The House(s) that Rick Built

This page shows the foundation and exterior build of the workshop/apartment.

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25 and 26 February 2006
Basic layout for the workshop/apartment in place and squared up. Note the hand dug effort to dig the perimeter foundation to put in the forms. At this point, after making about 15 feet of progress in a couple of hours, it's apparent that power is going to be needed to do this job!	Bobcat is on site (OK, it's actually a Cat, but about the same, it's a skid steer workhorse that has a backhoe mounted where you might expect to find a bucket. The rain on the lens fooled the camera sensors, making the picture look a lot darker than it really is.	After playing a bit, got the hang of the machine, and we're on our way!
After renting a Bobcat for a day, the perimeter plus the cuts for the plumbing drains are all roughed out. and the first of the form boards is going into place
05 March 2006 0774 2006
View from the back of the slab. working out the forms and footing. Note the trenches for the plumbing drains
1 April 2006
Beginnings of the forms, with the plumbing already in place. Getting ready to put the vapor barrier down.	the plumbing drain cleanout and piping down to the septic tank. Still need some more sand before the fill can go on the top.	Looking from the back of the slab, the various drains and vents poking up from the ground'
vapor barrier is down, and rebar laid out in rough position to hold it down. The row of dobies (little concrete bench blocks to space the rebar off of the ground) down the center is to keep the wind from catching the overlap of the two pieces of plastic. It's amazing just how much force even a light wind has if it catches a 20 x 60 foot chunk of plastic.
14 May 2006
looking up the street. Driveway for the workshop/apartment and the container holding supplies and workshop tools sitting at the edge of the property.	Forms in place, vapor barrier down, rebar in place, but no mesh yet.	Container has all of the wood needed to put up the external walls and get t1-11 siding in place. Also have two garage doors stacked on the top, got them at a decent price so bought them early
Lots of time lost here, trying to get an electrical contractor on board, plus finishing all of the details of the forms. Ran water supply line in to pump area, plus a conduit with RG-6 and Cat-5e cables for television, computer and phone lines. Also took a break from the house project and built a number of segmented wooden vessels for a new gallery opening up at Mauna Lani on the other side of the island. See www.VolcanoArtists.com for details.
05 August 2006 - Finally, the slab is going to be poured! After measuring the depth of the slab every 5 feet using a stretched line and entering the info into a spreadsheet, I've computed the total concrete needs to be 37 3/4 cubic yards, so have ordered 39 yards.
0645: crew on site, pounding in pins for screeds Crew foreman Don has already expressed reservations about relative lack of pins to hold forms in place... Looks OK to me, but we'll see.	plastic cut away for the electrical Ufer ground, just incase the electrical inspector needs to see what it looked like just prior to the pour.	0730 the pump has arrived and is setting up. Note how close the boom is to the cable/phone lines. The operator is good, so he handily avoids the lines.
0750 Pump in place outriggers down, note the foggy look due to mist from above...(this picture was actually taken a bit later in the morning, but is how things looked just before the first Contcrete truck showed up). The crew has added about a half dozen more pins at what they expect are critical points around the forms, but are ignoring another dozen pins that are available for shoring things up.	0805 first truck is here, working on the catchement ring. Note the really long reach of the pump!	even with the long reach of the pump, it still didn't get to the back third of the ring, so the wheelbarrow comes into play.
0810 Ring is full, still some finishing to do	0812 first concrete into the main slab	Concrete Truck feeding the pump. The operator of the truck watches the level in the hopper, so the pump doesn't run dry.
0830 First truck is pau (done), that's 10 cubic yards in place at this time. Crew is starting to look at the sky and mutter about rain, so they drag the plastic across the back edge of the slab so the freshly poured concrete can be covered if the clouds decide to dump a load of water...	0915 Third truck has come and gone, second looked like 9 yards delivered, this one had the full 10 yards. After the second truck, crew stated we wouldn't make it, need to order more. Based on the fill rate, called and ordered 4 more yards in another truck. After the third truck was empty, the crew foreman called concrete company and put last truck on hold. The foreman is in the yellow raincoat.	0945 Fourth truck is well underway... Note the boom is almost entirely vertical at this point. (half of the boom up, the other half down to get back to the slab You can see the pump operator standing at the right of the container with his remote control. RF remote control allowed him to be at the pour and make minute adjustments to the boom to make the job easy for the Concrete crew.
Yep, we're short, all right. There's about a half cubic yard in the pump that will eventually end up in the slab, but still not quite enough to finish the job. Called and had the fifth truck sent up with 2 1/2 cubic yards (to finish the slab plus some foundations for rock wall/gates)	After the pump has been emptied, we're under a quarter yard from good for the slab. If the second truck had been a full load, we'd have made it! The fifth truck finally arrived about 1030.	Later in the day (about 2pm). The pour actually went without any real problems, and would have been done at last an hour earlier had th\ruck two been the full 10 yards, but this isn't rocket science folks, so things like that happen. The crew used a power trowel to finish the slab, and left around 1300 after collecting a large chunk of cash. The concrete is warming up and is on it's way to curing.
Total into the slab and catchement ring (by the concrete company measurements) 39 1/4 cubic yards. Another 2 1/2 yards went into foundations for the rock walls that will hold up gates on the circular driveway for the main house.
