

Block Delivery

I was just out at the house and met the block delivery guy. This is the first load, and there is supposed to be one more. Our builder said he was meeting with the mason on Monday morning at 7:30 to make sure we were all on the same page. So hopefully by the end of next week we will have knee walls on which to secure a floor.
I am so happy we are making progress.

Click...

That's the sound of me starting the stopwatch. The house is supposed to be complete 120 days from the day the footings are poured. And they were poured today... That means our house should be complete before April 2nd!

Hallelujah! We've Started!

They are actually starting our house! The foundation crew came out today and rechecked the batter boards and lines to make sure everything was still level and in the right place. I stopped by after work, and the foreman said they were going to work until dark. He plans on finishing the digging tonight or in the morning. He said he expects the inspector about noon, and then they can pour the concrete. After that cures, the next step will be the block work.