Basement (ful)Filled

We are in the middle of our fourth week of construction.  The process has slowed a bit due to some ugly weather.  In just over a week we went from temps in the 40's up to 85 degrees and then just the other day, an inch or so of snow.  Yes, SNOW!  The back yard has been turned into a big mud-pit which makes even walking back there a big ordeal, let alone working.  It was dry for a few days so the men were able to finally clear away the remaining pile of dirt.  It is weird to see the back yard again.  Sadly we didn't realize how bad the yard would be affected and didn't budget for landscaping.

One of the things we are doing is burying all the power & phone lines that hang over our yard.  They are just an eyesore and hang so low.  Turns out by doing some of the work ourselves, we aren't really spending any more money to bury the lines since they would have to be moved anyway.  Last week we rented a trencher which is a much more massive piece of equipment than I realized.  We had to dig a 36" deep trench the whole length of our back yard (which is a good 130+ feet).  We then dropped the power lines and phone lines in and buried them (according to city regulations of course).  Not only do we know have a bit mud pit by our house but a huge ripped up area going smack dab through the yard.  Nothing a bag of grass seed can't fix I suppose.

The next focus was on the basement floor.  We are roughing in plumbing for a small bathroom (sink, toilet, & shower) as well as sump-pump.  The plumber laid down all the cast iron pipes and prepped the area.  Notice in the top right, our finished (and expensive) retaining wall.    I must say, I've found myself becoming very interested in concrete through this process.  

After smoothing out the transition from the new to the old, pouring a layer of gravel, plastic sheeting, and wire mesh, the concrete was ready to pour.

prepping the old wall for the new floor

the big pour 

ready for action

leveling the cement

smoothing out the cement

Today the electricians are here.  They are going to be attaching the power line that we buried to the house.  Apparently we wont have power for half the day tomorrow but that isn't so bad.  At one point we thought we wouldn't have power for a few weeks!  Next week, provided the weather holds up, they will start the framing part and we will really begin to see things take shape.  

just some fun construction debris!

Filling In

jackson enjoying all the activity

In two weeks we had gone from a plain backyard to a giant hole to a sturdy foundation.  It feels like it has been a two months, not two weeks.  I actually can't believe how much they have done so quickly.  Early this week they applied a waterproofing sealer to the outside along with an eco-friendly exterior insulation.  We liked that our architect was concerned with environmentally building practices and materials.  You can see they also started the back fill.  I was finally able to touch the concrete.  How exciting!

finished foundation

The window in the photo above is smaller and will be where the basement rough-in will go. The window below is nice and big.  Personally I am not a big fan of the corrugated metal look and had selected these window wells that had a stone look and let in more light.  When the retaining wall issue came up we had to start cutting in other areas and sadly my fancy window wells were the first on the list.  So corrugated metal it is.  

big basement window, east side

Now that the foundation was finished, they started working on the retaining wall.  Below is the form and all the braces holding it up.  They poured the cement yesterday.  When finished it will be 18" of solid concrete.  Anything to keep the house from falling down is fine with me.

forms and braces for the retaining wall

Today the guys are here.  They were going to finish the back fill and haul away the rest of the dirt.  As I was starting the post, they hydraulics on one of the trucks broke and fluid was spraying everywhere.  I didn't have my camera ready, sadly.  We are waiting for a repair guy to come and fix it.  Provided that happens soon, they will finish removing the dirt, remove the forms from the retaining wall, and start on the plumbing rough-in in the basement.  Perhaps tomorrow they will pour the cement floor?  It is always fun to see what they are working on next.

A Solid Foundation

A lot has been happening over the last two weeks here at the homestead.  After digging a massive hole, the footer was poured which is basically the support that the foundation walls rest on.

adding the key

building the form

pouring the concrete

The cement was left to cure for a day then the form was taken off.  The groove in the footer is called the 'key'.  This gives the foundation walls something to lock into and keeps them from slipping from the footer.

the foundation wall forms

Next they built the forms for the walls.  There will be two windows in the basement and you can see one of the window frames on the right side before the finished the form.  Sadly I was away when they poured the cement so I don't have any photos of the big pour in progress.

poured cement

Note the plastic in the photo above.  That is the part of the wall I mentioned in a previous post that was a source of concern.  Apparently this part of our current foundation did not extend as far down as the rest of the basement.  As a result they will have to build a retaining wall.  It will only delay us by a day or so but costs an unplanned $3800.  We had to have the architect and a structural engineer come out to resolve the problem.  

Here are the finished walls after they pulled the forms off.  So pretty.  Now they have to cure for several days before they can begin to back fill the dirt.  Once that happens, they will pour the floor, cut through to the old basement (yikes!) and start framing out the whole shebang! 

finished walls

The Big Dig

big pile of dirt!

Well after MONTHS (around 7 actually) of waiting, construction on our project finally started yesterday.  It was quite an exciting day.  Our son Jackson loved watching the trucks start to excavate.  The dogs felt a little differently though.  They worked through the entire day and got about 2/3 of the way across.  It might be a little hard to tell but the hole is a good 10-12' deep.  I guess we could always put in a swimming pool instead.

facing the house

from the house looking out

The guys were back again all day today and finished digging the width of the house.  We ran into a few snags, like an old buried terra cotta pipe that apparently runs through our entire yard to the house.  breaking that up caused the hole to slowly start filling with water.  They also discovered that the portion of our existing basement that runs underneath the concrete back steps (shown above) doesn't go all the way down like the rest of the house.  So they had to stop digging against the wall for fear it could erode and collapse.  Oh joy.  All totally fixable but an extra ordeal none the less.

Tomorrow the architect comes out to inspect the foundation situation and if he gives the thumbs up, they will start framing out the footings.  

And so it begins...

New House

Well you have seen the old... so here is the new.  This layout includes the addition & changes (in pink).  Note the much larger kitchen and the second floor laundry.  What a dream.  And while we are adding a lot of square feet we are still being somewhat modest in order to keep the home to scale.  No McMansions for us.  So what do you think?

Also, we have a full basement that goes under the entire house (with the exception of the garage).  We will be adding a full basement under the new section as well.  We also just decided last week to go ahead and finish the basement in the new part for a fun little playroom for our son, Jackson.

Old House

I have been meaning to put this up for a while.  This is a layout of our house as it currently is.  Notice the tiny kitchen.  I hate how the sink and stove both meet in the corner.  So annoying.  There is also just that tiny strip of counter top to the right of the sink and that is it.  It is a pretty basic 3 bedroom / 1.5 bath house... but just you wait!

Construction Begins?

Well after MONTHS of waiting it looks like construction may begin as soon as a week from today.  Because we live in the Chicago area, we hit a point in December where the weather became a factor.  Since our addition involves digging a basement foundation, the ground had to be a certain temperature.

On top of the freezing temperatures, we had a horrible blizzard (which I loved!) that left us with over 2 feet of snow.  The snow finally melted and left us with ice.  Now temperatures are starting to regulate and hover in the acceptable range for construction.  Our contractor, Tom, is coming by this week to check the ground and take some measurements for the trucks - we have to use our neighbor's driveway to get the trucks to the backyard.  Then we will pick a date for the big dig!