14
Dec
Pool house foundation
The pour for the pool house foundation happened yesterday. It was a relatively small pour compared to all the others we’ve done – about a full truck or 10 yards. Framing on the pool house starts next week.
Category: Foundation
03
Nov
The pool house
We are adding a small pool house in the back yard. Here it is from the elevations on the plans. It’s not really a house, but more of a covered patio. The only part of it that is fully enclosed is the toilet room. Among the many silly things that the building codes and zoningRead more about The pool house[…]
12
Jun
Stone work
The stone masons have been busy cutting stone from our pile into 4 inch pieces suitable for skinning the fireplace and raised foundation walls. They delivered the first drop of the materials last week. All those nice flat pieces came from the boulders we pulled out of the ground when we excavated our basement. IRead more about Stone work[…]
07
Feb
The last bit of concrete, at last
We struggled quite a bit scheduling the last little bits of concrete. The rain kept saturating the soil and created a lake where the back porch slab is supposed to go. As a result, we had to keep pumping out the water and eventually dig considerably deeper footings than we had planned on, to getRead more about The last bit of concrete, at last[…]
20
Jan
The back porch, the rain, and a lake
The last bit of framing that remains to be done is the covered back porch. However, it depends on the concrete patio and footings, and, with that, we have a little problem. That area happens to be where the newly graded back yard drains into; we’ve had a bit of a lake there for theRead more about The back porch, the rain, and a lake[…]
17
Jan
Roof loading
I learned something interesting regarding the roof and the settling of a house. In some cases, the roofing material can be so heavy, it can cause the house to settle. This is common with the Spanish style roofs we have in Santa Barbara, as the material is pretty heavy. The problem is, if the roofRead more about Roof loading[…]
06
Dec
Cutting the light wells
From the structural design, through the pouring of the concrete basement foundation, we didn’t realize that the outside walls of the light wells were so high above the natural grade. Early on, with the excavation pit considerably wider than the footprint of the house, it was hard to tell what it would look like afterRead more about Cutting the light wells[…]
11
Oct
Garage & Front Porch Slabs
The concrete contractor poured the garage slab and the front porch slab on Friday. Now there is nothing holding the framers back from finishing the first floor and moving on to the second. They expect to have the roof sheeted in about 8 weeks. Here is the time lapse of the slab pour: Here areRead more about Garage & Front Porch Slabs[…]
04
Oct
More steel
Last Friday they dropped in some more steel. When Charlie (the builder) mentioned that there would be steel around the garage doors I imagined something fairly minor, as this a pretty standard three car garage with two garage doors – a double and a single; something to simply support the span over the doors. WhatRead more about More steel[…]
26
Sep
First floor framing & concrete interlock
The first floor turns out to be a bit of a Lincoln Log situation, with some of the concrete and the framing interlocking. Because part of the garage slab hangs over the basement, the basement framing and first story floor structure had to be completed before they could pour the garage slab. And along withRead more about First floor framing & concrete interlock[…]