With "extra" concrete on the way, a few quick and dirty forms were whacked together to provide a base for some short rock walls and gate posts. We expected enough to handle three of these, but there was still some extra, so the fourth post location was "free form". The three with forms also got rebar so they don't crack later on. We don't get the typical freeze-thaw cycle of a lot of places, and these are only to hold up a bunch of rocks, so all should be well.
Looking into the entrance of the circular driveway.	The form on the left, with the post in place. The wide angle lens of the close pictures of the posts make them look like they are at an angle, but they really are plumb.	The form on the right, also post in place. Note how much higher it is by the pad of concrete below it.
Looking into the exit of the circular driveway.	The form on the left, with the post in place.	There was a big hole on the right, so the last of the concrete went here. Surprisingly, there was enough to support the post too. At the next pour, a form will be made to contain the remainder and make it like the others. Rebar loops in this mud will make it possible to tie the two pours together.
6 August 2006 - Sunday, and the weather isn't cooperating any more.
0900 the day after the pour. It rained overnight, and it still looks like we'll get some rain today.	Though it doesn't look it, the container already has lost a bunch of wood...	1500 Progress after six hours working in the rain. A layer of plastic has gone down on the slab, and stud walls are in process of being laid out and nailed together. The plastic will keep the water from the slab from evaporating when the sun finally comes out, instead of evaporating. Everything on the left side is already nailed together, the wood on the right is laid in rough position so it can be nailed together tomorrow. Unlike Saturday when the concrete was poured, today it has rained most of the day. In the six hours on site, we picked up about an inch of rain...
8 August 2006 - Tuesday.
An hour and a half of work time performed Monday evening after work, and the site looks like this on arrival Tuesday morning.	After roughting out the remainder of the right wall, it's time to make some hurricane straps. Each truss needs to be tied to the top plate, with a tie path to the bolts in the slab.	Strap detail on the bottom plate. This insures the path from the bolts in the concrete slab are transmitted to the wall studs. Also visible is a hole for a j-bolt.
This shows the right wall is complete, including the holes and straps.	A view down the right side, showing the spacing of the straps. Generally, if the nearest bolt is more than six inches from a stud, the studs on both sides have a strap. In addition, any stud that has a truss directly above also has a strap.
9 August 2006 - Wednesday.
First wallsection, right rear going up. This shows the hoist about half-way up on the first lift. The crane was purchased a number of years ago at Costco. It's actually intended for automotive engine remova/replacement, but is quite handy for all sorts of lifting projects.	Same section, right rear, with hoist at highest extension. Wall will be blocked for another grab. Given the smooth surface of the concrete and the plastic so it can cure, bottom bracing is necessary or the props will just slide out. This takes more time, but is worth it in the end.	Same section, with grab at lower location on the wall. The trick is to get the wall up as far as the hoist will take it, brace the wall, then move it to the second grag and lift again.
Nearly vertical now... At this point, the braces have been used to push the wall the rest of the way to vertical, and the hoist removed. This wall section is about 24 feet long.	Wall is vertical, braces holding it in place. Though it looks like it is leaning outwards, this is an artifact of using the wide angle lens. Someday I'll have to afford myself a shift-tilt capable lens so I can show things as they really are...	Second wall section, front right, already at the second grab stage. This wall section is about 30 feet long. Note the sliding doors standing against the first section, they arrived with the windows about noon.
Second wall section standing on it's own.	Third wall section, front left, on the way up. This one's nearly 32 feet long.	Third and fourth sections standing alone. It's nearly 2:30 pm now. and it's taken about 3 1/2 hours to raise these walls, but it was all done by one person.
Both walls, showing windows in place. On the left side from the back are two windows at 8 feet x 4 feet each, and a 6 foot x 4 foot window nearest the camera. RIght side has a 6 foot x 4 foot window in place and two sliders at the rear, waiting for installation.	About 6:30 pm, now, and both sliders are in place. These and the 8 foot windows were very heavy for one person to manipulate, even with the sliding panes removed. Double pane insulated glass gets heavy fast!
Nothing done on 10 August except recover from the exertions of the past two days. All in all, not a bad performance for one guy that pushes electrons for a living... A week off from the build was forced by a week on the Mainland (Louisville Kentucky) at an MWR conference for work.
19August 2006 - Saturday.
Afer a week on the mainland, a late start on Saturday... Picked up the truck from Toyota after some long overdue maintenance, ran several errands, and actually got to work on the project at about 1 p.m. Unfortunately, weather was not so great, looking like rain, though one of those middlin' mists that is not really rain, but really good at soaking you after an hour or so. This picture is the result of the afternoon's efforts.
20 August 2006 - Sunday.
Yesterday's work got the back wall nailed together without the short studs above and below the windows. Cutting and fitting these into place.	Right half of the back wall going up.	Left half of the back wall up, ready to add top 2x4 of the top plate.
Windows have been added to the the back wall. from the left are a 4 foot and 3 foot window for the kitchen area, and on the right a 6 foot window for a bedroom. All are 4 feet tall.	Front short wall sections in place. Beams over the garage doors are cut and top studs still need cut. The center section has to wait until next week because the boom truck will need to back onto the slab to reach the rear of the building.; Thus, the two beams and center section for the garage doors cannot go up until most of the trusses are already in place.	During the next few days, the visible progress will mostly be getting the remaining short studs in place over one of the sliding doors in the right wall, and the header and short studs over a doorway joining the two halves of the left wall. Less visible will be the top hurricane ties and other preparation for the trusses which are now scheduled to arrive on Thursday, 24 August.