Walls Going Up!

As other contractors drive slowly by our house with their heads turned to the side, this man and his crew work steadily on getting the ECO-Block forms for our walls done.

Meet Brian. He's been an international trainer for ECO-Block installations and he recently went back to doing what he loves, building ICF houses. Brian and his crew have been working hard since last week with excellent weather supporting their work. With all of our windows and doors selected he has just about everything (sorry, we're still working on that rough opening for window C) to finish building the forms for our house. See the picture gallery for more pictures of the walls going up.

At last, this theoretical thing we've been working on for three years is finally starting to look like an actual house. I would be remiss without mentioning that each day when they finish their work, the site looks neater than my house will probably look when it's finished.

More Pictures of the Exterior Wall Framing

On the left: The string I was talking about to line up the walls. On the right: The window openings being built for the ICF framing to go around them.

Exterior Wall Framing Starts

Here's our ECO-Block walls flat and ready to be pieced together. We went by the house Friday evening after it had rained and had the opportunity to get muddy for the first time!

The lines were drawn for the block to be put up and string had been run to keep the walls straight as they are being constructed.

It should be neat to watch the walls being assembled over the next couple of weeks.

ECO-Block Materials Being Delivered Today

Our ECO-Block materials are being delivered this morning and the wall forms will start going up very soon! For details on how the walls are going together, visit our January post on ICF. It explains how the walls are assembled and then filled with concrete.

Because so many people have started asking, I'll be posting a list of vendors on the right side of this blog shortly. Starting of course with our brillant contractor, Rick Vinyard.

*Bonus Post*

A lot of people have asked if they could see a better version of the plans. I've attached a large-scale picture below. Once again, out of respect for the intellectual property of our designer, please don't try to download and copy these. Thanks!

We Have Concrete!

Here is a picture of some of the smoothest concrete I've ever seen. It's really beautiful. The pour went off really well today and as you can see Rick's team did a wonderful job preserving our slab for scored and stained concrete floors. With our slab done and ready to go, the Eco-Block materials are being delivered tomorrow and Rick estimates our exterior walls (weather permitting) will be done in 2 - 3 weeks.

We've been blessed with some beautiful weather, especially today when the unseasonably cool weather made the air just a bit drier than usual allowing our concrete to set up flawlessly.

Hats off to Rick and his team again. He really does rock!

Slab Pouring Delayed 'til Tuesday

In a highly regarded abundance of caution, awesome builder Rick Vinyard delayed our concrete pour until next Tuesday. His concern was about the rough weather scheduled to pass through the area tonight on the leading edge of a "cold" front. High winds and rain are expected and that could mar the surface of the concrete making an impact on our scored and stained concrete floors.

The wire forms for the post-tension slab are in place and Kenny, the guy from Post-Tension Slabs, Inc., was putting the finishing touches on today thanks to some engineering re-reviews by Rick and co. For more information on post-tension slab creation, visit the Post-Tension Slabs, Inc. website.

More pictures from today are in the slideshow gallery.

Slab Form Passes Inspection

Our slab form was inspected yesterday and we are ready to go on pouring concrete. If the weather cooperates, we'll get the slab poured this week. In talking with Rick yesterday, he explained to me in more detail how the slab was going to work. In what is called a "post-tension" slab, those trenches you see in the picture are going to become concrete beams. Wire is run throughout them and pressure is put on the wire to pull them as supports for the slab. It's an amazingly strong foundation, which every house should be built on.

Wire and Re-bar

So today I went by the lot after Leadership Class and the VIPS Golden Apple Picnic (sorry, didn't have my camera handy), and there was a ton of wire and re-bar run throughout the form. It's supposed to rain later in the week, so I wouldn't be surprised if Rick was ready to pour concrete before Friday. Rick and his team must be exhausted because they've really been working hard these past two weeks!

Quick Post on the Plumbing Rough In

When I say moving along fast, I mean we're moving along FAST! Here's a picture of the plumbing rough-in shot on Sunday. The plastic protected the dirt from the downpours we had late Friday night and Saturday morning. It was pretty dry out there on Sunday, so slab pouring is imminent!