House Photos

Here is the scurry of activity during the laying of the blockwalls. Before work starts the very important placement not of the laser leveler, but the DeWalt radio. Notice the nice ramp dug into the earth. This played a big part when the foundation gravel was delivered, in fact had to be dug to get the gravel into place. What is no longer visible is the plastic drain tile, corrugated plastic tubing, about 3" in diameter. It runs around both the outside and inside perimeters of the footings and will channel any water that rises above that level into the sump basket. There are a couple of 3"diameter PVC pipes running through the footing, one just under the radio, and one a the further end of the same wall. The sump basket is just a plastic tub the size of a five gallon bucket. One end of the drain tile fastens into it. When spring comes, and spring rains, and then runoff, if the sump basket has water in it, I will buy and connect a sump pump. There is our strategy in a bucket for building a house on a tight budget/pay as we go: put things off for "later on." For example, later on we'll have a driveway.

Well, the bracing of the foundation should have been here. In sequence. Fighting with blogger for control of the layout, blogger is winning. The bracing was fun, and I didn't have to walk in any mud. Its purpose is as its name implies, to brace the foundation before backfilling. I was not to and didn't remove it til the floor joists and main beam were in place. Actually, most of the framing was finished before I took out the bracing. It's too bad I don't have any photos of either the rock being spread inside the footings or the actual backfilling. Come to think of it, I don't have any of the foundation before, during or after the waterproofing, or applying the foam insulation. We elected to insulate the outside because if I'd chosen to insulate inside, I couldn't put that off til later. Whereas with the outside foamed, I can insulate inside later, desirable but not required. So much easier to put up the Thermax and build those stud walls with heat and electricity.

I'll get some more up tomorrow.