Saturday, August 12, 2006

Basement slab




The basement slab got poured, covering the radiant heat tubing. The day of the pour we had a tremendous thunderstorm and it poured down rain. The roof wasn't sealed yet, so the builder ran around like a nut to cover the upper floor with tarp to avoid dripping to the new concrete and causing water drop dimples. I told him it would have been easier to put something over the roof, and as outlined below he did.
The slab looks good though and they've already started roughing in for the rooms. It's pretty interesting. The walls are outlined by boards glued to the floor. The actual walls are anchored into and hung by the rafters overhead. A spike is driven across the bottom board of the wall and into the glued board. If the concrete heaves, there are about 3 inches of room and the walls will not be affected.
All photos on flickr.

Roof




After getting the floor soaked one time too many, we've finally got some roof top covering going. Some adjustments were required for the roof set up to allow appropriate drainage. The tar paper is set up for flow, and set in place with roofing nails. Flashing will be set up on the corners. Wood slats go on next and the tiles will be set on those. The seams are all tarred underneath first. Before the final tiles go on, the heating system and fireplace ducts/vents have to be cut through, and flashing will be put around. This stuff will help keep the insides dry though and the wood should dry well with our low humidity.

Decks and columns






On the exterior, they've been working on finishing up the deck framing. The posts have had surrounds built up, about 2 ft square. These will have stone surfacing.
The front entryway has been built up. The rounded portal top is about 18 ft across. This will have a metal roof, with the rest of the roof concrete tiles that look like shake. The post holding up the beam will have a surrount, tapering up from a 4 ft wide base. On the front porch, a surround around the four posts will go up only 4 feet and the post will extend on up from there.