Creating the First Floor

The Sill
After Rob's withdrawal period from the Bobcat (one evening!), he shifted gears and placed two layers of sill foam on top of the concrete walls, and then placed the wood for the sill (pressure-treated 2'x8') on top. The two layers of sill foam is supposed to help with keeping the layers airtight, since the top of the concrete was not completely flat.

The I-Joists and LVLs
When I ordered 16" x 30 foot long I-joists and LVLs, I knew we were ordering engineered lumber, which was FSC-certified (from sustainable logging) and 'green' in the sense that smaller pieces of wood are adhered together, so that large trees do not have to be harvested to create the beams. What I did not realize, however, is just how big and heavy these beams were going to be, and how difficult they would be to get up onto our 9 foot concrete walls. The next task was figuring out how to get the beams on top of the walls. Luckily, we found a helper - Dale - who helped Rob get the beams up - through a strategy of lifting them first onto the scaffold and then the rest of the way up.

These are the I-joists, so called because of their shape like an "I"

Rob and Dale working through the rain

The more solid looking beams in the middle are the LVL's, which are even stronger and heavier than the I-joists - somehow Rob got these into place on his own

View from the top

Rob attached the 30' LVL's to the header (two LVL's together above a door or window) using joist hangers

The car's first trip into the workshop

  

The Blockers
The next insane task was securing the I-joists and LVL's in place using blockers, which are smaller pieces of I-joists that go in between each of the beams. The engineer's design had three rows of blockers, which meant a lot of them! Thank goodness, our awesome cousin Lance came back to help put in the blockers. Rob and Lance got all the blockers in place this weekend, which was an amazing accomplishment. 

The Rimboard and the Floor
After the blockers were in place, Rob nailed on the remaining rim board to further secure the beams above the walls, and then he and Lance put the plywood on top to make the floor (today!). A shout out of thanks to Don as well for helping lift all the plywood onto the rafters last weekend.

This is the rim board being nailed in place

The Water Line - The Final Ditch

The final mission of our site work was getting the water line in the ground from the studio to the well, which is a distance of about 200 feet. Unfortunately, the only path for this line was along the side of the driveway, which is finally getting compacted. Rob spent the last couple days digging the required 4 feet deep ditch (to be below the frost line) and putting in the water line in a protective pipe as he went. Last night, I helped him pull the line through the final 30 feet. Then we jumped in the lake to wash off!

The wood "T" is 4 feet high so Rob knows how deep to dig

The line finally reached the well (green capped structure on the left) at 8 pm last night!

Backfilling - Updated

As of a month ago, I didn't know what the term "backfilling" meant, but it's become a prominent part of our vocabulary lately. We got the okay last week from the building inspector to backfill around the foundation, and from the engineer and board of health inspector to backfill the septic system. So, what does that word mean anyway? It basically means putting the soil that was removed back in place. Rob's spent the last few days backfilling the upper portion of the septic system (first pic below) and around the foundation, i.e. putting the hill back that we dug out for the foundation.

The stakes show the location of the septic tank, and all the connecting pipes are now covered up. Hoping to fill this area in with a small stream and native ferns and shrubs.

In the middle of the backfilling process

After it rained on Sunday, the area turned into a muddy mess

Here's the hill back in place

This is the backside (west side) of the building backfilled

West side from behind a locust tree

Northeast corner before backfilling

Northeast corner with fabric (goes between stone and soil)

North side after backfilling

Another view of the north side after backfilling

Deer Print - Our deer friends are still using the area, although they've made some new paths on the upper lot, which they seem to be using more

After backfilling around the foundation, Rob backfilled the leach field, which is now just an open field of soil - future garden? 

We also created a hang out spot with our hammocks - we especially like the new one we got from Judy and Lance (the one Rob is in)!

 

The Foundation: Waterproofing and the Slab

This week began with the headache of trying to track down our waterproofing materials which had been ordered by ABC Supply from the CCW factory in Carlisle, PA. After a series of conversations with Mike from ABC who managed to botch up the delivery last Friday, I was considering driving down to Carlisle to pick up the supplies myself as Mike could not assure me of the delivery day/time, and we needed to get the waterproofing done by Thursday (before the building inspector left for vacation for a week). Mike convinced me with a tracking number that the materials were on their way. However, Tuesday morning, there was still no sign of the materials and Mike revealed that he had been given the wrong tracking number. I decided to rent a pick-up truck and drive down to Carlisle myself - a four hour drive each way - to pick up the supplies.

Meanwhile, Rob was working like mad to prepare the foundation for the floor to be poured on Friday (today!). This involved bringing in stone to the top of the footings and laying insulation for under the slab - 2" XPS foam - R-value = 5/inch (for those interested in our green features). In addition, a piece of 6 ml plastic had to be laid over the insulation as a vapor barrier. Our neighbors Justin and Michael were a huge help!

The next morning (Wed) with the help of our neighbor Justin, we began the process of applying the waterproofing materials (really a whole system). Step 1: Rob and I first applied a primer (CCW 702 WB) to the walls by rolling/painting it on, which got sticky after half an hour. Step 2: After this, Rob and Justin applied mastic (a type of putty-type caulking - CCW 800XL) at the junctures between the walls and the footings - green stuff in the pictures below. Step 3: After that settled for an hour, we began the tedious process of applying the sheets of waterproofing (CCW 860), which had an adhesive on the back which stuck to the primer on the walls. Eventually, Rob, Justin, and I got a system down so that we could apply the sheets without getting it all stuck together in the wrong places. We worked until 9 pm to get this done.

Step 1: The primer after we painted it onto the walls

Step 2: Caulking and Coffee

Step 3: The Waterproofing Sheets

Step 3 also: Rob, Justin, and I crouched in the corner applying waterproofing after dinner!

 

 

 

Our neighbor Keb drove over to check out the waterproofing

Also on Wednesday, Van's crew came to lay the wiring for the foundation floor (4" concrete slab) which needed to be inspected on Thursday and poured on Friday.

On Thursday morning, Rob and I got an early start at finishing the difficult spots with the waterproofing - our neighbor Julie came to help with this as well. The building inspector came at 11 am to inspect the waterproofing and the wiring for the floor. He gave us the go ahead to backfill around the foundation after we put the drainage pipes back in place. Julie made us an amazing lunch to celebrate!

After lunch, Rob and I began installing the drainboard (CCW 6200) which goes on top of the waterproofing sheets. This layer consists of thick, dimpled, plastic sheets with a fabric on the outside (which allows water through) - water is supposed to come through the fabric and be routed down to the footing drains by the drainboard. This process required putting another layer of primer on the walls, in addition to priming the back of the drainboard sheets. The product manual actually recommended duct taping the sheets together to prevent soil from getting in during the backfill process. Rob finished putting up the drainboard this afternoon (Friday) and then I completed the process with the duct taping.

Duct tape - who knew?

This morning (Friday), Van's crew came to pour the concrete for the floor (slab). When I came down to the site around noon, we had a floor!

Rob in his workshop!

Rob had placed extra insulation between the slab and the walls, which will prevent a cold bridge

Finally, this afternoon/evening (Friday), Rob was able to get the drainage pipe back in and cover it with stone, and then I laid filter fabric on top (which will keep the soil from getting into the stone and drainage pipe). What an insane week!